Golden Acre Park Railway, Leeds

During the late-1920s, Hudswell, Clarke & Co. Ltd, a leading industrial locomotive builder based in Leeds, saw a downtown in business due to the recession. So they turned their attention to pleasure railways, drawing up designs for diesels that looked like steam engines. They believed the savings in labour and maintenance costs would surely prove appealing to operators, and it did.

The first one went to the North Bay Railway in Scarborough in 1931 and over the next seven years they built 8 more. Some went on to lead relatively stable lives, whilst others had several different homes. Two even ended up in a scrapyard. But astonishingly, all 9 still survive today.

We’ll be taking a look at all these locos in due course and in this particular article will focus on the two that went to the Golden Acre Park Railway in Leeds.

To read more on what happened to the other Hudswell Clarke steam-outline locos see our blogs on the Pleasure Beach Express & Early Butlins Miniature Railways.

In 1932 local entrepreneur Frank Thomspon developed a new leisure park on 137-acres of land on the outskirts of Leeds. Known as Golden Acre Park the attractions included boat rides on the man-made lake, a water chute, tennis courts, putting greens, paddling pool and two restaurants. 

Thompson wanted a railway to encircle the lake and, impressed with the newly opened North Bay Railway in Scarborough, he turned to Hudswell Clarke and ordered his own loco in 1932. But he went with a different design, a handsome tank engine which was named Robin Hood. The following year he ordered another loco, this time a ‘Flying Scotsman’ design identical to the two Scarborough engines. This was named May Thompson after his wife. Both locos were built to 20″ gauge, the same as Scarborough. The railway even had its own dining car!

The park soon became a popular destination and an outdoor swimming pool and dance hall were later added.

In 1938 Mr Thompson opened the nearby Parkway Hotel and in January 1939 he announced that the park would be closing as he planned to develop the land with new “villas and bungalows”. He planned to keep the lake and swimming pool, and build a “suntan beach where visitors could laze”. He said he got the idea after a recent visit to Hollywood. The railway was listed for sale for £3200. One of the locos was described as “not running”.

During the mid-1930s Mablethorpe District Council were thinking of building their own miniature railway “similar to Scarborough” with a 3/4 mile track running along the sandhills with a 360ft tunnel. Hudswell Clarke were contacted for a quote, but the total cost including track and construction was £11,000 (around a million pounds today). The idea was abandoned.

But interest in the scheme was revived when the railway at Golden Acre Park was put up for sale. A visit by several high profile Mablethorpe council members in April resulted in them submitting a bid of £2000. It was rejected. The following month the entire contents of the park, except the railway, were auctioned off.

World War 2 then came along and plans for the redevelopment were abandoned. The land was requisitioned for wartime use and was used as a training ground for the Home Guard. The lake was drained of water, and many of the old buildings were either damaged or destroyed. In 1942 the railway was sold to Leonard Thompson, owner of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and the trains were moved to safe storage.

In 1945 the land was sold to the council for £18,500, even though they didn’t really want it. They said it was “part of the new greenbelt and we were more or less forced to buy it”. The park remained an overgrown wilderness for several years before they decided to clean it up. It’s now a public park and open to visitors.

Check out the excellent video below to see what remains of the Golden Acre railway:

In 1953 Leonard Thompson used the old Golden Acre trains and track to build a new railway at Morecambe Pleasure Park, which he also owned. He kept the dining car and some freight wagons for use at Blackpool.

The Morecambe railway was certainly the poor relation, with the trains often looking tatty and rundown. Reliability was poor, with the ride was often closed due to breakdowns. There wasn’t even any undercover storage, so the trains sat outdoors all year. It managed to last until 1981, when much of it was described as “semi-derelict”. 

The railway was then purchased by dealer Alan Keef, and Robin Hood was given a rebuild and a new engine. It was then sent to a railway at Kilverstone Wildlife Park in Norfolk. May Thompson was also sent there, but remained out of use in ‘ex Morecambe’ condition.

Kilverstone closed in 1992 and the railway was bought back by Alan Keef. He fully restored both locos, and in 1994 they reappeared on a new railway at Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire. 

In 2004 Alan Keef built a brand new loco for Woburn, so the two vintage engines were removed, and in 2006 they arrived at the North Bay Railway in Scarborough. Here they were able to join their two sisters, where all four now remain to this day. May Thompson has been renamed Poseidon.