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My Mother's aunt lived in Weymouth on the British south coast,
and during my school summer holidays we used to regularly spend a
week at "the seaside". I remember visiting the line at least once
in the early 1970s.
- I am always interested to receive more information
and / or photos of the line, so please
drop me an email if you can
help me.
History
In 1947
David Curwen was approached to build a 10¼" loco for a
railway at Hilsea. The owner wanted a pacific-type loco (4-6-2) and
they settled on a design similar to an LNER A-1 class. "Curly" (the
well known engineer who wrote in the British magazine Model
Engineer) had described a loco of this type, calling it HIGHLAND
LASSIE. The loco had
Baker rather than
Walschaerts
valve-gear so was not totally accurate, but it was built to be
rugged rather than a finescale replica. David and Richard Ripley (who were in business together
and traded as Baydon Miniature Railways Ltd. - BMR) decided to build a second loco for themselves
and numbered it 2647; at some later date it was named ROBIN HOOD.
David and Richard then
set about trying to find a site to establish a passenger-carrying
railway and found Weymouth Council were receptive to
their ideas. This resulted in a line being built on
the western side of Radipole Lake. The railway was constructed on land that had been reclaimed by
filling in part of Radipole Lake and at one point it passed under the
former Great
Western Railway's line to Portland; this is clearly visible in the
photos below. Drivers on the GWR/BR invariably exchanged "whistle
salutes" with the miniature locos.
The line of about 1,100 yards was originally built as an
out-and-back line from Westham Car Park to the terminus adjoining
the Abbotsbury Road. Until the turning loop was
completed, trains ran out to the terminus and then pushed the train
back to the starting point. The line had a turntable built upon the
base of an old searchlight and also had semaphore signals and a locoshed. The 80' long station building was moved to
Weymouth from Southend-on-Sea.
BMR also managed to obtain a concession to
operate boats on the lake after a few seasons. These were built at Baydon and used Stuart Turner marine engines for propulsion.
The line was successful, though with a
relatively short operating season (about four months) and the
maintenance required on the locos, it was never really profitable.
Records indicated that in 1950 about 100,000 people were handled,
but in 1954 BMR decided to run the business down and the line was
taken over by T.R. Newton who lived locally and had been with the
company for a few seasons. Mr. Newton bought ROBIN HOOD
and BLACK PRINCE, five passenger
carriages and the ten boats. Sometime between 1963 and 1968,
Mr. Newton sold it to Chipperfield's Circus who
were the owners until its closure in 1982; the area has now been
redeveloped. (See notes and credits)
Footnotes
BMR also operated a short-lived 7¼" track alongside the harbour
which was never a success; it was all too easily vandalised by
drunken sailors.
I have received a number of emails concerning the line which I
would like to share:
The following information is courtesy of Patrick Henshaw:
"Some time after the line closed Lee Anderson (who had run a
line at Longleat House) set up a short 15" track from the
original station, with a siding to an engine shed, and bought or
hired a large diesel loco to haul about three open coaches. I
think his idea was to have a base in the town while he tried to
obtain approval for a much more ambitious line on the track of
the Portland Branch. This was to be a 15" railway with overhead
electric propulsion and multiple unit trains. Although the
Council showed some interest the capital required would have
been huge, and the scheme faded. The Radipole loco went to
Cricket St. Thomas, where it ran for a while as a thatched
cottage, in some sort of "Mr. Blobby" theme. It is still there,
though happily now in a more railway-like dark green."
Email from Grant Lovett dated 6th Feb 2010:
John
Really enjoyed reading about the miniature railway in
Weymouth which I rode on many times as a boy ...[snip]... I remember when
ever I went there "Black Prince" was always the loco in steam
with Robin Hood parked outside the shed. Finally on only one
occasion was Robin Hood in steam and I had my one and only trip
behind her.
"Black Prince" was indeed painted black but had the window
frames on the cab painted red.
I remember the trip started off going between the fair rides
and the water and there was always a very noisy generator on the
fair site but once the train was passed it things got quieter
and you could hear and smell the engine and feel a bit as if you
were in the countryside. Then it was round a large circle and
then back to the station
Regards
Grant
Email from Graham Wiltshire dated 6th Feb 2010:
(this and the email above curiously came in on the
same day)
Dear John,
I have just come across your web site "WEYMOUTH MINIATURE
RAILWAY". I thought you may be interested to learn that my
father went up to Newbury at the request of David Curwen and
worked for him building "ROBIN HOOD".
Father's name was Ken Wiltshire, and when the engine was
built father was asked if he would like the job of driving the
loco, maintaining and looking after it. As our home is Weymouth
father jumped at the chance to work with the engine, which
resulted in literally thousands of visitors and locals taking a
lakeside trip on the railway.
I spent all my school holidays with my Dad for most of my
younger years.
I recall that when the line opened first it was a question of
a pull up the lakeside to the end of the track, and reversing
the loco and carriages back to the station. I can't remember
when, but a parcel of land was acquired beyond the end of the
line, and my father spent the entire winter fencing the area off
and laying new track in a loop which enabled the dead end to be
coupled to the loop via points set to straight ahead with a
spring loaded return to come off the loop and back onto the
single line, coming back to the station with the loco in front.
Passengers then got off the carriages the engine was uncoupled
taken onto a slip line and reversed onto the turntable, turned
and reversed back to head the train out of the station.
The photo on your web page shows my father at the controls of
Robin Hood and standing by the engine shed is my mother who took
the fares and issued tickets.
KIND REGARDS
Graham Wiltshire
Locomotives
ROBIN HOOD (2647 renumbered 2001 in 1959)
The first locomotive at Weymouth was David Curwen's LNER-type pacific number
2647 built in 1947. (David's builder numbers at
this time were day, month, year of completion, so 2647 was 2nd June
1947). The locomotive was later named ROBIN HOOD.
ROBIN HOOD is known to have once taken a nose-dive into
Radipole Lake when she was left "in gear" and ran off the turntable.
Help came from the local army camp and the sappers used lifting
equipment to get her out of the lake. Damage was
apparently slight as she was back in service the following day.
ROBIN HOOD went on to operate
at Audley End and then later on the Oakhill Manor Miniature
Railway.
When the Oakhill line closed in 1987, the loco went in to
storage in the hope that a buyer for the whole railway could be
found. When no buyer surfaced,
Joe Nemeth Engineering
Ltd. bought the loco (and other equipment) and restored
it.
If anyone can tell me when 2647 was named
ROBIN HOOD I would love to hear from you.
2005 (Named BLACK PRINCE upon arrival at Weymouth)
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BLACK PRINCE in 1966
Photo courtesy of Geoff Whitmore and used with permission |
In 1948 a Mr. Briggs of the Bognor Regis
Miniature Railway approached David Curwen to build
two more pacifics. David felt that a pacific-type had too long a
coupled-wheelbase for amusement park lines (which tended to have
sharper curves) so settled on an atlantic (4-4-2). As the loco no
longer resembled any specific British design, David gave the locos
an American-outline.
David eventually made a total of six locos to this design, two of
which David and Richard kept for their own use. One of these ended up
at
Weymouth.
Supplied new to the Skegness Miniature Railway in
1952, 2005 was moved to Weymouth by August 1953. She was worn out by
1971 when bought by Jack Doyle of Manchester.
2005 has since operated at Loughborough and on
the Isle of Mull. As of March 2008 she is named WAVERLEY and is based
on the Rudyard Lake Railway in Staffordshire.
A
photograph of
WAVERLEY on the Isle of Mull Railway shows
her as
rebuilt with a more British outline.
MERRIE ENGLAND (2006)
Another of the atlantics, and also built in 1952, MERRIE ENGLAND went to
Weymouth in 1953 painted in cream. (She was also fitted with
streamlined shrouds). She was named after Weymouth Council's liaison
officer Mr. England.By 1964 she had been sold to a private
owner in Sutton Coldfield who later moved to Aberystwyth (taking the
loco with him). Status unknown as of 2008.
Other locos
The internal-combustion loco shown here was the only locomotive
built by Universal Engineering of Bournemouth and, apparently, wasn't a success.
I have received an email that suggests there
was a diesel-powered, steam-outline loco (possible an A4 pacific)
running in the early 1970s. Can anyone substantiate this?
Rolling stock
I have very little information on the rolling stock, other than
there were five bogie-coaches with simple, slatted wooden seats.
The image to the left is an enlargement of part of the postcard
showing MERRIE
ENGLAND.
Photos
So far I have only managed to locate a handful of photographs of the
line (other than in The Miniature
Locomotives of David Curwen - see below).
- Nick Tozer sent me the following two images he believes
were taken in 1972. You can clearly see the Great Western /
British Rail line in the background.
Click on the image to view it full-size
The internal-combustion loco built by
Universal Engineering of Bournemouth
Click on the image to view it full-size
The turntable was built on the base of a World War II
searchlight
Click on the image to view it full-size
Click on the image to view it full-size
ROBIN HOOD on the turntable at the Westham Car
Park end of the line
Photo courtesy of Jeff Lloyd
Jonathan Whitehead, at the controls of ROBIN
HOOD. He had moved to Weymouth on retirement in the mid 60s
from his job as a West Yorkshire locomotive driver, and decided
to downsize as a retirement activity
CLICK image to view full-size
Two photos from David Wood and used with
permission
CLICK image to view full-size
Postcards
This old postcard shows the Weymouth Miniature
Railway in the bottom right corner.
Click on the image to view it full-size
The locomotive is ROBIN HOOD
(2647)
See Reminiscences above
Click on the image to view it full-size -
Postcard sent to me by John Drew
This shot clearly shows the slatted-seat
rolling-stock
Click on the image to view it full-size.
This is MERRIE ENGLAND
Click on the image to view it full-size. Ken
Wiltshire driving with his wife leaning against the station
building.
Notes and credits
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There is
a lot of relevant information and several photographs of the
line in the book The Miniature
Locomotives of David Curwen, Little & Holroyde,
published by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society, ISBN
978-0-9554326-1-3 Available from Camden Miniature Steam
Services (www.camdenmin.co.uk) RECOMMENDED |
- CAUTION: Some of the history unearthed so far seems to be
somewhat contradictory. I make no claim that the information I
have quoted is 100% accurate, however, much of the
information has been confirmed from different sources. Remember,
just because it is published on the Internet or in a book does
not necessarily mean it is correct.
- I would like to thank Malcolm Hardy-Randall who has researched
some information from the Weymouth public library on my behalf.
- David Henshaw, the editor of
Miniature Railway Magazine, is building a 7¼"
gauge line at his home near Weymouth and managed to acquire one
of the original lattice-post signals from the Weymouth
Miniature Railway.
- Though the railway was officially closed in 1982, a visitor
in 1970 noted that it appeared derelict and vandalised. It is
possible that the line was abandoned before it officially
closed.
- Deon Taljaard sent me a copy of an article he believes was
published in The Heywood Society Journal on Baydon Miniature
Railways Ltd. which also included some information on the
Weymouth Miniature Railway. Deon is also working on a list of
the past and current whereabouts of the Curwen atlantics and
other early 10¼" gauge Curwen locos.
- Thanks to Patrick Henshaw for the information on the subsequent 15"
gauge line.
- Another line was built (date??) around the Lodmoor Country
Park and named "Rio
Grande Railway". It is also 10¼", but does
not use any of the equipment from the Weymouth Miniature
Railway; it is
operated by a steam-outline, diesel-hydraulic Denver & Rio
Grande 2-8-0 built by Severn Lamb. There are three photos of the
"Rio Grande
Railway" on
weymouth-pictures.co.uk:
Photo 1,
Photo 2,
Photo 3
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