Eighteen members and wives travelled under their own steam to the Peak Rail Heritage Railway situated just off the A6 near Rowsley. The railway relocated to Darley Dale from Buxton in the 1980s and by 1997 trains were operating along the three and a half mile stretch between Matlock Riverside and Rowsley South. By July 2011 the track had been extended to the Matlock (Network Rail) station thus providing a link to the national rail network.
Peak Rail currently has around one hundred enthusiastic volunteers and five salaried staff. The railway operates five steam and around a dozen diesel engines. The steam locomotives date from the early 1900s to the 1950s while the diesels mainly date from the 1960s. Services run three days a week in the summer (weekends and one midweek) and three times daily. Peak Rail also hosts several special events such as murder mystery trips and
Santa Specials.
We boarded our train at Rowsley South station. It consisted of six 1960’s coaches pulled by the steam locomotive “Earl David”, built in 1943 under a Ministry of War contract. We progressed smoothly to Darley Dale station then on to Matlock, where we stopped for ten minutes to stretch our legs. After a thoroughly enjoyable and nostalgic round trip lasting one hour and 20 minutes we returned to Rowsley South. During the journey we learned
that the locomotive consumes around half a ton of coal and four hundred gallons of water.
Our party then repaired to The Grouse and Claret for a hearty lunch, thankfully without a
British Rail sandwich in sight.
Many thanks go to Colin Peskett, our secretary and dedicated Peak Rail volunteer, for
organising such a fascinating and enjoyable day out.