Matt Ditch Photography Blog

The Barber line - Harrogate Gasworks railway The Harrogate Gasworks railway was a narrow gauge railway that opened in 1908 to carry coal from Bilton Yard on the Leeds to Northallerton railway to New Park, the site of the Gasworks. Bitumen was then transported from New Park back to Bilton from transport to Middlesbrough. The railway ran for 1 mile and featured a very confined height 800 yard tunnel. Due to the size of the tunnel all the locomotives were built with a reduced height cab and fittings giving them a squat appearance. The lines first locomotive was "Barber" it was built in 1908 by Thomas Green & Sons of Leeds and spent its entire working life on the Harrogate Gas Works railway. It even used during the construction of the railway. "Barber" is based on a similar engine named "Masham" which worked on a nearby reservoir construction railway, both railways were built by Mr Edward Wilson Dixon M.Inst.C.E. "Barber" was named after Francis

South Tynedale Railway - Narrow gauge in the Pennines Hunslet 0-4-2 "Green Dragon" at Alston The South Tynedale railway is built on the trackbed of the standard gauge "Alston branch", which opened in sections between 1851-1852. The Alston branch ran from Haltwhistle on the Newcastle-Carlisle line and was closed in 1976. Although a preservation society was set up to preserve the branch and run it in its original standard gauge state, they were sadly unsuccessful in this and the line was taken up. In 1977 they turned their attention to reopening as a narrow gauge railway. By 1983 the South Tynedale railway officially opened to the public and by 1986 they had reached Gilderdale halt, which lies on the boundary between Cumbria and Northumbria. Since then the railway has opened extensions to Kirkhaugh (1999), Lintley Halt (2012) and to Slaggyford station (2018). This gives the railway a total distance of around 5 miles. The extension to Slaggyford comes on the back of