First preservation attempts with the Buxton Steam Centre

v t e Peak Rail
Legend
miles from London St Pancras 148.43 Monsal Trail (proposed extension to Bakewell) Rowsley Yard 148.29 Rowsley South 147.47 Church Lane Crossing 147.26 147.15 Darley Dale Station Road Crossing South Yard (shunter depot) 146.75 Bridge 40 (Warney Brook) Old Road 145.39 Bridge 35 (River Derwent) 145.32 Matlock Riverside Peak Rail Network Rail boundary Cawdor Way Network Rail run-around loop Matlock Derwent Valley Line

In 1975, the Peak Railway Preservation Society was established and opened a site at the now-closed Buxton Steam Centre with restoration facilities and a 300-yard operating line. Proposals were put forward to extend the operating line onto the single track freight line towards Peak Forest, but were not met with success. However, a bridge was purchased and installed over Charles Street to reconnect to British Rail's Ashwood Dale route. The bridge was never used as the whole site was sold to Buxton Water who built a factory shortly after Peak Rail moved to Darley Dale using funds from the sale. The factory was demolished in 2011 and the site is vacant again and so available should Peak Rail ever reach Buxton.

The BBC reported in 2014 that the station site was proposed for redevelopment.^[1]

The Buxton Advertiser reported in June 2019 that Peak Rail intended to reoccupy the Buxton site and start a new Buxton Branch within two months with the first priority being to clear the site.^[2] The Peak Rail Association news quotes the support of the local MP^[3] however the builder of a new development is causing difficulties with access.^[4]

Closure of the Buxton Steam Centre and relocation to Darley Dale

In the 1980s, Peak Rail relocated its headquarters to Darley Dale and by 1991 the railway had reopened the section of line between Matlock Riverside and Darley Dale.

In 1997, the line was extended within a half-mile south of the Derbyshire village of Rowsley itself. A new station was constructed next to the site of the former loco shed at Rowsley South. The station was capable of holding long incoming charter trains and had a car park to accommodate a large number of cars and other vehicles. The station at Rowsley South has also been used for local charity events and cycle races, as well as steam and vintage vehicle rallies. With its location on the edge of the Peak District, the railway joins other attractions in the area, including Bakewell, Haddon Hall, Chatsworth House, the Rowsley shopping village, the village of Rowsley and the Cauldwell's Mill museum.

Extension to Matlock (Network Rail) station

After the construction of the Matlock by-pass, and the new Sainsburys supermarket in the former Cawdor Quarry, a new track alignment and track layout was installed between Matlock Riverside and Matlock (Network Rail) station to provide a new connection to the national network.

Discussions regarding access to the Matlock down platform have resulted in an agreed 50-year lease, including the re-connection of the Network Rail and Peak Rail metals. The rails were originally disconnected due to a rearrangement of Network Rail track as a part of other redevelopments in the area south of the present Matlock Riverside station. The extension to Matlock re-opened on 2 July 2011.

Expansion towards Bakewell

• Phase 1 would restore and re-lay track to the site of Rowsley station in Rowsley itself.^[5]
• Phase 2 would be reinstating a bridge over the A6 road joining up to Rowsley viaduct, along with restoration of both the viaduct and trackbed as far as a proposed Haddon Halt.
• Phase 3 would then be restoring both the old Haddon Tunnel and Coombes Road viaduct to former use before relaying track into the old station site and restoring the site to its former use.

Negotiations for the lease of the mile of trackbed to the north have resulted in the offer of a 99-year lease, from Rowsley South to Rowsley village. However, the extension is dependent on the required finance being raised or bequeathed.

Monsal Trail

Derbyshire County Council and the Peak Planning Board supported a scheme to develop the trackbed from Bakewell to Blackwell Mill as a cycle track, the Monsal Trail. With a stated aim to extend to Rowsley as part of the White Peak Loop Trail, the plans make no mention of the proposed railway extension beyond Rowsley village toward Bakewell.^[6]

Two train running

In late February 2007, the railway's 'Two-Train Running' project was completed and approved by HM Railway Inspectorate. Through improvements to infrastructure and signalling, this project allows two trains in steam on the line, using a refurbished and extended passing loop at Darley Dale. Each section of the railway is worked by a train staff, each with a key to operate the ground frames and electrical signal releases at the signal boxes and the ground frames at Rowsley South, Rowsley North, Darley South Yard sidings and Matlock Riverside.

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives

Diesel Multiple Units

Steam

Note that the locations given may not be current as locomotives move between railways from time to time.

• Hunslet 14" Saddle Tank 0-6-0ST Brookes No. 1 built in 1943. Now operational at the Middleton Railway.
• Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 3883 built in 1944. (previous number WD 168 Lord Phil)
• GWR 4073 Class 4-6-0 no 7027 Thornbury Castle. Undergoing restoration from scrapyard condition at the Great Central Railway.
• LMS Stanier 8F Class 2-8-0 no 48624. Operational at the Great Central Railway, was originally painted in unauthentic LMS Crimson lake.

Diesel

• MetroVick Co-Bo D5705, the sole remaining member of Class 28, was preserved from Swindon Works in 1980, stored at Darley Dale/Matlock Bath Goods Shed for many years before removal to Bury on the East Lancashire Railway by 1998 for completion.
• 25265 (7615) Harlech Castle used on passengers trains in the 1990s. Now at Nemesis Rail (stored).