Alderney Railway, Heritage railway in Alderney, Channel Islands.
Alderney Railway is a standard-gauge line running about 2 miles (3.2 km) along the coast from Braye Road to Mannez Quarry and Lighthouse. It is the only working railway in the Channel Islands. Trains are hauled by the Vulcan Drewry 0-4-0 diesel D100 Elizabeth, a boxy green locomotive with a red buffer beam and a red nameplate reading "ELIZABETH", coupled to red and cream carriages.
The British Government built the line in the 1840s and opened it in 1847 to carry stone from quarries at the island's eastern end for the breakwater and Victorian forts. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert rode a horse-drawn tender on 8 August 1854. In 1940–1945 the Germans lifted part of the standard-gauge track and laid a 600 mm line; it was restored to standard gauge in 1947–1949.
The line is worked by volunteers and normally runs at summer weekends and bank holidays; a one-way trip takes 15 minutes. The diesel locomotive D100 Elizabeth, built by Vulcan in Newtown, has carried most of the traffic since 1985. Passenger cars are former London Underground 1959 Stock nos. 1044 and 1045, in use since 2001.
Trains run on weekend afternoons from Easter to the end of September, with extra services in summer and before Christmas; a one-way trip takes 15 minutes. Services start at Braye Road, and the line ends at Mannez Quarry beside the sheds built in 1997 and 2008. A one-off stop, Eclipse Halt, was added for the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999.
The railway's passenger cars are former London Underground 1959 Stock vehicles nos. 1044 and 1045, brought from London and in use since 2001. Their aluminium bodies were chosen because they cope better with the island's salty sea climate than the rusted 1938 Stock they replaced.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,407 contributors worldwide.