On my list of places I must get to was the obscure 'Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum' near Keswick in the Northern Lakes district of Cumbria in England. The Hilltop quarry mined principaly the hard granite of the area. The museum is an insight into the rugged existence of these sort of workings with a selection of 2ft gauge locos and rolling stock but also a huge ( and I Mean huge!) collection of excavators spread around the site. As the preserved railways come out of lockdown and the public are allowed back in they held a steam gala recently so it was a perfect time to make a visit Greeting us we arrived was Hudswell Clarke built 0-4-0ST 'CSR Co, No 19' works number 1056 of 1914 This was in charge of the first train of the day up the steep incline to the workface of th quarry At the top the diminutive Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST ( 3128 of 1918) Roger was shunting the quarry as a demonstration Lots of original rollin stock dating back to the earliest twentieth century are dotted around including many products built by Hudson and Decauville Brooklyn fell in love with this Shovel loader hopper more in a mo' Kev
The Quarry owner has all but ceased working it commercially as the licencing and planning permissions have become too onerous to work out but he happily told me if I ever wanted any granite it was not problem, he has got a lot! He is concentrating on the museum side for the future. Bagnall 0-4-0ST 'Wendy' was built as works no. 2091 of 1919 Diesel and battery electric locos are also present but I need to go back and identify which ones are which As well as the hoppers and tippler wagons Another Bagnall product is 'Sir Tom' WB 2135 of 1925. The locos in steam were a mix of resident engines and locos loaned by Statfold barn
The Excavators Where to start? Small Bigger Classic much more research needed with these And finally An old friend which has seen better days and deserves better. Standard gauge 0-4-0ST Avonside 1772 of 1918 'Askham Hall' was formerly based at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite railway and really needs some TLC Kev
Back in December most of the tourist lines in the U.K found themselves really busy running Santa specials. I know they can be a bit Naff but they bring in much needed revenue for the lines struggling after the Covid lockdowns. When Chelsea tried to book the ones local to us they were either sold out or charging exorbitant prices. They've still got spaces at Threlkeld she said whereupon Brooklyn went 'YES' So we went to the top of a mountain in the Cumbrian Fells in December to ride in open sided coaches! God it was cold and windy but it turned out to be a really good day. Resident Bagnall 0-4-0ST 'Sir Tom' was in charge. The coaches also had some Xmas decorations Not much protection from the elements here The Hunslet flame proof mine loco was parked on the spur Anyway I knocked up a short video. The July stuff was shot on the Canon EOS in video mode and the December footage on one of the Panasonics We'll be going again this year Kev
Last weekend was the summere 2024 Steam Gala in Perect weather This is the shot I meant to get last year. Sir Tom sits outside the running shed with the Cumbrian Fells rising steeply in the distance I took the family and we rode on the second train up the hill to the quarry behind Sir Tom. Halfway up the hill we stalled then started sliding back with the loco drivers spinning like mad until the train brakes kicked in! As an ex railwayman that got my pulse rising! Up in the quarry Isabel and Sybil hook on to take the train back down Peter and Sybil Mary crest the hill into the quarry Our big plan this visit was to walk the path up the hill to get to the excavator exhibits and the main workshop An old Euclid ( Stll fires up and runs if you put some batteries on it) The excavators are everywhere Another Euclid The prize possesion A Ruston Steam shovel that still runs on special days The main workshop is as rough and ready as the line to the quarry Kev
