Get the low-down on the fictional Eln Valley Railway.
The Eln Valley Railway is a heritage railway located in the northern Lake District. We run trains throughout the year from the village of Elnspring in the heart of the vale of Elndale down to the City of Carlisle on the border. However, we have a junction at the village of Eln Ghyll, the Lake District's northern frontier, and two lines branch off from the main here to go to Elnford, a small fishing port on the Solway Firth, and Maryport, to connect with main-line services there.
Being a heritage railway, you'd expect the traffic would be 100% passenger - it isn't the case on the EVR. There is a colliery to the south of Elnspring, which now serves as the railway's source of coal and an iron ore mine near Eln Ridge. There is also a small slate quarry on the shore of Elnmere and farm traffic is handled by rail, too.
EARLY DAYS
In early 1890, representatives from the administration teams of the Furness, Cleator & Workington and Maryport & Carlisle Railways met to discuss the possible building of a railway line from Maryport to the hills of far Elndale, where
All agreed that the line would be beneficial to all, producing lots of traffic, and it was decided that a bill would have to go through parliament.
In 1892, permission was finally gained to begin construction of the railway, when the Elndale Railway Act was passed. By Christmas that year, the line as far as Eln Ridge, one of the most north-west mountains of the valley was built. A workmen’s village was built here, and was christened Eln Ridge, after the great peak towering over it.
1893 came and went, and now the line went through Eln Ghyll, a great ravine which carries the River Eln out to sea, passed the shores of
The line then continued south from the lake in 1894 and to the main terminus of Elnspring. The line to the mines would come round with Eln Pike and to the mines at the head of the valley. The valley was officially renamed the
The first locomotive arrived in late 1894 from Sharp, Stewart of Manchester, and was paid for by the Furness Railway. It was a 0-6-0 Class 7 tender engine, and was named Simon, after the Furness Railway representative on the board of directors. Several six-wheeled coaches and a host of mineral wagons arrived, too, and Simon was soon hard at work.
By the next year it was clear that there was too much work for just one locomotive, so Eln Hall, a Barclay 0-4-0ST and Elnmere, a Sharp, Stewart Class 92 0-6-2T arrived. Eln Hall was the residence of the manager of the line, and has been passed down from manager to manager ever since.
The engine team worked very well together. One was usually kept in reserve at Elnspring, but by the turn of the century, all three were being used all the time, every day. It was decided that a spare engine was desperately needed, and Fletcher, Jennings & Co. of Whitehaven was contracted to build a small 0-4-0ST engine.
It came out of the workshops quickly and was named Jenny, after the manager’s wife. It proved to be excellent, and reliable when called upon. It would usually take turns with another of the tank engines to do shorter runs from the iron ore mines to Eln Ghyll.
The freight traffic was going strong. So strong that all four engines were needed to work it, leaving no engines available for passenger work. The Maryport & Carlisle railway stepped in, putting a 2-4-0 tender engine named Catherine at Elnspring and an 0-4-2 tender engine named Mary at Maryport.
In 1907, there was a shed built by the Furness Railway at Bothel for some of it’s engines to be stationed there to help with all of the iron ore work. Both mines were churning out tonnes of the stuff everyday, so it was heavy loads for the engines.
When 1910 came around, limestone was discovered near Elnspring, so a line was made to a new quarry there. The quarry was doomed from the start, and was below funding at all times.
The next year, a new company was born. The Eln Iron Ore Railway Company was made, and all four engines now belonged to them. Who they officially belonged to before this date is unknown. They then built a new iron ore mine in the depths of Eln Ghyll.
A small slate quarry by Elnmere station opened in 1912. A small train of trucks left the station every week full of top quality slate.
The Great War broke out in
“Neddy”, a new FR 0-6-0T was bought from Sharp, Stewart to aid the EIORC’s engines, and soon the Maryport & Carlisle disowned the passenger services on the line.
During the war, the line received no further government funding, and great storms took hold over winter, and the Eln Ghyll iron ore mine was closed for safety reasons.
Engines 1 & 3, Simon & Elnmere both needed desperate repairs, the three unreliable shunters must brave the rest of the war.
The war ended, but several years went by and Jenny & Neddy were sent to work Furness Iron
When the “Big Four” were formed, the line fell into the property of the LMS, and Danny, a new LMS 0-6-0T 3F “Jinty” arrived to help Eln Hall, but this was only temporary. The limestone quarry closed and the line was decided to be pulled up from Bullgill to Eln Ghyll.
By 1927, the whole line was being dismantled, as it was thought to be a waste of time. Simon was sent to
In 1930, an assistant director of the LMS heard of a large coal deposit at the head of the valley, and it was decided that the line would be reopened, although this time from
NEW BEGINNINGS
In 1933, the line reopened as the
The Eln Valley Spotters, a group of railway enthusiasts formed at this time. They are still going to this day, and their numbers are stronger than ever.
The following year, Elnspring gained a station pilot on the form of Number Two, a small LMS 0-4-0T. Even so, there was too much traffic for two engines to cope with.
The branch to Elnford was opened in 1935, and Sammy arrived as the goods engine for trips to the Harbour. The team managed well, but Sammy was usually called to do long trips from the colliery to the Harbour, which meant longer trains to compensate for fewer journeys.
Two more engines were hired in 1938, an Ivatt 2-6-2T from the LMS and a Grange Class from GWR. Both were meant to be returned the following year but the Second World War broke out and the railway was unable to send them back.
With the outbreak of the war, Number Two was sent to
During the war, a new engine known as Winston who was a prototype War Department express engine was donated to the line. It was a very effective engine and worked well with the two GWR engines.
Number Two limped home during the Blitz and was patched up by the engineers, but unfortunately, the valley was bombed by Nazi planes in an attempt to cut off the colliery. All were evacuated, and Winston and Number Two were taking the last evacuation train over the viaduct when the Nazis struck. Both engines fell into the Ghyll with the viaduct, although all coaches and passengers stayed safely on firm ground.
By 1948 British Railways had taken over and so assumed command of the railway. The following year the viaduct had been restored and the engines could be returned to Elnspring.
HRH Princess Elizabeth opened the line in 1950 as the “Eln Valley Branch”. A new special train, the Lake District Express would run every week from London and be switched onto the Eln Valley line, running to Elnspring. The passengers would spend the night in the valley, and the next day the train would return home.
1951 came and the Lake District Express was a huge success, prompting the arrival of
In 1952, British Railways then stationed several engines at Carlisle Upperby shed to also work the line. These included the Princess Coronation Class City of Carlisle, Fowler 4P tanks, Fairburn 4MT tanks and Standard Class 4 tanks.
2508 was the main workhorse of the engine fleet and needed repairs. Ivatt decided upon a complimentary conversion to his new 2MT tank, of which the engine was the predecessor and prototype of.
In 1960, a new tank engine named Jade arrived as a light engine, for small goods or passenger trains, especially suited for winter timetables when tourists were sparse.
1964 brought an old face back to the valley. Danny returned and was used as a general go-between for Sammy and Jimmy. He would move the coal trucks from Elnspring to Eln Ghyll.
The newly formed Eln Valley Mountain Rescue team then bought Danny as their private engine, for use on the Eln Pike Mountain Railway. He was still used on the EVR, although often called away to deal with emergencies on the Fell.
In 1966, another light tank engine named Emma was brought to help Jade. She proved to be versatile, and with the end of steam imminent, allowed Eln Grange to be sent to
With 1968, diesels arrived. D5220 was the new express diesel, with Class 08s being the pilots, shunters and goods engines. Arthur was the heavy goods diesel, with sets of Class 110s being the primary passenger trains.
The line was in peril of closing in 1972 when visitor numbers began to plummet rapidly. Jade was stored safely at
In 1975, Sammy was sent to work at an open cast in
Danny remained on the top section of the line, from Elnspring to Eln Pike Summit. The Elnspring-Carlisle line and Eln Ghyll-Elnford lines were officially closed at the end of 1975 and just left to decay and rot.
A NEW DAWN
In the 1980s, the Eln Valley Spotters disbanded and some of the valley’s residents moved to
In 1993, the Eln Valley Spotters reunited for the line’s 100th birthday, and had talks about reopening the line as a heritage railway, although they did not have enough funds to do so.
By the Millennium the Eln Valley Mountain Rescue team donated Danny to the Eln Valley Spotters, and it was then that they decided to begin to clear up the route.
The open cast in Lancashire closed in 2001 and Sammy was sent back to the
Jimmy was cleaned up in 2002 and returned to steam, along with Sammy and Danny. Restoration work begins on
By 2003 Emma was back in service and some coaches were bought from Virgin Trains and First Great Western. Emma and Jade were pulling light passenger services, while Danny and Jimmy were toiling to work on the Elnford branch. Sammy was back at the reopened colliery with long runs to
By January 2004,
In May, Eln Grange also returned from
The Eln Valley Railway team bought Danny back in June and he once again is used to patrol the mountainside. He otherwise works once more as a go-between for Sammy and Jimmy.
The Elnspring station was completed in July, after lots of hard work and over time from lots of the railway staff.
By August,
In the Autumn,
Mid Winter came, but the line was still incredibly busy. One morning, there was a careless pile-up in the yard, involving Sammy,
2005 has so far proved to be our more successful on record. Old Maryport & Carlisle coaches were donated by the Derwent Railway Society for the new railway museum being built at Elnspring.
Also, Eln Hall and Elnmere were recovered from their storage sheds, and once they are both repaired will be put into the museum, too, along with Simon who was recently sent back from Tidshed.
By March the line was in need of more motive power so a Class 55 “Deltic” was bought. It was named Boris after the out-spoken Conservative MP for Henley, Mr Johnson, but also as it was stubborn, clumsy and rather dim-witted.
In the summer-time, the branch from Eln Ghyll to Maryport was opened, and has already seen high visitor numbers, which is very promising.
Another recent achievement has been the reopening of the slate trains from the small quarry by Elnmere. Trains now leave once a day packed with fine quality
The Autumn months brought four new additions – Alastair, No. 13 (now named Triumph), Marcus and
Trains run daily throughout the year, however from Late October to Mid December, Early January to Mid February and Late February to Easter, all services are diesel-hauled.
