• The original Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway was a 3 ft (914 mm) line opened on 24 May 1875 to transport hematite iron ore from mines around Boot to the Furness Railway standard gauge line at Ravenglass. A tramway separated from the line just after Beckfoot along the route of the current railway and up to Gil Force. There has been dispute about the gauge. It is shown as 3 feet in records but is quoted as 2 ft 9 in (838 mm) in some books such as the ABC of Narrow Gauge Railways. This figure was believed for many years until the present company discovered a sleeper from before the line closed, with spacings between holes made by track spikes confirming the gauge was the wider one. The confusion probably stems from the fact that the line was built under the condition that it was "of a gauge not less than 2' 9" ".
•  Following requests from the residents of the valley for a passenger service, the railway was upgraded to meet the minimum standards of the Board of Trade, and the first passenger trains ran in November 1876.[ It was the first public narrow-gauge railway in England. However, the cost of upgrading the line for passengers left the railway company with substantial debts which it was unable to pay off. The company was forced to declare itself bankrupt in 1877, although trains continued to run under the control of a series of receivers. Unfortunately, all but one of the iron ore mines closed within 10 years of the railway opening, and there was not enough traffic from other sources (local goods and passengers from the villages and farms of the valley) for the railway to sustain itself. In later years, the railway did become popular with summer tourists, but this was not enough to offset the railways running costs. The Summer 1898 Furness Railway timetable shows five weekday trains along the line with three on Sundays.
• In 1905, a passenger train was derailed at Murthwaite due to a combination of a defective locomotive and defective track. By 1908 the track-work was is such poor condition, it was declared unsafe for passengers by the Board of Trade. The railway closed to passengers that year. Goods trains continued to run whilst attempts were made to raise money to rebuild the railway. These attempts failed, and the railway closed completely in April 1913.
• In 1915 Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke and Robert Proctor-Mitchell, two model makers, converted the line to the 15 in (381 mm) gauge that it is today. The first train operated over the regauged line on 28 August 1915.[1] By 1917, the entire line had been converted and trains were running along the whole length. Initially, services were operated using the Bassett-Lowke-built, to-scale 4-4-2 Sans Pareil. Rolling stock was augmented by Sir Arthur Heywood's Duffield Bank line, following Sir Arthur's death in 1916. These included the 0-8-0 locomotive Muriel, whose frames and running gear were rebuilt as River Irt.
• As well as passengers, the line transported granite between Beckfoot Quarry and Murthwaite crushing plant. From Murthwaite to Ravenglass the track ran as dual gauge for a time, with 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge track straddling the 15 in (381 mm) gauge rails. A diesel locomotive was obtained in 1929 to work this section and details are in Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway locomotives. The line carried much of the goods and produce for the valley. By the mid-1920s, the line had been extended to its present terminus at Dalegarth Station. Passenger trains did not run during World War II.
• In 1946, the line was purchased by the Keswick Granite Company, but quarrying at Beckfoot finished in 1953, leaving the line dependent on passenger traffic. From 1958 attempts were made to sell the line, and it was expected that if these failed then the line would close at the end of the 1960 season. In the event, the railway was sold by auction in September of that year.[9][10]

For further details of the Railway visit - https://ravenglass-railway.co.uk