When it came in to preservation in 1966 it had lost all of its armour, so it was decided to rebuild it as an "Open" loco.
Photo: B. Budd
Photo: B. Budd
Photo: B. Budd
The Amberley Chalk Pits is a thirty-six acre open air museum set in the midst of the South Downs in West Sussex. It is near to Amberley (Railtrack) railway station in the Arun River valley, close to the historic town of Arundel. With its preserved buildings, working exhibits and demonstrations the Museums aim is to show how science, technology and industry have affected peoples' lives.
Today the museum houses a number of important collections, supported by libraries and archives. The museum is also home to six self-employed craftsmen who earn their living while demonstrating their craft to our visitors. The vintage bus and narrow gauge railway take visitors around the site.
Originally located at the former Brockham Lime works, the Industrial Railway Collection at Amberley has become one of the most important collections of industrial railway equipment in the UK. The history of the collection actually goes back further than even the initial concept of the Chalk Pits Museum with the formation of the Brockham collection and acquisitions by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society during the 1950s and 1960s.
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"Open" Simplex (MR 1381/18 ). This loco was originally
built as a "Protected" machine - as LR3101. It was delivered to
Purfleet Wharf in Essex when the war ended, never seeing active service
in France as planned.
When it came in to preservation in 1966 it had lost all of its armour, so it was decided to rebuild it as an "Open" loco. Photo: B. Budd |
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Also resident at Amberley is 'Bent-Frame' Hibberd
#1980 of 1936.
This is one of many ex-WDLR 20hp Simplex locos to have been re-built by various
manufacturers after the war.
Photo: B. Budd |
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This wagon is one of only a handful of former WDLR class "P"
ration wagons to survive. These vehicles were designed to be either loco
worked in trains, or pushed by hand along 'Trench Tramways'. This particular
wagon finished it's industrial career with Smiths Crisps, at their Nocton
potato plantation in Lincolnshire.
Photo: B. Budd |
Please click on the title (top of page) for the Rail collection at Amberley. The main Amberley Chalk Pits web-site is; www.amberleymuseum.co.uk
