World’s oldest operating narrow-gauge loco to star at rail event

Train-maker Alstom has announced the inclusion of narrow-gauge exhibits at a major event it will host celebrating 200 years of the modern railway.

The Greatest Gathering, which will take place at its Litchurch Lane Works from 1 to 3 August, will be the world’s largest-ever gathering of historic and modern rolling stock.

It forms part of the wider festivities for Railway 200, a year-long celebration marking the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825 – and a journey that gave birth to the modern railway.

Ahead of the event, a team of volunteers from Alstom, Ffestiniog Railway and Statfold Barn Railway will install a 2ft (610 mm) demonstration line on the site of Britain’s biggest railway factory.

Prince, the oldest operating narrow-gauge locomotive in the world – built in 1863 – will then be able to haul passengers in two of the Ffestiniog Railway’s original carriages.

Recently overhauled to take part in both Railway 200 and Ffestiniog Railway 70th anniversary celebrations, Prince has been a key part of the world’s oldest narrow-gauge railway since its delivery over 160 years ago.

It was the first steam locomotive to operate on the Welsh railway when it was rescued from closure 70 years ago.

After the event, Prince will return to its home in North Wales to recreate those first steps in UK railway preservation.

A narrow-gauge railway is one where the track width is less than the usual standard gauge.

A key part of the railway story over the last 200 years belongs to the many and varied smaller gauge railways which transported goods and passengers, often in more challenging terrain than their larger, standard gauge cousins.

Joining Prince on the demonstration track will be Trangkil No. 4, the last narrow-gauge steam locomotive built in the UK for industrial use in 1971.

Manufactured in Leeds and exported for use on the Trangkil Sugar Mill in Indonesia, the locomotive returned to the UK in 2004, where it is part of the Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth.

In addition to the 2 ft gauge railway, Britain’s biggest rail celebration will present a complete minimum-gauge railway, inspired by Sir Arthur Heywood’s experimental railway at Duffield Bank near Derby.

The 15 in gauge railway will feature Katie, the first locomotive built by Sir Arthur for the Eaton Hall Railway in 1896 and now owned by the Ravenglass and Eskdale Preservation Society.

Katie will be joined by Anne, built more than 100 years later by Exmoor Steam Railway and operating at Litchurch Lane courtesy of the Perrygrove Railway.

All of these locomotives will be among more than 50 rolling stock exhibits from the past, present and future of the railways at The Greatest Gathering, which will also feature miniature railways.

Elsewhere, entrants to the Railway Challenge, organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, will showcase the skills, expertise, knowledge and business acumen of rising stars in the rail industry.

Now in its 14th year, it requires participants to design and manufacture a railway locomotive in accordance with a set of strict rules and a detailed technical specification.

Students from the University of Derby, along with Alstom apprentices and graduates, will present The Derby Express at The Greatest Gathering, adjacent to the University of Sheffield’s locomotive.

A full list of exhibits planned for Alstom presents The Greatest Gathering can be found on the event’s official website: http://www.alstom.com/greatest-gathering.