Lynbarn Railway facts for kids
The Lynbarn Railway is a special kind of train line. It is a 1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge railway. This means its tracks are closer together than regular train tracks. It opened in 1995 as a fun ride at The Milky Way Adventure Park. This family theme park is located near Clovelly in north Devon, England.
Volunteers who loved old trains built and ran this railway. They wanted to help bring back the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B). The L&B was a famous old train line that ran through Exmoor. The Lynbarn Railway was built with the same track width as the L&B. This helped the L&B by providing money, skills, and knowledge. The Lynbarn Railway was made much bigger and better in 2003 and 2004.
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History of the Lynbarn Railway
The Lynbarn Railway was first created to support the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B). Volunteers built it to help raise money and gain experience. This support was very important for the L&B's goal. They wanted to restore their historic railway line.
Changes in Ownership
Later, the L&B decided to focus on their main railway at Woody Bay. So, they sold their part of the Lynbarn Railway. The owners of The Milky Way Adventure Park bought it. Now, the park runs the railway along with all their other fun attractions.
Trains and Carriages
The Lynbarn Railway uses three special passenger carriages. These carriages were bought by the L&B from Thorpe Park in Surrey. Four more carriages from the same group were fully rebuilt. They carried passengers at the L&B's Woody Bay site from 2004 to 2013.
Where the Carriages Are Now
In May 2014, these rebuilt carriages were sold. They went to the Statfold Barn Railway. The L&B no longer needed them. This was because they had started using their original, restored L&B carriages. The Lynbarn Railway also has several service wagons. These are used to help maintain the railway tracks.
Locomotives
The trains on the Lynbarn Railway were pulled by two special diesel locomotives. These engines looked like old steam trains. One of them was named Parracombe. This locomotive was built in 1947 by Baguley. It first ran on a railway at Butlins in Clacton.
A scene with this type of train was even shown in a popular TV show. It was featured in the closing parts of Hi-de-Hi! (1979-1987). The Parracombe locomotive was moved in 2007. It now runs on the Groudle Glen Railway.
