Crowle Peatland Railway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Crowle Peatland Railway |
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Schomas 5220 of 1991 (front) and 5129 of 1990 (rear) in Crowle Peatland Railway's Romney Hut
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| General information | |
| Status | Railway Museum |
| Town or city | Crowle, Lincolnshire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°37′04.00″N 0°51′21.00″W / 53.6177778°N 0.8558333°W |
| Opened | 2016 |
The Crowle Peatland Railway is a cool railway museum located on the peat moors near Crowle in North Lincolnshire, England. It's a new museum that helps people learn about the history of peat mining and the special railways used there.
Contents
What is the Crowle Peatland Railway?
A Museum on the Moors
The Crowle Peatland Railway is a museum that shows how peat was once collected from the moors. Peat is a type of soil made from decayed plants. It's used for gardening and as fuel. For hundreds of years, people have been digging up peat from places like Thorne and Hatfield Moors.
Long ago, people had "turbary rights." This meant they could cut peat for their own use. They couldn't sell it to others. Over time, companies started to dig up peat to sell it. This changed the moors a lot.
How Peat Was Moved
In the late 1800s, large companies like the British Moss Litter Company began to work on the moors. They built special narrow railways called tramways. These tramways were used to move the cut peat from the moors to factories. At first, horses pulled the wagons. But in the 1950s, cool locomotives (small trains) took over.
The tramways grew and connected different peat works. Some even linked up with bigger railways. Later, a company called Fisons bought the British Moss Litter Company. Then, another company called Scotts took over.
Crowle Moor's Peat History
Crowle Moor is a part of the bigger Thorne Moor. People in Crowle also had rights to cut peat there. Several small peat factories were set up in Crowle. They processed peat from the moor. The British Moss Litter Company also worked here. But their operations stopped in 1956 after a big fire.
One of the longest-running peat sites in Crowle was at Moors Farm. Here, horses pulled wagons of peat to a factory. In 1947, the Scientific Peat Company started. They used tractors and a short railway. This company was known for using plastic bags to package peat. They later became Poly-Peat Products.
From Industry to Nature Reserve
Over time, people realized how important the moors were for nature. In 1971, part of Crowle Moor became a nature reserve. This was managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. More land was bought to protect it.
In 1994, a lot more moorland was given to English Nature. Environmental groups pushed for the moors to be protected. In 2002, the government bought the rights to dig peat from Scotts for £17 million. This stopped most peat digging.
By 2005, Thorne and Crowle Moors became a National Nature Reserve. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust manages most of Crowle Moors. A company called Fernmoor kept digging peat for a while. But after a long legal process, peat digging finally stopped in 2007.
Starting the Railway Project
The Idea for a Museum
After peat digging stopped, the old railway tracks were removed. But some equipment was left behind, including a locomotive. A group of people formed a society to save this locomotive. They wanted to restore it and build a short railway track. Their goal was to share the history of the peat railways.
At first, Natural England didn't approve of building a railway on the moors. But they supported the society's goals. They even gave the locomotive and other equipment to the group. These items were moved off the moors in 2015.
Finding a New Home
In 2014, the society found two original Schoma locomotives for sale. These were trains that had worked on the moors before! They bought them, along with three "slave units" (flat wagons that could be powered by the locomotives).
The old Poly-Peat site became the new home for the project. The society changed its name to Crowle Peatland Railway. They received money from the local council and a heritage group. This money helped them restore the locomotives.
In 2016, the Schoma locomotives were moved to a Romney hut (a type of curved building). The Simplex locomotive also joined them. The society then got more money to build a new Romney hut. This new building would be a workshop for the project. The Schoma locomotives moved into the new workshop in 2018. The Simplex locomotive went to North Lindsey College. Engineering students there are helping to restore it as part of their studies.
Future Plans
The railway is still growing! In 2019, they got permission to connect to the electricity supply. This will power their workshop tools. They also received a lot of money to build a visitor centre, education rooms, a shop, and a cafe.
Crowle Moors is a special place for nature, called a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The new visitor centre will help people learn about the history of the moors and its wildlife. The railway hopes to build about 550 yards (500 meters) of track. This will allow their locomotives to run and give visitors a ride into the history of the moors.
Locomotives of the Moors
The Simplex Locomotive
Between 1947 and when peat digging stopped, 23 different locomotives worked on the moors. Most were small, 4-wheel trains. The idea for the Crowle Peatland Railway started with one of these locomotives. It was a Simplex train, built in 1967. This train was left behind on the moors around 1996.
The Simplex was a powerful 40 horsepower train. It had a low cab (the driver's area) when it was new. But later, its cab was made taller. This allowed drivers to stand up and see over the tall wagons. During its restoration, workers found that its main parts were very worn out. This is probably why it was left on the moors.
The Schoma Locomotives
In 1990, Fisons bought two new Schoma locomotives from Germany. These were bigger and heavier than the older trains. They weighed about 5 tonnes and had powerful 86 horsepower engines. They were diesel-hydraulic trains. Each came with a "slave unit," which was like a flat wagon that could also be powered.
The next year, Fisons bought a third Schoma locomotive. This one was named The Thomas Buck after a retired worker. Later, two of these Schomas were rebuilt with even stronger engines. The third one, number 5220, was not rebuilt because it was too expensive.
After the railways stopped running on the moors, one Schoma (number 5130) was put on display at Hatfield Works. The other two were stored. The Crowle Peatland Railway bought these two Schomas and all three slave units in 2016. In 2019, the third Schoma locomotive was also given to the railway. Now, the Crowle Peatland Railway has all three original Schoma locomotives!
Images for kids
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The Old Peatworks site on Crowle Moors in the 1950s.
