North Bay Railway Scarborough

[MTheStrong]

I recently travelled on the NBR for the first time. The Maroon tender loco " Robin Hood" was "in steam"! I learned that it is actually a diesel hydraulic built by Hudswell Clarke in 1932. Here are some photos of the railway and locos:

 

[playmofire]

The North Bay railway dates back to the 1930s and was the brain child of a man called Smith who was the Council Engineer. (I am working from memory here as I cannot find the railway's little book, btw.) The idea was to alleviate local unemployment by local works by the council, an idea well in advance of the times. Peasholm Park just across the road from the NBR's main station was also part of those works.

The original locos were 1931, Neptune, and 1932, Triton, the loco number being the year of manufacture. They are the oldest diesel hydraulic locos still operating in the world. The other two locos were originally buill for a miniature railway operating in Golden Acre Park in North Leeds.

The railway was originally owned by Scarborough Council but in 2007 they handed the railway over to a be run by a local Trust. Various developments took place, railway related (e.g. workshops and apprenticeships) and otherwise (e.g. the "mini" pub and scampi shack) and there were the usual Santa Trains, excellently run with a short "panto" style show at one end of the line to get Santa on to the train and with good value presents. Our great niece first went on it at 18 months in 2011 and only stopped going after 2021.

The workshop built a steam loco, Georgina (I have some photos and will fish them out) which ran occasionally, but they also had a commercial element and were building a 60cm gauge loco for a French company with a couple more on order.

In 2021, the Trust sold the railway to Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway who sold off Georgina and also closed down the workshops. The change in ownership also saw a change in staff and when we rode on the Santa Train in 2021 with our niece and her husband and our great niece, even making allowances for new staff having to settle in, the atmosphere was completely changed.

The original website for the railway has disappeared, but here is a link to the Wiki entry: North Bay Railway - Wikipedia

 

[playmofire]

Here is a link to a thread with photos of Georgina:

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/north-bay-railway-scarborough.306832/#post-442417

 

[dunnyrail]

The North Bay railway dates back to the 1930s and was the brain child of a man called Smith who was the Council Engineer. (I am working from memory here as I cannot find the railway's little book, btw.) The idea was to alleviate local unemployment by local works by the council, an idea well in advance of the times. Peasholm Park just across the road from the NBR's main station was also part of those works.

The original locos were 1931, Neptune, and 1932, Triton, the loco number being the year of manufacture. They are the oldest diesel hydraulic locos still operating in the world. The other two locos were originally buill for a miniature railway operating in Golden Acre Park in North Leeds.

The railway was originally owned by Scarborough Council but in 2007 they handed the railway over to a be run by a local Trust. Various developments took place, railway related (e.g. workshops and apprenticeships) and otherwise (e.g. the "mini" pub and scampi shack) and there were the usual Santa Trains, excellently run with a short "panto" style show at one end of the line to get Santa on to the train and with good value presents. Our great niece first went on it at 18 months in 2011 and only stopped going after 2021.

The workshop built a steam loco, Georgina (I have some photos and will fish them out) which ran occasionally, but they also had a commercial element and were building a 60cm gauge loco for a French company with a couple more on order.

In 2021, the Trust sold the railway to Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway who sold off Georgina and also closed down the workshops. The change in ownership also saw a change in staff and when we rode on the Santa Train in 2021 with our niece and her husband and our great niece, even making allowances for new staff having to settle in, the atmosphere was completely changed.

The original website for the railway has disappeared, but here is a link to the Wiki entry: North Bay Railway - Wikipedia

I think it is a bit naughty a trust selling it on like that, not sure what Scarborough Council will have thought about it. Bit like an NHS ‘Trust’ flogging a Hospital Trust to a USA Private Health provider.

 

[playmofire]

I think it is a bit naughty a trust selling it on like that, not sure what Scarborough Council will have thought about it. Bit like an NHS ‘Trust’ flogging a Hospital Trust to a USA Private Health provider.

I've found a bit more on this. Apparently, the railway was sold to a private individual by Scarborough Council, although I had understood from what people had told me it was run by a trust. Certainly, the owner put a lot of work into upgrading the railway and its infrastructure during his time of ownership. It was his retirement in 2021 which prompted him to sell.

 

[dunnyrail]

I've found a bit more on this. Apparently, the railway was sold to a private individual by Scarborough Council, although I had understood from what people had told me it was run by a trust. Certainly, the owner put a lot of work into upgrading the railway and its infrastructure during his time of ownership. It was his retirement in 2021 which prompted him to sell.

Aha that makes more sense now, in fact CCR are a good option in those circumstances. But pity about the workshop closing that built a couple of nice narrow gauge locomotives, one of them being Blyth for the Southwold crowd.

NBR Engineering | Britain's Great Little Railways

www.bglr.org

 

[Gizzy]

I visited there with Mizzy close to 60th birthday in Oct 2020.

I was shown around the shed after the day's running. Some of the park looked run down, especially the derelict cable car system, but the railway seemed to be in good order....