The Dinting Railway Centre

The East Lancs Railway started life at Helmshore if my memory serves me correct.

 

There are several videos on YouTube about Dinting.
Here's one made 3 years ago showing how the site has deteriorated.

 

Your memory is correct. I started as a volunteer there in c1969 when the intention was to open the line between Stubbins Junction (on the current ELR) and Haslingden Grane Road where the overbridge had been taken out. The removal of the track prompted a move down to Castlecroft Goods Shed in Bury in 1972.

 

I was automatically disqualifying Bressingham, as it has survived. I was referring to centres that didn't last. Sorry, should have made that clearer.

 

At least Brighton had the shed, and rail connections. I was thinking more of things like the Coventry Railway Centre, and North Downs. Not being born until the 70's, I missed the early days of preservation, so was rather wondering what I missed!

 

Not exactly ‘steam’, but I’d add Crich to that list… if anything, being ‘trams’ makes it even more improbable.

Simon

 

Theee was a short lived scheme at Penistone which later moved to a site in north Sheffield (Chapeltown?). Didn’t Harry Needle have some of his locos there?

 

Was that the erstwhile South Yorkshire Railway at Meadowhall? I think that had a brief stint in Penistone.

John

 

Wasn't there some idea about using the Stocksbridge branch or part of the Woodhead?

 

A tram museum later adding a town scene built on the site of a former quarry in the Derbyshire hills is on paper, a tall order. But at the time, tramways were being torn up whether the user base wanted it or not. And it feels like there was too schools of thought when it came to the nation and both were butting heads. The first being modernists like T Dan Smith in Newcastle and the other being the vein of small c conservatism that links a lot of preservation schemes of the era, including the likes of Beamish. Eventually the former won out but if the museum had come about 10 years later, it wouldn't have been the long term success we have today. In my view of course.

 

You could probably include Bulmers in Hereford under this; only visited once but it was interesting to mooch around.

 

That's the one I was referring to. Couldn't remember what name it went by. I think that, between Peniston and Meadowhall, there as a plan to operate a line along the Rother Valley in South Yorkshire through the proposed Rother Valley Country Park. That would have been confusing if it had taken off!

 

Two factors in the demise of Dinting were BR wanting a fortune to retain the main line connection (which they in fact took out when Dinting couldn't afford the increased fee) and the very real fear that the Manchester-Glossop/Hadfield line would be converted into a tramway as part of Metrolink and would no longer be part of the national rail network. Ironically the former director of Dinting who threatened to build houses on the site died shortly after the railway centre closed and moved to Ingrow.

 

Why did he move to Ingrow following his death ?

Bob.

 

The railway centre moved to Ingrow!

 

I visited Dinting a few times in the 1980s, one of my memories was an industrial 0-4-0 tank and Blue Peter giving double headed brake van rides. Blue Peter completed its part of the run with a couple of "chuffs", the return run was with the 0-4-0 working very hard and doing a lot of slipping, trying to propel Blue Peter. Bittern was in the back of the shed in fairly poor condition, although there were some steps leading up to the footplate, so you could go and sit in the drivers seat and imagine you were roaring down the East Coast Mail Line.

 

Well I’ll give you a preservation project that had no less than three restoration sites in operation before any shovels broke ground.
The Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society & it’s associated group, the Bon-Accord Locomotive Society operated at three sites in the Aberdeen area prior to starting construction & tracklaying at Milton of Crathes.
The first site was part of the old SAI Sandilands chemical works by Aberdeen Beach. Two buildings were offered for use free of charge by then site owners Scotoil. The Scotoil name gave rise to confusion with ‘Scotrail’ following a typo in Heritage Railway magazine & actually did result in confused enthusiasts turning up at Aberdeen Station looking for ‘Bon-Accord. There was one public opening on one Saturday afternoon in 1999 prior to the premises having to be evacuated due to redevelopment, (the site is now a retail park).
‘Bon-Accord’ (in bits) moved along with a GNSR coach to a disused cattle court in Lower Deeside, which whilst not sounding very inviting provided the covered accommodation required to complete it’s restoration. That site was last used in 2010, but did see a few pre-arranged visits by groups of enthusiasts.
The third site was euphemistically known as the Echt Light Railway, because it was near Echt. This was home to D9551, D2134, BEMU 79998 & 9, LMS GUV 37909 & more, but being an industrial site, public visits were a no-no. The final items left there in 2008/9.
These premises were just not used for storage, genuine restoration was undertaken.