The Ten & a Quarter Inch Gauge Railway Society’s first visit was to the Barn Well Hill Railway in North Oxfordshire. The railway is in a private garden which negotiates a steep slope by a series of zigzags and steep inclines and eventually will include two rack sections.
Motive power is provided by a 2-4-2 petrol loco ‘Glyder’, which used to operate as ‘Bella’ on the 12 ¼ inch gauge Nickelodeon Line at Ashorne Hall. Rolling stock includes a number of goods vehicle and whilst there is currently no working passenger vehicle two carriage bodies await refurbishment.
The railway is currently being constructed and Colin Hill first started work on the line around six years ago, however following the arrival of ‘Glyder’, the line has been partly relaid and extended. The original rail came from the Great Torrington Railway, which has been supplemented with heavy-duty rail from the Rhiw Valley Railway in Wales. The original section of line was laid on steel sleepers, but the extension uses plastic sleepers.
JJ
Pictures by Jonathan James and Rick Osman. Further visits will be announced in the Society’s occasional newsletter.
