The Beamish Cog Railway

Hello there, Im Sam Wake and I'm head of operations at the Beamish Cog Railway. The Beamish Cog Railway as been located in the grounds of Beamish Museum in County Durham since its construction started it 1991. For the past 20 years the railway has been under construction resulting in the worlds first 7 1/4 gauge rack railway and currently one of only two rack railway systems in working order in the UK (other being the Snowdon Mountain Railway).

Recently it has been decided that the railway should run alot more for the public visiting the museum. Hopefully this thread with show what the railway looks like when its running and I shall try to keep it updated with pictures and details on running days. Feel free to ask any questions.

 

Nice photos. But .... for a rack railway there doesn't seem to be much rack?

 

In Italy we have a 7 1/4" rack line near Naples. The link shows one of the locos in action. The rack has been there for some time at least 15 as that is when I first visited. The first rack I heard about in live steam scales was the debut of Koppel at the Buxton show. Not to be outdone one of the BMES members took their loco up the incline without the rack. It was fun on the way down. About 1985ish I think.

 

The posted photos just show the 'normal' railway at the top. I've not been there when the rack system has been in operation, but the incline is truly impressive! ...can't believe anything could get up that without the rack.

 

This is something I've missed when at Beamish Fortunately I have an annual pass from last visit in the summer. So...

 

I thought this was a wind-up to begin with, so I Googled it and it really does exist.

 

No it looks like they are steam loco's not clockwork.

Ok I 'll get that taxi and put my coat on.

 

Thanks for your interest chaps. The railway for most of its life hasn't really been in the public eye that much so most visitors to the museum don't even know we exist!

We are currently working on our 2017 running shedule for the railway which will hopefully include a lot more running days than before. I shall post them up on here as soon as they are done.

Also as soon as I work out how to post a video to the forum I shall post one showing Koppel climbing the rack railway.

 

I've been visiting Beamish almost since it opened, and this is the first I've heard of the cog railway. I'll have to take a look. My grandchildren will love it too.

 

If you're not looking for it then it is easy to miss but it is definitely there! I travelled on it a couple of years ago, the top level line and the rack section. If you like to hear your engines working hard then the rack line is a must! Beamish is always a good day out and this extra attraction makes it even better.

 

The Facebook page for the Cog Railway is brilliant, I heartily recommend it to any Facebookers

 

How about a link to it? Like this: https://www.facebook.com/BeamishCogRailway/

 

Passive Aggressive Klaxon