Lea Bailey Light Railway

We have been invited to be part of a road making demonstration at Welland Steam Rally on 26th – 28th July 2013. This will involve our Simplex shuttling up and down a short length of temporary track hauling stone (from a steam-driven stone crusher) to the road head where a steam roller will ‘do the business’.

For the occasion we have been offered the loan of some 40 metres of lightweight track which we have collected from a private railway near Gloucester; of course we took the opportunity to look at this little gem. Our trackwork appeared on a small wagon propelled by a Clayton battery electric locomotive. The owner is a Lister enthusiast and in addition to 3 small diesel locomotives he has this delightful ‘Auto Truck’ (42019/1955) perfect for shunting small yards — there’s another one pre-WW2 here awaiting full restoration.

At Lea Bailey there was some shunting to do before the track could be loaded onto a flat wagon while stored on site. Before the event we have to check we have sufficient fishplates and bolts as we have inherited a couple of similar sections of our own.

Next: see what happened when the track and rolling stock were delivered to Welland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHknw-i1EfU

On 22nd June 2013 we organised the move of a wagon from the south end of Hawthorns Tunnel, Drybrook to Lea Bailey. While not insubstantial, it was small enough to pull out with Jack’s Land Rover and mount on a trailer winched up by Pat’s Land Rover. Apart from the enforced diversion via Mitcheldean, everything went perfectly and you can also enjoy the proceedings in the video clip below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MiFdFNl9bk

A second similar wagon followed the next day and once we have opened up the tipper doors, these will be ideal for laying ballast.