Leighton Buzzard Light Railway

Leighton Buzzard Light Railway
A train on the LBLR being pulled by no. 11 PC Allen
Location
Place	England
Terminus	Leighton Buzzard
Commercial Operations
Name	Leighton Buzzard Light Railway
Built by	A.J. Arnold and G. Garside
Gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Preserved Operations
Operated by	Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway Society
Stations	6
Length	3 miles
Gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Commercial History
Opened	1919
Closed	1969
Preservation History
1968	First pasenger trains run by preservation society

The Leighton Buzzard Light Railway (LBLR) is a narrow-gauge light railway in the town of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England. It operates on a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge, and is just under 3 miles (4.8 km) in length. The line was built just after the First World War to serve the many sand quarries to the north of the town. In the late 1960s the sand quarries switched to road transport and the railway was taken over by a group of volunteers who now run the line as a heritage railway.

History

Sand extraction

A bed of Lower Cretaceous sand runs across Bedfordshire and these have been quarried on a small scale for several centuries. The most significant quarries occur around the town of Leighton Buzzard. In the 19th century sand was carried by horse-drawn carts from the quarries south of the town to be shipped on the Dunstable-Leighton Buzzard railway. These carts caused considerable damage to the roads of the district and resulted in claims for compensation against the quarry owners from the Bedfordshire County Council. At the end of the century steam wagons were introduced which increased the damage to roads.

The outbreak of the First World War meant that sand supplies of foundry sand from Belgium were cut off. Sand was needed for the British ammunition factories and new sources of high quality sand were sought. Leighton Buzzard sands proved well suited to these needs and production in the region increased dramatically.

After the war ended in 1919 the quarry companies were told they could no longer transport their product over local roads, so a private industrial railway was proposed to take the traffic.

The original railway

George Garside's quarry in 1980, just before industrial rail operations ended

The Leighton Buzzard Light Railway opened on Thursday November 20, 1919, linking the sand quarries with the mainline railway to the south of the town. The line was originally built using surplus equipment obtained from the War Department Light Railways. The line opened using steam traction provided by two Hudswell Clarke steam locomotives. These proved inappropriate for the tightly-curved line and the steam locomotives were sold in 1921. From the point on the railway was run entirely using internal combustion locomotives, almost exclusively the products of the Motor Rail company. It was one of the first railways in Britain to be entirely operated by internal combustion locomotives.

After the Second World War sand traffic began to return to the road system. In 1953 a strike on the mainline railways pushed more traffic onto the roads. By the mid-1960s only one of the sand quarry comapnies, Arnold's, still used the light railway to carry sand.

The preservation era

In 1968 the line was much more lightly used, and volunteers took over the line on weekends to run passenger trains; these were the first formal passenger services to run on the line. The last sand train ran on the main line in 1969, although several of the quarries continued to used the rail lines within their quarries. These too were eventually replaced by roads and conveyor belts and the last internal quarry line was abandoned in 1981. Today the line is run purely as a heritage railway.

A large collection of steam and internal combustion locomotives run on the line. There is a significant collection of historic industrial railway locomotives on display at Stonehenge Works at the northern end of the line.

The route

Map of the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway

The line is somewhat unusual as it runs mostly through a modern housing estate, which was built in the 1970s, although the last half mile of the line runs through countryside. There are a number of open level crossings for which trains have to stop.

The railway began at the Grovesbury Sidings, where sand trains unloaded into a series of washers and the sand was transshipped to either standard gauge trains on the Dunstable branch or to road. The complex of sidings and industrial plant at Grovesbury was replaced with an industrial estate in the early 1970s.

Trains from Grovesbury crossed the Billington Road by a level crossing and worked up a steep grade to Page's Park. Here a branch line to the south connected to the line's main engineering workshop and the Pratt's Pit quarry. In 2006 Page's Park forms the southern terminus of the heritage railway.

From Page's Park the line curves to the north towards a summit at Red Barn. From there it descends at at gradient of 1 in 60 before climbing again to cross Stanbridge Road, past which is a loop where trains can cross. On the left is the site of Marley's Tile Works which was connected to the railway for most of its existence. The line then descends Marley's Bank at a maximum gradient of 1 in 25. Loaded sand trains running to Grovebury Sidings would often need an additional banking locomotive to climb this incline.

At the bottom of Marley's Bank the line turns sharply north and runs along the level to Leedon Loop. The line here is passing through a housing estate built in the mid 1970s. After leaving Leedon, the railway crosses the Hockliffe Road and crosses the Clipstone Brook and begins to climb again on a 1 in 50 gradient to cross the Vandyke Road.

Immediately after crossing the Vandyke Road the line curves sharply through 90 degrees to Vandyke Junction where there is a passing loop. Here the branch line from Chamberlain's Barn and New Trees quarries joined the main line. A short section of this branch remains intact although heritage trains do not use it. The railway then runs parallel to the Vandyke Road, climbing steadily to a summit at Bryan's Loop and then descending again to cross the Shenley Hill Road. The line levels and continues to Stonehenge Works now the main engineering workshop of the preserved railway. This is also the northern terminus of modern operations.

From Stonehenge the line continues northwards with a mile-long section of double track, climbing towards the two Double Arches sand quarries, owned by Joseph Arnold and George Garside.

Preserved locomotives

These are the locomotives operating on the preserved railway

Steam locomotives

Locomotive No.4 Doll leaves Pages Park

Locomotive No. 740 on shed at Pages Park

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Origin	Notes
1	Chaloner	De Winton	0-4-0 VB	n/a	1877	Penyrorsedd slate quarry, north Wales	Worked at the Penybryn quarry until 1897 then Penyrorsedd until 1960. Purchased by Alfred Fisher and transferred to Leighton Buzzard in 1968.
2	Pixie	Kerr Stuart	0-4-0 ST	4260	1922	Devon County Council, Wilminstone Quarry	One of 27 of the Wren class ordered for a sewer contract in Essex, sold to Devon County Council in 1929. Purchased by the Industrial Locomotive Society in 1957; entered service at Leighton Buzzard in 1969. Now at the Devon Railway Centre.
3	Rishra	Baguley	0-4-0 T	2007	1921	Hoogly Docking & Engineering Co., Rishra, India	The only remaining locomotive of this type in existence. Purchased by Mike Satow in 1963 and repatriated to Leighton Buzzard. Entered service in 1971.
4	Doll	Andrew Barclay	0-6-0 T	1641	1919	Sydenham Ironstone Quarry, King's Sutton, Oxfordshire	Transferred in 1926 to Bilston Furnaces where it ran until 1960. Purchased by the Bressingham Steam Museum in 1966; sold to Henry Williams in 1969; purchased by the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway in 1972.
5	Elf	Orenstein & Koppel	0-6-0 WT	12740	1936	Likomba Development Company, Cameroon, Africa	Purchased in 1973 after serving in Cameroon until 1971. Wood burning locomotive with a spark arrestor.
6	Alice	Hunslet	0-4-0 ST	780	1902	Dinorwic slate quarry	Now running at the Bala Lake Railway
11	PC Allen	Orenstein & Koppel	0-4-0 WT	5834	1913	Solvay Alkali Works, Torrelarega, Spain	Purchased by Sir Peter Allen in 1963, transferred to Leighton Biuzzard in 1970.
	Berlin	Freudenstein	0-4-0 WT	73	1901	Penlee quarry, Newlyn, Cornwall	Arrived at LBLR in 1991
9	Peter Pan	Kerr Stuart	0-4-0 ST	4256	1922	Devon County Council, Willminstone Quarry, Devon	Wren class locomotive that worked with Pixie in Devon. Purchased in 1972 by Graham Hall who found the locomotive in a back garden in Bromsgrove.
778		Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0 T	44656	1917	War Department Light Railway	Undergoing restoration
740		Orenstein & Koppel	0-6-0 T	2343	1907	Matheran Light Railway, Maharastra, India	Recently restored to working order, has rare Kleiner-Lindex radial axles

Internal combustion locomotives

Motor Rail locomotive Red Rum at Stonehenge Works

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Origin	Notes
(1)		Motor Rail	4wDM	5612	1931	St. Albans Sand and Gravel Co. Lts. Nazeing, Essex	Dismantled by 1988
(2)		Motor Rail	4wDM	5608	1931	St. Albans Sand and Gravel Co. Lts. Smallford, Hertfordshire	Converted to a brakevan, c. 1970
(3)		Motor Rail	4wDM	5613	1931	St. Albans Sand and Gravel Co. Lts. Smallford, Hertfordshire	Converted to a crane, c. 1970
6	Caravan	Motor Rail	4wDM	7129	1938	Redland Flettons Brick Company	An unusual variant of the Motor Rail Simplex class with an overall cab.
7	Falcon (Pam until c. 1978)	Orenstein & Koppel	4wDM	8986	unknown	Woodham Brick Co. Ltd., Wotton, Buckinghamshire	Only surviving member of the MD2 class in Britain. Rescued from a Newport Pagnell scrapyard in 1970 by Peter Hodges.
8	Gollum	Ruston Hornsby	4wDM	217999	1942	Featherby's Brickworks, Rochford, Essex
9	Madge	Orenstein & Koppel	4wDM	7600	1935	Oxstead Grestone Lime Co. Ltd., Oxstead, Surrey	Single cylinder RL1C class
10	Haydn Taylor	Motor Rail	4wDM	7956	1945	British Industrial Sand Ltd. Middelton Towers, Norfolk	Originally loaned by its owners in 1971. Nicknamed "Breadbin" due to its unusual cab shape. Rebuilt in 1973 with a conventional cab.
12	Carbon	Motor Rail	4wPM	6012	1930	Standard Bottle Co., New Southgate, Middlesex	Arrived in 1972 via M.E. Engineering, Cricklewood.
13	Arkle	Motor Rail	4wDM	7108	1937	George Garside, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire	Original Leighton Buzzard sand quarry loco, operated until 1981
(14		Hunslet	4wDM	3646	1946	Crumbles Gravel Pits, Eastbourne, Sussex	Arrived 1972
15	Tom Bombadil (after 1990)	F.C. Hibberd	4wDM	2415	1941	Butterley & Blaby Brick Companies Lts., Ripley, Derbyshire
16	Thorin Oakenshield	Lister	4wPM	11221	1939	Gaurdbridge Paper Co. Ltd., Leuchars, Fife
17	Damredub	Motor Rail	4wPM	7036	1936	George Garside, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire	Original Leighton Buzzard sand quarry loco, operated until 1981
18	Feanor	Motor Rail	4wDM	11003	1956	British Industrial Sands Ltd., Middleton Towers, Norfolk
19		Motor Rail	4wDM	11298	1965	British Industrial Sands Ltd., Middleton Towers, Norfolk
20		Motor Rail	4wDM	60S317	1966	British Industrial Sands Ltd., Middleton Towers, Norfolk
21	Festoon	Motor Rail	4wPM	4570	1929	George Garside, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire	Original Leighton Buzzard sand quarry loco, preserved 1981
22	Fingolfin	LBLR	4wDM	1	1989		Constructed from parts of Ruston Hornsby 425798 and 444207
23		Ruston Hornsby	4wDM	164346	1932	West Kent Main Sewage Board, Littlebrook, Kent	Second oldest Ruston Hornsby locomotive in existence
24		Motor Rail	4wDM	11297	1965	British Industrial Sands Ltd., Middleton Towers, Norfolk
(24)		Motor Rail	4wPM	4805	1934	J. Arnold & Sons Ltd., Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire	Original Leighton Buzzard sand quarry loco, dismantled by 1980
43		Motor Rail	4wDM	10409	1954	Leighton Buzzard Light Railway Company, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire	Original LBLR mainline locomotive; purchased by John Cohring in 1972

References

• Leleux, Sydney (1996). The Leighton Buzzard Light Railway, 2nd edition, The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-460-1. 
• Hughes D.N.R. et al. (1974). Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway Guide. Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway Society Ltd.. 

See also

• British narrow gauge railways

External links

• The Railway website