Qualla: Ribble Steam Railway

Ribble Steam Railway: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0. Preston Docks closed in 1981 and the freight railway that had served them for nearly a century went quiet. The bananas had stopped coming from the West Indies, the Ulster ferry had moved to Stranraer, and the rusted track around the quays had no obvious future. Eighteen years later, a preservation group running an aging steam museum in a Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway shed at Southport realised their building was about to bankrupt them — and that Preston had ready-made workshops, tracks, and warehouses doing nothing. They moved. The Ribble Steam Railway opened to the public on 17 September 2005, and the docks rang with whistles again.

Read more: Ribble Steam Railway on Qualla

Image: David Dixon | CC BY-SA 2.0

Ribble Steam Railway: From Southport Shed to Preston Quay

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Francis C. Franklin, CC BY-SA 3.0. The preservation effort began in 1973 at Derby Road, Southport, in the former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway steam shed with BR code 27C. By the 1990s the shed was a money pit. Maintenance costs were outpacing the gate take. The trustees looked north up the coast to Preston, wh...

Read more: Ribble Steam Railway on Qualla

Image: Francis C. Franklin | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ribble Steam Railway: One of Britain's Largest Locomotive Collections

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hudson6dogs, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sixty-one locomotives are listed in the collection, with fifty-five currently on site. One is on loan from the National Railway Museum at York. Another belongs to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust. Together they form one of the largest preserved locomotive collections in...

Read more: Ribble Steam Railway on Qualla

Image: Hudson6dogs | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ribble Steam Railway: Riverside to Strand Road

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0. Trains run hourly from Preston Riverside station, the railway's own platform at the visitor centre, to Strand Road Crossing and back. The rolling stock is usually two or more Mark 1 coaches behind either a small steam engine or a diesel. The line is short — under a mile and a hal...

Read more: Ribble Steam Railway on Qualla

Image: AlasdairW | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ribble Steam Railway: The Bitumen Trail

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Geof Sheppard, CC BY-SA 4.0. Until January 2025, the line still carried real freight. A consist of fifteen tank wagons came in from the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire three times a week, carrying hot bitumen to TotalEnergies' Preston facility. The mainline locomotive would hand off at the level crossin...

Read more: Ribble Steam Railway on Qualla

Image: Geof Sheppard | CC BY-SA 4.0

Ribble Steam Railway: Future Plans

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Patrick, CC BY-SA 2.0. There are long-running proposals to build a new platform at Strand Road, closer to the Portway park and ride and the Guild Wheel walking route — Preston's circular 21-mile cycle and footpath that loops around the city. Further plans would extend the railway 1.5 miles to the Ribbl...

Read more: Ribble Steam Railway on Qualla

Image: Patrick | CC BY-SA 2.0