North East England | Northumberland | History and Heritage | Heatherslaw Light Railway

The Heatherslaw Light Railway Company Limited was founded in 1988. The track was laid using local labour over the winter of 1988-89 and our steam locomotive, the Lady Augusta, pulled her first passengers on 1 July that year. Since then we have carried over 600,000 passengers along the banks of the River Till (a tributory of the Tweed).

In 2002 the line was diverted and extended around the “haugh” of the river (creating an additional 1.2 kilometers of track) and a passing loop was created to allow 2-way traffic on peak summer days.

In 2010 our new locomotive, “Bunty” was introduced into service as our main engine. During the winter of 2009-10 the Railway’s own workshops also completed two new carriages (painted in matching Caledonian Blue to match Bunty). In the past two-way running was shared between Lady Augusta and our diesel loco ”Clive”. From 2010, Bunty and Lady Augusta share the majority of peak traffic.

Future plans include the further improvement of the permanent way, including the introduction of concrete-sleepered track on key sections where regular inundations by the River Till have in the past led to ballast being washed away in the winter and shorter than ideal lifespan of the treated timber sleepers used throughout. A carriage refurbishment program is also ongoing and over time carriages will be colour-matched to each locomotive (Blue for Bunty and Green for the Lady Augusta).