Monday, March 08, 2010

The Alderney Railway

Old Steamers alerts us to the existence of a railway on Alderney:

The Alderney Railway was constructed in the 1840s by the British Government to haul Stone from the Eastern end of the Island to build a Breakwater and Victorian Forts.

It opened in 1847 and is one of the oldest railways running in the British Isles.

The first ever official passengers were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the 8th of August 1854, their train was Horse drawn.

It carried on hauling quarry trains until the out break of World War 2.

After World War 2 the Line was re-laid, but did not open to the public until the mid 1970s.

For more see the Alderney Railway website.

2 comments:

Wartime Housewife said...

What a great photo! If only we could re-lay a few more railway lines on the mainland.

Jamie said...

Hello, thanks for linking my site to your blog, it is a shame that the Alderney is not one of the best known railways, it maybe short, but it looks a brilliant line, sadly I have never been there!

Regards
Jamie (OldSteamers.com)