| Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| La'al Ratty | |
 River Irt approaches Miteside Loop, October 2007 | |
| Terminus | Ravenglass |
| Coordinates | 54°21′18″N 3°24′29″W / 54.355°N 3.408°W |
| Connections | Cumbrian Coast Line |
| Commercial operations | |
| Built by | Whitehaven Mines Ltd. |
| Original gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Owned by | Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Co. Ltd |
| Operated by | Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Co. Ltd |
| Stations | 9 |
| Length | 7 miles (11.3 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 15 in (381 mm) |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 24 May 1875 |
| 1913 | Closed |
| 1915 | Reopened |
| Closed | 1960 |
| Preserved era | Steam |
| Preservation history | |
| 1960 | Saved by the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preservation Society and reopened owned by the R&ER Co. Ltd. |
| 1976 | Celebrated centenary of passenger services on the line. |
| 1977 | New Radio Control System unveiled |
| 2010 | Celebrated fifty years of preservation. |
| Headquarters | Ravenglass |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a 15 in (381 mm) minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The 7-mile (11.3 km) line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District. At Ravenglass the line ends at Ravenglass railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line.
Intermediate stations and halts are at Muncaster Mill, Miteside, Murthwaite, Irton Road, The Green, Fisherground and Beckfoot. The railway is owned by a private company and supported by a preservation society. The oldest locomotive is River Irt, parts of which date from 1894, while the newest is the diesel-hydraulic Douglas Ferreira, built in 2005.
The line is known locally as La'al Ratty and its 3 ft (914 mm) gauge predecessor as Owd Ratty.[1][2]
Nearby attractions include: the Roman Bath House at Ravenglass; the Hardknott Roman Fort, known to the Romans as Mediobogdum, at the foot of Hardknott Pass; the watermills at Boot and Muncaster; and Muncaster Castle, the home of the Pennington family since 1208.
- ^ Van Zeller, Peter (December 2008). "100 years since the end of the 'Owd Ratty'". The Railway Magazine. 154 (1, 292): 39–40.
- ^ Welbourn 2000, pp. 14–18.