Almond Valley Light Railway
Encyclopedia
The Almond Valley Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

 running at the Almond Valley Heritage Trust site at Livingston, Scotland
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...

. The railway operates at weekends between Easter and the end of September, and daily during some school holiday periods. There are two stations, both with waiting shelters and run round loops. A small two road loco shed is provided at the Heritage centre end of the line, there is a storage siding here also.

Locomotives

The line uses only internal combustion locomotives, it has never intended to use steam locomotives and therefore has no facilites for them. The railway is home to a number of electric locomotives (5 battery, 1 overhead), however, these are not used. All of the battery locomotive are likely to require new batteries before being used again.
Name Builder Type Date Works number Livery Notes/Current Status Photo
Oakbank No.2 Baldwin
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

4wWE 1902 unknown (black) Worked at the Oakbank Oil Company on one of the first electric railways in Scotland. Museum exhibit inside heritage centre building. Fitted with trolley pole to collect current from the Oakbank System's overhead wires. On loan from National Museums of Scotland
National Museums of Scotland
National Museums Scotland is the organization that runs several national museums of Scotland. It is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collections of natural sciences, decorative arts, world cultures, science and technology, and Scottish history and...

.
Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...

0-4-0DM 1940 2270 Green. Worked at the RNAD Broughton Moor
RNAD Broughton Moor
RNAD Broughton Moor is a decommissioned Royal Naval Armaments Depot located between Great Broughton and Broughton Moor in the County of Cumbria, England....

 depot in Cumberland. Fitted with air braking. Occasionally used on passeger train.
Greenwood
Greenwood & Batley
Greenwood & Batley were a large engineering manufacturer with a wide range of products, including armaments, electrical engineering, and printing and milling machinery. They also produced a range of battery-electric railway locomotives under the brand name Greenbat...

4wBE 1941 1698 Green. Flameproof "steeple cab" battery electric. Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

 and ROF Bridgwater
ROF Bridgwater
Royal Ordnance Factory Bridgwater was a factory which produced high explosives for munitions. It was located between the villages of Puriton and Woolavington in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, UK; but was always known as ROF Bridgwater, after the nearest town...

 (fleet no.B3583). Has been cosmetically restored. Stored.
Barclay Andrew Barclay 4wDM 1970 557 Blue. ex-ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...

 explosives factories at Ardeer
Nobel Enterprises
Nobel Enterprises is a chemicals business based at Ardeer, near to the North Ayrshire town of Stevenston in Scotland. It specialises in nitrogen-based propellants and explosives and nitrocellulose-based products such as varnishes and inks...

 and Powfoot. Fitted with air braking. This locomotive is in full working order and usually operates the passenger train.
Brook Victor 4wBE 1972 ? Yellow (weathered) Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

 (fleet no.18). Lightweight battery locomotive for moving explosive products around within the storage bunkers. These locos were referred to at Bishopton as "tractors". Stored.
Brook Victor 4wBE 1972 612 Yellow (weathered) Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

 (fleet no.20). Lightweight battery locomotive for moving explosive products around within the storage bunkers. These locos were referred to at Bishopton as "tractors". Stored.
Brook Victor 4wBE 1974 698 Yellow (weathered) Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

 (fleet no.38). Lightweight battery locomotive for moving explosive products around within the storage bunkers. These locos were referred to at Bishopton as "tractors". Stored.
Brook Victor 4wBE 1974 700 Yellow (weathered) Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

 (fleet no.42). Lightweight battery locomotive for moving explosive products around within the storage bunkers. These locos were referred to at Bishopton as "tractors". Stored.
Scruffy Hunslet Engine Company
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...

4wDM 1973 7330 Red Stored. Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

.
Baguley-Drewry 4wDM 1980 3572 Yellow Acquired in February 2004. Previously worked at the RNAD Dean Hill naval depot in Hampshire. Fitted with air braking. Undergoing overhaul.
Simplex Motor Rail
Motor Rail
Motor Rail was a British locomotive-building company, based in Bedford. Formed in 1911 as The Motor Rail & Tramcar Co Ltd, they built petrol and diesel engined locomotives, mainly narrow gauge. During World War I over 900 locos were supplied for use on temporary military supply railways...

4wDM 1981 40SPF522 Yellow (weathered) Worked at ROF Bishopton
ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Explosive ROF. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in Scotland....

 and ROF Bridgwater
ROF Bridgwater
Royal Ordnance Factory Bridgwater was a factory which produced high explosives for munitions. It was located between the villages of Puriton and Woolavington in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, UK; but was always known as ROF Bridgwater, after the nearest town...

. Latterly cannibalised for spares at Bishopton. Stored.

Rolling Stock

The railway's passenger stock consists of three air braked coaches constructed on-site using ex-RNAD wagon underframes. An ex-RNAD all steel bogie brake van also forms part of the passenger train. In addition to this, the railway has a small selection of ex-RNAD wagons (two tank wagons, a covered van and an open wagon).

Track

The railway's trackwork consists of flat bottomed rail
Rail profile
The rail profile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to the length of the rail.In all but very early cast iron rails, a rail is hot rolled steel of a specific cross sectional profile designed for use as the fundamental component of railway track.Unlike some other uses of...

 mounted using pandrol
Pandrol
Pandrol is a British company, which manufactures clips used on rail tracks.- Overview :The was patented in 1957 by a Norwegian railways engineer, Per Pande Rolfsen. Nowadays it is common worldwide. Pandrol has manufacturing plants in 12 countries and 82 markets. Over 240 railway systems in 91...

 clips onto Costain
Costain Group
Costain Group plc is a British construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead. It was part of the original Channel Tunnel consortium and is involved in Private Finance Initiative projects.-History:...

 concrete sleepers (wooden sleepers are used for pointwork), all track is ex-RNAD. There are some seven sets of points on the route, all of which are manually controlled by an ajacent lever. The gauge is two foot six inches.

Signalling

The railway operates on the "one engine in steam" principle and has no signals. A single line token is carried by the locomotive using the line.

External links

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