Amerton Railway

Amerton Railway

Amerton Railway. Kerr, Stuart 4250 of 1922 0-4-0ST 'Lorna Doone' and Kerr, Stuart 1158 of 1917 0-4-0T 'Diana' in June 2019
Overview
Headquarters	Stafford
Locale	England
Dates of operation	1992–present
Technical
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Length	1 mile (1.6 km)

Amerton Railway
Yard and Locomotive Shed Stump Siding Amerton Chartley Road Amerton Brook

The Amerton Railway is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge heritage railway in the English county of Staffordshire. It is owned by Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Limited, a registered charity, and operated by volunteers.

Construction of the railway started in 1990 in a field at the side of Amerton Working Farm. The first trains ran in 1992, but it was around 10 years later when the railway was completed as a full circle with two passing Loops. The collection of locomotives is primarily focused around locomotives that were either built or operated in Staffordshire.

Development of the line

There is the main 3 road running shed housing majority of the locomotives, operational and stored, a large workshop next door where restoration and maintenance take place, then a small covered siding is located between the workshop and carriage shed.

In May 2012, the 17 acres (6.9 ha) of land on which the railway is run was purchased by the railway, securing the future of operations at Amerton.

On 10 August 2001 the railway was very fortunate to acquire the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway/North Staffordshire Railway (The Knotty)/LMS Signal Box from Waterhouses Station. This controlled both the narrow gauge and standard gauge lines at Waterhouses. It is passed at the end of the platform and has undergone major restoration, and is now in its final stages with lever frame installed and painting on final gloss coats (Jan 2017), proved to be very popular at the 2016 steam gala when the public where allowed inside.

A comprehensive industrial demonstration railway is now being developed from the old phase 1 stump siding area to add a turning triangle and a large amount of outdoor storage space.

A demonstration mine and blacksmith workshop has also been constructed along with a few mine wagons to resemble an old gypsum mine that used to operate not far from where the railway is today

Rolling stock

Restoration is in progress on a number of narrow gauge wagons. The railway owns nine RNAD wagons. A set of three RNAD box vans and six RNAD flat wagons, or "flats". The vans and three flats have been converted from 2 ft 6 in track gauge and to run on the line, with one van three flats been fully restored, one of these flats has been rebuilt into a ballast wagon ("Minnow") the later three flats had recently arrived from Chasewater Railway. The wheelsets and frames are currently separated, with the 2 ft 6 in wheelsets currently in Amerton Yard, and the frames up at "stump siding". These are to be fully restored when time and finances allow. Three ex- RAF Fauld drop-side wagons have been restored and painted in RAF colours during 2016, as well as two ex-MOD flats, one rebuilt to a short sided wagon, the other to the original MOD high end sided flats. There are 5,600 mm (18 ft 4+1⁄2 in) Allen skips on the railway. They have recently been taken off from mainline running, due to skips buckets deterioration, and the wheelset for 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge, meaning they would derail at times. Plans are being made to regauge and replace the wheelsets to running order.

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes	Image
Isabel	W.G. Bagnall	0-4-0ST	1897	1491	Built for the Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway, before being displayed on a plinth outside of W.G Bagnalls in Stafford, then outside Stafford station, before being restored. Major overhaul, including a new boiler, from 2006–2008 and overhauled again in 2018. Fully operational.
Jennie	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	2008	3905	New build Kerr Stuart Wren class built by Hunslet. Privately owned but kept at Amerton. Operational, overhaul completed in 2020.
Lorna Doone	Kerr Stuart	0-4-0ST	1922	4250	Wren class. Ex Devon County Council, before being displayed in 'Birmingham Museum of Science And Industry. Arrived in 2003, Restoration back to steam began in 2010 was completed in 2018.
Diana	Kerr Stuart	0-4-0T	1917	1158	Actually built in 1909 but sold in 1917 to the Kerry Tramway, preserved in 1964 and restored in 2015. Now a resident locomotive.
Henschel (unofficial name)	Henschel	0-8-0T	1916	526	Built for the German trench railways. Spent most of its working life at the Sena Sugar Estate, Mozambique. Now under Major restoration.
Paddy	Wilbrighton Works	0-4-0VBT+T	2007		Built by a group in a garden from scratch using parts from a steam crane and others. Was sold after its 10 yearly overhaul in 2014, Now at Statfold Barn Railway
Number 1	W.G. Bagnall	0-4-0ST	1911	1889	Worked at Judkins Quarry before being sold to BR and working at a sleeper works in Beeston. Stored outside for years in Didcot, arrived in 2008 with a new boiler and firebox wrapper and a kit of parts, in need of Major restoration and possible re-gauging from 3 ft to our 2 ft. A matter still in debate as well as finding funding.
Yellow Peril (unofficial name)	Motor Rail	4wDM	1975	40SD501	Built for the Severn Trent Water Authority's Minworth Sewage Works. Fitted with 3 cylinder Deutz engine. Arrived at Amerton in 1991. Operational.
A10	Baguley-Drewry	4wDH	1984		Built for RNAD Trecwn. Fitted with 6 cylinder Perkins 6.354 engine. Arrived at Amerton in 2018. Operational but requires work for passenger use.
The Deutz (Unofficial Name)	Deutz	4wDM	1937	19531	Worked on a sugar mill in northern France, before being imported to the UK, arrived at Amerton in 2009 where it was stripped and restored to full working order for 2014, operates the occasional passenger train .
Dorman	Motor Rail	4wDM	1940	7471	Built for Hussey, Egan & Pickmere Ltd, Birmingham. Fitted with 2 cylinder Dorman 2DWD Diesel engine. Arrived at Amerton in 1991. Operational.
Dreadnought	Baguley Cars Ltd	0-4-0DM (steam outline)	1939	3024	Built for Wilson's Pleasure Railway, Allhallows-on-Sea, Kent. Fitted with 3 cylinder Lister SR3. Arrived at Amerton in 1991. Major gearbox overhaul in 1999. Original mainline diesel Locomotive, until the completion of Hunslet 'Gordon', and now used infrequently on passenger services but runs for special occasions. Out of service in January 2017 due to gearbox issues.
Yard No. 70	Ruston and Hornsby	4wDM	1943	221623	Built for the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Chattenden and Upnor Railway. Fitted with a Ruston 4VRO. Arrived at Amerton in 1992. Returned to service in 2019 following being out of action for twenty years.
Gordon	Hunslet	4wDH	1978	8561	Built for the National Coal Board's Allerton Bywater and Castlebridge collieries. Fitted with a 3-cylinder Perkins 3.152. Arrived at Amerton in 1996. In service, a regular on passenger trains.
The Littleton Ruston (unofficial name)	Ruston and Hornsby	4wDM	1964	506491	Built for the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge National Coal Board South Staffordshire Collieries. Fitted with a 2-cylinder Ruston 2YDAL. Arrived at Amerton in 1992. Operational as the main yard shunter.
The Hibberd (unofficial name)	F. C. Hibberd & Co.	4wDM	1937	2025	Bought by Gravelworks Ltd for the Preston Irwell Valley Water Board. Preserved at Gloddfa Ganol until 1998. Fitted with a 2-cylinder Lister CE. Restoration in progress.
Golspie	Baguley Cars Ltd	0-4-0DM (steam outline)	1935	2085	Built for Trentham Gardens. Later stored at Alton Towers for possible use on Alton Towers Narrow Gauge Railway. Fitted with a 4-cylinder Perkins 4.270. Arrived at Amerton in 2000. Restoration to working order started in 2012, and moved under her own power in October 2016, now awaiting funding for further restoration
No. 774	Baguley Cars Ltd	0-4-0PM	1919	774	Worked on the Timber Supply Department tramway at Pennal. On loan from the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum for a cosmetic restoration. Left Amerton on 21 November 2008 for display at the Statfold Barn Railway. Moved again in 2012 back to the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum where it is now on display.

See also

• British narrow gauge railways

References

• Thomas, Cliff (2002). The Narrow Gauge in Britain & Ireland. Atlantic Publishers. ISBN 978-1-902827-05-6.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2016). Rugeley to Stoke-on-Trent. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 35–37. ISBN 978-1-908174-90-1. OCLC 972169395.

External links

• Official website