Snailbeach District Railways
Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Tonbridge until 1948 |
Locale | England |
Dates of operation | 1877–1959 (rail operation) |
Successor | abandoned |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 2 ft 4 in (711 mm) [a] |
Length | 3+1⁄2 miles (5.63 km) |
Snailbeach District Railways was a British
History
The railway was incorporated by
In 1905, the Ceirog Granite Company opened a quarry near Habberley, and a branch was built to serve this. An extra locomotive was required, and 0-4-2 T Sir Theodore was borrowed from the 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in (724 mm) gauge Glyn Valley Tramway. However, the slight difference in gauge made this locomotive too wide for the track, and it was returned unused. Instead, a new locomotive, Dennis, was bought.[2]
Freight reached a peak in 1909 when 38,000 long tons (38,610 t; 42,560 short tons) were carried, but this proved to be a short-term change in fortune for the railway, and demand dwindled again during
When the mines closed, the line lost much of its traffic but was rescued by a new traffic flow of stone from Callow Hill Quarry. There was virtually no traffic on the upper part of the line but it remained open as the locomotive shed was at Snailbeach.
In 1947 all three remaining
The quarry remained open but the railway was lifted and, between Callow Hill and the road bridge at Pontesbury, converted into a road. Shropshire County Council ran their lorries along this road and paid rent to the railway company. As lorries became larger the long single-track road from Callow Lane to the quarry became impractical and was closed. A new access road was built in 1998 from the A488 in
Line preservation
The railway company was still in existence in 1984 when it was put up for sale (offers in the region of £25,000). The sale included the company records as well as the land. The only parts that were sold were the Callow Hill quarry and the trackbed from the exchange sidings at Pontesbury through to Callow Lane near Minsterley. A small section of land was sold to private purchasers at Snailbeach (near Prospect House and Cottages) and the Crowsnest terminal. A small section near the Plox Green road bridge is owned by Shropshire Council and is said to be lead contaminated due to drainage from the spoil piles. A small parcel of land covering the trackbed on the other side of this bridge is used as a playing field and the Snailbeach Village Hall.[citation needed]
Income was expected from the lease to the county council (lasting until 1997) and from
Callow Hill Quarry (2006) is owned by Tarmac plc and largely mothballed. Occasional quarry products are transported only a short distance along the route of the old railway to a
Some remnants of the railway can still be seen, notably in Snailbeach, where the engine shed has been restored and rails remain in place on the lines leading to the old mines, and a reconstructed hopper wagon is available for inspection.
Locomotives
Number | Name | Builder | Type | Works Number | Built | Bought | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belmont | Hughes Falcon Works
|
ST
|
1874 (?) | 1877 | Scrapped c.1912 | ||
Fernhill | Lennox Lange
|
ST
|
1881 | 1881 | Scrapped c.1906 | ||
1 | Dennis[3] | W.G. Bagnall
|
T
|
1797 | 1906 | 1906 | Scrapped 1937 |
2 | Kerr Stuart[4]
|
T "Skylark" class |
802 | 1902 | 1923 | Scrapped 1950 | |
3 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 44383 | 1916 | 1923 | Scrapped 1950 | ||
4 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | PT class 10-12-D |
44522 | 1917 | 1923 | Scrapped 1950 |
See also
- British narrow gauge railways
- Baldwin Class 10-12-D
Notes
- a At least one source lists the gauge as 2 ft 3+3⁄4 in (705 mm).
References
- Dalston, H. F. G. (November 1944). "The Snailbeach District Railways". The Railway Magazine. 90 (554). London: Tothill Press Limited.
- Kidner, R.W. (1938). Mineral Railways. The Oakwood Press.
- ISBN 0-901096-17-2
- Industrial Locomotives of Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire. The Industrial Railway Society. 1977. ISBN 0-901096-32-6
- ^ Shropshiremines.org Snailbeach District Railway
- ^ ISBN 1-85306-264-2.
- ^ a b Dalston 1944, p. 356.
- ^ Dalston 1944, p. 355.
Further reading
- Scott-Morgan, John (1978). The Colonel Stephens Railways: A Pictorial Survey. Newton Abbot: ISBN 0-7153-7544-X.
- Andy Cuckson (2017): The Snailbeach District Railways. Twelveheads Press, Chacewater, Truro, 218 pages with 273 illustrations.
External links
- Snailbeach District Railways, via Colonel Stephens Society
- Snailbeach District Railways, via Colonel Stephens Museum