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Project Description

‘Railway on the Water – Relaunched’ is a Heritage Lottery Funded project that is enabling the Museum to restore its Tom Puddings, Jebus and Tug – Wheldale. The vessels we are conserving are the last of their kind. The ‘Railway on the Water’ was unique to the Aire and Calder Navigation and operated for 125 years until 1986. Trains of 17 to 19 Tom Puddings would be loaded at Yorkshire coal mines and towed by the tugs to Goole Docks. There they would be lifted by one of the five hyudraulic Compartment Boat Hoists and the coal tipped into ships to be transported all around Europe.

Please see Our Photogallery Page for all pictures from our Wheldale Weekend.

Wheldale is 50 this year!

so to celebrate its golden anniversary the Museum will be launching its ‘Railway on the Water’ exhibition in July. The exhibition will then be touring Yorkshire. In September we will be celebrating the completion of the conservation with a festival weekend, and then premiering our ‘Railway on the Water – Relaunched’ DVD.

We hope to see you at the Museum soon at one of our ‘Tom Pudding’ themed events!

Railway on the Water in action

Progress Pictures

The first one out.

They are bigger than we thought!

Lifting the ballast from the Jebus

The pans back at the museum awaiting a lift out!

Wheldale in temporary battleship grey undercoat.

New Wheldale volunteer gets the worst job

Work begins!

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