Statfold Barn Railway

Statfold Barn Railway
Locale	Tamworth, Staffordshire
Terminus	Statfold Barn Farm
Coordinates	52°39′19″N 1°38′43″W / 52.6552°N 1.6454°WCoordinates: 52°39′19″N 1°38′43″W / 52.6552°N 1.6454°W
Preserved operations
Length	1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge; 2 ft 6 in (762 mm); 2 ft (610 mm)
Preservation history
1985	opened

The Statfold Barn Railway is a mixed gauge railway of 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge, and 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge near Tamworth, Staffordshire.^[1] It is privately owned by Mr Graham Lee, former chairman of LH Group Services Ltd – which in 2005 bought what remained of the Hunslet Engine Company.

The 'Field Railway' is a dual 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge and 2 ft (610 mm) gauge line approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long with a "balloon loop" at one end with a station at the other end. There is a passing loop halfway along the line which has a single platform 'Oak Tree Halt' and a siding heading off to storage facilities in the 'Grain Store'.

There is also a separate loop line 'Garden Railway' consisting of 2 ft (610 mm) gauge track only. Drivers of mixed-gauge trains must take care not to pass the point where this line diverges or derailment will occur.

The running shed has a triple gauge line leading down into the standard gauge storage sidings and then across the Field Railway where a short stub leads into a field.

The railway has an extensive workshop where locomotives are built and restored.

As at March 2010 some 51 locomotives were based on the Statfold Barn Railway, either in an active condition or waiting for restoration or rebuild.

The railway is not open to the public, but a number of “Enthusiasts’ Days” are held each year and interested enthusiasts may apply for an invitation to one of these events.

Steam locomotives

Statfold Barn Railway Open Day 2013

• Two ft gauge Indonesian Orenstein & Koppel (Works No. 10705, 1923) 0-6-0WTT Max, Sragi No. 14 from Sragi Sugar Mill, Pekalongan, Central Java. Now in full working order.
• Krauss built 2 ft gauge 0-4-2T (Works No. 4045, 1899), Sragi No.1 from Sragi Sugar Mill. Now in full working order having been restored in 2008.
• Orenstein & Koppel Mallet 0-4-4-0T (Works No. 1473, 1905). Built for the 30 inch gauge Pakis Baru Sugar Mill in Pati, Central Java, Indonesia, as their No.5. Returned to traffic in March 2007 after rebuild and in service on passenger trains at Statfold Barn.
• Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik Mallet 0-4-4-0TT (Works No. 4878, 1930). Built for the 24 inch gauge Jatibarang Sugar Mill in Brebes, Indonesia, as their No.9. Completed overhaul in 2011 and now in full working order.
• Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0WTT, 30 inch gauge Pakis Baru No. 1 (Works No. 614, 1900). Returned to traffic in June 2006 and now used on passenger trains on open days.
• Hunslet 0-4-2ST Trangkil No. 4 (Works No. 3902, 1971), built for 30 inch railway system of Trangkil Sugar Mill at Pati, Central Java, then re-gauged to 24 in. In regular service on the Statfold Barn Railway and has been loaned out to the Amerton Railway.
• Hunslet 0-4-0ST Statfold (Works No. 3903, 2005) and Jack Lane (Works No. 3904, 2005). Modern Hunslet locomotives, built to the original drawings for the 2-foot gauge Hunslet "Quarry" class locomotives as used in the North Wales slate quarries, many of which are now in preservation.^[2] Both undergoing overhaul.
• Harrogate Gas Works Peckett 0-6-0ST (Works No 2050, 1944), 24in. gauge. Purchased from the Bredgar and Wormshill Railway in Kent. In regular service on the railway.
• Two Baldwin Class 10-12-D 4-6-0PT engines (Works numbers 44657 of 1916 and 45190 of 1917) acquired from the Ryam Sugar Company in Bihar state, India.^[3] Both awaiting restoration.
• Davenport 0-4-0 (Works No. 1586, 1917) also from the Ryam Sugar Company in Bihar. Restored to working order in 2015.
• Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0WT+T Alpha (Works No. 1173, 1924) . Restored to working order in 2016.

• 
  Dual gauge track
• 
  Jack Lane of Hunslet and traction engine of Marshall
• 
  Marchlyn of Avonside in front of 'Sybil Mary' of Hunslet
• 
  Isibutu of W. G. Bagnall
• 
  Minas de Aller No. 2 of Corpet in Paris
• 
  Hunslet
• 
  Harrogate of Harrogate Gas Works of Peckett & Sons

Diesel locomotives

Orenstein & Koppel 20777 ex Germany Navy(Keil), ex Norden Clay Works, Dorset, ex Durley Light Railway.

Passenger stock

In May 2014 the railway obtained a rake of four passenger coaches, originally built in 1984 for the Thorpe Park theme park, and latterly used on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway^[4]

References

1. Little, Lawson (2008). Annual Guide to Narrow Gauge and Miniature Railways in the British Isles and Ireland: 2008. Narrow Gauge Railway Society.
2. "Statfold Barn Railway Guide & Stock List", Issue 2
3. http://www.statfoldbarnrailway.co.uk/news.php
4. L&B website article(retrieved 28 May 2014)

External links

• Official website
• Report and photos of a visit to the railway
• Videos of the railway on 2 June 2007 from YouTube: part 1 part 2