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The West Lancashire Light Railway operates at Hesketh Bank,〔(BBC News Report )〕 situated between Preston and Southport in North West England.〔(WLLR website )〕 The Railway is narrow gauge〔(narrow-gauge.co.uk )〕 and has a running length of .〔 The full line is longer than this however it follows a ledge above the old clay pit which is narrow enough to prohibit the building of a run round loop. An extension is planned.〔(Local Newspaper ) and also (Executive Manager Planning & Development Services Report ) Also see (Hesketh-with-Becconsall Parish Council News Letter )〕 The line now boasts eight steam locomotives, four of which are in operating condition, one is currently being restored and another is on static display. There are also two electric locomotives and many IC locomotives. See Locomotives section for details.〔(Local Newspaper )〕 == History == 〔(Audio report. )〕 The line was first envisaged by six like-minded school boys who wanted to save the light railway equipment which was disappearing from local industries. The first problem was finding a suitable site, this was solved when a strip of land above the clay pits at Alty's Brickworks.〔Advert on local paper (website ).〕 In 1967 the group of six started laying track using rails from the former clay tramways and rough timbers as sleepers. Two locos were soon acquired both of Ruston and Hornsby design, one a 13 hp diesel, the other a 20 hp diesel. Respectively named Clwyd and Tawd, these two locos were soon joined by more industrial diesels and the first home-built items of rolling stock. In 1980 the railway saw the WLLRs first steam locomotive, ''Irish Mail'',〔http://john-robinson.fotopic.net/ A train info. website.〕 in steam. This was a significant achievement for the line as the loco, bought at an auction at Dinorwic slate quarry in Wales, had not had a boiler when acquired by the railway. This fact meant that a new one had to be sourced and brought to the railway. This necessity eventually led the members of the West Lancs to retrieve the remnants of ''Alice'', a loco of the same design as Irish Mail, from the top of Dinorwic slate quarry, a location which had previously foiled attempts from other interested railway preservationists. ''Irish Mail'' was completely rebuilt on site using the original boiler from Alice. The running line slowly grew in length until it ran from Becconsall to a station known as Asland, which is no longer the far terminus of the line. The line in its present form runs from Becconsall to Delph, with the original track to Asland running on from that station and being used as a storage line. At Becconsall, the railway's sheds are situated. The first of these was built by the members using cast-off bricks from Alty's. This original workshop has been much added to over the years and the equipment in this workshop allows most of the work on restoring a steam locomotive to be undertaken, excluding boiler construction. Facilities for visitors have also been built at Becconsall. The WLLR and its members own a variety of goods wagons obtained from several UK industrial narrow gauge railways, including tipper sand wagons from Pilkington Brothers sandfields in the Rainford and Bickerstaffe areas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「West Lancashire Light Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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