A brand new locomotive was neededEven as the River Mite entered service in 1967, the increasing traffic on the railway meantthat there would be no spare engine for the summer season. Proposals for a newlocomotive was made, based on the tried and tested boiler design of the River Esk, butwith changes to styling unlike the locomotives built for Ireland, India and the Andes. Thus a half-size, narrow gauge locomotive made to match the covered coaches meant allthe parts were more substantial than the third-size, main line designswhich preceeded them.

Trials of Northern ChiefBefore the design was committed toconstruction a visit was made in November1971 by Northern Chief from the Romney, Hythe &Dymchurch Railway to examine performance. Althoughthe new Ravenglass locomotive was not fitted with a superheatedboiler, like Northern Chief, it was completed with six drivingwheels, leaf springs and a pilot valve regulator.

Built at RavenglassThe boiler was the last ever made by the Hunslet Engine Companyin Leeds, but virtually every other component came to Ravenglassas a piece of flat steel plate, or a rough raw casting, to bemachined to size and fitted in the railway’s own workshops. The work took Chief Engineer Ian Smith and his assistants, David Clay and Ian Page, three years from 1973 and when they lit the very first fire in her boiler, she raised steam and was takenup the line without further adjustments.

What’s in a name?The locomotive was initially going to be called after Sir ArthurHeywood who had developed 15" (381mm) as the MinimumGauge Railway. However, when outside funding was needed tocomplete the project (with support from the English Tourist Boardand the then Mutual Building Society) the Northern Rock wasdeemed appropriate as the railway had been built and had survivedfor so many years by carrying stone.

From Cumbria to the Far East

One of Northern Rock’s many admirers was Mr Nagae from Japan. His project was to lay a

15" gauge railway around Niji-no-Sato country park atShu-jen-ji 70 miles south west of Tokyo, and the rollingstock was to be made in Britain. Work began in the newworkshops at Ravenglass on two steam locomotives likeNorthern Rock. The first, a look-alike machine calledNorthern Rock 11, was delivered in 1990 followed in 1992by Cumbria, which was mechanically identical but withdifferent bodywork and dark green livery. The two sisterlocomotives continue to run every day of the year onthis delightful line in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

Above improvementNorthern Rock has now given yet another generation of visitors continued and reliable service in the everchanging conditions which affect the Ravenglass &Eskdale Railway. Because the railway operates withinmany of the regulations applicable to main line railways,air brakes have been fitted, otherwise minimal alterationsare a tribute to her designer and builders.

Length: 24ftCompleted: 1976

Wheel arrangement: 2-6-2Livery: Muscat green

Ravenglass & Eskdale Rai lway

NORTHERN ROCK

Commissioning ceremony

at Ravenglass, 1976

Present day Northern Rock on the marshes

Northern Rock during building, 1976

Scale modelsRiver Esk was designed by engineer HenryGreenly who had worked with Bassett-Lowkes on model train designs of manydifferent scales to run in playrooms,gardens, country estates, fairgrounds andexhibitions. In 1915 the Eskdale Line hadreopened as ‘The Smallest Public Railway inthe World’ using their quarter scalelocomotives for passengers and Heywood’s forgoods. If loads were heavy however the littleengines often needed the passengers to get out and helpto push them up hills! The goods engine would also run out of steamif required to run fast on busy days.

Built at ColchesterRiver Esk was specified to be the equal of two of the smallerlocomotives, the boiler being bigger than many contemporarynarrow gauge designs, as it had to pull 25 tons of stone from thequarry and return with 160 passengers. She was was built at Davey,Paxman & Co Ltd the very versatile engineers who built everythingfrom traction engines to refrigeration units for cargo ships. Basedon this design Davey, Paxman & Co Ltd made further one thirdscale locomotives used on the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railwayand went on to develop diesel engines like the ‘Valenta’ used topower British Rail’s High Speed Train Fleet.

Krauss of Munich built a fleet of machines similar to River Esk forexhibitions and pleasure parks and they are still found around theworld today from Germany and Austria to Spain and India.

Problems of a pioneerWhen first delivered on 18th December 1923 River Esk hadpioneering poppet valve cylinders and Davey, Paxman & Co Ltd’spatent valve gear. Unfortunately they gave problems until they werereplaced five years later by Walschaerts valve gear used on mostcontemporary main line locomotives. However she was still atestbed for radical new ideas as the Yorkshire Engine Company thenfitted a steam powered tender: ‘The Poultney system’. This increasedher haulage ability from 25 to 50 tons of granite but when petrolpowered locomotives were introduced she was taken out of service and stored.

Lakeland’s special attractionAlthough River Esk only hauled stone for a few years she was oneof the things which attracted tourists to Eskdale as virtually everyother narrow gauge line in Britain had already closedto passengers. She was out of action from 1939 forboiler repairs, which were extended due to shortagesuntil 1952, but has operated every season sincerunning between 4,000 to 8,000 miles a year.

Ravenglass & Eskdale Rai lway

RIVER ESK

Tried and testedIn 1985 she won a award for combustion experiments usingthe ‘Gas Producer Combustion System’ which had been fittedto her new boiler for the day when supplies of good qualitysmokeless fuel dry up. She also visited the Romney Hythe &Dymchurch Railway to celebrate the 60th anniversary of herfellow locomotives, pulling the Paxman Jubilee Train, filled with workers past and present from the Colchester factory

where she was built. In recent years River Eskhauled the Royal Train when HRH PrincessAlexandra travelled on the Ravenglass &Eskdale Railway in 2009.

Length: 24ftCompleted: 1923

Wheel arrangement: 2-8-2Livery: British Railways

black

River Esk at the builders inColchester 1923

At Fishergroundearly 1960’s

River Esk Poultney tende

r

at Ravenglass, late 1920’s

Present day River Esk at

Dalegarth mid 70s’

The Minimum Gauge RailwayAlthough Arthur Heywood was born into awealthy banking family his interests were verypractical.At his country house at Duffield Bank hedecided to build the smallest practical railway that couldcarry passengers, or replace the horse, in factories, quarries and the army. “Man being an article of approximately standard size, it is clear there must be aminimum gauge which will be stable enough...15" gauge seems the smallest thatwill thoroughly insure safety in this respect.”

Powerful and fast Heywood built six locomotives in workshops behind the house (where therewere even tunnels, a viaduct and a foundry to cast metal!) The new engine wasdesigned to show “... how powerful and fast travelling an engine could be on the15" gauge.” The 0-8-0 tank locomotive had special wheelsets that swivelled to goround a 25' radius bend but no cab as “... a stout mackintosh is cheaper and farbetter for the driver.” It was called Muriel after his eldest daughter.

Muriel runs the trainsWhen the Minimum Gauge Railway at Duffield Bank was demonstrated to theArmy Engineers, the Royal Agricultural Society and many other important visitors,Heywood’s nine children ran the line: the boys drove the engines and the girls(organised by their big sister) clipped tickets and worked the signal boxes.

Requisitioned to RavenglassAfter Sir Arthur Heywood’s death in May 1916 his railway was sold and thelocomotives were requisitioned. The following summer Muriel was deliveredto Ravenglass when the Eskdale Line was finally re-gauged to Boot to servethe iron mines during the First World War. Although the Heywoodlocomotives Katie, Ella and Muriel could only plod along at slow speeds theycould pull great loads If however their simple ‘steam launch’ boilers went offthe boil the passengers were encouraged to pick heather! After the granitequarry reopened at Beckfoot, Muriel’s boiler was sent to power the rockdrills while her chassis was extended into an 0-8-2.

Ravenglass & Eskdale Rai lway

RIVER IRT

A new name for arejuvenated engine

In 1927 a new locomotive-type boiler andseparate tender for coke and water radicallychanged the appearance and capacity of Muriel.Her new appearance was rather squat, due tothe fitting of a model engine cab to thealready wide chassis, causing Chief Engineer

Ted Wright to exclaim “Did I order that?”after only sending a side elevation drawingfor the tender tank to be made.Renamed River Irt she was an instantsuccess as she pulled over 260 people inone special train (although the heather

picking days were over the driver stillneeded a stout mackintosh!) River Irt ran

reliably up to the outbreak of the SecondWorld War then was steamed up again when

hostilities ceased.

Another change for the betterBy the 1960’s River Irt was recognised not as anoddity but as an important part of Britain’s railwayheritage.After suggestions from railway volunteers,River Irt changed her appearance again in 1972 with a taller chimney, dome and a cab to match a newbogie tender. These improved the steaming of theboiler, the protection of the driver and matched the height of the covered coaches then coming into service.

Flower PowerAs the oldest locomotive on the line River Irthauled special trains to celebrate 100 Years ofGoods Trains and 125 Years of Passenger Operationson the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. She thenwent to the National Railway Museum as thecentrepiece of the 1981 Centenary of MinimumGauge Railways where she was viewed by HRH Prince of Wales and HRH Princess of Wales.This exhibition inspired the use of small railwaysfor public transport at the garden festivals of the1980’s and she went to Liverpool in 1984 andGateshead in 1990.

Length: 24ftCompleted: 1893

Wheel arrangement: 0-8-2Livery: Mid green

Circa 1960 at Dalegarth

River Irt at Dalegarth –between the wars

Present day Riv

er Irt

The first River MiteThere had been an earlier locomotive on theRavenglass & Eskdale Railway called River Mite.The big boiler on top of the chassis of twoof the scale model locomotives looked soungainly that the locals commented “Itmight go but then it might not!”Althoughtested in 1928 “... at 38mph without anytendency to roll” she was not a long-termsuccess and ten years later she was out ofuse and eventually scrapped.

Ravenglass & Eskdale Rai lway

RIVER MITE

Length: 24ftCompleted: 1966

Wheel arrangement: 2-8-2Livery: Furness Railway

dark red

Stopping the trainsDuring the 1970’s, River Mite was used to perfect thedevelopment of small, steam, air compressors to powerthe fail-safe airbrake equipment being fitted to all thetrains. It took three units to achieve complete reliability.

Travels afarOver the years River Mite has made many visits toother 15" gauge railways like the Romney, Hythe &Dymchurch and Bure Valley. The furthest afield was thevisit in 1998 with Northern Rock to the Dresden Park Railway in Germany to celebrate the Anniversary of Reunification. This line, like many Pioneer Railways in the former Soviet bloc, is operated by local children supervised byprofessional railwaymen.

Fundraising continuesThe locomotive is supported by her own specialPreservation Society River Mite Maintenance Fund whichhas in recent years paid over £100,000 for a brandnew boiler from Israel Newtons and a complete stripdown and bottom-end overhaul at TMA Engineeringin Birmingham.

All contributions are gratefully received.

A special projectIn 1962, shortly after the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway had beensecured, the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society took onthe special project to deliver another steam locomotive. This was toprovide more steam power at busy times, reduce the reliance on thetwo older locomotives and allow more time for heavy overhauls duringthe winter months.

Poultney to P1 ClassThe Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society acquired theredundant chassis from the Poultney steam tender that had been built forRiver Esk in 1928.As it had been run for less than 10,000 miles and storedfor thirty years it was sent to York where a model engineering companyfitted a new boiler, cylinders and tender. Harry Clarkson styled theexterior on one of Sir Nigel Gresley’s London North Eastern Railway P1 2-8-2 heavy freight locomotives but underneath the cladding it wasanother River Esk with detailed improvements.

FundraisingThe work continued as fast as funds could be raised. Never before hadanything like this been done in Britain. The project was supported byraffles, whist drives, generous gifts and substantial interest-free loanswhich eventually raised over £8,000, in the era when most peopleearned less than a thousand pounds a year.

A providential journeyTo bring the locomotive to Ravenglass a traction engine calledProvidence hauled her through the winter snows over Stainmoor. Beforethese roads had been improved it was a legendary three day journeythrough the Pennines and the Lake District that attracted a great dealof publicity for the railway.

It might go…At the works in York there had been no room to steam the locomotiveso there were teething troubles for Chief Engineer Tom Jones toovercome at Ravenglass before her commissioning ceremony in May1967. River Mite then hauled her first train with 13 coaches packed withsupporters as if she had always been runing here.

River Mitepresent day Hitching a ride from York to Ravenglass

on a Providence Traction engine – 1966

The first River Mite circa 1930s’