check the weather before you visit us - you dont wanna get wet do you ?
The Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust
Established 1974 - registered charity 268772 also registered at Companies House.
Address Hunsbury Hill Country Park, Hunsbury Hill Road, Camp Hill, Northampton NN49UW
Telephone 01604 702031
President Mr Nick Robinson
Chairman Mr Ian Cave Secretary Mr David Windhaber Treasurer Mr Colin Burton
Subscriptions' £10 adult(ages 16-65), £5.00 Children( ages 5-15), Senior Citizen £7.50(over 60 or 65), Family £17.00(2 adults,2 children under 16 yrs),Joint(2 adults) £15.00 Registered Disabled £7.50, Life Membership from £250
check the weather before you visit us - you dont wanna get wet do you ?
Views taken of the Site Late August 2001(upper) and June 2003(lower)
A Brief History and background of the Trust
In the ages past the Hill was also found to be rich and abundant in Ironstone and the Hills have been extensively cut and excavated, this ended in the 1930's and we are based on the on the railway which used to service this once plentiful industry, We are a museum not of the past, but we also also look after the future of what are now some rare artifacts in both Ironstone and Railway Industries.
Our Aims and goals.
The Trust is dedicated to providing to our visitors and neighbours in the community a glimpse of the past history of the area we are based in, as well as providing an insight in to the differing worlds of the Industrial railway and that of the passenger carrying network.
We have a demonstration railway line in standard 4ft8 gauge which covers nearly 1.5 miles, this we use on occasion to carry passengers around the park and show our guests where the Vikings lived, where the Iron that was used by industry was mined and quarried from. We also aim to encourage all to join our team, we are not all interested in trains, and some of our team, work solely on vegetation maintenance, building maintenance, guiding Visitors around the site or even running the Buffet coach !
The Owning Groups within NIRT
We have 4 Locomotive Owning groups and on Site - the 2E Locomotive Group,Owners include Eddie Trasler, Cyril Crouch,Cave's Locomotive and shunting Services and the Conway locomotive group. In addition the trust has its own fleet of locomotives that it is able to utilise
EMU and Coach Owners on site include Pat Timmons,the
The Bulleid Double Decker Society and Northamptonshire County Council"*.
These Locomotives from the Industrial scene of the railways, the little shunters worked extensively in Private yards and made the trains that were collected by trains on the National Network.
These Locomotives come from such great Locomotive Builders as Sentinel, Ruston & Hornsby, John Fowler, Hunslett, Hudswell Clarke and Planet.
Coaches on site are represented by British Rail Workshops MK1 Design and Pre-MK1 suburban Stock
Wagon stock is represented by Both Industrial Narrow and Meter Gauge, BR Brake van, BR Horsebox(converted to Passenger carrying) and partially scrapped Rail Mounted Crane.
also on site is Vigiliant - one of the oldest Industrial locomotives ever built.
As you can see we have on site many avenues of what the Railways of the past represented in both Industrial and Passenger work.
Representing the electric train era of British Rail we are fortunate enough to have on site one of the only 4DD Double Decker Railway coaches in the country and an example of one of the Last commuter slam door trains in the of the form of class 415/1 4EPB. Both types of Unit used on the Southern Region of the Late British Rail, the 4DD ending its BR Life in 1971 and the 4EPB finally working for Connex Southeastern as a celebrity train set. The EPB arrived at Hunsbury as reformed in September 2001 as a 3-EPB set, the other coach is being converted to a "SUB" Trailer coach for 4SUB 4732 at the SERA depot at Coventry Railway Centre. The 4DD arrived on site in June 1999
On site also is an EX British Rail Departmental user sandite laying coach converted from a class 121 DTS - No.TDB977488, this coach is owned by the 2E Locomotive group. s>
The Rural Skills centre Pics taken in May 2001
This Project called Hunsbury Rural Skill leads the way in helping and teaching adults with learning diffulcties and special needs within the confines of the Railway, they are based on our site and their Base is actually 2 Former MK1 TSO's which have been converted in to messing, teaching and office facilities.
Hunsbury Model Railway society
On site also is Hunsbury Model Railway society,a small group whio specialise in modelling european and British Railways, they are based in the shed complex on the upper deck, new members always welcome, contact Roger Whiffin on site for more details.
Website Awaiting ConstructionThe area in which NIRT is located is home to a plethora of wildlife both on site and around the Park. Also on site is our Resident cat and Bouncer called Rathbone, a Ginger Tom he adopted the trust & the Rural Skills Centre in May2001 after a rather nasty vandalism attack,a friend to all he meets(except mice,rabbits and certain other animals)he is cared for by both the NIRT and the Rural Skills Unit.
He along with our wild Rabbits,foxes and birdlife that reside on site keep an eye on things when we are away.
Visiting times and opening times - admission is by donation.
We open on the 1st Sunday of every month and Bank Holidays between April and September from 10am to 1600, this is subject to staffing availabilty,the 1ST sunday of every month is best time to visit us due to staffing commitments. so we apologise in advance if the gates are locked and if you can see people working,they are trust members of staff who are not able to show you around. Our prime concern is our visitor's safety. NIRT is undergoing major refurbishment at the present time so please contact us first to avoid disappointment.
At other times we are open only by appointment so please call if you wish to visit.
Due to Major infrastructure & Locomotive maintenance schedules over-running we are sorry to advise that we are unable to run trains at the moment.
NEWS
news 27th September 2003.......many thanks to all who visited us during the annual heritage open days, we hope that once again you are all happy with the improvements made over the last year or so. also CONGRATS to the owners of FOWLER 4220001 - during the weekend of the HOD following a full engine and electrical overhaul 4220001 was successfully started 1st time and ran on tickover for several minutes to check mechanical and control gear systems. congrats to the NIRT engineering team for this superb feat of engineering.
Links to other sites
The Heritage railways website.
4220001 loco progress website.
the civic trust - Heritage open days 2004
Don't Panic !! Use The Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy for essential information
This website was conceived,matured & is maintained by Kev smith,a man of very determined word skills !! see picture below.
