OKthePK - Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

Shottle Derbyshire England United Kingdom - 2-6-4T British Rail Standard Class 4 number 80080 on loan from the Midland Railway wears a wreath in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who passed away yesterday, 8 Sep 2022.

Background image - 2-6-4T BR Standard Class 4 number 80080 passes beneath the Coldwell Street overbridge to couple onto her carriages at Wirksworth prior to the first departure of the day southbound to Duffield - 9 Sep 2022 William Slim.

The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway located just about at the center of England, United Kingdom, in the county of Derbyshire. It's named for the Ecclesbourne River and generally follows that river valley's route south where the River Ecclesbourne joins with the Derwent River at Duffield.

The railway is 9 miles in length with the main shops located at Wirksworth in the north. There's a short half-mile branch up a 3.27 percent grade to Stoneycroft Quarry just north of Wirksworth. The six stations along the line from north to south are: Ravenstor, Wirksworth, Idridgehay, Shottle, Hazelwood, and Duffield. Ravenstor consists of a platform and doesn't appear to be used at all, perhaps for special events. Hazelwood station has no platform, and being privately owned, it cannot be used by the railway. Shottle also is a privately owned station, but with one available platform. Likewise, Idridgehay and Duffield have just one platform. The original station at Duffield was demolished some time ago but the heritage railway has now constructed a new station on the site.

Duffield station lies next to Network Rail's Derwent Line which connects Derby and Matlock. The running of heritage trains are timed to meet Network Rail's East Midlands Railway trains on the Derwent Line thereby providing access to all Network Rail stations.

Shottle Derbyshire England United Kingdom - Although the station has been sold to the Peak Oil Company the railway still has access to the platform.

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