Churnet Valley Railway Loco's

As reported in the latest issue of Steam Railway we have been able to secure the hire of a number of locomotives up until March 2019.

As with the hire of 4277 from the Dartmouth Steam Railway we are hiring their small Prairie 45xx No. 4555 for two consecutive winters, October 2018 - March 2019 and October 2019 -March 2020. This will be the first time that 4555 has operated on a preserved line other than the Dartmouth Steam Railway and the South Devon Railway. The first event that 4555 will be in operation for will be the Steam Gala to celebrate 40 years of the North Staffordshire Railway Company, the Churnet Valley Railways supporting charity, this event will be over the weekend of the 19 - 21 October 2018.

Also at this event will be two classes making their debut on our line which are 7F No. 53808 from the West Somerset Railway and the Coal Tank No. 1054 from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Following on from the popular visit of 7820 Dinmore Manor we have been able to secure the hire of sister locomotive No. 7827 Lydham Manor from the Dartmouth Steam Railway which will be spending all of February 2019 at our Railway. This will be the longest spell that 7827 will have spent away from Paignton since the loco has been in their ownership.

In the next couple of weeks we should be able to advertise our guest loco for our February 2018 Steam gala that will operate alongside 42xx No. 4277 and S160's No 5197 & 6046.

Alongside our home fleet of the S160's and the TKH we have some exciting times ahead!

 

Thanks for the update chris!!! Lets hope for some good ones. Its Gregs 8F im looking forward to the most, but a visit of a 7F up the bank will be a cracking event.

 

What we need to do before the 7F appears is to remove some trees from the bank so that you can get a decent video shot over a fair distance.

 

The line up the valley has quite a few good places for photographs but the branch line, up to Ipstones, has relatively few places on the steep sections where it is possible to get a good video clip with sound of the loco working hard.

 

Good to see a railway with 'different ' visitors.

 

Without doubt your visiting line ups should attract a lot of - hopefully - paying visitors.

 

Besides the TKH & S160s have churnet got any other home fleet locos waiting to be returned to action?

 

Gregs 8f

 

Resurrecting an old thread!

We have the standard 4 No. 75014 arriving from the Dartmouth Steam Railway next week for a 4 month visit, it will work our service trains alongside S160's 5197 & 6046.

As reported elsewhere we have No. 4079 Pendennis Castle visiting for around 5 weeks in May, it will be steepest gradient that it has operated on in preservation!

The overhaul of S160 No. 3278 "Franklin D Roosevelt" is progressing well and will return to traffic at some point in 2024.

An exciting year ahead at the CVR!

 

Has the ownership of 3278 changed or is it under a loan agreement? I understand if you cannot/would prefer not to say.

 

I presume a class 4 is a bit under-powered for the P&D these days?

 

Hasn't the track to Cauldon Low been lifted? Where else does the Churnet Valley have a steep gradient?

 

The Cauldon Low branch is in use as far as Ipstones, where a loop has been installed. The gradient between there and leekbrook junction is significant.

 

Thank you.
Edit: I couldn't find anything about the branch on the website, and the link from the gradient profiles permathread is broken.

 

Out of interest how is the overhaul of 44422 progressing?

 

Can I just say, this sounds incredibly interesting!

An ex-MHR engine back in service again, meaning they officially have the most preserved S160's on any railway.

A former Stoke engine [75014] arrives back in Staffordshire for a period.

Finally, a GWR Castle visiting and their 1st steam gala since 2019!!

Exciting times! I must make a trip up their to see you guys!

 

Batt Holden Ltd had a really active Facebook page detailing the rebuild of 48173 as well as the running and maintenance of the S160. There hasn't been an update for several years now which is a shame as the scope of work even just on getting the main frames back to a serviceable condition was staggering. It looked like it was really coming together at the last update. Are they still working on the 8f?

 

You presume wrong, Lydham Manor is also class 4 and has taken 11 coaches, even during the fire risk season in 2019 it was allowed to take 9 as was 75014. When the railway hired a small Prairie it took 9 coaches on its first day at Paignton.

 

Manors are class 5