Today's Railways UK Article
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Peak Rail
No longer the line where nothing happens!
Peak Rail has been through a lot over the years, but a range of exciting developments on and around the railway will see a potentially massive growth to the railway over the next few years. Today's Railways UK Heritage Railway Correspondent and newly appointed Chairman of the Peak Railway Association, Andy Coward, reports on the current developments taking place on the Derbyshire line.
Peak Rail is a name known by many people actively involved in the preservation movement, but the railway has maintained a low profile over the past few years, as a number of projects have been on the backburner waiting to come to fruition. The line, which is currently just under four miles in length, is on the former Midland line which ran from Manchester to St Pancras, and the section between Buxton and Matlock closed to local services in March 1967, with through services ending in 1968. The reliance on industrial steam locomotives for services on the line has meant the railway has been largely ignored by steam enthusiasts and the railway has specialised in attracting families and tourists to travel on the line between Matlock Riverside and Rowsley South - a move which has proved to be very successful and the railway continues to see passenger numbers increase each year, with no decline in numbers being recorded for a number of years.
The structure of the railway consists of two main organisations. Peak Rail plc is responsible for the operation and future development of the railway and the company is run by a volunteer Board of Directors, lead by Joint Managing Directors Jackie Statham and Roger Hallatt, who are both also volunteers in their positions. The railway does employ a small team of paid staff to supplement the volunteers, but none of the railways management team are employed by the railway. Peak Rail plc's Board have recently appointed a non-executive Board of Managers to run the railway on a day to day basis, which will allow the main Board of Directors to concentrate on the important tasks of expanding the railway.
The other main organisation is the Peak Railway Association Ltd, which is responsible for membership and the provision of volunteers to the railway. As with most railways the Association produces a quarterly magazine The Peak Express for its members and members of the Association also enjoy free travel on Peak Rail services on non-special event days. The Association consists of eleven Directors, who are all drawn from the volunteers and groups based on the line. The Association also undertakes fundraising for projects on and around the railway, with the current main fundraising project being the completion of the railways Engine Shed at Rowsley South, on the site of the former Rowsley Motive Power Depot (17D). Volunteers working on the line must be members of the Peak Railway Association and the Association is keen to increase both membership and volunteer numbers and a number of new initiatives are to be trialled to try and increase the membership and volunteer base.
The railway has always held ambitions to operate passenger services into the disused Down platform at Matlock station. Although several through trains operated from the national network onto Peak Rail metals in the early 1990's, weight restrictions on some of the bridges between Ambergate and Matlock have meant a lack of through services for several years, as the Derby to Matlock line is currently restricted to DMU traffic only, although work on bridge strengthening on the line is scheduled to take place during the next eighteen months. The last through train came when Peak Rail assisted Central Trains in the storage of a class 156 unit in January 2004 which was damaged following a landslide and needed to be moved by road, with the unit being transported over Peak Rail metals to Rowsley South, where the stricken unit was recovered by low loader.
Peak Rail services operate to a platform constructed approximately ½ mile outside of the town centre and the railway realises that operating out of the main railway station will see a massive potential for an increase in passenger journeys. The development of services into Matlock station is tied in with a major retail and housing development in Matlock and it was announced in mid-November that construction of the new supermarket, housing development and a relief road will commence in January and as part of the deal the developers are relaying the trackwork around the former loop at the north end of Matlock Station. The existing trackwork materials are all being donated to Peak Rail for future use and the railway has just three weeks to remove the redundant materials from the 8th January 2007. The railway will also benefit from the donation of a large amount of stone from a goods warehouse which stands in the way of the development and which is due to be demolished over the coming weeks. Meanwhile the railway is now negotiating with Network Rail for a lease to operate services into the down platform at Matlock station. Peak Rail plc is extremely grateful to Network Rail, Sainsbury's and Birse Civil Engineers for their help and co-operation with regards to the Matlock development.
Peak Rail isn't just looking at extending services towards Matlock, but the Board of Peak Rail plc is now actively investigating plans to extend the railway by a further mile northwards towards Rowsley village. The railway's current northern base at Rowsley South never had a station in British Railways days and the location was the site of a large marshalling yard and also the Motive Power Depot. Extending the railway towards Rowsley is relatively straightforward, although careful consideration towards the construction of the new station at Rowsley will need to be given, as future extensions to the railway will have to be incorporated into any plans.
The long term objective of the railway has always been to reach Buxton and that goal still remains, although many obstacles have to be overcome if this aim is to ever be realised. One of the biggest challenges that faces the railway is the need to rebuild a bridge across the A6 at Rowsley, immediately north of the proposed station site. The bridge that once stood here was removed in May 1972 and since this time the height of the road has been raised, as it was prone to flooding and any replacement will have to built at a higher gradient than the previous structure. Restoration of trackwork beyond Rowsley is still a key aim of the railway, but future developments will be subject to the necessary funding being realised, although realistically Peak Rail still represents the best value-for-money in terms of all the proposed schemes suggested to reinstate the route to Buxton.
Since re-opening the railway has operated a single train operation, but with the railway becoming increasingly popular the Peak Rail plc Board took the decision to install facilities for two-train running. In late spring 2006 an extended passing loop was installed at Darley Dale by volunteers and since this time work has been underway to install the necessary signalling arrangements with a view to the new operation being commissioned at the beginning of 2007. Initially the railway will maintain a one train passenger service, but the flexibility of the new signalling and trackwork will allow Peak Rail to undertake more footplate experience courses, which are an essential form of revenue for the railway and for which there is a backlog of participants. It is possible that two passenger train services will be run on certain special event days, but the installation of two-train facilities is seen as a strategic move for the future development of the railway.
One of the biggest problems that has faced the railway since it was re-opened has been a lack of covered accommodation for the locomotive fleet. Whilst the LMS Carriage Association and the Heritage Shunters Trust have built their own small purpose built sheds, the railway is currently working on construction of a locomotive shed, which when completed will house the railways steam locomotive fleet and workshop facilities. Once completed, the railways steam fleet will be concentrated at Rowsley, with the diesel locomotives utilising Darley Dale yard (the home of the current steam fleet), although the railway has not ruled out some restoration to diesel locomotives taking place in the new Engine Shed. September 2006 saw the structures roof installed and work is now underway on installing flooring and brick and blockwork walling, before pre-fabricated wall panels will be fitted. Much more money still needs to be raised, but the Association is hopeful that the shed will be completed and ready for occupation towards the end of 2007.
The mainstay of services on the line for the past few years has been an Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tank steam locomotive, WD150 "Royal Pioneer". The line has mainly operated using industrial steam locomotives, although the railway has on occasions hired in larger steam locomotives. The railway has ex-BR 8F 48624 undergoing restoration at Darley Dale and it is possible that this locomotive may enter service on the railway at some stage during 2007.
Whilst only having a relatively small steam fleet, the same cannot be said of the railways diesel fleet. In the early to mid 1990's, Peak Rail gained a great reputation for the quality of the railways diesel fleet and some well attended diesel galas took place. However the majority of the diesel fleet gradually left the line until the only remaining ex-mainline diesel locomotive was class 44 D8 "Penyghent". Since this time, the railway has slowly increased the number of diesel locomotives based on the line and at the time of writing Peak Rail has a pool of class 14, D9525; Class 31, 31270; class 37, 37152 and D8 as the mainline operational diesel locomotives, with 37188 "Jimmy Shand" and 50030 "Repulse" undergoing restoration to working order. Other mainline diesel locomotives stored on the railway but not undergoing restoration are 37131 belonging to Harry Needle Railroad Company and 50029 "Renown" belonging to the Renown Repulse Restoration Group. The railway also boasts an extensive fleet of diesel shunting locomotives, courtesy of the Heritage Shunters Trust who relocated to the railway following the closure of the South Yorkshire Railway at Sheffield. The Heritage Shunters Trust have also constructed a temporary shed at Rowsley South for restoration of their fleet and will soon be constructing a permanent stock shed, also at Rowsley South, thanks to Heritage Lottery Funding.
Peak Rail is home to several groups, all of whom are seen as essential to the future development of the railway. The work of the Heritage Shunters Trust and the 48624 Group has been mentioned above. The Renown Repulse Restoration Group are busily working to return 50030 "Repulse" to traffic and once this loco is restored attention will turn to stored 50029 "Renown", although both locomotives have been cosmetically restored to large logo blue to make them more presentable to visitors - a condition of the locos acceptance on the railway. The North Notts Diesel Group is responsible for D8 and consists of a small team of volunteers who keep the veteran machine in an operational condition.
The LMS Carriage Association was formed on the railway to restore former LMS carriages to their former glory. The group has restored one vehicle, which will be used as an exhibition coach and are currently working on LMS Period 1 Third Open M7828 on behalf of the National Railway Museum. The LMS Carriage Association have built their own restoration shed at Rowsley and the shed also boasts a visitor's room and extensive machine tool facilities. The work carried out by the group is always done to the highest standards possible. The railway is also home to the Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway, who operate a short stretch of railway around the Rowsley South site and this attraction is due to be extended during 2007. The developments around the Rowsley South site are all designed to give visitors much more than a train ride.
After so long in the background, the time is near when Peak Rail is ready to stand up and be counted and with all the developments taking place on and around the railway, these are certainly exciting times for anyone involved in the project, including myself, and I am proud to be involved in this organisation. For more information on Peak Rail visit www.peakrail.co.uk, or write to Peak Railway Association, Matlock Station, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3NA.