The Beeches Light Railway was a private narrow gauge railway in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire, England, in the garden of the late Adrian Shooter, the former director of Chiltern Railways. The line contained one station, Rinkingpong Road ( Bengali: রিনকিংপং রোড) at an elevation of 351 feet (107 m) above sea level. ^[1]

History

In 2019, Shooter announced that the Beeches Light Railway would close at the end of the year. It was planned to move the railway to a new, larger location, reopening in spring 2020. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} As of December 2022 ^[update] the railway remained in situ, but was dismantled in the months following, after Adrian Shooter's death.

Track

The nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) railway track with a gauge of 2 ft (610 mm) was built between 2002 and 2004. ^[6] It resembled a figure of eight, with a loop around the back garden and another around the front, where it crossed the main drive. An Indian-style railway station and sheds were behind the house. The theme of an Indian railway was present throughout, including the name of the station ("Ringkingpong Road Station"), fare evasion signs citing Indian rupees, and some interior decorations as well. Although the railway was private, and not subject to rail regulations, it was run professionally by Shooter and experienced volunteers with railway rulebooks and regulations, and the steam engine had to be certified each year. ^[7]

Steam locomotive

The railway's primary motive power, a Class 'B' steam locomotive 778, ^{[8] [9]} was built by Sharp Stewart in 1888, works number 3518. 778 was built for India's Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. ^[10] where it ran until either 1960 or 1962, when it was sold to Elliot Donnelley, a railway enthusiast in the US, ^[11] who was the major shareholder in RR Donnelley Co, a large printer and publisher in Chicago. After Donnelley died in 1975 the locomotive passed to the Hesston Steam Museum, ^[6] where it stayed until it was bought by Adrian Shooter in 2002 and restored to working order.

Carriages

Two modern replicas of the carriages used on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway were occasionally used to transport invited guests. ^{[6] [7] [12] [13] [14]} These carriages were commissioned from Boston Lodge works, to accompany the locomotive. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

Draisine

Shooter owned also a replica Ford Model-T motorcar that he ran on the tracks. It is based on a modified car used by the USA railway to inspect tracks ^[7] on the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad. The replica was commissioned from the Statfold Barn Railway. ^[18] It includes a jacking system that will lift the wheels free of the rails and allow it to be rotated on its axis in order to go the other way round. ^[19]

Additional rolling stock

Stored in the railway shed there was some rolling stock from the London Mail Rail, an underground goods railway line, which was used to transport letters and parcels between sorting depots before it was mothballed. ^[7]

Closure

As of March 2023 ^[update], after Adrian Shooter's death, the 1 mile (1.6 km) of track, plus rolling stock from the railway were auctioned for sale in June 2023. ^[20] The winning bid for 778 was by The Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust, who managed to buy both 778 and the two replica coaches, which are now based at Statfold Country Park. ^[21]

References

51°55′25″N 1°18′32″W / 51.92374°N 1.308797°W / 51.92374; -1.308797