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Rolling stock of the mid-Suffolk light railway

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This is a list of rolling stock used by the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway.

Locomotives

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Original

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Current

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The museum currently has six locomotives on site, three operational steam engines, and "1604" which is under restoration and owned by the MSLR. It also has two Ruston diesels; a 165 named "Alston" and a Ruston 48, which is very similar to the engine used to take up the railway.

Number & Name Class Current Status Image
2525 Cockerill 0-4-0VBT Operational, privately owned.[1]
985 LNER Y7 0-4-0T Undergoing Overhaul, owned by the North Norfolk Railway. On loan.
1604 Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Under restoration.
304470
Alston 		Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0DM Class 165 Operational, mostly used for shunting.[2]
294266
Sir William McAlpine 		Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0DM Class 48 Operational, mostly used for shunting. Bought directly from Sir William McAlpine. Same class of locomotive as was used by contractors to remove the original Middy-Line. Privately owned by volunteer and Youtuber Lawrie Rose who has a YouTube channel called Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels.[3][4][5]

Previous

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Rolling stock

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Passenger carriages

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The MSLR's coaching stock is entirely made up of ex-GER carriages, to replicate what the line's original stock would've been like many years ago.

Railway Number Type Current Status Image
Great Eastern Railway 180, MSLR No. 15 Four-wheel Horse box Built in 1869, sold out of service in 1896 for £6. Earliest preserved horse box. Now restored and in service.[6][7]
Great Eastern Railway 278 Four-wheel Third Built in 1876. Body only, now under restoration, used as a buffet while grounded and being restored.
Great Eastern Railway 13, MSLR No. 12 Four-wheel Brake Third Built in 1875. Body grounded in 1932 twenty years after withdrawal in 1910. Restored between 2000 and 2002. On chassis of ex-LNER 'Queen Mary' Brakevan. Operational.[8]
Great Eastern Railway 287, MSLR No. 13 Four-wheel Third, now running as composite Built in 1876. Body only, restored and operational as MSLR No. 13.
Great Eastern Railway 140 Four-wheel first Built in 1863. Restored and operational in GER livery as of 2017.[9] Oldest preserved GER carriage with confirmed build date.
Great Eastern Railway 424 Third, later second Built in 1892. Body only. Restored body of 424 now in use as a static bar, painted in a light green and cream livery.
Great Eastern Railway 506 Brake third Build date unknown. Went to the MSLR from a private address in Holland-on-Sea, in Essex where it had been since 1925.

There are also several wagons and freight items that are under restoration and operational.

Some signs of the original rolling stock is visible in the countryside surrounding the railway. One example is a semi-derelict carriage on farmland near Mendlesham at (52°14′56″N 1°03′37″E / 52.249007°N 1.0601738°E / 52.249007; 1.0601738). It may be seen on Google maps satellite view.

Wagons

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The railway owns a few vintage Great Eastern covered vans, one LNER van, a special LNER survivor; a 'Toad B' brake van No. 157787, due to the mass amount of vans and minuscule open wagons, the MSLR built a replica open wagon to a GER design in 2012.

Railway Number Type Current Status Image
GER 620791 Covered goods van Built in 1900 to diagram no. 15 at Stratford. Under restoration. Stored at the end of a siding with 680360.[10]
GER 620262 Covered goods van body Built in 1900 to diagram no. 15. Was in use as a stores room before restoration. Grounded body.
GER 11873 Covered goods van Built in 1913 to diagram no. 72 at Stratford. Restored and now operational.
GER 12404 Covered goods van Built in 1913 to diagram no. 72. Moved from the Mid-Norfolk Railway to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway in 2009.
LNER 157787 Goods brake van Built in 1929 to diagram no. 34 at Doncaster. Sold in 1963 to Tunnel Cement, Grays. Purchased and preserved for the Kent and East Sussex Railway as No. 119. Arrived in June, 1977. Arrived on the MSLR in 1995. Restored and operational in LNER livery.
LMS 506875 Covered goods van. Built in 1935 to diagram no. D1897 in lot no. 824 at Derby. Restored and operational.
9431 5-plank open wagon Little information of this wagon known. The number '9431' is fictional, and the wagon has been lettered "M. O. Y, Colchester"
MSLR 28601 5-plank open wagon Built in 2012. A replica of a Great Eastern Railway open wagon. Body placed onto a wagon frame no. 106. Now restored and operational.
N 600043 8-plank open wagon Originally a 5-plank open wagon, this was rebuilt to an 8-plank wagon. Previously was a resident on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway.
36 3-plank open wagon Little known about this wagon. Lettered "Jackson & Co. Haughley"
LNER DE 470819 Ballast brake van Built in 1948 to diagram no. 203 by R. Y. Pickering and Co. Restored.
GWR 139455 Covered goods van Built in 1938 to diagram No. V.23 at Swindon. A new body was built by the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway for the van. Restored and operational.
GER 5043 7-plank open wagon Built in 1908 to diagram no. 17 at Stratford. It was in use at ROF Puriton until purchased for use on the West Somerset Railway. Donated to the MSLR in 1995 and arrived later that year but was cut down to a 5-plank wagon. Restoration started in 2005 and was complete by 2011 and 5043 was restored to its original condition. Operational in GER livery.[11]

Former stock

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Carriages

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Railway Number Type Current Status Image
NER 131 Six-wheel Full Brake Built to NER diagram no. 171. Carriage body preserved by the MSLR in 1994. Moved to Whitwell & Reepham railway station in June 2012 when placed on a tube wagon underframe. Later transported to Kirkby Stephen East station in June 2014 where restoration work could take place. By August 2018 a significant amount of work done, it will later returned to its original six-wheel appearance.

Wagons

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Railway Number Type Current Status Image
LNER 680360 Covered goods van Was under restoration at the MSLR in an open siding but moved to the Stainmore Railway at Kirkby Stephen East railway station in 2015. Now numbered 241245 and repainted in a blue engineering train livery.

References

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  1. ^ Vertical boiled Belgian steam locomotive - the strangest steam engine? - Lawrie Goes Loco Episode 6. Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels. 20 June 2019. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ The mighty Ruston 165 DS - Lawrie Goes Loco Episode 1. Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Collecting my Full Size Ruston Locomotive!. Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels. 26 December 2018. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ The proudest I've ever been - naming my Loco 'Sir William McAlpine'. Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ My Ruston Locomotive is off on holiday - to open a Brand New Railway !. Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Restored railway horsebox ready for passengers". BBC News. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "GER e 620791 Goods van built 1900".
  11. ^ "Freight".
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