Acorn Bank Watermill (2025)
Cumbria
'Synolda', the museum's flagship locomotive and identical sister of 'Sans Pareil' which ran at 'La'al Ratty' 100 years ago
Brand new displays will bring the history of the railway to life through artefacts, photographs and interactive features
In summer the museum also opens the old Ravenglass main-line signal box, built by the Furness Railway in the 1870s. Try the levers, ring the bells, or just get warm by the fire
The railway was built to 3ft gauge and converted to 15inches from 1915. Explore the origins of the railway and see the last remains of 'Owd Ratty'
'Quarryman' is no oil painting but pulled heavy stone trains for nearly 30 years and is displayed with the last of 60 granite wagons which were used between the 1920s-1950s
Chronicles the history of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway from the 1870s to the present day with preserved locomotives and rolling stock as well as archive objects and images and interactive features for the whole family. Old signal box open periodically in summer.
Operator: Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
Address: Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Ravenglass Cumbria CA18 1SW
Daily 10-18 Feb. 16 Mar-3 Nov. 0900-1600. Visit website for more details.
The museum tells the story of the historic Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway in Cumbria. Through artefacts from the line's history as well as brand-new displays the visitor is taken on a journey through the 'Ratty's 1875 opening as a 3ft gauge iron ore-carrying railway, its closure and subsequent resurrection in 1915 by the Bassett-Lowke model company who regauged the seven mile route to its current 15 inch.
Its growing popularity as 'the smallest railway in the world', carrying tourists as well as granite from a local quarry, its sale by auction in 1960 and salvation through the efforts of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society and the present operating company.
Visitors can sit in the cab of Synolda – a 112 year old Bassett-Lowke steam engine, marvel at Katie which worked on 'La'al Ratty' after WW1, imagine driving Bunny, the railway's first petrol locomotive and holder of the line's speed record, and inspect the ungainly Quarryman, bastion of the railway's stone traffic and literally a tractor on rail-wheels.
You can also dress up in period costume and pose in one of our century-old coaches, find out what your ideal railway job would be, and even learn how to drive a steam engine with a genuine sectioned locomotive boiler.