Great Whipsnade Railway

Infobox rail|railroad_name=Great Whipsnade Railway
gauge=RailGauge|30
length=2 miles
start_year=1970
end_year=present
hq_city=London
locale=England

The Great Whipsnade Railway, also known as The Jumbo Express, is a RailGauge|30 gauge narrow gauge heritage railway that operates within Whipsnade Zoo.

Overview

Construction started in 1970 and the initial line opened on August 26 1970. The line provided rides within the animal enclosures and an additional attraction in its own right. Originally called the Whipsnade and Umfolozi Railway, it began as a short line running from near the children's zoo. It was later extended to form a loop through several paddocks.

The line was primarily equipped from the Bowater's Railway (now Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway) in Sittingbourne, Kent, which was the last steam-operated narrow gauge industrial railway in Britain.

The Route

The train normally travels clockwise around the loop. Leaving the station the train travels east under the foot bridge and passing the children's play area and children's farm on the left. At this point the track crosses the road. There are no barriers but the crossing is controlled by an automated warning system. Past the crossing the Track begins to curve to the right and descend slightly passing the emu paddock on the right and the train yard on the left.

The track then curves more sharply to the right before straightening up and passing the first elephant paddock on the left. The route then crosses a wide foot path used to move the elephants between paddocks. This crossing is equipped with barriers. The Route continues roughly straight and level past the elephant and Asian rhino paddocks on the right before crossing over a road and entering into the area of the zoo known as passage through Asia. Here there are no barriers between the train and the animals, which consist of Bactrian Camels, Yak and Pere David Deer.

The track then crosses the big ha-ha and turns to the right passing through the deer park (also known as Cut throat paddock) and the Prewaski horses on the right. Here the track slopes downhill before passing through the tunnel.

Emerging from the tunnel into round close paddock the train passes the Africa paddock on the left which contains Gemsbok, Ostrich and common Zebra and Lake Deadelus on the right. Here the track curves more sharply to the right and climbs uphill back to the station crossing central avenue just before reaching the platform. This crossing has gates and is manned by platform staff during train operation.

Locomotives

team locomotives

Diesel locomotives

See also

* British narrow gauge railways
* Umfolozi River
* Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve

References

*

External links

* [http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/ ZSL Whipsnade Zoo website]
* [http://www.sklr.net/ The Sittingbourne and Kemsley Railway website]