Image: Threlkeld Quarry & Mine Museum - passenger train (geograph 4586753)

Description: Threlkeld Quarry & Mine Museum - passenger train. The steam gala was great fun and the atmosphere is hazy because of the smoke produced by no less than five locomotives and a steam excavator in the confines of the quarry floor at that time. This train had been hauled in by Hudswell, Clarke No. 1238 and Stanhope from the Apedale Valley Light Railway with Sir Tom, the site's indigenous engine, at the rear. Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum Threlkeld Quarry, which is situated three miles east of Keswick, originally opened in 1870 to supply railway ballast to the Penrith-Keswick line. Later, the stone was used by the Manchester Corporation Waterworks for their Thirlmere scheme, for railway ballast for the Crewe-Carlisle line, for roadstone, kerbing and for facing buildings with dressed stone. The granite quarry finally closed in 1982 and is now the site for the Threlkeld Quarry & Mining Museum which is run by a group of volunteers. The extensive quarry site has ample space for the display of the unique collection of vintage excavators and old quarry machinery. The 2ft gauge mineral railway has been relaid and provides a ride into the inner quarry for visitors to view the quarry faces in safety.
Title: Threlkeld Quarry & Mine Museum - passenger train (geograph 4586753)
Credit: From geograph.org.uk
Author: Chris Allen
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
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