Moors Valley Railway

Moors Valley Railway
Locale	Ashley Heath, Dorset, England
Commercial operations
Original gauge	7 1/4 inch
Preserved operations
Commercial history
Preservation history
1986	opened

The Moors Valley Railway is a 7 1/4 inch narrow gauge passenger railway, in the Moors Valley Country Park at Ashley Heath, Dorset, England near Ringwood in Hampshire. There are 17 steam engines and 2 diesel engines. The railway is fully signalled, with two signal boxes, one in a Great Western Railway style and one in a British Rail Southern Region style. The latter box also contains a mini lever frame and push button panel, for the control of the Lakeside area. The railway was constructed at its present location in 1985/86 and opened to the public in July 1986, after the closure in 1985 of its predecessor at Tucktonia in nearby Christchurch, which had run since 1980.

Moors Valley uses a narrow gauge prototype to produce tank engines in which one may sit, allowing running during the harshest of conditions, so much so that it runs throughout the year. A further benefit of the style of locomotives built to this prototype is that, unlike models, and standard gauge 7 1/4 inch locomotives, the locomotives used on the Moors Valley Railway are considerably more powerful due to the increased boiler size that can be achieved through almost freelance prototypes.

Roger Marsh was a pioneer of this principle and built Tinkerbell; when this was spotted a tank locomotive, Talos, was ordered and so started the Tinkerbell-class of locomotives. Coincidentally, when Tinkerbell was seen for sale, it was purchased by the then Tucktonia Railway, becoming its second locomotive. Several more were built at Tucktonia, several far more powerful than previous engines, before everything was moved to Moors Valley Railway.

Moors Valley Railway owns approximately 11 locomotives and a further 6 are privately owned. Hartfield is the most recent addition, being purchased from an owner who rarely used the loco. It has been used a lot in recent months, following the general idea of Jason (a Tinkerbell variation) as per many other private locomotives.

There are many other tender locomotives such as Offa, almost certainly the most powerful 7 1/4 inch gauge locomotive in existence until recently.

The carriages at Moors Valley have no roof, but have a bench in the centre to sit on. Each carriage is approximately eight feet long. There are four rakes of eight carriages, in green, brown, olive and red liveries.

Locomotives of the Moors Valley Railway

#	Name	Type	Colour	Built	Notes
2	Horace	0-4-2D.H.	Black	1999	Diesel shunter, It is fitted with a Lombardini Six and a half H.P. single cylinder diesel engine with hydrostatic drive.
3	Talos	0-4-2T	lined maroon livery	1978	One of the original batch of 5 Tinkerbell Class locomotives built by Roger Marsh in 1978.
4	Tinkerbell	0-4-2T	Yellow with Stroudley’s ‘improved engine green’ lining	1968	The original Tinkerbell which gave its name to a popular class of locomotive, bought in 1978 by owner of the railway; Jim Haylock.
5	Sapper	4-6-0	Brunswick green	1982	Rebuilt 1993. It is unique on the MVR having inside frames and spoked wheels, based upon the War Dept Hunslet 4-6-0T’s.
6	Medea	2-6-2T+T	L.B.S.C.R Umber Brown	1981	Originally an 0-6-2T. She was re-boilered and enlarged in 1985 and is essentially a larger Tinkerbell Class design.
7	Aelfred	2-6-4T	S.E.C.R. lined green livery	1985	Design is loosely based on the Vale of Rheidol narrow gauge engines.
9	Jason	2-4-4T	Maunsell lined Green	1989	The first locomotive built at the MVR workshops. Was the mainstay of winter service until Hartfield was purchased in 1997.
10	Offa	2-6-2	Furness Railway Red	1991	One of the most powerful 7 1/4 inch engines. It has as pulled a 25-coach train with 198 passengers, and three guards. Sister to Zeus. Rebuilt 2009/10. Now back in service.
11	Zeus	2-6-2	Black	1991	Sister to Offa. Styled in South African Railways guise with Vanderbilt tender.
12	Pioneer	4-6-2	Dark blue	1992	This Pacific is based on Sapper, with several improvements including outside frames and rear pony truck.
14	Horton	2-4-0	Red	1991	It is a development of the Tinkerbell class locomotives but having the comfort that a tender engine offers.
15	William Rufus	2-4-0 0-4-2T,	Red / black	1997	This Garratt type locomotive utilizes two Horton chassis with a fixed centrally mounted boiler giving a unique driving experience.
16	Robert Snooks	0-4-4T,	Black	1999	Named after last highwayman caught in England. Based on famous 02 tank engines from Isle of Wight.
17	Hartfield	2-4-4T,	Red	1999	Privately owned and built, sold to MVR in 2007 and is a slightly bigger version of Jason with higher boiler pressure.
?	Ivor	0-4-2T,	G.E.R. lined blue	1997	Privately owned, built by Tony Crowhurst. Ivor is a development of and is a Tinkerbell class locomotive.
18	Thor	4-6-2	Black	2005	Privately owned and built. One of the most powerful 7 1/4 inch Engines.
19	Athelstan	2-8-0	E.A.R. Red	2005	Privately owned and built. The design resembles an East African Railways class 24.
20	Emmet	0-4-0T,	Red	2005	The railway's 2 ft gauge engine. Visited several 2 ft gauge railways, currently at the Hayling Island Railway.
?	Vixen	0-4-4-0 D.H.	Red	2006	Built as a thunderbird engine and for pre season work. Has a 600cc Lombardini 2-cylinder engine.
24	Perseus	0-4-2T,	LMS Coronation Blue	2006	Privately owned and built. Expansion on the Tinkerbell design with Walschaerts valve gear and bigger cylinders.

Special Events

The MVR holds a number of special events throughout the year, showcasing their own, and visiting locomotives.

Tinkerbell Weekend

Every year during the spring bank holiday weekend the MVR hosts its Tinkerbell Weekend with several visiting engines. The premise of the Tinkerbell Weekend is to gather as many examples of the Tinkerbell-style locomotives as possible at the railway, as it is the home of the "first" Tinkerbell.

Grand Summer Gala

The Grand Summer Gala is the railway's largest event. It features the entire home fleet of locomotives in operation, along with visiting locomotives. Alongside the standard passenger trains, demonstration freight trains are run, featuring the railway's large fleet of freight and permanent way stock. The gala also sees the usage of a number of heritage coaches from the Tucktonia railway, albeit not on passenger duties.

Other features of the gala include parades of full-size and miniature steam traction engines, a display of classic cars and a model railway display in the carriage sheds.

External links

• Official site

Coordinates: 50°51′11″N 1°51′10″W / 50.85303°N 1.85283°W / 50.85303; -1.85283