Its that time again – the annual narrow gauge steam festival at Threlkeld Quarry Museum near Keswick, being held from Friday to Sunday July 25 – 27th 2014.  Martyn Ashworth and his team have pulled together another great line up of motive power, plus a steam navvy!  The six visiting engines and one resident (Bagnall ‘Sir Tom’) are seen in these photographs taken in glorious sunshine over the weekend (and some rain on Sunday!).  The event is a great opportunity for crews and their engines to mix and is becoming something of an annual pilgrimage – for me at least!

First we start with a short film showing the West Lancashire Light Railway based Orenstein & Koppel ‘Montalban’ charging up the gradient with a passenger train, which features ‘Sir Tom’ on the back to provide air for the brake system.

Some familiar and not so familiar engines in the line up – the green Corpet with its indirect drive is fascinating, Paddy appears in its new blue livery, Statfold is one of Hunslet’s new quarry type locos, Montalban makes the trip from the West Lancs Railway, Jennie is another new-build being Hunslet of the ‘Wren’ type and Chaloner will be familiar (like Paddy) from an appearance at Beamish a few years ago.  Sir Tom, the resident Bagnall, makes up the seven engines in steam.  All of this plus the spectacular scenery and quarry features that cannot be missed at this location!

Below: Surely one of the best narrow gauge (any gauge?!) vistas in the UK?  The Corpet poses on the headshunt at the lower end station, below which is another level and crushing area that will in due course be connected for passenger trains to access via some fearsome gradients.  Future extensions will also access 1.75 miles of existing trackbed linking a number of quarries in this area, enjoying 1:60 and 1:40 ruling gradients on this section.

Below: Certainly a star of the event is Graham Lee’s newly restored Erie steam face shovel, recently imported from Canada and of similar design to examples used in the UK.  The short film below shows this impressive piece of machinery in action:

Here are some stills of the shovel:

Below: The navvy is seen loaded on to its purpose made trailer for return to Staffordshire…

So, might any of the above be lined up for an appearance at a future Beamish event?  Watch this space…!!!

Below: One for the future at Threlkeld – a Ruston steam navvy (formerly at the museum in Lincoln) which is being restored to working order by volunteers, funded by the HLF, at Threlkeld.  This example is a rail mounted shovel and might well be in steam in 2015…