Elsecar Heritage Railway

Elsecar station on the left, shed to the right, on 11 August 2011

Elsecar Heritage Railway closed in mid 2020, surrendering its lease to Barnsley Council. The reasons for closure include lack of younger volunteers, then Covid hit. I have been told that the rolling stock of the railway has been removed, but that Barnsley want a steam railway as part of the presentation of the heritage of the area, which includes the only working Newcomen beam engine on its original site.

"Barnsley Museum have launched a fly-through reconstruction of the 19th century Elsecar industrial village.   The stunning fly-through is a digital rendering showing Elsecar and the surrounding area at its industrial peak around 1880 with ironworks, collieries, canals, railways and settlements all visible.   Prepared by Barnsley Museum and produced by digital creator Martin Moss of Dextra Digital, it is based on research carried out by Historic England as part of the Elsecar Heritage Action Zone, together with local volunteer historians and experts across the UK, which has transformed our understanding of the importance of Elsecar." (Industrial Heritage Networks, 30 June 2022)

Still from Elsecar 1880 - click to watch the YouTube video 

William (Sentinel 9599 of 1956) outside Elsecar shed in 2011
Elsecar seemed keen on Sentinels - see blog post for 7 Feb 2019 

The Mardy Monster (Peckett 2150 of 1954) in the yard in 2011

The beam of the Newcomen engine, with the pump end poking out of the wall

The Newcomen engine house, showing pump end of the beam in 2011

__________________________________________________

I was interviewed on the phone in May 2022 by a consultant, who was investigating for Barnsley why some railway attractions were viable & progressing.   The summary which I gave him for Tanfield was:

"Started 50 years ago by like minded people, who invested their time, money & energy.

Used discarded equipment; very sparing with money & no loans.

Wanted to use & preserve industrial skills in NE England.

Celebrate NE England's place in developing railways & steam loco.

Recognize northern coalfield on an existing colliery shed site.

Preserve industrial locos & present them publicly in the style of a NE minor railway.

Now formally established in 3 core principles on which we focus:

• the period 1920 to 1950

• industrial & minor railways

• locos built or used in NE England

Following these principles means that we present very cohesively & differently from most other railways.

The site was virtually abandoned by NCB - leaving only a loco shed and some track leading into it.

The site had considerable scope for development, including onto another railway route.

We have built & developed everything from nothing on the ground.

Started with no operation, then yard demos, then passenger trains on 1 mile, then 2, now 3 miles.

The railway last carried passengers in 1845; it now has 4 stations which we built in use.

The railway now has 4 sheds plus 2 workshops.

We own the freehold on Marley Hill site and the 1 mile of trackbed to Sunniside

We have long leases with DCC on 2 miles of trackbed & other sites.

We have good working relationships with all local councils.

We have a large number of locomotives, but only a few are in working order.   Others are historic items.   Many belong to individuals.

USPs

Tanfield Railway is now the oldest working line in the world, our section dating from 1725 (older parts 1622).

Marley Hill engine shed (1854) is now the oldest working standard gauge shed in the world.

We run over the oldest railway embankment and past the oldest railway bridge in the world.

We draw on an enclosed catchment area of Tyneside, Wearside, Durham & South Northumberland - around 1 million people.

We are a family attraction.

There are several competing venues in the area.

We have a well known & well liked product - the North Pole Express, which carries about 10000 each December, brings in about 40% of our income, & is heavily oversubscribed.

There are other events, including Halloween, but these bring in far less visitors & money.   Events can place very heavy demand on volunteers.

We have 4 catering outlets, 1 franchised, 1 on train, 1 serving only hot drinks & sweets, 1 unused; catering currently does not bring in as much as fares.

We run a relatively inexpensive operation, using 4 wheel carriages and small industrial locos.

We do virtually all of our maintenance across the sites, line and the trains.

We have well equipped workshops.

Compared with railways with ex mainline locos or bogie carriages, and considering in house maintenance & development, we chop a zero of most costs.

Our volunteers:

Age span teenage to late 80s

Very few ethnic minorities, which largely reflects the area

Mostly male, some women, most of whom do not work in engineering or train operation

Several younger volunteers have gone into engineering or railway jobs"