The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is situated in a remote corner of South-West Lakeland, on the Cumbrian coast, and runs for seven miles through both the vales of the Rivers Mite and Esk, until it reaches the village of Boot, nestled in the heart of Eskdale.

The line originally opened as a 3 foot gauge railway in 1875 to carry stone from quarries in Eskdale to the junction with the Furness Railway at Ravenglass. The railway soon died, and was abandoned just over thirty years later. The famous model builder, WJ Bassett-Lowke, visited the old line and saw the potential of having a new 15" gauge line, similar to those at Eaton Hall and Duffield Bank.

In 1915, Sans Pareil arrived from Oslo and was soon followed by Sir Arthur Heywood's Katie and Bassett-Lowke's Colossus the next year. Muriel and Ella, two Heywood engines from Duffield Bank, arrived a few years later with the majority of that railway's rolling stock. Sir Aubrey Brocklebank, named after a famous local landowner, also arrived later and prove very useful. The three Heywood sisters were pressed into work on granite trains, from Beckfoot quarry, to Murthwaite crusing plant to Ravenglass.

Katie left in 1919, and in the early 1920s, the "Crewe Tractor", a strange Internal Combustion Locomotive with a Ford Model-T engine arrived. It later became ICL No. 1, and ICL No. 2 arrived not long afterwards, utilising parts of Ella. In 1923, a Greenly-designed engine named River Esk arrived, and was used on heavy passenger trains. Muriel was rebuilt into a tender engine named River Irt in 1927, while the remains of Sans Pareil, Colossus and Sir Aubrey Brocklebank were cannibalised into the first River Mite. This was unsuccessful and only lasted for ten years.

In the late 1920s, three identical tractors arrived, with Fordson engines, and were used on the granite trains. A standard gauge branch was laid from Ravenglass to Murthwaite, meaning that the engines now only had to bring the granite to the crusher. One of the tractors was extended and given a fake steam outline, and nicknamed Pretender. River Irt, River Esk and Pretender struggled gamely on, alongside ICL No. 1 and the two granite tractors. War stopped traffic, and the line began to fall into ruin. The granite tractors were cannibalised to form what is now called Quarryman, and in 1960, the Keswick Granite Company put the line up for sale.

The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preservation Society and The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Company were formed and purchased the line and all of it's assets. A new diesel, Royal Anchor, was bought for light work, and orders were placed for a steam engine, River Mite, which used parts of River Esk's old steam-powered tender and a diesel, Shelagh of Eskdale, incorporating parts of ICL No. 2. During the 1970s, Royal Anchor was sold on, and, to celebrate the centenery, a new radio system was installed, the Silver Jubilee railcar was constructed and the railway built their own locomotive, Northern Rock, which is considered to be the strongest 15" gauge engine in the world.

Ian Fraser donated a 2 foot gauge engine named Bonnie Dundee to the railway, and it was re-gauged and now runs lighter trains. Synolda, twin of Sans Pareil was donated to the railway and became part of the museum collection. In the 1980s, Lady Wakefield, a strong diesel was constructed, and both Cyril, a Lister diesel and Greenbat, a battery-powered shunter were acquired. Pretender was re-constructed as a modern diesel and renamed Perkins.

When Ian Fraser died, he gave the railway a steam engine that they had built for him, and it's name is Flower of the Forest. The workshops now has its own shunter, Les, and a long-term project to reconstruct Katie using the original frames nears completion.

Currently, the line plays host to 8 steam engines and 10 internal combustion locomotives. The latest engine is Douglas Ferreira, built in 2005 as memorial project for the long-serving General Manager who passed away several years ago. This is now the flagship of the diesel fleet.

Engines available for traffic/servicable

River Esk

River Mite

Northern Rock

Synolda (static display)

Douglas Ferreira

Shelagh of Eskdale (p-way duties)

Perkins (p-way duties)

Quarryman (p-way duties)

Cyril (p-way duties)

Les (workshop pilot)

Blacolvesley (in storage)

Engines being mended or worked on

River Irt (winter overhaul of chassis)

Katie (reconstruction)

Lady Wakefield (engine rebuild)

Engines in storage and/or in need of work

Flower of the Forest (needs new boiler)

ICL No. 1 (needs restoration)

Greenbat (needs new batteries)