The
Helston Railway Preservation Company is a
heritage railwayA heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past A heritage railway (United Kingdom and Australia),...
that aims to rebuild the
Helston branch line|}Helston Railway was a railway branch line in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It opened in 1887 and closed in 1962. The line branched from the Cornish Main Line at Gwinear Road railway station and ran south to Helston....
that linked Gwinear Road on the Cornish Main Line) to
HelstonHelston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula. It is the most southerly town in the UK, being around 1½ miles south of Penzance. In 2001 the town celebrated the 800th anniversary of the granting of its Charter, making it the...
,
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Work is concentrated around
Trevarno GardensTrevarno is a country estate in south-west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated near the village of Crowntown, two miles north-east of Helston.The estate is a tourist attraction and open to the public...
, and just under a of track has been relaid at Trevarno. The line is being built entirely by volunteers and is funded by donations and membership subscriptions, and by members who buy shares in the Helston Railway Preservation Company Ltd.
The
Helston Railway Preservation Company is a
heritage railwayA heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past A heritage railway (United Kingdom and Australia),...
that aims to rebuild the
Helston branch line|}Helston Railway was a railway branch line in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It opened in 1887 and closed in 1962. The line branched from the Cornish Main Line at Gwinear Road railway station and ran south to Helston....
that linked Gwinear Road on the Cornish Main Line) to
HelstonHelston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula. It is the most southerly town in the UK, being around 1½ miles south of Penzance. In 2001 the town celebrated the 800th anniversary of the granting of its Charter, making it the...
,
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Overview
Work is concentrated around
Trevarno GardensTrevarno is a country estate in south-west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated near the village of Crowntown, two miles north-east of Helston.The estate is a tourist attraction and open to the public...
, and just under a of track has been relaid at Trevarno. The line is being built entirely by volunteers and is funded by donations and membership subscriptions, and by members who buy shares in the Helston Railway Preservation Company Ltd. The railway is open to the public at Trevarno estate, where an entrance fee is payable. Current members of the Helston Railway can receive 25% discount on entrance fees at Trevarno, upon production of a valid membership card.
Rolling stock
The line has five rail vehicles on site: a two-car
Park RoyalDating its origins back to 1889, Park Royal Vehicles along with its Leeds-based subsidiary Charles H. Roe was one of Britain's leading coachbuilders and bus manufacturers based at Park Royal, West London, UK.-Associated Commercial Vehicles:...
(
BR Class 103The British Rail Class 103 diesel multiple units were built by Park Royal Vehicles with diesel engines by British United Traction . Ordered in the first half of 1955, 20 of these sets were built by Park Royal at the Crossley Motors works in Stockport of the ACV Group. They consisted of a power car...
)
DMUA diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
, two Ruston & Hornsby 165DS 0-4-0 diesel shunters and a BR 20 ton standard
brake vanBrake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK and Australia for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard...
. All of these vehicles are owned by members of the Helston Railway Diesel Group who are actively restoring all of these vehicles.
Park Royal Class 103
The Helston Railway Diesel Group's first purchase was a Class 103 DMU, one of only two left in preservation and the only one in a near working condition. It is currently under restoration as when purchased off the
West Somerset RailwayThe West Somerset Railway is a railway line that originally linked and in Somerset, England. It opened in 1862 and was extended from Watchet to by the Minehead Railway in 1874. Although just a single track, improvements were needed in the first half of the twentieth century to accommodate the...
it was little more than a shell. Works are now well under way with a hoped working date of Summer 2009. It is currently in British Rail green livery. The individual cars are DMBS, 50143 and DTCL, 56169. On 12 October 2008 one of the engines was started for the first time.
Ruston locomotive 327974
One of two Ruston shunter locomotive owned by the HRDG is number 327974. It is currently undergoing restoration and a livery repaint into BR Blue. It is at the moment the HRDG's only working locomotive.
Ruston locomotive 395305
The second of the Ruston 165DS 0-4-0 locomotives is build number 395305. It is currently undergoing restoration but spares for the other Rushton shunter have been sought from it. It is currently painted on BR Black livery.
BR 20 ton standard brake van
HRDG's newest purchase is a BR 20 Ton Standard Brake Van, B954673. It is in a very poor state and needs to undergo major restoration works to be brought into use. When finished it will emerge in Railfreight Grey livery.
External links