The Abbey light Railway was founded in 1976. It is a family run operation supported by volunteers to restore and maintain vintage narrow gauge rolling stock. Our well equipped machine shop is able to carry out heavy repairs and the construction of new equipment. We have twice had Kerr, Stuart Wren 'Peter Pan' to visit the railway, but so far we do not have our own steam loco..
The railway runs into the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey. The Cistercian Monastery was founded in 1152 by Baron Henry de Lacy of Pontefract. Worship ceased here in 1539 when the abbey was surrendered to King Henry 8th's commissioners. The abbey was presented to the city of Leeds by Colonel John North in 1889.
The abbey and its grounds have just had several £million spent on them. This has included the building of the visitor centre, resurfacing all the paths, installation of new benches and dustbins and some restoration work to the abbey itself, making it safe to walk around inside it.
The abbey grounds are a really nice place to go for a walk around, see the abbey, visit the abbey house museum and the visitor centre, and if you choose to visit on a running day, your visit could also include a train ride!
Keep a look out for the wildlife found on and around the railway.
Swans, Mallards, Little Grebes, Herons, Kingfishers, Jays and Thrushes have all been seen around the railway, also a Tawny Owl and Bats can be seen in the evenings around the Abbey. We have also seen Shrews, Mice, Rats, Hedgehogs and Dragonflies. Deer have also been seen around the abbey. Not a bad list for the middle of Leeds! there are also fish in the mill race, but if you are wanting to fish there, please choose a non running day (any day appart from sundays and bank holiday mondays) to do so.
The article has links to an excellent 10 minute video on Youtube.com of the railway, with scenes of the Hunslet and Lister in action.
This part of the website is a collection of links to other websites that might of interest.
If you have a link that you think should be on here, please leave me a message on the guestbook.
Links about the railway
http://http://www.geoffspages.co.uk/raildiary/alr/index.htm - Geoff's railway diaries
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Light_Railway - Wikipedia article
Links about the locomotives and rolling stock
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunslet_Engine_Company - Wikipedia article on the Hunslet engine company
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Rail - Wikipedia article on Motor Rails
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruston_%28engine_builder%29 - Wikipedia article on Rustons
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muir-Hill - Wikipedia article about Muir Hill
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_E._Baguley - Wikipedia article about Baguleys
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood_%26_Batley - Wikipedia article about Greenwood & Batley
Links to other websites you may find of interest
http://http://www.kirkstall.org.uk/abbey/index.html - A website all about Kirkstall Abbey.
http://http://www.narrowgaugenorth.org.uk/ - Narrow Gauge North, a model show devoted to narrow gauge railways.
http://http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/ - Narrow Gauge Heaven, a website for all things narrow gauge.
Links to other railway attractions in Yorkshire
http://http://www.middletonrailway.org.uk/ - Middleton railway, Leeds
http://http://www.kwvr.co.uk/ - Keighley and Worth Valley railway, Keighley
http://http://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/ - Embsay and Bolton Abbey railway, Skipton
http://http://www.nymr.co.uk/ - North Yorkshire Moors railway, Pickering
http://http://www.nrm.org.uk/home/home.asp - The National Railway Museum, York
http://http://kirkleeslightrailway.com/content/home.php - Kirklees light railway, Clayton West (near Huddersfield)
http://http://www.nbr.org.uk/ - North Bay railway, Scarbrough