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The QEII Country Park Railway Society was initially set up in the latter months of 1993, by a series of meetings between Wansbeck District Council and a group of local people interested in railways. Although at this stage a name for the group was not decided. The construction of the track started in April 1994 with the laying of the track bed by contractors . In May 1994 the group, all volunteers under the supervision of Ed Armstrong - Countryside Officer for Wansbeck District Council set about laying the track. This took 18 months to complete. The volunteers, some are ex-miners, others, enthusiasts who liked to get their hands dirty, which was true, as we have very little in the way of railway tools, so 1000 tons of ballast had to be laid by shovels, and we had to improvise for other tasks.
Volunteers now operate the Passenger Railway Service from the Woodhorn Colliery Museum to the North End of the Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, near the Brewsters Woodhorn Grange Restaurant along 1 kilometer of track (5/8 of a mile). The trip takes approximately 20 minutes at a leisurely 7 to 10 miles per hour. At present our locomotive is on loan to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Association while Woodhorn Colliery Museum is being redesigned. The locomotive has been renamed EXMOOR RANGER (4w DH HE6348 of 1975, 65hp). The "Man Riding" carriages were built by Allan's of Tipton to transport miners underground to the coal face, these were modified for our use, along with a canopy roof fitted to one of our carriages, which was constructed by students under the supervision of Northumberland College as a summer project.
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Keywords:
Heritage, transport, Northumberland, train, railway, passenger, volunteers, fares |
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