While looking for information about locomotives built by Fox, Walker &Co. for the Whitland & Taf Vale Railway, I came across the image below, which shows a ‘combined locomotive and carriage’.
Fox’s Combined Locomotive and Carriage. [8]
Grace’s Guide provides no more information about this unit, but more can be found on the Model Engineering website in the form of a short article dated 19th February 1869 which appeared in the journal ‘Engineering’. [9]
“We illustrate above an arrangement of combined locomotive and carriage designed and patented by Mr. Fox of the firm of Messrs. Fox, Walker, and Co., of Bristol. According to this plan a four-wheeled tank engine with a short wheel base is coupled by a strong draw-pin to a passenger carriage, this carriage having a single pair of wheels at the hind end only, the front end being supported by springs fixed on the engine frame, as shown in the plan. The carriage is, however, provided at the front end with a pair of wheels which can, by the arrangement of screw shown, be lowered down so as to bear upon the rail and support that end of the vehicle when it is desired to uncouple it from the engine. The engine shown in our illustration has four coupled wheels 5 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and outside cylinders 8 in. in diameter with 12 in. stroke; it has, moreover, a tank placed at the front end under the smokebox so as to approximately balance the weight placed on the hind end of the engine by the carriage. The total weight of the combined engine and carriage is estimated at 15 tons empty, and 24 tons with the engine in working order, and the carriage containing its full complement of passengers. The greatest weight on a pair of wheels is 9 tons. The engine is intended to draw two carriages, besides the one directly connected with it, and containing in all 150 passengers, at the rate of 40 miles an hour on a level, or its own carriage, carrying 50 passengers, up an incline of 1 in 50 at a speed of 15 miles per hour. To enable it to do this, however, it would be necessary either that the cylinder power should be increased, or that the boiler should be worked at a somewhat higher pressure than is adopted in ordinary locomotive practice. In describing Mr. Fox’s engine it is only fair that we should state that, before receiving his tracings we were shown by Mr. Fairlie the drawings of a combined engine and carriage which he had designed with the same object as led to the production of Mr. Fox’s plans, namely to effect a reduction in the dead weight and working expenses of railway trains, and to produce an arrangement suitable for carrying on a light traffic on a road abounding with sharp curves.” [9]
R.W. Kidner
Back in 1947, R.W. Kidner collaborated with the Oakwood Press to produce a series of monographs about road and rail transport. I had not been able to find a copy of the relevant part of Kidner’s work, [1] before completing the first six articles to which this article is an addendum. The first of those articles can be found here. [2]
This article includes relevant material from Kidner’s monograph. [1]
Kidner separates the period from 1847 to 1947 into three different railcar/railmotor eras: 1847-1899, 1900-1923 & 1923-1947.
1. Early Steam Railcars, 1847-1899
Kidner says that the “earliest railcars in the world were probably Detmole’s 12-seater cyclopede car of 1829, on the South Carolina R.R., and Andraud’s compressed-air-driven 8-seater of 1839 in France. In England, the first was the Express, a steam-driven car devised by James Samuel and W. Bridges Adams, of the Eastern Counties Railway. This little car made its inaugural trip on 23rd October 1847, from Shoreditch to Cambridge, covering the distance in three and three-quarter hours running time.” [1: p110]
J. Samuel’s ‘Express’ of 1847, with 3.5 x 6 in cylinders and 3ft 4in wheels. [1: p111]
Kidner notes that this diminutive vehicle successfully climbed the Lickey incline on the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway. This vehicle’s performance satisfied its designers and resulted in them building the larger six-wheeled vehicle which was 31ft 6in long. As we noted in Part 1, was named ‘Fairfield’, [2] this “became No. 29 on the broad-gauge Bristol & Exeter Railway, and worked the newly-opened Tiverton branch.” [1: p110-111]
The Bristol & Exeter broad gauge ‘Fairfield’ (No. 29) with 7x12in cylinders and 4ft 6in drivers. [1: p111]
Kidner tells us that the next railmotor, the ‘Enfield’, was built in 1849. There is a plan and elevation in the first article. [2] It was “carried on eight wheels and had seats for 42 passengers; on one recorded trip from London to Norwich 126 miles were covered in 215 minutes running time; normally, however, it worked between Enfield and Angel Road.” [1: p111]
Next year came the ‘Cambridge‘; it was a well tank (2-2-0WT) close-coupled to a four-wheeled saloon. Kidner highlights a similar unit, a “Ariel’s Girdle, built by Kitson Thompson and Hewitson and exhibited at the Great Exhibition. This combination seems never to have worked in public service in its original form, though the locomotive portion later worked the Millwall Extension line; in fact, although the rigid engine-cum-coach had given way to the handier flexible type, no great enthusiasm was shown for either.” [1: p111]
This is a Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway unit of 1852 which was similar to the ‘Cambridge’.
Several close-coupled units similar to the Cambridge were operated from 1852 by the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway but otherwise J. Samuel’s invention was unsuccessful. However, his design work alongside R.F. Fairlie produced “a flexible steam-car embodying all the advantages which brought about the railcar ‘boom’ of 1903-11, virtually the only difference between Samuel’s and Drummond’s cars being that the former employed four-coupled driving wheels.” [1: p112]
The experimental steam railmotor built in 1869 by R.F. Farlie and J. Samuel reproduced in the Illustrated London News on 26th February 1869. Details according to Kidner: Cylinders 8 x 12 in., driving wheels 4ft; although the overall wheelbase was 57ft, curves of 35ft radius could be worked. There were seats for 18 first, 30 seconds, and 40 third class; unladen weight 14 tons. [1: plate XXIX]
Kidner says that “there is no record of this bogie car going into service. It was designed to negotiate curves of 35 ft. radius, and thus by the laying of such reversing curves at termini to avoid running round.”
The next use of a railcar/railmotor was by McDonnell, of the Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland.
The Great Southern & Western Railway of Ireland 0-4-4T built in 1873 for service on the GSWR(I)’s Castle island branch in Co. Kerry. [1: p112]
Kidner tells us that in 1873 McDonnell built “two small 0-4-4T engines with short staff-carriages mounted at the rear, which were named Fairy and Sprite, and used for pay purposes.” A larger vehicle was built shortly after, and then two 0-6-4T cars were built in 1875 which were “35 feet long and carr[ied] eight first and six third-class passengers. … McDonnell’s cars suffered conversion to normal locomotives (except the eight-wheelers, which were scrapped), and no more railcars seen in passenger service until after the turn of the century.” [1: p112]
Instead, some railway companies chose to create railcars to convey railway executives across their networks.
Three Engineers’ cars: at the top, a Great Eastern Railway inspection car converted by Headley Brothers in 1849 from ‘Eagle’, a well tank (2-2-0WT), to make a six-wheeled inspection car; in the centre, a later GER car (No. 81), rebuilt in 1878 as a 4-2-4T car from a Gooch 2-2-2WT of 1853; and at the bottom, a LSWR 4-2-4T inspection car. [1: p113]A thirty-foot-long engineer’s saloon of the LNWR with twelve seats, lavatory, coal-bunker and verandah attached to the single ‘Locomotion’. [1: plate XXIX]
A colourised photograph of this vehicle appeared on the Abergavenny Railways History Facebook Group
The same vehicle as in the first image above. This image was shared on the Abergavenny Railways History Facebook Group by David Bowen on 26th July 2024. [10]
Rather than rigid-bodied cars, some lines preferred close-coupled units. One of these is shown above. Kidner says that the LNWR “ran a number of these comprising 2-2-2 engines with six-wheeled car attached, and the Wordsell brothers on the North-Eastern had a saloon fitted for reverse running normally attached to a 2-2-4T.” [1: p113]
2. Later Steam Railcars, 1900-1923
Kidner talks of the contemporaries of Dugald Drummond naturally being interested in his experiment just after the turn of the 20th century. [1: p133][3] For here was a “method of providing rapid frequency without the capital outlay of electrification.” [1: p135]
Drummond’s railcar/railmotor “differed little from the Fairlie-Samuel car of thirty years ealier, though it was certainly less powerful; in fact, before going into service on the Southsea branch it was found necessary to replace the vertical boiler with a horizontal loco-type one. Unlike the old cars, however, it was fitted for control from either end, and since its ‘turn round time’ could be cut to the few seconds taken by the driver to walk fifty feet to the other end it was ideally suited for dense traffic on short branches.” [1: p135]
Three Steam Railmotors: at the top, the first LSWR Steam Railmotor of 1903, 56ft long (single driver); at the centre, the Furness Railway Railmotor of 1905, 61ft long (coupled drivers); and at the bottom, North Staffordshire Beyer Peacock railmotor of 1905, 50ft 6in long (single driver). [1: p134]Three more Steam Railmotors: the first is the Great Northern Avonside of 1905, 66ft 6in long (coupled drivers); Rhymney Railway Hudswell-Clarke of 1907, 72ft long (coupled drivers); and at the bottom, Port Talbot Hawthorn of 1908, 77ft long (six-coupled drivers). [1: p134]
As we have already noted, the idea was taken up by the Great Western, in particular and by a significant number of other railway companies. [4][5][6]
Kidner notes that “these cars were undoubtedly successful when properly used, but in words spoken in 1905 by Hurry Riches, of the Taff Vale Railway, ‘when they are used to take trailer cars, and are in fact converted into mixed trains, their advantages soon disappear’.” [1: p135-136]
Isle of Wight Central Railway direct drive steam railmotor, built by Hawthorne Leslie in 1906, 61ft long. [1: Plate XXXVII]
Almost inevitably a variety of different trailers were attached to these railcars/railmotors and as a result their key advantage was lost and their disadvantages dominated contemporary thinking. So, says Kidner writing in 1946/7, “building of steam cars ceased in 1911, and soon those already running were being converted into trailers; some of the Great Western’s 99 cars lasted until just before the late war, and at least one of the Lancashire and Yorkshire cars is running today, but of the rest few lived to see the grouping. Their inventor himself seems to have lost faith early, for in 1906 Drummond turned to separate autotrains.” [1: p136]
3. The Modern Steam Railcars, 1923-1947
Kidner was writing in 1946/7. For him, these later Railmotors were very much ‘Modern’. He comments: “In 1923 the branch railways were beginning to face severe competition from the buses; hundreds of such lines were being ‘carried’ by the main lines, and if they were to remain open something must be done to attract custom.” [1: p142]
We have already covered these ‘modern’ steam railmotors in Part 6 of this series. [7]
The most unusual of this later group of steam railmotors was that used by the Southern Railway on the Dyke branch. This is mentioned at the end of the previous article (Part 6) in this short series. Kidner provides a photograph of that Railmotor in action. [7] …
The Southern Railway Railmotor which was used on the Dyke branch. Shown here in action in 1933. [1: Plate XXXIX]
References
R.W. Kidner; A Short History of Mechanical Traction & Travel – Part 6: Multiple Unit Trains, Railmotors & Tramcars 1829 – 1947; Oakwood Press, South Godstone, Surrey, October 1947, p107-150 with a series of plates before p107 and after p150.
This article follows on from five other articles which covered the Wellington to Severn Junction Railway and this line from Buildwas to Presthope. The first three articles can be found on these links:
Much Wenlock to Presthope and on towards Craven Arms
From the commencement of the building of the line between Buildwas and Much Wenlock, the directors hoped that the line could be extended to Craven Arms via Presthope on Wenlock Edge (linking with the limestone quarries/works at that location).
The directors of the Wellington & Severn Junction Railway were, however, fully occupied with the line from Wellington to Buildwas. Another company was set up to build the ‘Wenlock & Craven Arms and Coalbrookdale Extension Railway‘. The bill went through the parliamentary process unopposed and authorised the ‘Wenlock Railway Company‘ to construct the line. Work started on 23rd October 1861.
By 5th December 1864, the line was open from Much Wenlock to Presthope. (That length is covered in the last online article listed above.) At this time, because it was a freight-only line, the Board of Trade saw no need for an inspection of the line. It had already been agreed at a meeting held on 4th December 1863 not to proceed with the line from Presthope to Craven Arms for the time being. It was to be three years after the line reached Presthope before the connection to the Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway close to Craven Arms was completed. It was finally opened on 16th December 1867.
Presthope to Longville
We begin this article at Presthope Railway Station and travel towards Craven Arms, as far as the village of Longville in the Dale. …….
Ken Jones comments: “On arrival at Presthope station … its complete isolation is striking, the only sign of habitation being the station master’s house standing on a ridge above the station. Although isolated, its importance is magnified by the number of sidings (a mini-marshalling yard on a branch line), because of the extensive quarrying formerly carried out by the Lilleshall Company in this area. A siding [1.5] miles long ran from the station sidings into the Lilleshall quarries. Prior to World War I a special train left Presthope each day for the Lilleshall Company’s furnaces at Priors Lee. However, by the early 1920s the company had ceased quarrying operations in the Presthope.” [1: p97]
The limestone quarry on Moses Benson’s land was the prime reason for the railway reaching Presthope. It was “developed by the Lilleshall Company, the line being opened to this point in 1864 solely for mineral traffic.” [15: p134]
Knowles comments: “The Wenlock Railway Bill stipulated that ‘The Company at their own expense shall make a proper and convenient siding at Presthope at the eastern end of the proposed tunnel, and at their own expense maintain this siding for the exclusive use of Moses George Benson.’ … The Benson family owned the Lutwyche Estate which included much of the land south west of Much Wenlock over which the Craven Arms extension would pass. Extensive limestone quarrying was carried out in the area and the Bensons had accrued wealth by leasing land for limestone extraction. The new railway would facilitate transport of the stone, a benefit to Moses Benson who became a strong advocate of the railway. In 1862 he leased the site of the limestone quarry at Presthope to the Earl of Granville who was acting on behalf of the Lilleshall Company. … The Wenlock Railway duly installed a 50-yard siding which was soon extended right into the quarry by the Lilleshall Company, ready for the start of mineral traffic from Presthope over the Wenlock Railway in 1864.” [15: p53]
The Lilleshall Company Mineral Railway at Presthope
The limestone found on Wenlock Edge is a relatively hard and resistant rock, grey/blue in colour. Its thickness varies from around 35 metres to more than 135 metres. It “has been used from the earliest days as a building stone locally as can be seen in the remaining Priory Walls and the Corn Exchange in Wenlock Town. More significantly, the limestone was used for lime mortar, especially as can be seen in the Roman City of Viriconium, Wroxeter.” [16: p229-230] Historically it was also used as a fertiliser, as a flux in blast furnaces, as a road stone, as bricks and slabs and in the manufacture of artificial stone.
This versatility made the limestone from Wenlock Edge a valuable resource and so very attractive to the Lilleshall Company. It was its use in their industrial processes which made it so important.
As we have already noted, the first 50 yards of the Mineral Railway were built by the railway company under the provisions of the Wenlock Railway Bill. Knowles comments that, “this was then continued by the Lilleshall Company for almost a mile and a half, linking to a network of moveable tramways which extended into the far reaches of the quarry.” [15: p134-135]
Prior to the construction of the Wenlock Branch and the Lilleshall Company Mineral Railway there was a quarry close to what became the tunnel mouth of the extension towards Craven Arms. Associated with that limestone quarry we’re Limekilns which can be seen on the OS map extract above – a series of four circles on the South side of the main line close to the tunnel portal.
The Lilleshall Company worked their quarry until just before WW1. When no longer needed the mineral railway was closed and lifted. “Knowle Lime Works took over part of the site and reopened [the] older working almost adjacent to Presthope Tunnel.” [15: p135]
The 50 yard length of siding provided by the railway company was still in place and Knowle Lime Works provided their own tramway and wharf alongside the original siding for the transhipment of goods for onward transport.
This is an extract from the modern OS Explorer Map as reproduced in the Much Wenlock Neighbourhood Plan with the area of the Lilleshall Company quarries shaded lilac. [19]
The next three extracts from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1883 show the length of the Lilleshall Company line from the Inn to their quarries.
Two extracts from the 25″ Ordnance Survey Sheet Shropshire L. 14 of 1883. [17]This map extract comes from the Ordnance Survey Sheet immediately to the South of Shropshire L. 14, Shropshire LVII.2 of 1883. [18]The quarry area and its internal tramways as recorded on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1902. [20]The two lines (Quarry Railway and Much Wenlock Branch) continued in Southwesterly directions across this next satellite image, the mineral railway is the more southerly of the two lines shown. The railmaponline.com satellite imagery shows the end of the quarry branch (in the bottom-left of the image), while the line to Craven Arms continues on the Northwest side of Wenlock Edge heading down a relatively gentle incline by following the line of the Edge. [3]Looking Northeast towards Presthope along the line of the Mineral Railway. [Google Streetview, May 2011]Looking Southwest into the site of the Lilleshall Company quarry. [Google Streetview, May 2011]
Presthope Tunnel and the line to the West
Ken Jones comments: “Leaving Presthope Station, to the left of the train was a large outcrop of limestone rock on which were three limekilns, this outcrop with its kilns forming a most dramatic entrance to the 207 yds-long Presthope tunnel driven through the limestone rock.” [1: p97]
Ken Jones says: “On emergence from the tunnel the passenger is rewarded with a panoramic view of the beautiful Ape Dale with its irregular field patterns and isolated farms with the gently rising backcloth of the Stretton Hills in the distance. A sight never to be forgotten on a winter’s morning with the snowcapped hills dominating the Vale.” [1: p97]
The views which Ken Jones mentions above are, in the 21st century, hidden first by the embankment walls close to the tunnel mouth and then by the dense woodland which surrounds the old railway.
We were able to walk the length of the formation of the old railway between Presthope tunnel and Easthope Halt on 24th May 2024. The length walked is covered by the next three extracts from the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey
This next extract from the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey covers the bottom-left quarter of the railmaponline.com image above. [22]A further length of the line as it appears on the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey. Together with the extract below, the length of the line shown on the railmaponline.com extract below is covered. [23]The next length of the line. Easthope Halt was sited just to the West of the lane which passed under the line in the bottom-left corner of this extract. [24]The same length of the line as covered on the two map extracts immediately above. Easthope Halt was located tight into the bottom-left corner of this image, just to the West of the lane which passed under the railway. [3]
These next images come from our walk on 24th May 2024. They show the formation of the old railway at regular intervals. It is now primarily in use as a logging road by the National Trust. There is about 250 metres between each image.
Easthope Halt. This image was shared on the Much Wenlock History Facebook Group by Judith Goodman on 9th December 2020. It looks Northeast towards Presthope Tunnel.The Halt was opened on 4th April 1936 and closed on 31st December 1951. [12]
Ken Jones; The Wenlock Branch; The Oakwood Press, Usk, Monmouthshire, 1998.
The photographs of the pre-contract drawings for the line were taken by myself and show extracts from the construction plans held in the Shropshire Archive. There is a standard charge of £10 per visit for taking photographs of their records.
The photographs of the pre-contract drawings for the line were taken by myself and show extracts from the construction plans held in the Shropshire Archive. There is a standard charge of £10 per visit for taking photographs of their records.
The new companies which came into existence with the grouping in 1923 addressed once again the best way to serve lightly populated rural communities. The options available to them centred on various forms of light railcars. Two forms of propulsion were available, the internal combustion engine and the steam engine. Electricity, in many cases required too large an investment for the likely traffic on the intermediate routes in rural areas.
Given, the lack of success of the steam railmotor experiment in the first two decades of the 20th century, it must have seemed unlikely that steam railcars/railmotors woul prove to be a success in the inter-war years. But the LNER’s persistence and the arrival of a new articulated “form of steam railcar developed by the Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd. in association Cammell Laird & Co. Ltd. [brought about] a renewed assessment of the role of the railcar.” [1: p46]
Jenkinson and Lane say that rather than simply using railcars to replace existing services, the aim became one of enhancement of services. A greater frequency of service would reduce the need for unsuitable powered units to pull trailers. Higher speeds would shorten journey times.
But, to do this “in the steam context … meant using a vehicle which, owing to its lightness and simplicity, needed a smaller and less complicated power unit than was offered by the conventional locomotive style of construction. … A tricky balancing act … because railway vehicles need to be much stronger than the road equivalent, … but the Sentinel-Cammell steam railcars were a very fine attempt.” [1: p46]
The LNER Sentinel Steam Railcars
The “Sentinel Waggon Works of Shrewsbury built their first steam railcar in 1923 for the narrow gauge Jersey Railways & Tramways Ltd. This used coachwork constructed by Cammell Laird & Co. of Nottingham, and was reportedly successful.” [2] This partnership with Cammell Laird continued when Cammell Laird became a part of Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage, Wagon & Finance Co. Ltd (‘Metro-Cammell’) in February 1929.
The first narrow-gauge railcar on Jersey plied its trade on the line between St. Hellier and St. Aubin. [4][2] The remains of a later steam railcar is shown below, It was supplied to Jersey as a standard-gauge railcar.
The remains of Sentinel railcar ‘Brittany’ as it appeared in 1997. It was possibly one of a pair supplied by Sentinel in 1923 which ran on the 3ft 6in gauge lines on the Island of Jersey between St. Hellier and Corbiere. Were the pair articulated? Essery and Warburton say that the total weight of each original unit “was 15 tons 3 cwt 2 quarters … The engine was totally enclosed with 6.25inch diameter cylinder with a 9inch stroke having poppet valves and mounted horizontally above the floor of the engine room. The drive from the crankshaft was by roller chain to an intermediate shaft then by separate chains to each axle of the 7’ 0” wheelbase bogie. The Sentinel vertical boiler with cross water tubes and super-heater supplied steam at 230lbs/sq. inch. Coal consumption was 5.37 lb per mile.” [12: p4]
Essery and Warburton note 3 such vehicles being employed on the narrow-gauge. [12: p7] These vehicles were probably re-gauged to standard-gauge when the narrow-gauge line closed. They also note a later purchase of 2 standard-gauge units. Although they give a date of 1924 for the later units [12: p7] which, given that this unit appears not to be articulated, is quite early. Is this, perhaps, actually one of the later rigid-bodied units? If so it would perhaps have been supplied to Jersey between 1927 and 1932.
This image was shared on the Narrow Gauge Enthusiasts Facebook Group on 20th December 2018 by John Carter, permission to include this image here is awaited. [3]
Sentinel exhibited a railcar at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, which was noticed by Gresley. “The LNER was in need of vehicles that were cheaper than steam trains but with better carrying capacity than that of the petrol rail bus and autocar on trial in the North East (NE) Area. Hence Chief General Manager Wedgwood informed the Joint Traffic and Locomotive Committees on 31st July 1924 that a railcar would be loaned from Sentinel for a fortnight. If successful, this would be followed by the purchase of two railcars. The trial took place from 17th to 31st August 1924 in the NE Area.” [2]
The successful trial resulted in the purchase of eighty Sentinel steam railcars from 1925 to 1932.[2] (Essery & Warburton suggest that the very early Sentinel railcars were rigid-bodied units with later versions being articulated vehicles. [12: p4] This does not seem to have been the case. Early Sentinels were, in fact, articulated. There was a period when Sentinel railcars were rigid-bodied, Jenkinson and Lane talk of rigid-bodied Sentinel railcars being delivered in the years from 1927 up to 1932, [1: p54] which may have been a response to competition from Clayton. Clayton’s steam Railcars are covered below.)
In addition to the LNER’s own railcars, the Cheshire Lines railcars (4 No.) were maintained by the LNER and the Axholme Joint Railway (AJR) railcar No. 44 was transferred to the LNER when the AJR ceased serving passengers in 1933.
The first two Sentinel railcars purchased by the LNER were set to work in “East Anglia to operate between Norwich and Lowestoft and from King’s Lynn to Hunstanton.” [1: p46]
The East Anglian pair of railmotors “were considered to be lightweight. Later LNER Sentinel railcars were more substantial and included drawgear and buffers. Both railcars were withdrawn from traffic in November 1929 and sent to Metro-Cammell to be rebuilt into heavier railcars.” [2]
Sentinel offered two options. “One scheme was to rebuild the cars so that they resembled the later cars as closely as possible. The LNER chose to rebuild railcar No. 12E to this scheme, and was described as Diagram 153. The second scheme was to rebuild the railcars to the minimum necessary to meet the requirements. No. 13E was rebuilt to this scheme, and was described by Diagram 152.” [2]
Initially No. 13E was rebuilt without conventional drawgear and buffers. This was corrected within a few months of re-entering LNER service in 1930. [1: 46-47][2].
“No. 13E was renumbered as No. 43307 in April 1932 and withdrawn in January 1940 with a mileage of 269,345 miles.” [2]
No. 12E was subject to an almost complete rebuild. It returned to the LNER by Metro-Cammell on 29th May 1930 and started trials at Colwick. After repainting at Doncaster in late June, it entered traffic on 26th September 1930. The body was raised by just over 10 inches and a third step was added below the doors. Drawgear and buffers were fitted before it re-entered service on the LNER network. [2]
“No. 12E was renumbered as No. 43306 in November 1931, and was withdrawn in April 1940 with a mileage of 232,462 miles.” [2]
The RCTS tells us that, “The majority of the Sentinel railcars were named after former horse-drawn mail and stage coaches. The exceptions were the two original cars, Nos. 12E and 13E, No.51915 taken over from the Axholme Joint Railway and Nos. 600-3 on the Cheshire Lines which were all nameless. In addition the two 1927 cars, Nos. 21 and 22, ran without names for a while, before becoming Valliant (sic) and Brilliant respectively. The named cars had a descriptive notice inside detailing what was known about the running of the mail coach from which the car took its name and offering a reward for additional information.” [5: p13]
The story of the various Sentinel Railcars is covered in some detail in the LNER online Encyclopedia here. [2] If greater detail is required, then the RCTS’s Locomotives of the LNER Part 10B considers the Sentinel Railcars in greater depth. This can be found here. [5]
Sentinel produced their steam railcars for the LNER in a series of relatively small batches. Each batch varied in detailed design.
Rigid-bodied railcars were supplied by Sentinel in the period from 1927. The last rigid-bodied units being delivered in 1932. [1: p54,56] The first was an experimental unit which was in use on LNER lines in 1927 but not purchased until June 1928. [1: p58] A further 49 rigid-bodied Sentinels were ordered in 1928, 12 in 1929, 2 in 1930 [1: p56] and 3 further in 1932 [1: p54]
Jenkinson and Lane tell us that a solitary twin unit, LNER Sentinel No. 2291 ‘Phenomena‘, was developed in 1930. The rear bogie on the powered unit was shared with the trailer. They explain that the articulation between the coaches “allowed the individual unit lengths to be reduced compared with a single unit car. A more than doubled carrying capacity was achieved with only a 25% increase in tare weight.” [1: p64]
‘Phenomena’ was an articulated twin, the powered unit had much in common with the rigid-bodied Sentinel Railmotors. This image was carried by ‘The Engineer Journal of November 1930. [17]
As the number of Railcars on the LNER network increased the company felt that it would be prudent to undertake a review of the performance of all its railcars in use on its network. This review covered the year ending 30th September 1934. The best Sentinel steam railcars out-performed others on the network (particularly those of Armstrong-Whitworth). The fleet of “Sentinel railcars recorded over 2.25 million miles in the year, with railcar mileages often exceeding 30,000 miles.” [2].
“With the exception of No. 220 ‘Waterwitch’ which was wrecked in 1929, all of the Sentinel steam railcars were withdrawn between 1939 and 1948.” [2]
The LNER Armstrong-Whitworth Diesel-Electric Railcars
As a quick aside, the Armstrong Whitworth Railcars were direct competitors for the Sentinel Steam Railcars. They were early diesel-electric cars, diesel-powered precursors of what, from different manufacturers, became the dominant form of power source for railcars as the steam railmotors were retired; although what became the dominant form of diesel railcar was to use direct drive rather than traction motors. [1: p71] What became the GWR railcars were privately developed by Hardy Motors Ltd., AEC Ltd., and Park Royal Coachworks Ltd. [1: p72-73] The story of the GWR diesel railcars is not the focus of this article, but the Armstrong Whitworth Diesel-Electric railcars were direct competitors for the Sentinel railcars and, as such, worth noting here.
In September 1919, Armstrong Whitworth became a Sulzer diesel engine licensee. During 1929 the board of Armstrong Whitworth approved the decision to enter the field of diesel rail traction and obtained a license from Sulzer Brothers for the use of their engines in these rail vehicles.
In 1931, Armstrong Whitworth began construction of “three heavy diesel electric railcars [for the LNER] which operated under the names of ‘Tyneside Venturer’, ‘Lady Hamilton’ & ‘Northumbrian’. They were powered by an Armstrong-Sulzer six cylinder 250hp four stroke diesel engine coupled to GEC electrical equipment. The vehicles were 60 feet long with a cab at each end and a compartment for the engine. They weighed 42tons 10cwt, could carry sixty passengers and luggage at 65mph. The bodywork was provided by Craven Railway Carriage & Wagon Co of Sheffield. The body was of sheet steel panels riveted together. Operating costs were expected to be half those of a steam service of similar capacity.” [8]
As well as running singly the railcars could haul a trailer coach.
“A fourth Armstrong-Whitworth diesel-electric vehicle entered service with the LNER in 1933. This was the un-named No. 294 lightweight railbus. Completed in May 1933, it performed six months of trials before entering regular services in the Newcastle area in September 1933. It was not taken into official LNER stock until August 1934, and is believed to have only been kept as a standby for one of the larger railcars.” [9][cf: 1: p70]
All of the Armstrong Whitworth railcars gave their best performances during the initial trials. “During regular operation, the Armstrong Whitworth diesel-electric railcars suffered from gradually declining performance. This was probably partly due to relatively poor maintenance on what was still a steam railway.” [9]
Ultimately, these units retired relatively early in April, May and December 1939. [9]
The LNER Clayton Steam Railcars and Trailers
The LNER on-line Encyclopedia comments that, “Clayton Wagons Ltd of Lincoln started to build steam railcars in 1927. The LNER purchased a total of eleven between 1927 and 1928.” [10]
Jenkinson and Lane note an earlier date for Clayton Wagons Ltd’s entry into the market. They say that the Clayton cars originated in 1925, originally for use in New Zealand.
These cars were handicapped by the financial instability of Clayton Wagons Ltd. [10][1: p50] The LNER at times had to manufacture parts which were not available from suppliers. The first was withdrawn in July 1932. “With increasing maintenance problems, and a shortage of less strenuous short mileage work, the remainder were withdrawn between April 1936 and February 1937. Due to their short lives and persistent problems, none of the Clayton railcars clocked up significant mileages.” [10] Final mileages ranged from 72,774 to 174,691.
Trailer cars were supplied to the LNER by Clayton Wagons Ltd. The trailers were 4-wheeled with very basic accommodation. Their 4-wheel chassis may well have affected their riding quality. [1: p65] They were “classed as ‘Trailer Brake Thirds’, eight only were built and never seem to have very popular. Pictures of them in use are somewhat rare and little is on record of their working life; they were all withdrawn between March 1948 and March 1949.” [1: p55]
Three photographs can be found in Jenkinson and Jane’s book, one external and two internal views. [1:p 65]
The LMS Steam Railcars
In parallel with the LNER, the LMS had its own programme trials of Sentinel railcars. Jenkinson & Lane tell us that trials were carried out in 1925, “with a hired prototype on the Ripley Branch and a fleet of thirteen cars (the prototype plus a production batch of twelve) was put in service during 1926-7, a year or so ahead of the main LNER order. The LMS cars were all of lightweight low-slung design with less of the working parts exposed below the frames and no conventional drawgear. They were unnamed and finished in standard crimson-lake livery.” [1: p49]
In many respects these railcars were very similar to the two early lightweight LNER vehicles. Differences were minor: “the LMS cars had only 44 seats and a slightly over 21T tare weight whereas the LNER lightweights were quoted with 52 seats at 17T tare. … The later … LNER … cars were almost 26T except for the 1927 pair (just over 23T).” [1: p49]
Essery and Warburton say that, “The thirteen LMS Sentinel/Cammell vehicles were authorized by LMS Traffic Minute 1040 dated 28th July 1926 at a cost of £3800 each and were allotted Diagram D1779 and ordered as Lot 312. The numbers first allocated are not known except one that was number 2232 with the 1932/3 renumbering scheme allocating numbers 29900-12 with all receiving the LMS standard coach livery in the first instance. … These early models suffered from poor riding qualities and so in 1928 a gear driven 100 hp vehicle was designed. The boiler was on the mainframe and the vertical two cylinder engine was mounted over the rear axle of the power bogie with the axle driven through gearing. The LNER purchased the only one built (named ‘Integrity’) that suffered from severe vibration.” [12: p4]
Essery and Warburton also provide more detail about the Axholme Joint Railway (AJR) Sentinel railcar. The line was jointly owned by the LMS and LNER “with the motive power supplied initially by the LYR and then the LMS after the grouping. The LMS supplied one of the thirteen steam railcars purchased in 1926/7 to the AJR. In February 1930 a larger car was ordered from Sentinels numbered 44 in the LMS carriage list and carried a green/cream livery carrying the name “Axholme Joint Railway” on each side. On 15th July 1933 the passenger service ceased. The car having done 53,786 miles was then purchased by the LNER and numbered 51915.” [12: p4] It seems as though the AJR railcar was rigid-bodied. [1: p62] Which suggests that the full series of LMS railcars were rigid-bodied. The illustration of the AJR railcar provided by Jenkinson and Lane shows it with drawgear and buffers which must have been added after it’s transfer from the LMS.
The last steam railcar to be devised for use in the UK was an unusual unit supplied by Sentinel to run on the Southern Railway’s steeply graded branch line from Hove to Devil’s Dyke. Its design was signed off by Richard Maunsell at much the same time as the SR was introducing its new electric services to Brighton in 1933. [1: p67]
The unit was a lightweight Sentinel-Cammell railcar. It was numbered No 6 and had wooden wheel centres to reduce noise but this created problems with track circuit operation on the main line and necessitated the provision of lorry-type brake drums. [13][14][15]
Jenkinson and Lane do not have much that is positive to say about this railcar. They talk of, “the strange ‘torpedo’ shape of the solitary Southern Railway Sentinel … that … was designed for one man operation: the Devil’s Dyke branch was very short and the nature of the machinery was such as to make it possible to stoke up for a complete trip at the start of each journey.” [1: p66]
“Instead of using one of the well-proved LNER type cars (or even the lighter weight LMS alternatives), the whole operation was made the excuse for creating a new sort of one-man operated bus unit … [with] a fashionably streamlined ‘Zeppelin’ type body which seemed to be perched on top [of the chassis] as an afterthought.” [1: p67]
References
David Jenkinson & Barry C. Lane; British Railcars: 1900-1950; Pendragon Partnership and Atlantic Transport Publishers, Penryn, Cornwall, 1996.
This illustration appeared in ‘The Engineer’ of 28th November 1930. It was included in the third page about Cambridge in the era of the Big Four on the Disused Stations website: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/cambridge/index6.shtml, accessed on 25th June 2024.
Articulated Steam Railmotors in the First 2 decades of the 20th Century
Jenkinson and Lane comment that although the articulated railmotors were numerically less significant than the rigid type, “the articulated option was to sprout just as many variations, and attracted the attention of a number of eminent locomotive engineers – perhaps because they looked more like ‘real’ trains. Be that as it may, most of them, however short-lived or unsustainable they may have been, were of more than usually pleasant visual aspect.” [1: p26]
Examples of articulated railmotors were those of the Taff Vale Railway (TVR), the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR), the North British Railway (NBR), the London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR), the Rhymney Railway (RR), the Port Talbot Railway (PTR), the Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR), the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), and the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR).
We have already picked up on the decisions made by Harry Wainwright of the SECR. Others were making the same decisions at roughly the same time. …
The Taff Vale Railway Railmotors
Tom Hurry Riches (1846–1911) “became the Locomotive Superintendent of the Taff Vale Railway in October 1873, and held the post until his death on 4 September 1911. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest locomotive superintendent in Britain.” [5]
His steam railmotors “were built between 1903 and 1905, … one prototype and three main batches. There were 18 engine units and 16 carriage potions, … permitting stand-by power units to be available. … The pioneer power unit came from the company’s workshops (the last ‘locomotive’ to be built by the TVR in its shops at West Yard, Cardiff) followed by six each from Avonside and Kerr Stuart and a final five from Manning Wardle, the last type being much more powerful than the first three series, which were broadly identical.” [1: p21]
The first-class compartment of Riches prototype was “furnished with longitudinal seats. The third-class compartment [was] furnished with transverse seats arranged in pairs, divided by a central gang-way. The car underframe [was] constructed of steel, and … carried at one end on an ordinary carriage bogie, the wheels of which [were] Kitson’s patent wood cushioned type; the other end of the car [was] carried on the engine.” [7]
All of the TVR Steam Railmotors had transverse boilers and were driven from rearward-placed cylinders onto an uncoupled front axle. [7]
The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Steam Railmotors
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) operated two classes of twenty steam railmotors in total. [10]
Kerr Stuart Railmotors
Kerr, Stuart & Co. built 4 Steam Railmotors for the L&YR (2) and the TVR (2) as a single batch in 1905. [10]
One of the 2 Kerr Stuart Steam Railmotors on the L&YR. These shared their design, with transverse boilers, with those that Kerr Stuart built from the TVR. [12]
“The locomotive units had transverse boilers … where a single central firebox fed extremely short fire-tubes to a smokebox at each side. … These then returned to a central smokebox and chimney. The outside cylinders were rear-mounted and drove only the leading axle, without coupling rods. The locomotive units were dispatched separately to Newton Heath, where their semi-trailers were attached.” [10][11: p170-171]
Their coaches were semi-trailers, with reversible seats for 48 passengers and electric lighting. There were also a luggage compartment and a driving compartment for use in reverse. Folding steps were provided at each of the two doors on each side. [11: p155] They were built by Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works. [11: p170-171]
Hughes Steam Railmotors
George Hughes (9 October 1865 – 27 October 1945) was … chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). [13].
When the L&YR amalgamated into the LNWR in January 1922 he became the CME of the combined group and was appointed the CME of the LMS on its formation at the 1923 grouping. [13][14]
He retired in July 1925 after only two and a half years at the LMS. [11: p198] He was succeeded by Henry Fowler who had worked with him at Horwich Works before moving to the former Midland Railway’s Derby Works. [15: p38]
Hughes designed a second class of railmotors that were then built at Horwich and Newton Heath, in four batches over five years. They were of the “0-4-0T locomotive + semi-trailer type”, with conventional locomotive boilers. [11: p155, 170-171] In total, 18 power units were made to Hughes specification.
In LMS days, sitting at Horwich Loco Works, this is No 10617 and an unidentified passenger portion. [18]
“All were inherited by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, who numbered the locomotives 10600-17 and gave the trailers separate numbers in the coaching stock series. These were the only self-propelled vehicles numbered in the LMS locomotive series rather than the coaching stock series. The first was withdrawn in 1927, and only one survived by nationalisation in 1948. That railmotor, LMS No. 10617, was withdrawn in 1948 and given the British Railways internal number 50617, but got withdrawn in March of the same year. None were preserved.” [10][16]
The best-remembered of these railmotors was the ‘Altcar Bob’ service from Southport to Barton railway station (also known as ‘Downholland’) (before 1926, it ran to Altcar and Hillhouse) and the ‘Horwich Jerk’ service from Horwich to Blackrod. The latter became the last part of the L&Y System which made use of Hughes Railmotors.[10][16]
Many of the last survivors of these 18 Railmotors ended their lives at Bolton MPD and in their final hours were used on the workmen’s’ trains between that town and the works at Horwich. [17]
South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR) Steam Railmotors
These were covered in the 2nd article in this short series:
Jenkinson and Lane comment that the SECR was surprisingly a leader in the field. “Harry Wainwright supervised the design of eight beautifully stylish examples in 1904-5.” [1: p26]
Despite determined efforts over the years to improve their efficiency, the Railmotors were non-too-popular and were scheduled for withdrawal in 1914. The war intervened and gave a longer life to some units, but soon after the war they were all set aside, although some survived unused into the grouping era.
Great Northern Railway (GNR) Steam Railmotors
Ivatt, on behalf of the GNR, had six railmotors built in pairs, with similar passenger accommodation but differing in other details. He had them produced “as part of a GNR experiment with self-propelled passenger units and numbered in a new series 1&2, 5&6, 7&8, the missing 3&4 being kept for two proposed petrol engined cars of which … only one was bought.” [1: p28] All six units utilised the underfloor area of the carriage portion to house the water tanks. [1: p28]
Nos. 1&2 were built by the GNR themselvescat Doncaster in 1905, the passenger portions were among the earliest passenger ‘coaches’ to be given full elliptical roofs. “In 1930, the passenger ends were converted to an articulated twin (Nos. 44151-2) but only lasted until 1937 because of damage received in a mishap at Hatfield.” [1: p27]
Nos. 5&6 were built by Kitson and Co. in 1905. The locomotive portion was of very similar design to Nos 1&2. Their passenger bodies were supplied by Birmingham Carriage and Wagon Works. They had the traditional flatter roofs which tied in with the profile of the roof of the engine portions. [1: p28]
Nos. 7&8 were built by Avonside with carriage bodies from Bristol Carriage and Wagon Works. The Avonside locomotive portion was rather bulky (Jenkinson and Lane describe it as ‘brutish’ [1: p28]) and was soon remodelled because maintenance was hampered by an engine casing which cloaked most of the fitments. The passenger portions of these units were converted to another pair of articulated carriages (Nos. 44141-2) which survived until they were condemned in 1958. They “worked the Essendine- Bourne branch until 1951 and afterwards in such widespread like captions as Mablethorpe, Newcastle-Hawick and finally Bridlington-Scarborough.” [1: p28]
These railmotors lasted in service until 1917 when they were set aside. After the grouping, the LNER saw little use for the units and as noted above “the carriage parts were converted into articulated ‘twins’ … And the engine portions [were] withdrawn. ” [1: p28]
Steam Railmotors on the London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR)
Jenkinson and Lane say that the LB&SCR and the North Staffordshire (see below) articulated steam railmotors had much in common, both being built by Beyer Peacock in 1905-6.[1: p30][21: p62] “They displayed a sort of cross-bred powered end, partially enclosed but with smokebox front and chimney projecting in a rather quaint fashion beyond the ‘cab’ – probably very practical for cleaning purposes. The engine portions were identical on both railways but the carriage portions displayed different styling – those of the Brighton line being rather neater. Fortunately, … both types were reasonably well recorded photographically, especially those of the NSR.” [1: p30]
The LB&SCR examples did not seem to be well received and only lasted for a few years, albeit not being formally withdrawn for some time. [1: p30]
Both companies’ railmotors, by comparison with other articulated railmotors, were rather ungainly looking with a sort of tramcar-like passenger part. [1:p30]
LB&SCR Steam Railmotor No. 1 when brand new in 1905. The carriage bodywork was built by the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works of Preston, Lancashire. It did not match the normal company stock of the time but appears quite stylish. Jenkinson and Lane tell us that after the unit was formally withdrawn in 1919, it was sold, in November 1919, to the Trinidad Government Railways. This image was shared on the Ferrovias & Trens Facebook Page on 23rd January 2022. It is a Southern Railway Official Image. [20][1: p30]
The pair of steam railmotors “were stationed at Eastbourne and St Leonards and ran services on the East and West Sussex coast lines. They were both loaned to the War Department in 1918/19 before being sold to the Trinidad Government Railway. [21: p67] There they have never been put in operation. One of the coach parts was converted into the Governor’s saloon and the other into a second class carriage.” [2][22]
North Staffordshire Railway Steam Railmotors (NSR)
As we have already noted, the three [1:p9][23] steam railmotors owned by the NSR were built by Beyer Peacock in 1905-6. Jenkinson and Lane comment that, given their longer active lives, (the three NSR examples ran until 1922), “they must have generated a bit of revenue during the 16 years or so before they went the way of the rest.” [1: p30]
Three steam railmotors were built for the North Staffordshire Railway by the United Electric Car Company which originated as the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works Ltd. in the East Works buildings, Preston, in 1897. These were very similar to the Railmotors Beyer Peacock supplied to the LB&SCR. [24] Jenkinson and Lane note the strong visual locomotive similarities to the Brighton cars and remark on the somewhat less stylish bodywork of the set. [1: p31]
Rhymney Railway (RR) Steam Railmotors
After Tom Hurry Riches moved to the Rhymney Railway he had Hudswell Clarke build a pair of railmotors for the RR. They consisted of an 0-4-0 engine portion semi-permanently articuled with a 64-passenger coach. T. Hurry Riches designed the combination, contracting with Cravens Ltd of Sheffield to build the passenger coaches. All seating was designed for third class and was divided between smoking and non-smoking sections. [27]
In 1911, RR No. 1 “was converted to an independent, mixed-traffic tank locomotive that operated chiefly between Rhymney Bridge, Ystrad Mynach, and Merthyr with four six-wheel coaches. At that time, No. 2 still ran on the Senghenydd branch.” [27]
Port Talbot Railway and Docks Co. (PT&DR) Steam Railmotor
The Port Talbot Railway Railmotor was the largest of the Steam Railmotors and had a six-coupled power section. [31]
Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company (PT&DR) owned a single rigid-bodied steam railmotor, numbered No.1. The GWR persuaded the PTR&DR to purchase it. Tenders were submitted by 15 companies “and a joint tender from Hurst, Nelson & Co. Ltd and R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company was accepted and the vehicle was delivered in early 1907. This was the largest steam railmotor ever to run in the UK. it was 76 ft 10 in (23.42 m) long, and the bodywork was metal, that covering the engine fashioned to match the carriage. Retractable steps were fitted under each of the four recessed passenger doors, although the steps were later fixed in position.” [28][29]
Hawthorn Leslie built two steam railmotors for use in Great Britain, and at least one for abroad. [30]
“The locomotive was six-coupled with 3 ft diameter wheels; it had a conventional boiler with the firebox leading, 12 by 16 inch cylinders and a boiler pressure of 170 psi and a tractive effort of 9,792 lbs.” It was designed with a trailing load in mind. [28]
It was the only Steam Railmotor in the UK to have a six-coupled power section. [1: p9]
This Railmotor passed through GWR hands to the Port of London Authority (PLA). In 1915, the GWR moved it to their Swindon works then in 1920 it became PLA No.3. It remained in service until the North Greenwich branch of the PLA closed and was scrapped in 1928. [28]
Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR) Steam Railmotor
The Isle of Wight Central Railway had a single Railmotor which was built in 1906 by R.W. Hawthorn (engine) and Hurst, Nelson & Co. of Motherwell (carriage). Jenkinson and Lane tell us that this railmotor was delivered in-steam from Hurst, Nelson & Co. works to Southampton Docks.
This advertisement for R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company Ltd’s Forth Banks locomotive works (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England) is on display at the Head of Steam Railway Museum in the former Darlington North Road railway station in Durham County. The featured vehicle is Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR) steam railmotor No. 1. [33]
Once on the island, the railmotor took up duties on “the Merstone to Ventnor Town service, and then transferred to the Freshwater line in 1908. Although highly regarded in terms of economy, … it was … prone to oscillation and … ‘laid aside’ in November 1910.” [1: p34]
Once the railmotor was placed out of service, the two parts of the railmotor were repurposed. The carriage entered the regular coaching stock of the railway (with an added bogie). The engine “was given a small bunker and was used at Newport for occasional shunting, before being sold in 1918.” [1: p34] It was sold to Furness Shipbuilding, Haverton Hill and became their No. 8.
Glasgow & South Western Railway (G&SWR) Steam Railmotors
The G&SWR had three steam railmotors on its books which lasted in service until 1917. Two to one design and the third to a slightly different design.
No. 1 and No. 2 were built at Kilmarnock in 1904. The ‘side tanks’ were used to carry coal with water carried in a 500 gallon well tank. These units were used on the Catrine branch shuttle to Mauchline and from Ardrossan to Largs and Kilwinning. [1: p34-5]
The only image that I have found of Railmotors No. 1 and No. 2 is a copyright protected thumbnail image. It can be seen by clicking here. [34]
No. 3 was not strictly a steam railmotor as the engine and carriage were close-coupled rather than articulated. Jenkinson and Lane winder whether it should be included within the scope of a book about railmotors but decide to include it because “it was designed as an integrated concept … Intended for the Moniaive branch on which one of the G&SWR railmotors certainly ran.” [1: p35]
Great Northern of Scotland Railway (GNSR) Steam Railmotors
The two GNSR railmotors had some unique design features – patented boilers and hemispherical fireboxes. They were, however, not a success and they were withdrawn after just a few years. [1: p34]
The two articulated units were designed by Pickersgill and built by Andrew Barclay & Co. of Kilmarnock and powered by vertical boilers made by Cochran & Co. of Annan. They entered service on the Lossiemouth and St. Combs branches in 1905. [35]
The boilers were new to locomotive work but of a type well-known in other fields. 10 in. x 16 in. cylinders were placed just ahead of the rear bogie wheels and drove on to the leading axle. Walschearts valve gear was used. The 4 wheels of the power unit were 3 ft. 7in. diameter. [35]
A small bunker attached to the front of the coach body formed the back of the cab and held 15 cwt. of coal. Underneath the leading end of the coach there was a 650-gallon water tank.
The coach portion of the rail motor consisted of a long passenger compartment and a small compartment at the rear end, with doors for ingress and egress of passengers, also serving as a driving compartment when the unit was being driven from that end. The passenger compartment was 34 ft. 7in. long and seated 45 while the overall length of the car was 49 ft. 11 ½ in. and the total weight 47 tons. [35]
“The two engine units were numbered 29 and 31, (Barclay’s numbers 1056-7). The coaches were Nos. 28 and 29. Unit 29/28 went to work on the St Combs Light Railway on 1st November 1905, and 31/29 started working on the Lossiemouth branch on the same day.” [35]
The two units were not a success and “in the course of time the engine units were detached from the coaches and used as stationary boilers. Here they were apparently more successful; on the line they were dreadfully noisy and the boilers would not steam properly, and the hopes of their designer were not realized.” [35]
References
David Jenkinson & Barry C. Lane; British Railcars: 1900-1950; Pendragon Partnership and Atlantic Transport Publishers, Penryn, Cornwall, 1996.
National Museum and Galleries of Wales – Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales – archive; included in Mountfield & Spinks; The Taff Vale Lines to Penarth; The Oakwood Press; via http://www.penarth-dock.org.uk/09_04_090_02.html, accessed on 19th June 2024.
George Hughes; in Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. Archived from the original on 20th June 2017 and retrieved 22nd August 2019, accessed via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hughes_(engineer),accessed on 19th June 2024.
Patrick Whitehouse & David St. John Thomas; LMS 150; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1987.
G. Suggitt; Lost Railways of Lancashire; Countryside Books, Newbury, 2003.
D.L. Bradley; Locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. Part III.; Railway Correspondence and Travel Society Press, London, 1974.
Locomotives of the Trinidad Government Rlys; in Locomotive Magazine and Railway Carriage and Wagon Review, Vol. 42 No. 522, 15th February 1936, p53–55. Archived from the original on 28th January 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023, accessed via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_steam_railcars, on 20th June 2024.
Robin G Simmonds, A History of the Port Talbot Railway & Docks Company and the South Wales Mineral Railway Company, Volume 1: 1853 – 1907, Lightmoor Press, Lydney, 2012
A number of different companies bought into the trend of utilising railmotors. Rigid-bodied examples were used as we have already noted, by the LB&SR/LSWR. Please see:
The LNWR built six in 1905-7 and a more powerful unit with a dedicated trailer in 1910. Jenkinson and Lane describe these as being “undeniably stylish – probably more so than any others,save perhaps for those of the Furness and Great Central Railways.” [1: p15-16] The Furness Railway had two Railmotors, the Great Central had three. [1: p9]
The Midland Railway had two Railmotors. [1: p9] These units were what encouraged me to look at the railmotors throughout the UK as a model of one of these units was built in O-Gauge by my late father-in-law, in LMS livery. More about this later.
Somewhat later in the 20th century, after the grouping of railway companies the LNER and the LMSR looked at the possibility of using rigid-bodied steam railmotors. The technological improvements available by the 1920s meant that steam railmotors were worth the investment, particularly for routes most suited to their use. These will be considered in a later article in this series.
Between 1905 and 1907, the LNWR built six rigid-bodied steam railmotors with a powered bogie that could be removed via double doors at the front end. They could accommodate 48 passengers, all in third class. “The cars were fitted with electric lighting, and there was electric bell communication from the rear driving position and the footplate. All six were absorbed into the LMS fleet in 1923 and one, No. 3, survived to be nationalised in 1948, being withdrawn in February that year.” [2][4: p57-59]
Jenkinson and Lane say that “the LNWR cars were especially well built and were technically interesting by way of employing an inside-cylindered power unit. This certainly made them less grotesque when seen in motion from the outside, and almost certainly made them more comfortable in ride quality, if only because the cylinders were nearer to the carriage centre line. They also lasted better than most and even the ruthless LMS style of management found use for them until the late 1920s/early 1930s. One lasted (just) until BR days, and when it was withdrawn from the Moffat branch of the old Caledonian Railway in 1948, it had become the final survivor of any of its kind in Great Britain.” [1: p16]
A fascinating insight into LNWR practice can be found in the June 2024 edition of Bus Archive News (No. 25) which was sent to me by Glyn Bowen.
A 1906 timetable is included in the newsletter for early motor bus services in North Wales provided by London & North Western Railway, as well as the steam-powered railmotor car services it operated on two branch lines. The railmotor and bus services began in 1905 associated with two LNWR branch lines, Prestatyn to Dyserth and Bangor to Bethesda. Three timetable extracts from 1906 appear below. [22]
The LNWR pulled its buses out of the area in 1915.
The front cover of the LNWR timetable/brochure of July 1906. [22: p4]The railmotor timetables for the two branch lines in North Wales. [22: p4]The LNWR bus timetables set in July 1906 were dependent on road conditions. [22: p4]
The Furness Railway Railmotor
Some sources suggest that there were two steam railmotor sets which entered service on the Furness Railway in 1905. Were there two? Or was there, in fact, only one railmotor, numbered No. 1? The Furness Railway Trust in a comment on its Facebook Page talks first of two railmotors and later in the comments says that there was only one. [24] This image of FR Railmotor No. 1 and it’s trailer car No. 123 was shared by the Furness Railway Trust on their Facebook Page on 1st July 2014. [20]A beautiful study of the railmotor and its trailer at Coniston. This image was shared by Russell Barton in the Lost Lines of Furness Facebook Group on 5th October 2021. [23]
The Furness Railway Trust tells us that in 1905, the Furness Railway (FR) had two steam railmotors built. “Designed by W.F. Pettigrew, they were built at Barrow Works. The four-coupled railmotor cars were for use on the FR’s Coniston and Lakeside branches. Set No.2 was written off early in it’s career after a rumoured encounter with a buffer-stop, its classmate No.1 was withdrawn after some nine or ten years’ service on account of excessive vibration.” [20]
Jenkinson and Lane also talk of two railmotor. They say that the sets were “a highly attractive pair of steam railcars with equally good looking four-wheel trailers. … The clerestory form (for the passenger areas only) was distinctly unusual for a steam railcar.” [1: p18] Both, according to Jenkinson and Lane, were out-of-service by 1914.
The Great Central Railway Railmotors
GCR Steam Railmotor No. 1. The GCR owned three of these rigid-bodied units. [19]
Jenkinson and Lane have one photograph (of No. 1, at Barton Station presumably working the Barton-New Holland service) and a drawing at 4mm =1ft. [1: p18] They comment that, “the three Great Central railcars of 1904-5 were stylish units which bore a striking similarity to LNWR cars and also carried a slight hint of the contemporary locomotive hauled stock of the GCR in their visual lines. … In the brown and french grey livery of the period, the three railcars made a handsome sight.” [1: p18]
The K&ESR had one rigid-bodied four-wheeled steam railmotor. It had a steam motor. It had a high speed steam engine together with a form of gearing. Built in 1905 by R.Y. Pickering, “this could seat 31 passengers, but suffered poor ride quality and was taken out of use. It remained on the stock list when the railway was nationalised in 1948.” [2] [4: p110]
The Midland Railway Railmotors
Two different images of Midland Railway Steam Railmotors carried by Grace’s Guide. These two images come from different sources but may be of the same Railmotor which served on the line between Morecambe and Heysham. [16][17]
The Midland Railway only had two [14] early Steam Railmotors which were numbered 2233 and 2234.
The Midland Railway Society produced a monograph about the Midland Railmotors in 2008. Details can be found here. [21]
Jenkinson and Lane tell us that the Midland railmotors “were not the best of their kind, either in technicalities or appearance. Their outside styling was vaguely reminiscent of the Midland’s turn of the century square panelled stock, but without the famous clerestory and the first power units were unreliable and had to be changed. The interiors displayed unpleasant pierced plywood seating whose comfort is best left to the imagination. However, one was converted into an officers’ saloon and as such, rescued by the NRM.” [1: p16]
The Midland Railway steam railmotors were in service only from 1904 until 1907 on the Morecambe to Heysham line. “The Heysham to Morecambe line was electrified on 13th April 1908, extended to Lancaster Green Ayre on 8th June 1908 and to Lancaster Castle on 14th September 1908.” [18] No.2234 was stored until 1917 when the boiler and engine were removed. It was converted by the Midland Railway to become an officer’s saloon for directors and officials. It was hauled by a conventional locomotive across the Midland network when lines needed inspecting, or special visits were made. [15]
“It was preserved in 1968 and became a holiday home in Machynlleth until the National Railway Museum bought it in the late 1970s. It is mahogany and teak and the ‘rooms’ are as they were when it was an officers’ saloon.” [15]
Some years ago now, my father-in-law built an O-Gauge model of one of the Midland Steam Railmotors. He painted it in LMS livery. These next few pictures show the model which now sits in a display case in our lounge on top of my wife’s piano. It was this model which provoked my reading around the different steam railmotors which were in use in the early 20th century.
Three photographs of the O-Gauge model of a Midland Steam Railmotor which is on display in our lounge. [My photographs, 18th June 2024]
The Barry Railway Railmotors
Barry Railway Railmotor No. 2, unknown photographer, licenced for use here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication) Barry Railway Steam Railcar No. 1 and 2 were built in 1904 by NBL and R.Y .Pickering, They were rebuilt as two bogie composite carriages in 1914. [12]
The Barry Railway purchased two steam railmotors from the North British Locomotive Co; “they were very similar to contemporary GWR railmotors. It ran the motor cars between Pontypridd and Cardiff via Tynycaeau Junction and St.Fagans. The service started on 1st May 1905, with the steam railmotors intermingled with conventional trains.” [13]
Warwickshirerailways.com displays a photograph of one of these two Railmotors after conversion to Auto-Trailer No. W4303 sitting in a siding at Widney Manor Railway Station in 1952. The webpage can be found here:
The webpage notes that the auto-coach started life as one of the two Steam Railmotors which were “built jointly by R.Y. Pickering & Co of Wishaw (near Glasgow) and the North British Locomotive Co. (Atlas Works, Glasgow) for the Barry Railway in 1905. R.Y. Pickering furnished and fitted the coach bodywork, while the North British provided the power unit – a vertical steam boiler and coupled four wheeled bogie with outside cylinders. The Steam Railmotor which would eventually become coach No W4303, was numbered No 2 by the Barry Railway. In 1914 both of the steam rail motors were converted at the Barry carriage repair shops into composite trailer coaches. This trailer coach was numbered No 178 and was recorded as having 12 second class and 56 third class seats. In 1921, No 178 together with the other trailer (No 177 converted from Steam Railmotor No 1) were regularly being used together on Barry to Bridgend services via the Vale of Glamorgan Line.” [13]
References
David Jenkinson & Barry C. Lane; British Railcars: 1900-1950; Pendragon Partnership and Atlantic Transport Publishers, Penryn, Cornwall, 1996.
Furness Railway Trust: “There was only ever one Railmotor, plus one trailer.” See the comments on the Furness Railway Trust’s post on its Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/share/jo3Q37knF41nXHhB. In this particular post the Trust first talks of a second Railmotor which was written off very early in its career, before then confirming that there was only ever one railmotor.
In addition to the references referred to in the text below, a significant study of the GWR Railmotors can be found in John Lewis’s book, “GWR Railmotors.” [13]
After borrowing a LSWR railmotor/railcar in the early years of the 20th century and running trials between Stroud, Chalford and Stonehouse on the ‘Golden Valley Line’, the GWR embraced this new technology. In fact, out of a total of 197 purpose-built steam railmotors/railcars built in the period from 1902 to 1911 across the UK, the GWR had 99 and was by far the largest user. [1: p9] These 99 units “represented the only truly serious attempt by a major British company to persevere with this particular solution to the fundamental operating problem.” [1: p13]
Talking of the Stroud Valley line M.G.D. Farr had a very short illustrated article about the GWR railmotors/auto-trains on that line carried by the Ian Allan journal, ‘Railway World‘ in January 1965. It followed the closure of the railcar/Railmotor/auto-train service in the valley on 31st October 1964. [14: p30]
GW steam railmotor No. 1 leaving Chalford in 1903. [14: p30]GW steam railmotor No. 2 leaves Brimscombe Bridge Holt for Stonehouse in 1903. [14: p30]
The GWR separated its Railmotors into 2 different types: ‘Suburban’ and ‘Branch line’. The principal difference being the provision of a luggage compartment on those designed for branch line use which was not provided in those intended for suburban use. The first 16 units built did not have luggage space and were designated ‘suburban’. [6]
The majority of the GWR Railmotors were rigid framed with no articulation. Just two exceptions were articulated (No. 15 and No. 16). The remaining examples fell into two different variants. The first had an austere slab-sided appearance with matchboard side panels below the waist. They were flat-ended, as can be seen below. “Two ‘prototypes’ were built in 1903, followed by the main batch in 1904 (Nos. 3-14, 17-28).” [1: p13]
Later GWR Railmotors (Nos. 29-99) were built between 1905 and 1908, were bow-ended and were of a much more attractive design. They had higher waist-lines than contemporary locomotive-hauled coaching stock on the GWR and retained those lines when ultimately converted to auto-trailers. [1: p13]
The GWR Railmotors were generally successful in developing patronage on the lines where they were used. Often generating sufficient traffic to warrant the provision of a passenger trailer car.
The first trailer built had the same flat-ended design as the early GWR Railmotors. The remaining trailers were built to the bow-ended format.
Gibbs tells us that “Such was the demand for trailers that in 1906 existing selected coaching stock was introduced to the conversion programme. Conversion was applied to six 1890s clerestory and two four-wheelers dating back to the 1870s, the 1870s-1900s supplying some of the first conversions, with demand increasing and later periods supplying more examples for conversion, each with varying seating patterns and internal format. Thus the two four-wheel, 28.5ft-long 1870 versions were running with the new 70ft latest additions to the fleet.” [9]
The design of the GWR Railmotors had not anticipated their success. While being adequately powered as single cars they were generally, particularly which had anything but shallow gradients, “incapable of pulling an extra trailer to carry the new customers which their success had generated.” [1: p13]
Inevitably, when passenger loads increased, alternatives to the Steam Railmotors had to be found. “The emerging ‘auto train’ was showing its usefulness and adaptability. Thus we find that, from 1915, the steam railmotors themselves were on the downward path to becoming trailers, and a serious conversion programme was initiated. These were dealt with year by year in varying sized batches, not strictly in order of age, but the match-boarded designs preceded those of wood-panel format, and it will be noted that conversions were not applied to all railmotors and nor were such activities an annual event.” [9]
Generally, the powered-bogie end of each unit was converted to a luggage compartment while the drivers position at the other end of the unit was retained “with controls for regulator and brakes connected through to the tank locomotive, suitably modified.” [9]
GWR Articulated Steam Railmotors
As we have already noted, the vast majority of GWR Steam Railmotors were rigid-bodied. Just two (GWR Nos 15 and 16) were articulated.
Articulated units had the advantage of being relatively easily separated for maintenance purposes and allowed for the possibility of providing more powerful locomotive sections. Throughout the UK, where articulated Railmotors were provided the locomotive section looked more like a small standard locomotive.
Often, additional power units were purchased to allow the immediate replacement of a unit in need of maintenance. An example of this practice was the deployment of articulated railmotors on the Taff Vale Railway. The Taff Vale railmotors were built between 1903 and 1905 “in the form of one prototype and three main batches. There were 18 engine units and 16 carriage portions, thus permitting stand-by power units to be available. … The pioneer power unit came from the company’s own workshops (the last ‘locomotive’ to be built by the TVR in its shops at West Yard, Cardiff), followed by six each from Avonside and Kerr-Stuart and a final five from Manning Wardle.” [1: p21]
GWR Steam Railmotors No. 15 and 16 were ordered from Kerr Stuart. They were built in 1905 to Kerr Stuart’s design. Bristol Wagon and Carriage Company were subcontractors, providing the bodywork for each unit. [1: p32] There being only two units, exchangeable power sections was not an option fiscally.
In 1920 No. 15 was sold by the GWR to J.F. Wake and sold on, in 1921, to the Nidd Valley Light Railway (NVLR). [1: p32]
“Drummond was born in Ardrossan, Ayrshire on 1st January 1840. His father was permanent way inspector for the Bowling Railway. Drummond was apprenticed to Forest & Barr of Glasgow gaining further experience on the Dumbartonshire and Caledonian Railways. He was in charge of the boiler shop at the Canada Works, Birkenhead of Thomas Brassey before moving to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway’s Cowlairs railway works in 1864 under Samuel Waite Johnson.” [3]
“He became foreman erector at the Lochgorm Works, Inverness, of the Highland Railway under William Stroudley and followed Stroudley to the London Brighton and South Coast Railway’s Brighton Works in 1870. In 1875, he was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the North British Railway.” [3]
In 1882 he moved to the Caledonian Railway. In April 1890, he emigrated to Australia, establishing the Australasian Locomotive Engine Works at Sydney, Australia. After only a short time he returned to the UK, founding the Glasgow Railway Engineering Company which was moderately successful, Drummond, “accepted the post as locomotive engineer of the London and South Western Railway [LSWR] in 1895, at a salary considerably less than that he had received on the Caledonian Railway. The title of his post was changed to Chief Mechanical Engineer in January 1905, [4] although his duties hardly changed. [5] He remained with the LSWR until his death” in 1912. [3]
“He was a major locomotive designer and builder and many of his London and South Western Railway engines continued in main line service with the Southern Railway to enter British Railways service in 1947.” [3]
Harry Smith Wainwright was the “Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1899 to 1913. He is best known for a series of simple but competent locomotives produced under his direction at the company’s Ashford railway works in the early years of the twentieth century.” [13]
Drummond and Wainwright experimented with steam railmotors/railcars in the early years of the 20th century.
In 1902, Dugald Drummond had two built for a branch line near Portsmouth. [6][7: p7] Intended to provide “an economic service on the LSWR and London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) joint branch from Fratton to Southsea two steam railmotors were built by the LSWR in 1902, entering service in April 1903, and designated as K11 Class.” [6][8: p118, 123]
The 43-foot (13 m) long carriage-element seated thirty in third class and twelve in first class. The total length of the unit was 53 ft 5 in (16.28 m). The first of these railcars/railmotors to be built was lent to the Great Western Railway, returning with favourable reports. [8: p118] “However, when introduced in summer 1903 the units struggled with passengers on the gradients on the line and it was discovered that the GWR had trialed the unit on level track and without passengers. The units were rebuilt with a bigger firebox and boiler.” [6][8: p118-119][9: p22-25]
Rebuilt LSWR railmotor with a horizontal rather than vertical boiler. [10]
Wainwright introduced similar steam railmotors on the SECR in 1904/5. He ordered 8 in total from Kitson of Leeds. The first two for use on the Sheppey Light Railway. Numbered 1 and 2 (WN 4292 and 4293, date 1904), “the engines were ordinary four-wheeled locomotives and could be detached from the car proper if necessary. They were fitted with the first Belpaire fireboxes on the [SECR]. Both engines and cars, were painted lake, the standard colour for the coaching stock on this line. There was accommodation for 56 passengers. all of one, class. ‘One of the cars had been running experimentally on the Deal branch.” [14] Wainwright’s railmotors, while superficially similar to the early Drummond Railmotors were actually articulated vehicles.
No. 3 is shown below on a public domain image found on the Westerham Heritage website. The same image appears on the dedicated webpage for Westerham Station on the Disused Stations website. [15] Disused Stations website tells us that the apparent side tanks on the locomotive portion of the unit “were actually coal bunkers, … with water carried in well tanks. The rail-motors were of the articulated type and the fairly conventional engine portions were built by Messrs Kitson. … Following eventual withdrawal the carriage portions were converted into four two-car hauled sets circa 1923, two of which were articulated twins while the other two were non-articulated push-and-pull sets.” [15]
SECR steam rail-motor No. 3 stands at Westerham in 1907. It was built by Kitson of Leeds was introduced to the Westerham branch of the SECR in April 1906. It was not popular and was withdrawn from the branch later in 1907. [12]
“The coach portion of [SECR] No. 3 was paired with that of No. 8 to form an articulated twin set No.514. The other articulated twin became set No.513, formed from railmotors 1 and 2. Both articulated pairs, which were unique to the Southern Railway, are known to have survived until at least 1959.” [15]
After his experience with the LSWR Railmotors and after modifications had been made, Drummond ordered a further fifteen steam railmotors for the LSWR. These new railcars/railmotors were numbered 1 to 15. The earliest ‘experimental’ Railmotors were ignored in this new numbering system.
The first two were built in 1904 in two parts, “the engines at Nine Elms and the carriages at Eastleigh, and were designated H12 class. These were two feet (600 mm) shorter than the earlier cars, seated eight in first class and thirty-two in third.” [8: p119-120] Nos 1 & 2 “displayed a fully enclosed engine part, encased in a rather severe ‘tin tabernacle’.” [1: p14]
Thirteen more were built in 1905–6 to slightly different design, as class H13. [8: p120-122] These had the boiler pressure increased from 150 psi (1.0 MPa) to 175 psi (1.21 MPa). Engines and carriages were not detachable and these units were capable of towing an additional carriage. [9: p26,28] After the outbreak of World War I limited the work available for railmotors, the joint stock was taken out of service in 1914 and by 1916 only three units remained in service, to be withdrawn in 1919.” [6][9: p24,28] These units had “a very neatly enclosed locomotive portion embodying ‘coachbuilt’ styling.” [1: p14]
A small steam carriage was designed by James Samuel, the Eastern Counties Railway Locomotive Engineer, built by William Bridges Adams in 1847, and trialled between Shoreditch and Cambridge on 23rd October 1847. It was an experimental unit, 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m) long with a small vertical boiler and passenger accommodation was a bench seat around a box at the back, although it was officially named ‘Lilliputian’ it was known as ‘Express’. [7][8: p16]
The Fairfield Steam Carriage
It seems that the earliest example of a steam railcar to enter service was another “experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams. In 1848, they made the Fairfield steam carriage that they sold to the Bristol and Exeter Railway, who used it for two years on a branch line.” [1] The Bristol & Exeter Railway was broad gauge.
The Fairfield Steam Carriage was built to the design of William Bridges Adams and James Samuel at “Fairfield Works in Bow, London. It was tested on the West London Railway late in 1848, although it was early in 1850 before modifications had been made that allowed Adams to demonstrate that it was working to the agreed standards. The design was not perpetuated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, instead they purchased small 2-2-2T locomotives for working their branch lines.” [3]
Apparently, the unit worked on the Clevedon and Tiverton branches, and perhaps on the Weston branch too. [3]
“The power unit had a single pair of driving wheels driven through a jackshaft by small 8-by-12-inch (203 mm × 305 mm) cylinders. Originally equipped with a vertical boiler 6 feet (1,800 mm) in height, 3 feet (910 mm) in diameter, this was replaced by a horizontal boiler length 7 feet 7 inches (2,310 mm), diameter 2 feet 6 inches (760 mm). The boiler was not covered by a cab or other bodywork; the two pairs of carrying wheels were beneath the carriage portion. It had seats for 16 first class and 32 second class passengers. It was once timed as running at 52 miles per hour (84 km/h).” [3][4]
Numbered No. 29 in the Bristol and Exeter Railway locomotive list, it was generally referred to as “the Fairfield locomotive”. It was not a great success, and although Samuel & Adams built another couple of steam railmotors at around the same time, the concept did not result in any further orders. [3]
Jenkinson & Lane dismiss this railcar as one of a few “rather weird and impracticable 19th Century ideas.” [2: p9] Nonetheless, it meets their criteria for a railcar. They state that a railcar should “contain within itself the means of propulsion as well as seats for the passengers, … the design should represent an ‘integrated concept’ … [in which] neither could function independently of the other.” [2: p5]
The ‘Enfield’ Steam Carriage
Built at about the same time as the Bristol & Exeter Steam Carriage was one which was purchased by the Eastern Counties Railway. …
The steam railcar ‘Enfield’ which was used by the ECR from 19th January 1849. [6]
‘Enfield‘ was larger than ‘Fairfield’. Built by Samuel and Adams this was used in regular service by the Eastern Counties Railway until the engine was converted into a 2-2-2 tank locomotive. [7][8: p18]
Another Early Example
“More engine and carriage combinations to Samuel designs were built in the 1850s in the Eastern Counties railway works, and another by Kitson & Co. called Ariel’s Girdle. Later, in 1869, Samuel, Robert Fairlie and George England collaborated to build a prototype articulated steam railcar at England’s Hatcham Ironworks that was demonstrated in the works yard. However, England went out of business at about this time and nothing is known about the fate of this vehicle.” [7][8: p19]
William Bridges Adams; “Road Progress, Or, Amalgamation of Railways and Highways for Agricultural Improvement, and Steam Farming, in Great Britain and the Colonies: Also Practical Economy in Fixed Plant and Rolling Stock for Passenger and Goods Trains; George Luxford, London, 1850, p15. George Luxford. p. 15.
“The Fair-Field Steam Carriage“. Illustrated London News. 1849.
Looking through a number of 1964 Model Railway News magazines, I came across drawings of Sharp, Stewart & Co. 2-4-0, built in 1870 for the Furness Railway Co. and numbered 58 on their roster.
Side elevation and half plan of Locomotive No. 58 [1]Front elevation. [1]Tender, front and back half-elevations. [1]
Originally conceived as a mineral railway, the Furness Railway later played a major role in the development of the town of Barrow-in-Furness, and in the development of the Lake District Tourist industry. It was formed in 1846 and survived as an independent, viable concern until the Grouping of 1923. [4]
The Furness Railway contracted out the building of its locomotives until Pettigrew became Chief Locomotive Engineer in 1897. He put his first locomotive on the line in 1898.
2-4-0 Locomotive No. 58 had inside cylinders (16 in by 20 in), 5 ft 6 in diameter coupled wheels. It operated with a boiler pressure of 120 lb and weighed 30 tons 5 cwt. Its tender was 4-wheeled with a 1,200 gallon water capacity.
The locomotive, as designed, had no brake blocks, the only brake being a clasp type on the tender.
This relatively small locomotive was one of a series of 19 locos built to the same design. The class fulfilled the needs of the Furness Railway as passenger locomotives. The class was given the designation ‘E1’ by Bob Rush in his books about the Furness Railway. Rush’s classification was his own not that of the Furness Railway, but has become accepted generally. [2]
A photograph of one of this class can be found by clicking on the link immediately below. No. 44 was built in 1882 by Sharp Stewart & Co., Works No.3086. It was rebuilt in 1898, presumably in the Furness Railway works. Renumbered 44A in 1920, it became LMS No. 10002 – but was withdrawn in April 1925. [5]
Later, seven of the class were converted to J1-class 2-4-2 tank engines in 1891. [3]
References
T.A. Lindsay; Furness Railway Locomotive No. 58; in Model Railway News, Volume 40, No. 480, December 1964, p608-609. (Permission to copy granted for any non-commercial purpose.)
Significant elements of thisarticle depend on an article by David Bradshaw & Stanley C. Jenkins; Rails around Oakengates; in Steam Days, March 2013. [1] Their work is used here with the kind permission of David Bradshaw who is a native of Oakengates. In addition, I have gathered together everything that I have found which relates directly to the railways which passed through Oakengates. In March 2024, I gave a talk to the Oakengates History Group which was culled from what is included in this article.
The monochrome photographs included in this article were taken by a number of different photographers. Where possible, permission has been sought to include those photographs in this article. Particularly, there are a significant number of photographs taken by A.J.B. Dodd which appear here. These were first found on various Facebook Groups. A number were also supplied direct by Mike Dodd, A.J.B. Dodd’s son, who curates the photographs taken by his father. Particular thanks are expressed to Mike Dodd for entering into email correspondence about all of these photographs and for his generous permission to use them in this article. [174]
This article can be read here on this blog or can be downloaded as a .pdf file.
East Shropshire is well known as the ‘cradle of the Industrial Revolution’ with iron works, coal mines and furnaces all well established by 1760. Oakengates is a small town situated in the former Shropshire industrial area, and is roughly midway between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, which has now been subsumed into the new town of Telford. Prior to absorption into Telford, the town had a population of around 11,500, which made it the third largest settlement in the county after Shrewsbury and Wellington.
This extract from the Railway Clearing House Maps shows the immediate area around Oakengates prior to the Grouping in the 1920s. The red railways and London & Northwestern railways, the yellow are those controlled at that time by the Great Western Railway. Those dashed yellow and red are those which were in joint ownership. The Lilleshall Company network is not shown. This might help to understand the area covered by this article. We include the GWR mainline between Hollinswood Goods and Wellington, the Coalport Branch from Hadley to Malinslee, and the private railways of the Lilleshall Company. [1: p165]This extract from a drawing held on the Miners Way website may help in our understanding of the area covered. The Mineral Line used 200 mainline and 250 internal wagons. The company also bought some industrial locomotives from Barclay and Peckett. Through the years 22 locomotives were used on the line, 6 of these were built by The Lilleshall Company itself. The company also built a further 34 locomotives for their customers. [131]A little over three miles east of Wellington, and about 158½ miles from London (Paddington) via Oxford, former Great Western Railway ‘2800’ class 2-8-0 No 2897 climbs through Oakengates (West) station on a southbound (Up) freight, the gradient being 1 in 220 through the station, and this continues through the town’s nearby eponymous tunnel and nearly as far as Hollinswood sidings. The station here was opened in 1849 by the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway to serve Shropshire’s third largest town, a community that grew with the industrial revolution, the raw materials for the ironmasters of the late 18th century all being close at hand, and thus modern transportation was embraced at the earliest opportunity, significantly canals and then railways. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com [1: p165]
The transport of goods in the Oakengates area had been revolutionised by the construction of the Shropshire Canal, which was authorised in June 1788 and was completed throughout its 7.75 mile length by 1794. It ran virtually due south through Oakengates and connected with the earlier Donnington Wood, Ketley, and Wombridge canals to provide a link to and from the navigable River Severn, albeit 453ft of height had to be gained to achieve this.
The Shropshire Canal’s primary objective was the conveyance of coal, iron and lime from the Oakengates area to the River Severn at Coalport, and there was also a 2.75 mile canal branch that diverged south of Stirchley tunnel to serve Horsehay, and Coalbrookdale. This short, but quite busy extension to the local waterway system incorporated three tunnels, and there were four inclined planes (rather than flights of closely spaced locks), these being sited at Trench, Wrockwardine Wood, The Windmill and The Hay. There was a fifth inclined plane at Ketley, but this closed in 1816 when the ironworks to which it was connected was closed.
The GWR Shrewsbury to Birmingham Main Line
The Great Western Railway (GWR) took over the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway (S&BR) in 1854.
Apart from industrial tramways this was the first public railway to impinge on the Oakengates area. It was promoted during the ‘Railway Mania’ years of the mid-1840s as a line between Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. The project was supported by the London & Birmingham Railway, which viewed the S&BR scheme as the first section of a much longer line to Liverpool and the north, in opposition to its bitter rival, the Grand Junction Railway (GJR).
The Shrewsbury & Birmingham scheme was rejected by Parliament in 1844, while in 1845 a substantially similar Bill failed to pass Standing Orders. Undeterred by these initial setbacks, the Shrewsbury promoters submitted a third Bill in November 1845, seeking Parliamentary consent for the making and maintenance of a railway commencing ‘at or near the Shrewsbury Canal Wharf, in the Parish of St. Mary, in the Borough of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop, and terminating by a junction with the London & Birmingham Railway, near the Passenger Station of the said last-mentioned railway, in the township of Duddeston-cum-Nechells, in the Parish of Aston-juxta-Birmingham, in the County of Warwick’.
Meanwhile, the Grand Junction Railway had submitted an alternative scheme, known as ‘the Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton & South Staffordshire Junction Railway’, which would have followed more or less the same route as the Shrewsbury & Birmingham line. However, at that juncture, the London & Birmingham Railway agreed to join forces with the Grand Junction and the Manchester & Birmingham railways to form a new organisation known as ‘The London & North Western Railway’. This sudden and unexpected development had obvious ramifications for the Shrewsbury & Birmingham scheme, which was, in consequence, cut down to 29½ miles of line between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, access to Birmingham being obtained via the projected Stour Valley line.
The London & North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed by Act of Parliament on 16th July 1846 and, a little over two weeks later, on 3rd August 1849, the ‘Act for Making a Railway from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton … to be called the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway’ received the Royal Assent. The resulting Act stipulated ten miles of line between Shrewsbury and Wellington would be shared with the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company, while the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway was granted running powers and a quarter share in the Stour Valley line. The S&BR was also permitted to construct a branch from Shifnal to the ironworks at Dawley.
The land required for the S&BR line between Shrewsbury and Wellington had been purchased by 19th September 1846, and the work of construction was soon underway, the Engineer being William Baker (1817-78). In engineering terms, there were few major obstacles, other than the two bridges across the River Severn and a 471-yard long tunnel at Oakengates.
The line running between Shrewsbury and Wellington was examined by the Board of Trade Inspector on 2nd May 1849, and he reported that ‘the railway is so far advanced that it can be used with safety by the public, but the stations will require a few days to complete’. Eastwards, a further four miles of line between Wellington and Oakengates required a second inspection, after delays in completing an overbridge at Wellington, but when this short section had been approved by the Board of Trade, the first portion of the S&BR line was opened on 1st June 1849, when trains began running between Shrewsbury, Wellington and Oakengates.
The initial timetable provided four trains each way, with Up services from Shrewsbury at 6.45am, 9.35am, 4.15pm and 6.45pm, and corresponding Down workings starting from Oakengates at 8.45am, 2.15pm, 5.15pm and 8.15pm. The first Up and last Down trains were first class only, whereas the remainder conveyed all classes. The Sunday service comprised just two trains each way.
Construction of the eastern section of line was delayed due to some difficulties involving Oakengates tunnel, while the work of the navvies had also been impeded by the abysmally wet summer of 1848. However, the railway was finally opened throughout on Monday, 12th November 1849, with the inaugural train of fifty carriages hauled by two locomotives, Wrekin and Salopian. Passengers wishing to reach Birmingham had to travel via Wednesfield Heath station and the former Grand Junction line as the Stour Valley route from Wolverhampton’s High Level station was as yet incomplete. The frequency of the service was increased to nine trains each way daily, but any access to the Stour Valley line was not granted until 4th February 1854.
The LNWR – a giant among railway companies and a huge undertaking by mid-Victorian standards – was able to exert unyielding commercial pressure on the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway and its ally, the Shrewsbury & Chester Railway with a view to eventual takeover. For example, although the Stour Valley line was opened on 1st July 1852, connections with Shrewsbury & Birmingham trains at Wolverhampton were arranged to be as inconvenient as possible, and the ‘North Western’ company refused to accept through bookings to and from the S&BR. However, the LNWR failed completely in its attempt to intimidate the Shrewsbury companies, and in 1854 the Shrewsbury & Birmingham and the Shrewsbury & Chester railways opted instead for an outright amalgamation with the Great Western Railway. Thus, on 1st September 1854, the line from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury and thence to Chester became an integral part of the GWR system – albeit with a jointly owned section of line between Wellington and Shrewsbury.
In later years, the line through Oakengates became part of a much longer route extending from London (Paddington) to Birmingham (Snow Hill), Shrewsbury, Chester, and ultimately Birkenhead (Woodside) – the latter point becoming the northernmost extremity of the GWR main line passenger network.
In 1910, local services outlined in the April Bradshaw show fourteen trains to Wellington (and some beyond) stopping at Oakengates with nine in the opposite (Wolverhampton) direction. The Sunday services, as would be expected, were much more sparce, with three trains in the Wolverhampton direction and four to Wellington.
The British Railways (Western Region) timetable for Summer 1953 provides a post-Nationalisation but pre-dieselisation picture, with a frequent weekday (Monday to Saturday) service to both Wellington (Northbound/Down) and Wolverhampton (Southbound/Up), with some of these trains originating from Shrewsbury and Birmingham respectively, and two trains each way continuing on to London (Paddington) or working through to Chester (General). It is worth noting that between 18th June 1951 and 10th June 1956 the former GWR station in Oakengates was known as Oakengates (West), to differentiate it from Oakengates (Market Street) station on the former LNWR/LMS Coalport branch, and this is how it appears in timetables of the period.
At this time, the first Down train called at Oakengates (West) at 7.00am en route to Chester, although generally trains calling in this direction terminated at Wellington. Later trains called at 7.35am, 7.52am (ex-Birmingham, Snow Hill), 8.35am, 10.00am (Snow Hill to Chester), 12.01pm, 1.07pm, 1.54pm (ex-Snow Hill), 2.50pm, 3.57pm, 5.19pm, 6.10pm (to Shrewsbury), 7.11pm (Snow Hill to Shrewsbury), 9.04pm (to Shrewsbury), 10.25pm and 11.40pm.
The pattern of services for Up trains was broadly similar, with passenger trains generally terminating at Wolverhampton (Low Level). Calls at Oakengates (West) were at 6.50am and 7.13am (both to Snow Hill), then 7.52am (the 7.30am Shrewsbury-Paddington service), 8.38am, 9.31am, 10.16am, and 11.51am. Afternoon calls were at 1.39pm, 3.03pm, 3.58pm, 5.45pm (to Snow Hill), 7.15pm, 8.48pm and 10.47pm (the 10.15pm Shrewsbury to Paddington service that terminated in London at 5.05am on the following morning).
In early British Railways’ days, former GWR Churchward Mogul No 5381 heads a southbound passenger train past Hollinswood sidings, the massive yards established a little way from the southern portal of Oakengates tunnel to exchange traffic with the Lilleshall system. The distant chimneys and slag heaps are those of the Priorslee Furnaces, one of the principal Lilleshall Company establishments – and David Bradshaw says, these slag heaps proved to be great terrain for playing Cowboys & Indians in the early to mid-1950s. As an aside, the Wolverhampton-bound passenger train is effectively passing through the site of what is now Telford Central station, the impressive but arguably ugly industrial scene that I recall now landscaped to provide a modern road system serving the 1980s-built station and industrial estates, the area also being bridges by the M54. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com. [1: p167]
The summer of 1957 brought about the dieselisation of the stopping services at Oakengates as part of a Wellington to Lapworth service, Lapworth being the end of the four-track section of the former GWR main line south from Birmingham (Snow Hill), so it was a convenient terminating point. At the same time, Birmingham (Moor Street) to Leamington Spa services also went over to diesel-multiple-units. However, the dieselisation was not total, as some peak hour stopping services were still regularly steam-hauled through Oakengates, and it was status quo, unchallenged steam power, on stopping services between Wellington and Shrewsbury.
Between Wellington and Wolverhampton, however, steam locomotives were almost exclusively on goods and parcels duties as ‘Western’, ‘Warship’ and ‘Hymek’ diesel- hydraulics had taken over most of the expresses, and these thundered through Oakengates station. A particularly interesting working was the Bournemouth (West) to Birkenhead (Woodside) Inter-Regional duty and its corresponding Birkenhead to Bournemouth service, with Southern Region green-liveried coaches in use either on the northbound or southbound leg.
The BR (Western Region) public timetable for 12th September 1960 to 11th June 1961 lists the duty as ‘Week Days Only’, with the one train leaving Birkenhead at 9.20am, while that from Bournemouth departed at 9.30am, hence the need for two rakes, the two trains passing each other near Fenny Compton; Wellington was an 11.40am call on the Up duty, and 3.20pm on the Down service. However, the summer 1962 timetable saw the service cut-back to Wolverhampton (Low Level) on Mondays to Fridays, leaving the through service between Bournemouth and Birkenhead as a Saturdays- only option.
For many years the local services between Wolverhampton (Low Level) and Wellington were in the hands of Tyseley or Wellington-allocated Class ‘5101’ 2-6-2Ts on suburban stock, as illustrated by No. 4130 arriving from Wolverhampton at journey’s end. For the most part, passengers from Oakengates wishing to travel beyond Wellington would have to change trains here, and interestingly the local services between Wellington and Shrewsbury were actually Stafford line trains that worked through. However, these would never be dieselised. Instead the remaining intermediate stations between Stafford and Wellington, and onwards to Shrewsbury, would cease to be served from 7th September 1964. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com [1: p167]
The shake-up in Inter-Regional duties that was instigated with the introduction of the winter 1962/63 timetable, which significantly diverted the traditional Somerset & Dorset routed trains via Oxford, also brought about the end of the Bournemouth to Birkenhead duty, so Saturday, 9th September 1962 was the last day it ran. Interestingly, as part of the ongoing West Coast main line electrification, the Up and Down ‘Pines Express’ was also diverted away from Birmingham (New Street), so it now served Snow Hill, Wolverhampton (Low Level), and Wellington, then diverged to travel via Market Drayton to Crewe and Manchester. From an Oakengates perspective, this brought an English Electric ‘Type 4’ diesel through the station – the timetable ‘path’ for this train south of Wellington was that once used by the Birkenhead service.
At this stage, duties generally continued to operate to traditional timings, and a glance at the 1963 timetable provides an example. In the Down direction these were the 12.15am, 8.20am, 9.10am, 11.10am – ‘Cambrian Coast Express’, 12.10pm, 1.10pm, 2.10pm, 4.10pm, 6.10pm and 7.10pm from Paddington. The return journeys were at 6.30am, 7.40am, 8.55am, 11.40am, 2.45pm, 4.30pm and 8.55pm from Birkenhead, 2.30pm from Chester, and the 7.10am, 7.30am and 5.10pm from Shrewsbury.
There was a regional boundary change from 9th September 1963, with the Western Region retreating to Bromsgrove, but even with the new London Midland Region broom there were not yet enough diesels, locomotives or multiple-units, to exclude steam locomotive use on peak hour passenger duties, even into 1964. David Bradshaw remembers this well as in the 1963/64 period his girlfriend Margaret (now his wife), frequently caught the 5.10pm local service to Oakengates from the bay platform at Shrewsbury; it was generally hauled by a Shrewsbury-allocated ‘County’ or ‘Hall’, and the guard would always ensure that she caught it, often holding the train beyond its departure time. If she missed this, the next train was a Shrewsbury to Stafford service, with a change to a diesel-multiple-unit at Wellington.
Stafford Junction, just to the east of Wellington station, was the meeting point of the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway and Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Co, this opening on 1st June 1849, which was a pivotal day as inaugural S&BR services began between Shrewsbury and Oakengates and likewise the LNWR-operated Shrewsbury to Stafford services started, the latter diverging here; the junction was ‘Joint’ property, as was the line West from here to Shrewsbury. This view is looking east on 9th August 1932, the Stafford line branching left, while the line straight ahead is for Oakengates, although the next nearest railway infrastructure of note is Ketley Junction, just 52 chains away, where trains from Wellington for Much Wenlock diverged as they travelled ’round The Wrekin’. Mowat Collection.
The Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Co.
The Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Co. was created in 1846 as an amalgam of a number of canal and railway schemes. Railways were, at that time, starting to pose a serious threat to the local canal companies, and it was for this reason that the Shropshire Union company was formed, the idea being that a combined railway and waterway undertaking would be able to hold its own in competition with purely railway-orientated companies such as the London & North Western Railway.
The Shropshire Union worked a number of existing waterways, including the Ellesmere & Chester Canal (which had already absorbed the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction company), and it also obtained powers for a network of connecting railway lines, one of which would have run from Nantwich to Wolverhampton, while others would extend from Crewe to Newton and from Stafford to Shrewsbury. In total, it was envisaged that the Shropshire Union would encompass no less than 155 miles of railway, much of this system being converted from the Shropshire Union’s existing canals.
Having secured Parliamentary consent for their ambitious scheme, the Shropshire Union supporters looked forward to a prosperer future. However, their plans were perhaps far too ambitious, and the Shropshire Union company inevitably attracted the attention of rival railway companies, notably the rapidly expanding LNWR. In 1847, the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company was leased in perpetuity to the LNWR, and by this means the original Shropshire Union plans were effectively thwarted. The Nantwich to Wolverhampton and Crewe to Newton lines were abandoned, although, happily, the main canal routes remained in operation under London & North Western auspices.
It was also agreed that the proposed railway from Stafford to Shrewsbury would be constructed, with the proviso that the western section between Wellington and Shrewsbury would be vested jointly in the Shrewsbury & Birmingham and Shropshire Union companies. As we have seen, the line from Shrewsbury to Wellington was opened on 1st June 1849, and the connecting line between Stafford and Wellington was also opened on the same day, this eastern section being worked as a purely LNWR branch, whereas the Wellington to Shrewsbury line was jointly-owned with the S&BR. Trains worked on a Stafford to Shrewsbury axis, calling at Gnosall (64 miles), Newport (11½ miles), Hadley (17½ miles), Wellington (18¾ miles), and then intermediate stations to Shrewsbury (29¼ miles).
The LNWR Coalport Branch
Along with discussion of all the other railways in and around Oakengates (including the Lilleshall Co. private railways), David Bradshaw and Stanley C. Jenkins looked at the Wellington to Coalport Branch.
These paragraphs come first from the parts of the Steam Days article which relate to the Wellington to Coalport Branch, [1: p168-170, 175, 176-177] but are supplemented by my own research into the route of the line.
Wikipedia provides this schematic map of the Coalport Branch which highlights the key stations and sidings. [37]
The Great Western Railway had taken over the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway (S&BR) in 1854, and this may have prompted the LNWR to consider a scheme for converting the Shropshire Canal into a railway. This busy waterway was experiencing severe problems in terms of subsidence and water supply, and there was a major flooding incident in July 1855 when Snedshill tunnel collapsed. It was thought that the cost of repairs would probably exceed £30,000 and, faced with this heavy expenditure, the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) decided that the money would be better spent on the construction of a replacement railway from Hadley, near Wellington, to Coalport, which would utilise, as much as possible, parts of the troublesome canal.
It was then estimated that the proposed Coalport branch line would cost about £80,000, including £62,500 for the purchase of the waterway. Accordingly, in November 1856, notice was given that an application would be made to Parliament in the ensuing session for leave to bring in a Bill for the purchase and sale of the Shropshire Canal and the ‘Conversion of Portions thereof to Railway Purposes, and Construction of a Railway in connection therewith’.
The proposed line was described as a railway, with all proper stations, works, and conveniences connected therewith, commencing by a junction with the Shrewsbury and Stafford Railway of the Shropshire Union Company in the township of Hadley and parish of Wellington, in the county of Salop. at a point about two hundred yards westward of the mile post on the said railway denoting twelve miles from Shrewsbury’, and it terminated in the parish of Sutton Maddock, in the county of Salop, at a point ten chains or thereabouts to the east of the terminus of the Shropshire Canal at Coalport’.
The railway would pass through various specified parishes, townships, or other places, including Wellington, Hadley, Donnington Wood, Wrockwardine, Wombridge, Oakengates, Stirchley, Malins Lee, Dawley, Snedshill, Madeley, and Coalport, ‘occupying in the course thereof portions of the site of the Shropshire Canal’. Having passed through all stages of the complex Parliamentary process, the actual ‘Act for Authorising the Conversion of parts of the Shropshire Canal to Purposes of a Railway’ received the Royal Assent on 27th July 1857.
The canal was closed between Wrockwardine Wood and the bottom of the Windmill Hill inclined plane on 1st June 1858, although isolated sections of the waterway remained in use for many years thereafter. The work of conversion was soon underway, and on Thursday, 30th May 1861 The Birmingham Daily Post announced that the Coalport and Hadley line of railway would be opened on ‘Monday next’, implying that the first trains would run on 3rd May. In the event, this prediction was slightly optimistic, and on 12th June the same newspaper reported that, ‘in accordance with the arrangements arrested’. previously announced’, the Coalport branch had been opened for passenger traffic on Monday, 10th June 1861.
As usual in those days, Opening Day was treated as a public holiday, and a large number of spectators had assembled at Coalport station to witness this historic event. ‘At the appointed time, the first engine, and train of first, second and third class carriages, moved off from the station, having a respectable number of passengers’.
The newly opened railway commenced at Hadley Junction, on the Stafford to Wellington line, and it climbed south-eastwards on a ruling gradient of 1 in 50 towards Oakengates (3.25 miles from Wellington), which thereby acquired its second station. Beyond, the route continued southwards, with intermediate stations at Dawley (6 miles) and Madeley Market (7½ miles), to its terminus at Coalport, some 9½ miles from Wellington. The final two miles of line included a continuous 1 in 40 descent towards the River Severn. An additional station was opened to serve Malins Lee, between Oakengates and Dawley, on 7th July 1862.
Wellington Railway Station to Hadley Railway Station
Wellington Railway Station was the junction station for the Coalport Branch passenger services. The bay platform on the South side of the Wellington Station site was shared with the GWR Coalbrookdale line (Wellington & Severn Junction Railway). The station and the line to its East are covered in the link below:
Coalport East trains left the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line and for a short distance, to Hadley Junction, travelled along the line from Wellington to Stafford. After passing through Hadley Railway Station trains took to the Branch which curved away to the South of the main line.
Hadley Railway Station to Wombridge (Goods)
Experience shows that it is very difficult to plot a line on the ground when significant development has taken place. For the first section of this line the redevelopment from the 1960s into the 21st century has been very significant. In this article I have relied on modern satellite images provided by railmaponline.com. [4] As usual, historic mapping comes from the NLS (National Library of Scotland).
Hadley Railway Station appears on the left of this extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. The trackwork associated with the junction and with Castle Car Works can be seen at the top right of the extract. [12]The same area in the 21st century as shown on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. [12]An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey which shows the area immediately around Hadley Station. [14]The same area on the modern satellite imagery of Google Maps. [15]Caren Craft shared the photograph of modern Hadley taking shape on the Hadley History Facebook Group on 26th June 2022. The photo was carried by the Shropshire Star on 15th August 2011. Both of the two railway bridges can be seen on the left of the image carrying the new single track railway line. [13]
Hadley Railway Station served the former Stafford to Shrewsbury Line and was the start of the branch to Coalport. The station was opened in 1849 and closed in 1964. The line through Hadley was closed from 1964, with the last remaining stretches of track being taken up in 1991. In the late 2000s a stretch of track was re-laid to the Telford International Railfreight Park for freight purposes only. [16]
Telford International Railfreight Park (known as TIRFP) is rail freight depot and construction development site located in Donnington to the north of Telford, on the former route of the Stafford to Shrewsbury Line. The terminal was opened in 2009. [17]
Wombridge Priory was a small Augustinian monastery established in the early 12th century, it was supported by a network of minor nobility and was never a large community. Despite generally good financial management, it fell within the scope of the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 and was dissolved in the following year. [82]
The priory was dedicated to St Leonard. St Leonard was particularly popular in the 12th century following the release of Bohemond I of Antioch, a captured crusader – a circumstance which he seems to have attributed to the saint’s intercession. White Ladies Priory, another Shropshire Augustinian house, was also dedicated to St Leonard, as was the parish church at Bridgnorth, [82] and at a later date, Malinslee Parish Church. Remains of the priory buildings remained visible until the 19th century but are now hidden beneath the churchyard and other development. They were excavated in the 1930s and again in 2011 and 2012. [82]
The church was designated to St. Mary and St. Leonard and was built in 1869 by George Bidlake. It is the fourth church on the site of the Priory.
An aerial view of Wombridge Church with some of the remains of the Priory evident. This photograph was shared on the Telford – The Ultimate Guide Facebook Group by Steve Bowers on 27th February 2023. [47]
The bridge which carried the Coalport Branch over what was once Wombridge Road was demolished to make way for the A442 Queensway.
This photograph was taken during the demolition of the bridge. It is the only photo I have been able to find of the old railway bridge. It appears to have been taken from the South. Headroom would have been quite limited. The photograph was shared by Paul Wheeler on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 23rd November 2017. [48]
We continue on our journey along the old Coalport Branch with a ground-level shot along the A442 showing the line of the old railway.
Looking Southeast along the A442, Queensway from the Northwest-bound off slip road. The A442 was built over the line of the Coalport branch which was curving along the length ahead towards the Southeast. [Google Streeetview, June 2022]The 25″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century again. The important feature on this length of the Coalport Branch was the bridge which carried Stafford Road over the line. [49]Once again, this satellite image covers approximately the same area as that covered by the OS map extract above. The purple line is the route of the Coalport Branch as recorded on railmaponline.com. [33]An image from the Southbound carriageway of the A442 from a position at the top-left of the satellite image above. [Google Streetview, June 2022]From the same Southbound carriageway, the bridge which carries Stafford road over the A442 is visible in the distance. The Coalport Branch followed a tighter curve than the modern road, passing under Stafford Road to the South of the modern bridge over the A442. [Google Streetview, June 2022]A Brown’s Sentinel bus crosses the Stafford Road bridge in Oakengates in March 1963. For much of his married life, Ron Dean was in the driving seat. And his wife Greta was his conductor. The camera is pointing towards the South. [50]Stafford Road Bridge again, sometime in the 1960s before the A442, Queensway dual carriageway was built. This was probably taken at the time that a footbridge was being installed alongside the road bridge. The photo is taken facing South along the Brach line. It was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Bear Yeomans on 7th February 2016. [51]Looking North from Stafford Road Bridge along the Coalport Branch towards Hadley Junction. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 23rd May 2020. [52]Looking North under Stafford Road Bridge along the Coalport Branch. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 30th July 2018. [53]This aerial photo of Oakengates was taken in November 1970. Just to the right of the top-centre of the image, Stafford Road bridge can be seen with the footbridge alongside it. The A442 is not evident, but the Coalport Branch cutting can be followed from the road bridge to the right. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 22nd March 2022. [54]An enlarged extract from the picture immediately above showing Stafford Road bridge in the top-left. [54]This next length of the line takes us through Oakengates Market Street Railway Station and Goods yard. The 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902 shows the station and goods yard to full advantage. [55]The railmaponline.com satellite image of the same area as in the map extract above. This begins to show how congested the area around Oakengates was with a variety of railway lines and sidings. [33]
The OS image above shows the length of the Coalport branch as it passes through Oakengates (Market) station and goods yard. We will return to look at the station later. Two images looking North through the station will suffice at this juncture.
Aview looking North from the boundary fence, through Oakemgates (Market) Station. The line was much less busy on this occasion. The image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 16th August 2017. An equivalent modern view from Canongate is not feasible because the industrial site is now screened by trees. [3]Looking North through the area that was Oakengates Market Street Station Goods yard from the Eastern end of Commercial Way. The purple line shows the approximate route of the Coalport Branch. The white building at the centre of this image is the old goods shed now put to a different use! [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking Southeast from the same location. The mainline of the Coalport Branch would have run along the treeline behind the industrial units. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The view from the Southeast on Canongate. The purple line shows the approximate location of the Coalport Branch which passed under the road by means of a bridge. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Canongate Railway Bridge was a brick-arched structure. It is seen here infilled to support the road above. This image was posted by BruceS on Waymarking.com on 2nd June 2015. [60]Looking North under Canongate Bridge towards Oakengates Market Street Station. This picture was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 12th October 2017. [61]An aerial image looking North along the line of the Coalport Branch in 1948. Canongate bridge is in the centre of the image, the Station is towards the top of the image beyond the goods yard, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013748). [62]An extract from the above image which shows Canongate, the Goods Yard and the Station in greater detail, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013748). [62]The next length of the Coalport Branch took it passed Snedshill Iron Works and into a tight corridor which included the GWR Shrewsbury to Birmingham railway Line, the Coalport Branch and a Mineral Railway. This area is again shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. [63]Railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery shows the same area as in the OS map above as it appears in the 21st century. All the lines mentioned above are included in the overlay to the satellite imagery. [33]Another extract from the aerial image of 1948 which showed Canongate Bridge, this shows the area to the South of Canongate. Snedshill Iron Works are on the right of the image. In the centre of the image are John Maddock and Co.’s works for whom the aerial photographs were taken. Those works do not feature on either the 1901 Ordnance Survey or the modern satellite imagery. [62]Looking North from the A5 bridge over the Coalport branch. Snedshill Ironworks are on the right of the image. The bridge at the centre of the image is the same one that appears at the bottom of the aerial image immediately above. This photograph was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 18th March 2018. [64]Almost extactly the same location, also looking North, the connection was one of the busier connections from the Coalport line. As we have noted, our vantage point is the Holyhead Road overbridge, the old A5 trunk road. This view shows the Coalport branch in the cutting on the left, while the lines on the right connect to the former Snedshill Iron Works; a Hawksworth ‘9400’ pannier tank is seen shunting the siding in the mid-1950s. This was initially one of the connections to the Lilleshall network but in about 1938 the Lilleshall Company sold the Snedshill Iron Works to John Maddock’s & Son, an Oakenshaw-based engineering firm that was outgrowing its premises near the GWR station. Subsequent development saw the distant building become one of the most modem casting foundries in Europe, and post-war, pipe fittings became the principal activity. (c) A.J.B. Dodd [1: p170]Looking Northwest along Reynolds Drive, Oakengates. The Coalport Branch was in cutting at this location. The purple line gives an idea of its Route. Its route crosses Hawkshaw Close a 100 yards or so to the left, as shown below. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking South along Hawkshaw Close, Oakengates with the line of the Coalport Branch shown. As noted above the line was in relatively deep cutting at this location. Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking North from Newlands Road, Oakengates, towards Oakengates Market Street Station. At this point on the line we are a little to the North of the accommodation bridge shown on the 1948 aerial image above. The approximate route of the line is again shown by the purple line. The line was, however, in deep cutting at this location. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking South from Newlands Road, Oakengates, along the line of the Coalport Branch which was in deep cutting at this location. The road to the right of this image is Station Road which once ran immediately alongside the old railway line a little further to the South.[Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking North along Station Road across the line of the old railway. Station Road was diverted when the new roundabout (immediately behind the camers) was constructed. The next two monochrome images focus on this location as it was in 1948. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The same length of line, but this time as shown in an aerial image from the Northwest, also taken in 1948. The image features John Maddock’s works with Snedshill Iron Works beyond, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013752). [65]A closer view of the top-right of the above image with the Coalport branch heading away to the South. This area saw significant alterations in the later years of the 20th century. The significant bridge carries what is designated the B5061 in the 21st century, but was the A5 Trunk Road. The works immediately beyond the bridge and alongside the A5 are the Lilleshall Company’s Snedshill Brickworks, (c) Historic England, Britain from Above (EAW013752). [65]The 1″ OS Map of 1898, published 1899, shows the location of the bridge. The immediate area is now under the Greyhound Roundabout which sits alongside the A442. [66]Looking Southeast along the A5 towards the Lilleshall works at Priorslee. The dominant building with the curved roof on the left of this image is the Lilleshall Company’s Snedshill Brickworks. The Coalport Branch passed under the bridge at the centre of the image. This phot was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 23rd February 2014 by Vince Allen. [67]Looking down into the cutting of the Coalport Branch from the East in 1973. The road running across the image is the A5. The arch bridge is the Greyhound Bridge which is eventually replaced by the Greyhound Roundabout. The picture was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 14th May 2019. [68]A local collapse of parapet walling alongside the bridge occurred in 1966. The bridge is off to the left of the photograph, the running line of the Coalport Branch just below the image. This press cutting was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Johnson on 1st March 2014. [69]In this postcard aerial view of Snedshill Brickworks from the West, the Mineral Railway adjacent to the Coalport Branch is visible, crossing the A5 at the bottom edge of the image. The Coalport Branch is just off the bottom of the picture. [70]Snedshill Brickworks again, this time in the 1950s and viewed from the East. The A5 runs away to the right of the image. The cutting of the Coalport Branch runs across from middle-right to middle-left. The A5 bridge over the line is hidden by the Works buildings. This picture was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 26th March 2014. [71]From a similar angle to the last picture but taken from the Lilleshall Brickworks buildings in 1974, this image was carried by the Shropshire Star at the time. The A5 runs diagonally across the shot with the dwarf wall above the arched Greyhound Bridge visible to its right. The cutting of the Coalport Branch runs left to right across the centre of the image. The picture was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 22nd October 2020 by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley. [72]
This photo does not have the best of definition, but it is worth including as it shows the view South across the Brickworks before redevelopment work in the area. The Shrewsbury to Birmingham line curves away to the East. The A5 bridge over the Coalport Branch is visible at the bottom of the image. [33]
From this point South the A442 now occupies the space which once was used by the Coalport Branch. The Northbound slip road from the A442 can be seen following the line of the old railway on the Railmaponlin.com satellite image below.
The 25″ Ordance Survey of 1901, published 1902, shows the Coalport Branch passing over the GWR Shrewsbury to Birmingham main line. The GWR line passed under the area in a deep tunnel with the Coalport Branch above it also in a relative deep cutting. The two lines ran approximately parallel for a short distance. [74]Railmaponline.com shows the same area with the local lines overlaid on the satellite imagery from Google Maps. [33]The view North, back towards Oakengates from the northbound slip road of the A442. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The view South from the same location showing the approximate route of the Coalport Branch. [Google Streetview, June 2022]A little further South along the A442 with the approximate line of the Coalport Branch marked once again. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Further South again, this time the camera is on the southbound carriageway. The Coalport Branch ran approximately along the modern treeline. Beyond the horizon the A442 curves back over the formation of the old line. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Further South again the A442 crosses the line of the Coalport Branch. The next Railmaponline.com satellite image shows that the footbridge in this view is very close to the point where the A442 leaves the formation of the Coalport branch. [Google Streetview, June 2022]This next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1902 shows the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line to the East of the Coalport branch and running parallel to it. Both pass under the road leading Northeast out of Hollinswood. The Coalport branch remains in cutting along much of its length on this map extract. [75]The same area on the satellite imagery provided by Railmaponline.com. The purple line shows the route of the Coalport Branch which, from close to the top-left of the image ran along a route immediately adjacent to the modern A442. Hollinswood Road has been replaced by a footbridge over the A442 and the Shrewsbury to Birmingham main line. It is further cut to the Southwest by the M54 and its junction arrangement, just off this image to the bottom-left. [33]Looking North towards Oakengates from the cycle track on the West side of the A442. The approximate route of the Coalport Brnach is indicated by the purple line. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking Southeast from the cycleway alongside the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Another view looking North, but this time taken from the Footbridge/Cycleway bridge over the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking South from the same bridge with the route of the old railway indicated by the purple line. The bridge ahead carries the M54 over the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking South again, this time from the cycleway/footpath which runs under the M54 bridge over the A442. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]This is now the view South towards the Telford Station footbridge. My photograph, 13th March 2023]A few steps ahead and turning a half-circle, this is the view looking North under the M54 Bridge with the old railway route marked by the same purple line. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]The view South once more showing the line of the old railway. [My photograph, 13th March 2023]Looking North-northwest on Rampart Way under the footbridge leading to Telford Railway Station. The approximate line of the Coalport Branch is shown by the purple line. The M54 runs parallel to and beyond the purple line [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking to the Southwest under the Station Footbridge with the line of the Old Coalport Branch shown in purple. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Old Dark Lane Colliery and Brickworks appear at the top of the next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. Dark Lane Village is at the bottom of the image. Dark Lane village was lost as part of the development of Telford. The Branch has turned away from the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line towards the South. [76]The same area on the satellite imagery provided by Railmaponline.com. The route of the old line cuts across the West side of the A442 interchange and then South through housing and across Dale Acre Way. [33]Looking South across Hollinswood Interchange along the line of the Coalport Branch. [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking East along the northern arm of Dunsheath. The line of the old railway crosses the housing development immediately this side of the black car and the van (approximately)! [Google Streetview, June 2022]Looking East along the southern arm of Dunsheath. The line of the old railway crosses the housing development as shown by the purple line. [Google Streetview, June 2022]
Old Darklane Colliery and Brickworks
The Colliery was opened in 1855 and closed finally in 1885. The owners were: Beriah Botfield (1855-1860]; Leighton and Grenfell (1869-1870); and Haybridge Iron Co. Ltd (1875-1885). [77]
Dark Lane Village
Dark Lane Village was lost in its entirety to the redevelopment which produced Telford. Dark Lane Row and the Methodist Chapel appear at the bottom of the OS map extract above. The remainder of the village features at the top of the OS Map extract below. Malins Lee Station was on the South side of the village. Little Dark Lane Colliery to the West. There were three long rows of cottages which were known locally as: Long Row (about 550ft long and containing 20 houses); Bottom Row (a little over 500ft long and containing 25 houses); and Short Row (nine houses built by the Botfield family in around 1825). A full description of the village and pictures of the buildings can be found on the Dawleyhistory.com website. [78]
The last extract on the Coalport Branch from the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey shows Dark Lane village and Malins Lee Railway Station. [79]The same area on the satellite imagery provided by Railmaponline.com. After crossing Dale Acre Way, the route of the old line heads South-southwest across open ground and then over land used for housing development. [33]Looking West on Dale Acre Way. the approximate location of the old railway is shown by the purple line. [Google Streetview, June 2022]The view West in the 1960s along Dark Lane the GWR mineral railway was hidden in the dip. The road then rose relatively steeply to cross over the Coalport Branch. The bridge can be seen middle-left of this image. [80]This Streetview image is taken from approximately the same location as the picture immediately above. [Google Streetview, June 2022]This bucolic colour image shows the road featured in the image above but this time from a location adjacent to Bottoms Row, Dark Lane. The bridge over the Coalport Branch can be seen again on the horizon. This photo was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 28th February 2023. It was colourised by Simon Alun Hark. [81]This image is taken from the same geographical location as the one immediately above, facing in the same direction. The light blue line indicates the alignment of the old Dark Lane. [Google Streetview, June 2022]This postcard view shows Bottom Row with the Methodist Chapel beyond. The bridge on the right of the image carried Dark Lane over the Coalport Branch. Malins Lee Station was beyond the bridge to the right of the image. A matching modern image is not practical as the camera location is now in the midst of a copse of trees close to the boundary of the exhibition centre car park. [82]
‘The Miner’s Walk‘ website provides more information about the area around Dark Lane village. [83] It includes a hand-drawn overlay of modern roads over the Ordnance Survey of the 1880s.
The hand drawn overlay showing modern roads as they relate to Dark Lane village and Malins Lee Railway Station. [83]Malins Lee Station as in appeared in 1932.The photograph seems to have been taken facing South from the bridge which carried Dark Lane over the line. The passenger facilities at the station seem to be a little different to others on the Coalport Branch. The station was closed for two years during WW1 as an economy measure and finally closed in 1952 with the line remaining open for goods traffic for more than a decade. Just to the South of the station was a single siding which served immediately local industries. This picture was shared by Lin Keska on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th August 2018. [84]Marcus Keane shared this composite image on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 20th July 2014 which shows the location of Malins Lee Station in relation to the modern blocks of flats in Hollinswood. [85]Malins Lee Station once again. This photo seems to have been taken from the filed opposite the station. The tall chimney behind the station was probably that of Dark Lane Foundry. This photograph was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford memories Facebook Group on 24th January 2018, (c) Ray Farlow, circa 1907. [86]Malins Lee Station passenger facilities. The photograph was shared on Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 20th September 2017. [87]Malins Lee Station had been closed to passengers for 12 years when this photograph was taken of a goods service on the Coalport Branch. The picture was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Lin Keska on 15th August 2018. [88]
The Coalport branch line was, from its inception, geared towards freight traffic rather than passengers, and there were numerous private sidings linked to nearby factories within the Oakengates Urban District. One of these sidings, known as Wombridge Goods, served Wombridge Iron Works, which had a connection with a surviving section of the Shropshire Canal. There was also Wombridge ballast siding and Wombridge Old Quarry siding, while other sidings served the iron foundry of John Maddocks & Son, and also the Lilleshall Company’s steel works at Snedshill.
Successive editions of The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Stations reveal further private sidings on the Coalport branch, including, in 1938, the Exley & Son siding and the Nuway Manufacturing Co siding at Coalport, and at Madeley Market there was the Messrs Legge & Sons’ siding and the Madeley Wood Cold Blast Slag Co siding.
The original train service consisted of three passenger trains in each direction between Wellington and Coalport, with a similar number of goods workings. This modest service persisted for many years, although an additional Thursdays-only train was subsequently provided in response to the increased demand on Wellington market days. In 1888 the branch was served by four passenger trains each way, together with five Up and three Down goods workings. By the summer of 1922 there were five Up and five Down passenger trains, with an additional short-distance service from Wellington to Oakengates and return on Saturdays-only.
In the final years of passenger operation, the timetable comprised five trains each way. In July 1947, for example, there were Up services from Coalport at 6.22am, 8.50am, 11.57am, 4.40pm and 7.40pm, with corresponding Down workings from Wellington at 8.04am, 10.02am, 1.40pm, 6.30pm and 9.15pm; a slightly different service pertained on Thursdays and Saturdays. The final branch passenger service in 1952. consisted of four Up and four Down trains, increasing to five each way on Thursdays and six on Saturdays.
The Oakengates (West) Route
This excellent aerial image looking North shows Oakengates (West) Station on the left and Oakengates (Market) Station top-right. The image was shared by Darren Minshall on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 26th February 2021. it allows to see just how close the two lines were South of the centre of Oakengates. [41]
In order to explain the layout of the railway system in and around Oakengates, it would be useful to visualise the route taken by the present-day trains on the Shrewsbury & Birmingham main line as they proceed north-westwards from Wolverhampton, via Bilbrook, Codsall, Albrighton, Cosford, and Shifnal. Beyond Shifnal, Madeley Junction – 156 miles 21 chains from Paddington via Oxford and Birmingham (Snow Hill) – is where the former Madeley branch diverges south for Lightmoor and continues as the Ketley branch to Coalbrookdale, this route was still used early in the 21st century to serve the Ironbridge power station. From Madeley Junction the main line turns on to a north-north-easterly heading, soon passing the once extensive sidings at Hollinswood (157 miles 25 chains). Here the Lilleshall system was accessed from the Great Western network on the Up side, while a little known line ran from Hollinswood Down sidings to Stirchley to serve a concentration of local industry. The 1¼ mile line was opened by the Great Western in 1908 and it closed in 1959 – in later days there were three workings a week.
This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902,shows Hollinswood Junction on the GWR/BR mainline between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. [91]This extract from the NLS provided ETSI satellite imagery shows the same are in the 21st century. The only thing which remains from 1901 is the double track mainline railway! The platforms of Telford Central Railway Station can be made out in the top-left corner of this image. [91]A view looking Southeast from Hollinswood Signal Box as Collett ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 5912 Queen’s Hall heads a Down passenger train towards Oakengates tunnel, its next likely stop being Wellington. Using GWR terminology, the line on the far right is the Stirchley branch, but it was also known as the Old Park branch or Botfields siding. Opened in 1908, despite its length of little more than a mile, over the years it served Grange Colliery, Wrekin Chemical Works, Old Park Iron Works, and Haybridge Colliery, among other locations, but officially the end of the line upon its 2nd February 1959 decommissioning was a Tarmac siding in Stirchley; sadly there is no date recorded for this view, so the link to Stirchley may already be out of use, the long term allocation of the passing ‘Hall’ to Tyseley shed giving no tangible clues. Of note is the massive water tank at the cutting to the east end of the sidings, an Up-facing freight is in the Down goods loop, and the LMS-pattern brake van on the far left is in the sidings from the former Lilleshall Company’s Priorslee site. A.J.B. Dodd/Colour-Rail.com [1: p171]Almost exactly the same view on Easter Monday 1948. This image was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 19th April 2020. [123]A view looking Northwest across Hollinswood sidings. David Bradshaw says that he used to play Cowboys and Indians on the steelworks slag heaps here. The locomotive is a Great Western Churchward 2-6-0 – mixed traffic (passenger and freight) built Swindon Works 14/6/1920 withdrawn from service 1/9/1959 having covered 1,266,196 miles – still with original design cylinders. This image was shared by David Bradshaw on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 4th December 2016. [100] This image is also included in David Bradshaw and Stanley Jenkins article. In that article these notes are alongside the image: “In early British Railways’ days, former GWR Churchward Mogul No 5381 heads a southbound passenger train past Hollinswood sidings, the massive yards established a little way from the southern portal of Oakengates tunnel to exchange traffic with the Lilleshall system. The distant chimneys and slag heaps are those of the Priorslee Furnaces, one of the principal Lilleshall Company establishments – and David Bradshaw says, these slag heaps proved to be great terrain for playing Cowboys & Indians in the early to mid-1950s. As an aside, the Wolverhampton-bound passenger train is effectively passing through the site of what is now Telford Central station, the impressive but arguably ugly industrial scene that I recall now landscaped to provide a modern road system serving the 1980s-built station and industrial estates, the area also being bridges by the M54. A.J.B. Dodd.” [1: p167]Loco. No. 48516 heading through Hollinswood Junction with its train of coal wagons in 1965. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Lin Keska on 4th April 2018. [114]This image was also shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Lin Keska on 4th April 2018. [114]: The signal box diagram for Hollinswood shows the box sited at the end of the Stirchley branch, on the Down side of the main line with the signalman facing north as he works the frame, overlooking five through lines as well as other additional through sidings. This diagram is to an extent the tip of the iceberg, as it only shows equipment – signals, ground signals, points and related locking equipment – that is worked from the box itself, so clearly any hand-worked points at the extremities of the yards are not shown, so this explains the mysterious lines petering out from the Up yard into the Lilleshall network, which was of course the lifeblood of this location. Signalling Record Society. [1: p171]In this image Hollinswood sits beside the mainline as construction work for the new road interchange continues around it. This image was shared by Steve Bowers on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 3rd July 2021. [113]
In modern times, a new station, Telford Central (157 miles 40 chains) has appeared between the site of the yards at Hollinswood and the 471-yard long Oakengates tunnel.
The modern M54 crosses the railway to the Northwest of Telford Central Station and the railway then is in steep cutting before plunging into Oakengates Tunnel.
This tunnel is the longest on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line, as well as being the longest of three railway tunnels presently in use in Shropshire. The tunnel passed beneath the summit level of the Shropshire Canal, and it was the scene of a disaster in 1855, when a breach from the canal occurred. The entire summit level emptied into the tunnel, causing flooding in the town, although there were no reports of personal injuries. It is interesting to note that the S&BR Directors decided that the tunnel should be made wide enough to accommodate two broad gauge lines, although in actual fact the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway was constructed and opened as a standard gauge route.
Emerging into daylight once again, trains pass through a deep cutting before coming to rest in the still-extant station at Oakengates (158 miles 32 chains), which was of course known as Oakengates (West) for a while, its reversion to ‘Oakengates’ coming after the passenger closure of the Coalport line.
Up and Down platforms are provided at Oakengates, the main station building (now a dental practice) being on the Up (southbound) side. The Down platform was formerly equipped with a subsidiary waiting room, but just simple waiting shelters are now provided on both platforms at this unstaffed stopping place. The platforms are linked by a standard Great Western lattice girder footbridge, while a public footpath is carried across the line on a plate girder footbridge at the Hollinswood end of the station.
The main station building was designed by Edward Banks, one of Wolverhampton’s leading architects, who had been appointed to design and oversee the erection of the S&BR’s buildings. It was a typical Banks’ design, of red brick construction, in the Italianate style, with an open-fronted loggia for the benefit of waiting passengers. The latter has now been removed, but the main, two-storey hip-roofed building still remains intact.
An early photograph of the North end of the platforms at Oakengates Railway Station illustrating the proximity of the goods shed to the platforms. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 29th February 2020. [99]This slightly wider view of the North end of Oakengate Station was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengate History Group Facebook Group on 23rd September 2023. [103]An early photograph of Oakengates Railway Station and footbridge. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 29th February 2020. [99]
Prior to rationalisation, the station had been equipped with sidings on both sides of the running lines, the main goods yard, with half-a-dozen sidings, being to the north of the platforms on the Up side; one of these sidings crossed over Lion Street and ended a short distance from the LNWR ‘timber siding’. Two additional sidings were also available on the opposite side, and one of these served the cattle loading dock, where on dry days the local trainspotting fraternity would gather. The 1938 Handbook of Stations reveals that Oakengates was able to handle a full range of goods traffic, including coal, livestock, vehicles, horse boxes and general merchandise. There was a large, brick-built goods shed, and a six-ton yard crane. The station was signalled from a gable-roofed signal cabin that was sited near the entrance to the goods yard, on the Up side of the running lines.
While the image above clearly shows the relationship between the station building and the goods shed, this is a much better view of the main station building as it was in 1967. The image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Nick Nandan on 14th April 2014. [5]A more distant view of the main station building as it was in April 1968. The image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 20th February 2016. [11]The Station Building in the mid-1980s. This image was shared by Jeff Williams on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th July 2014. [9]The Goodsyard adjacent to the passenger station building at Oakengates became the site of a Cement Silo belonging to Tunnel Cement. The passenger station building can be glimpsed behind the first coach on the train. The plant was at one time rail-served but this is no longer the case by the time this photograph was taken. The locomotive is a Class 47 diesel, I believe. This 1980s image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 11th September 2016 by Stephen Tripp. [104]An earlier image of the same plant. This view was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 24th November 2017. [105]This photograph was taken by Richard Foxcroft and comes from his website about Telford’s railways. These are his comments: “There used to be extensive sidings (and a coal yard?) here, but now it is an unmanned station at which only the most-stopping trains call. The former station building has become a dental surgery. The fine bridge at the bottom or Market Street, Oakengates is an original Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway bridge which bears a cast iron plate ‘Lilleshall Company Fect. 1848’. The goods yard in Oakengates had two sidings for Castle Cement until very recent years I can’t remember when they were closed but certainly they were still there when the ‘Donnington Farewell’ ran on 6.7.91.” [112]
Restarting from Oakengates (West) station, Bennetts or Padmores siding was sited on the Down side, and beyond Wombridge level crossing (159 miles 5 chains) was New Hadley Halt (159 miles 43 chains). This basic stopping place was opened on 3 November 1934.
Oakengates Railway Station as it appeared on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901. At this time there was a significant goods yard which appears to have been kept relatively busy. In the top-left of this map extract the bridge over Bridge Street is visible. [106]In the 21st century the station platforms and the passenger station building remain. Substantial development has occurred around the vicinity of the station and the goods yard is long-gone. This is another extract from the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the NLS. [106]Looking through the Railway Bridge up Market Street, Oakengates, circa 1967. The Coffee Palace building to the left was demolished by Telford Development Corporation in 1975, This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 18th September 2020. [107]A, J.W Jones, of St Georges Bus at Bridge St. Oakengates in 1963. In view are the Coalport Tavern & Woods Grocery (now the Bridge Street Dentists) as well as the bridge carrying the GWR/BR mainline. (c) Roy Marshall. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 31st March 2023. [110]Oakengates Railway bridge seen from the West with Market Street beyond. [Google Streetview, Jun 2022]This colourised postcard view shows the railway bridge from the opposite direction. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by David Lowe on 8th February 2014. [111]Oakengates Railway Bridge seen from the East. Market Street is behind the camera. [Google Streetview, May 2019]
Just a little further to the West the railway crossed/crosses Hadley Road.
the 1901 25″ Ordnance Survey shows the railway passing over Hadley Road. [115]The Railway Bridge over Hadley Road seen from the Southeast in June 2022. [Google Streetview, June 2022]
Proceeding in a westerly direction towards Wellington, there was a halt at New Hadley from 1934. Richard Foxcroft had a friend who remembered trains stopping at Hadley Halt as late as 1978-80, and Dave Cromarty was on the last train to stop there on 13th May, 1985 – despite which nothing remains of it. [112]
The southbound platform of New Hadley Halt, a basic timber-built structure on the western side of Oakengates. This mid-1960s scene shows the running-in board near the Up platform shelter, and the facilities on the Down platform were equally basic, a foot crossing at the Ketley Junction end of the halt being provided to cross the line. Opened in 1934, this stopping pace would go on to serve the people of Hadley for over fifty years. Tony Harden Collection. [200]
Beyond here, Ketley Junction (160 miles 22 chains) was where the Ketley branch trailed in on the Down side this was a through route that at its south end joined the Madeley branch at Lightmoor, its passenger duties generally starting at Wellington and working through Coalbrookdale and Buildwas to reach Much Wenlock.
Concluding our run along the Great Western Railway’s main line, Stafford Junction (160 miles 75 chains) was the meeting point of the LNWR/LMS-owned Shropshire Union line from Stafford, and Wellington station was sited 161 miles 27 chains from Paddington.
The Coalport line diverged from the Wellington to Stafford route at Hadley Junction, and ran south-eastwards via Wombridge goods station, at which point various private sidings branched out to serve Hadley Lodge Brickworks and other industrial concerns. We have followed the route through Oakengates already but we have not looked directly at the station. It seems right to preserve the structure of David Bradshaw & Stanley C. Jenkins’ article, and so we look at Oakengates (Market Street) Station here.
Oakengates, the largest station on the Coalport branch, was a short distance further on. The former LNWR and LMS station was renamed Oakengates (Market Street) on 18th June 1951, to prevent confusion with the nearby GWR station, which was thereafter known as Oakengates (West). The town’s Coalport line station was orientated on an approximate north-to-south alignment, and its layout included Up and Down platforms for passenger traffic, with a level crossing immediately to the north of the platform ramps.
The crossing adjacent to Oakengates (Market Street) Station on Station Hill. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 8th March 2018. [2]Looking South in 1963 across the level-crossing, the small signal cabin is on the left, the passenger facilities to the right and, it seems, a full goods yard beyond. Thus image was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group on 12th August 2020. [108]Taken from a point a little further up Station Hill, the station building can be seen with the enclosed loggia between the two single-storey flat-roofed brick-built rooms. The single-storey building, contained the booking office and waiting room facilities. The single-storey portion faced on to the platform, and it featured the two rectangular bays and a central loggia, which was fully enclosed by a wood and glass screen to form a covered waiting area. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 16th August 2017. [3]A view from almost exactly the same location in 2022. The police station site is on the left of the image, the modern railings in the same location as on the image above. The A442, Queensway, overbridge now dominates the scene. [Google Streetview, June 2022]
The main station building was on the Up (northbound) platform, while the diminutive signal box was situated on the Down platform, in convenient proximity to the level crossing. The cabin was a standard LNWR gable-roofed box, albeit of the smallest size.
Greetings from Oakengates. A commercial postcard, franked in October 1905, shows the station forecourt area of the LNWR station in Oakengates. The view is looking east up Station Hill, and the Methodist Chapel on the right was where David Bradshaw and his sister went to Sunday School in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Halfway up the hill, the Lilleshall Company main line crossed at road level and the disused canal passed under the road. The crossing featuring in the pictures above is on the left side of this image. David Bradshaw Collection. [1: p175]
This photograph is taken from a point just off the left of the above image and also looks East up Station Hill across the railway line, which was by the time the picture was taken, closed. The image was shared on the Telford memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 13th November 2016. [56]
The main station building, which was similar to that at Coalport, was a typical LNWR design, incorporating a one-and-a-half-storey Stationmaster’s house at the rear, and an attached single-storey building, which contained the booking office and waiting room facilities. The single-storey portion faced on to the platform, and it featured two rectangular bays and a central loggia, which was fully enclosed by a wood and glass screen to form a covered waiting area. The residential block sported a steeply pitched slate-covered roof, whereas the booking office portion had a flat roof. The building was of local brick construction, with tall chimneys and slightly arched window apertures. This distinctive structure was erected, as were all the others on the line, by local builder Christopher Bugaley of Madeley. There was a detached gentlemens’ convenience on the Up platform, while facilities for waiting travellers on the Down platform comprised a small waiting room.
Looking West into Oakengates after the removal of the passenger facilities at Oakengates Market Street Station. Rails remain in the road. It is possible that this photograph was taken in the late 1950s or the very early 1960s. It was shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 10th March 2017. [57]This little tableau of three images (one above and two below) were shared on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 16th July 2019 by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley. Two of the pictures show the work going on to deal with a derailment of a Pannier Tank. The photographs of the derailment were sent to the Group by John Wood (c) A.J.B. Dodd Dodd. Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley writes: A “derailment at Oakengates Crossing sometime before 1958. This is the LNWR LMS Rail line Market Street/Station Hill. Pic 3 shows where the then disused Line cuts across the Station Hill Road (the line ran between the Building and the Bus Stop traveling in the direction of Wellington), the building is the old Whitefoots Showroom, this was formerly a Pub, the building you can see the back of in the derailment pic is this same as in Pic 3. Much of this info is from John Wood.” The first picture shows the level crossing gates in the background and was taken looking Southeast with the Goods Yard and erstwhile Station Buildings beyond the Crossing gates to the South. The first of the two pictures below is taken looking North from the crossing gates. [58]Looking South from the level-crossing at the bottom of Station Hill and the top of Market Street. Oakengates (Market) Railway Station buildings were off the image on the right. The station platform edge can be seen through the crossing gates. The line curves round passed the Goods Yard, under Canongate Bridge and on towards the A5 at Greyhound Bridge. The photo was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 9th November 2019. [59]
Two dead-end goods sidings at Oakengates were provided on the Down side, while the Up side sported a sizeable goods yard and a substantial goods shed. There was also a timber yard siding and an additional goods shed that was used by Millington’s, a local company. The 1927 Ordnance Survey map suggests that the timber siding ran to within a few yards of the local (Oakengates & District) Co-operative Society Depot, and it was hardly a stone’s throw from a connection from the GWR station. For a time David Bradshaw attended the Sunday School at the Methodist Chapel halfway up Station Hill and was a regular at the classic Grosvenor Cinema, which was close to Market Street station. Halfway up Station Hill, the old canal and Lilleshall Company lines ran under and across the road respectively.
This photograph was taken in 1982 and shows the old goods facilities at Oakengates (Market) Railway Station. The view is taken looking North. By 1982, these buildings were in use by G.H.Ellam. This picture was shared by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on the Oakengates History Facebook Group on 18th May 2019. [109]
Motive Power on the Great Western Route
The Shrewsbury & Birmingham line was classified as a ‘Red’ route under the GWR system of locomotive weight restrictions and, as such, it was worked by a wide range of locomotive classes, including ‘Castle’, ‘Star’, Hall’, ‘Grange’, and ‘County’ class 4-6-0s. The impressive ‘4700’ class 2-8-0s were employed on overnight freights, while the ‘Kings’ made occasional appearances in the late 1950s on the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’. One London-bound express stopped at Oakengates, but passenger traffic was generally covered by Wellington to Wolverhampton local services.
In the 1950s, regular engines seen included the surviving ‘Star’ class 4-6-0s based at Wolverhampton or Shrewsbury, and Chester- allocated ‘Saints’. Wolverhampton was also home to the unique ‘Star/Castle’ conversion, No 4000 North Star, together with No 4079 Pendennis Castle and No 4061 Glastonbury Abbey – one of only three surviving ‘Stars’ at the time. Shrewsbury shed had Nos 5050 Earl of Saint Germans, 5073 Blenheim, and 5097 Sarum Castle. The ‘Stars’ were replaced at Wolverhampton, and later at Shrewsbury and Chester, by the Hawksworth ‘Counties’; the following ‘Counties’ were noted on the main line through Oakengates between 1953 and 1962 Nos 1000/03/08, 1013/16/17, and 1022/24/25/26. Shrewsbury shed obtained very good work from them, particularly in their modified form.
The prestige train on the route was the daily ‘Cambrian Coast Express’, and this train invariably had a recently overhauled Old Oak Common ‘Castle’ for its arduous out-and-home run – it was widely considered to be one of the London shed’s hardest footplate duties. Notable performers on this job were three veterans Nos 4090 Dorchester Castle, 5084 Reading Abbey and 7013 Bristol Castle – all built between 1922 and 1924 and recently rebuilt with double-chimneys and four-row superheaters, but standard ‘Castles’ such as No 5082 Gladiator were also employed. On Summer Saturdays, the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ changed engines at Wolverhampton rather than at Shrewsbury, producing a mixture of ‘Manors’, ’43XX’ Moguls, ‘2251’ 0-6-0s, and ‘Dukedogs’ – very often double-headed. There was also the weekdays-only Bournemouth (West)-Birkenhead (Woodside) train with its alternate rakes of BR maroon or Southern Region green-liveried coaches, these duties being hauled by Oxford-allocated ‘Castles’ and ‘Modified Halls’, or by Chester ‘Counties’.
In 1958 Chester passed into London Midland Region control, and the Jubilee’ class 4-6-0s, including No 45632 Tonga, began appearing on express turns, in place of the ‘Castles’ and ‘Counties’. There were also irregular visits from engines that were running-in after overhaul at Wolverhampton Works. One of the two surviving ‘Bulldogs’, No 3454 Seagull in fact was noted on a Wolverhampton-bound freight shortly before its withdrawal in November 1951, while the BR Standard ‘Clan’ Pacific No 72006 Clan Mackenzie turned up one Sunday with a troop train.
Local passenger workings were generally handled by Wellington or Tyseley-allocated ‘5101’ class 2-6-2Ts until the appearance of diesel-multiple-units in 1957, although even then there was still some passenger work for the local tank engine fleet to cover. During 1958 BR Standard Class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts first arrived at Wellington shed, and Nos 82004, 82006 and 82009 all saw service locally, although they were gone by February 1960. On rare occasions pannier tanks also saw use on these trains. Pannier tank No 7754, now preserved at Llangollen, was allocated to Wellington shed, and it was noted shunting in the yard at Oakengates.
There was always a significant amount of through freight traffic, and in this capacity a variety of locomotives appeared, including Grange’ and ‘Castle’ 4-6-0s, and Churchward 43XX class 2-6-0s, such as Nos 6346, 7313 and 9302. On a less regular basis, ‘Aberdare’ class 2-6-0s were sometimes recorded on freight duties, with occasional sightings of 56XX class 0-6-2Ts. Stanier ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s became regular performers during the 1940s, together with the ROD Robinson-designed 04′ class (30XX) 2-8-0s, ’28XX’ class 2-8-0s and War Department ‘Austerity’ 2-8-0s, while in the late 1950s and early 1960s freight traffic was increasingly being handled by newly-built BR Standard ‘9F’ class 2-10-0s, and Stanier ‘8F’ class 2-8-0s.
Perhaps the most interesting heavy freight locomotives seen on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury route during the 1940s were the massive ’72XX’ class 2-8-2Ts, which had been introduced in 1934 as ‘stretched’ versions of the ’42XX’ class 2-8-0Ts. They were in many ways tank engine versions of the ’28XX’ class 2-8-0s, and they were used on similar heavy-duty freight work. Nos 7226 and 7227 were both stationed at Wolverhampton’s Oxley shed in 1938, but they were used on the S&BR line in much greater numbers after 1947, by which time Oxley’s allocation comprised Nos 7207, 7222, 7226, 7227, 7230, 7236, 7238, 7240, 7243 and 7248. Thereafter, these heavy freight tanks became familiar sights, their usual duties being the haulage of through goods workings to and from Wolverhampton. On occasions, the 2-8-2Ts were pressed into service on passenger workings. For example on 4th July 1947 No 7226 was noted at Wellington at the head of a local passenger train, following the failure of the diagrammed locomotive.
In earlier years, the GWR had employed large numbers of six-coupled saddle tanks for local freight and shunting work, the ‘1501’ class 0-6-0STs being produced in large numbers for use in the company’s Northern Division. These engines were associated with the Oakengates area for many years, together with the visually-similar ‘645’ and ‘655’ classes; in later years they were rebuilt with Belpaire boilers, and this led to the introduction of the pannier tanks to avoid the difficulty of fitting saddle tanks over the raised firebox casings.
The rebuilt 0-6-OPTs formed, in effect, a single class of large panniers, and numerous examples were allocated to Wellington shed at various times. Some typical examples during the 1930s include Nos 1527, 1536, 1554, 1706, 1748, 1758, 1787 and 1808, the last survivors being former ‘655’ class engine No 1748, and ‘1854’ series 0-6-0PT No 1706, both of which were still at Wellington in 1946. Another pannier tank class seen in and around Oakengates was the ’27XX’ series, which dated back to 1896, while there were also a number of ‘850’ class and ‘2021’ class small panniers for local shunting work.
The ubiquitous Great Western Collett ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs were introduced in 1929 as replacements for the earlier ‘1501’ and ’27XX’ classes. Several of the ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs were stationed at Wellington for local goods work, and No’s 3752, 3744, 3749, 3755, 5758, 7754, 9624, 9630 and 9639 all appeared on the S&BR line at different times.
Motive Power on the Coalport Branch
The Coalport branch was, typically, worked by Webb ‘Coal Tank’ 0-6-2Ts, together with Webb 2-4-2Ts and ‘Cauliflower’ 0-6-0s.
In earlier years the route had also been worked by LNWR 0-6-0 saddle tanks such as No 3093, which was recorded on the line in 1895. The London & North Western Railway ‘Coal Tanks’, which included the still-extant No 58926 (seen on the Coalport line as late as 21st October 1950), enjoyed a long association with the route, but at the end of the LMS era these veteran locomotives were replaced by Shrewsbury-allocated Fowler class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts, such as Nos 40005, 40008, 40048 and 40058. The goods trains, meanwhile, were worked by a range of ex-LMS locomotive types, including Fowler Class ‘3F’ 0-6-0s, ‘4F’ 0-6-0s, and also the occasional ex-LNWR ‘Super D’ 0-8-0.
The passenger services, known locally as the ‘Coalport Dodger’ were poorly supported – except on market days in Oakengates and Wellington, and for the locally renowned Oakengates Wakes (Pat Collins Fair) – hence their early demise, particularly as the rival ex-GWR route to Wellington was more convenient. World War II staved-off closure for a few years, but in the early months of 1952 it was announced that passenger services would be withdrawn with effect from 2nd June 1952, and as this was a Monday the last trains ran on Saturday, 31st May. Fowler Class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2T No 40058 worked the final trains, its smokebox adorned with black flags, a wreath and the chalked letters ‘RIP’.
Motive power on the line after the cessation of passenger services was often provided by Hawksworth ’94XX’ class 0-6-0PTs, such as Nos 9470 and 9472 (complete with broken front numberplate), or less frequently, by ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs. There was an incident when a ’57XX’ was derailed on the catch points just outside Oakengates station, although details are elusive. Wellington shed’s sole ‘1600’ class 0-6-0PT, No 1663, shunted the GKN Sankey sidings near the junction of the Stafford and Coalport lines and it is believed to have ventured up the branch on occasion.
A goods working which appeared at Oakengates after mid-day invariably featured an LMS Burton-based Class ‘3F’ or ‘4F’ 0-6-0, although on one unforgettable occasion, on 14th August 1957, Bath (Green Park)-allocated Stanier ‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 44917, in ex-Works condition, turned up on this humble working. This train had apparently started life as a light-engine working that had left Shrewsbury (Coleham) at 5.10am and, on then reaching Shrewsbury (Abbey Foregate) at 5.35am, it picked up a goods working and eventually arrived at Priors Lee sidings, just outside Oakengates, at 2.20pm.
In the period from July to the end of October 1957, the following locomotives appeared on what local trainspotters called ‘the mid-day goods’ (although it actually arrived in the early afternoon) – Class ‘3F’ 0-6-0s Nos 43709 and 43809, Class ‘4F’ 0-6-0s Nos 43948, 43976, 43986, 44124 and 44434, and of course ‘Black Five’ No 44917.
It is interesting to note that excursion trains continued to run from Coalport after the withdrawal of the regular passenger services. On one occasion, around 1956, there were two excursions to the North Wales Coast on the same day, both of which were hauled by Class ‘5MT’ 4-6-0s. Only one of these workings stopped to pick-up at Oakengates, as the other ran straight through Oakengates station – it must have been one of the few examples of a ‘non-stop’ passenger working in the life of the line? On 23rd April 1955 the Locomotive Club of Great Britain joined forces with the Manchester Locomotive Society to run a ‘Shropshire Rail Tour’, which left Shrewsbury at 2.30pm behind ‘Dean Goods’ 0-6-0 No 2516 on a tour of local branch lines, which included the Minsterley and Coalport routes, the fare for this interesting excursion being 15s 6d.
A year or two later, on 2nd September 1959, the Stephenson Locomotive Society arranged a further tour of West Midland branch lines, including the Womborne, Minsterley and Coalport routes, a Swindon three-car Cross Country diesel-multiple-unit being provided instead of a steam-hauled train, ostensibly to ‘improve timings’.
Another of David Bradshaw’s abiding memories is of an excursion, believed to have been arranged by the late Cyril Poole, a teacher from Madeley Modern School, which departed behind a Hughes/Fowler ‘Crab’ class 2-6-0 and returned in a tropical storm behind a ‘Super D’ 0-8-0, running tender-first. The train was made up to ten coaches and it took at least twenty minutes to surmount the 1 in 50 bank into Oakengates. Steaming was not an issue, but there were adhesion difficulties as the engine slithered and slipped up the bank – the noise level was something never to be forgotten!
The Lilleshall Company in Oakengates
The Lilleshall Company had a major presence in the Oakengates area, owning a significant number of brickworks, iron works, steel works, coke ovens, general engineering works, a concrete works, asphalt works, a coal distillation plant and at least twelve mines, which produced a mixture of coal, ironstone and fireclay. All but one of these locations appears to have been rail-connected, in some cases via tramways, and in others by a standard gauge railway system that connected with the LNWR/LMS system at Donnington exchange sidings (on the Wellington to Stafford line), at Oakengates on the Coalport branch, and at Hollinswood exchange sidings on the Great Western system. [1]
The Mineral Line used 200 mainline and 250 internal wagons. The company also bought some industrial locomotives from Barclay and Peckett. Through the years 22 locomotives were used on the line, 6 of these were built by The Lilleshall Company itself. The company also built a further 34 locomotives for their customers. [131]
Wikipedia tells us that the Lilleshall Company’s “origins date back to 1764 when Earl Gower formed a company to construct the Donnington Wood Canal on his estate. In 1802 the Lilleshall Company was founded by the Marquess of Stafford in partnership with four local capitalists. … In 1862 the company exhibited a 2-2-2 express passenger locomotive at the 1862 International Exhibition in London. In 1880 it became a Public company. In 1951 the Lilleshall Iron and Steel Co was nationalised under the Iron and Steel Act but then sold back to Lilleshall Co. under the provisions of the Iron and Steel Act 1953. The Lilleshall Company Railways closed in 1959. In 1961, the company were described as ‘structural and mechanical engineers, manufacturers of rolled steel products, glazed bricks, sanitaryware, Spectra-Glaze and concrete products’, with 750 employees. … The company began to decline during the 1960s. Many of its artefacts and archives are preserved by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.” [128]
Roger Brian, commenting on the Company’s railways, writes:
“I recall the Lilleshall railway which I explored in 1955-56. My uncle was at the time working for the company and rented a company house at Cappoquin Wrockwardine Wood. This was a very convenient base for exploration, as the railway ran past the garden gate and the engine shed was just opposite. I thinkI followed the entire railway to all its various branches. According to my cousin, who visited in recent years, the house is still there but a look at the latest OS Map suggests that the area has changed greatly.
Northwards, the line led to the junctions for Grange colliery and Granville colliery. At the Granville junction there was an engine shed for the NCB locos. I cannot say now whether this was of recent construction but it seems strange that there should be two old-established sheds so close together. I suspect this one was provided by the NCB on nationalisation. I would imagine that the coal required by the Lilleshall Company’s furnaces would have passed directly to them from Granville and Grange until then, but at the time I knew the line the practice was to bring the coal for the furnaces up to the loop that was clearly newly constructed about halfway between the NCB Engine shed and Cappoquin. The wagons would be left there for the Lilleshall Company’s engines to pick up.
Also in the area of the loop was a spur southwards to the Hoffman kiln which was still in existence at that time, but derelict. I think that the track had been lifted. Grange had also closed by that time and was rather derelict, but I cannot now recall whether the track was still in place. I think it had been removed. There were futher spurs to the north from the engine shed and these were used for NCB wagon storage though there were some dead Lilleshall ones there as well.
At that time Granville was still in operation, and the loaded wagons were brought down from there to the shed. Here a reversal took place and the wagons were then taken a line which ran northwards for about half a mile to where there had been another colliery long gone (?Waxhill Barracks?) Here there was another reversing station and from there the line descended to the Wellington-Stafford line at Donnington. This was the main outlet for the colliery.
The Lilleshall Company’s sheds were adjacent to their fabrication plant (St Georges?)and there were numerous overgrown sidings filled with abandoned wagons of the company. I recall a Peckett saddle tank in use and there was a large side tank as well, I think by Barclay, which I rode on.
There were further sidings about a mile further up the line beyond a level crossing and these were similarly occupied. It was possible from here to see the former LNWR line to Coalport. Beyond a further crossing (A5) was the company’s main site at Priorslee. Just beyond the crossing on the north side engines had been dumped, including Constance which the company had built themselves, and a sister engine of similar design.
The Priorslee operation was a pickle.I believe that at one time it had been integrated butsome of the processes had been discontinued. What was left were the blast furnaces producing pig iron in mediaeval conditions. I am not sure what happened to the pigs but the company did not then use them.
Adjacent to the blast furnaces were reheating furnaces for steel blooms produced elsewhere. Once heated these were transferred to the rolling mill and rolled to size suitable for use in the manufacture of prefabricated industrial buildings. These were then taken back to the fabrication plant, mostly by rail, but I suspect road was also used as well for the longer pieces.
Beyond the furnaces and the rolling mill was a small mountain of blast furnace slag with abandoned ladles – the whole area was extremely hazarous to walk on. Beyond that were further sidings, one of which led down to the GWR line.
The railway sytem continued to further collieries. I think that they were the Stafford and the Lawn. There were lots of overgrown sidings and abandoned wagons, and the whole of that part of the system was no longer in use. A further spur crossed the what was then the A464 again and continued to Woodhouse Colliery. This had been abandoned, but some of the buildings were still there.
I believe the railway system was run by a chap called Hughes but I never met him. I believe that it closed in 1959.
Sadly, summer 1956 was my last visit as my uncle left the company. This was probably just as well. My cousin told me recently that his father said that the directors were drunk most of the time, but I cannot vouch for this. So, a company and operations that had seen better days, but for me a new experience and a treasured memory.” [129]
The Lilleshall ‘main line’ ran south from Donnington through to Oakengates, where the links to the two main line railways were accessed from exchange sidings that acted as a hub for the nearby steel works at Snedshill, and for the facilities at Priors Lee (on the north side of the Hollinswood yards of the GWR/BR). Hollinswood exchange sidings was at the southern point of the same system, it being where the Lilleshall trains were handed over to GWR/BR locomotives – outgoing traffic from the system was in the form of pig-iron, bricks, concrete products and tiles, as well as coal.
Incoming traffic destined for the Priors Lee furnaces constituted coke and limestone, the latter being brought in from the Lilleshall Company’s quarries at Presthope on the Wellington to Craven Arms line.
Trains from Presthope for Hollinswood and the Lilleshall system appear to have followed different routes on occasion, with some travelling via Madeley Junction and some diverging at Lightmoor Junction for Ketley Junction (Wellington); Lightmoor was where the lines to Madeley Junction and Wellington diverged. Incidentally, Madeley’s GWR station opened on 2nd May 1859 as Madeley Court, and it was the only intermediate station between Lightmoor and Madeley Junction. Renamed Madeley (Salop) in June 1897, it was closed to passengers from 22nd March 1915, but briefly reopened to passengers from 13th July 1925 until 21st September 1915 – so the Madeley branch was virtually freight-only from 1915, and it was still part of the Network Rail system in the early 21st century. In addition, Lilleshall Co.-bound iron ore for smelting was brought in by rail. Iron ore arrived from Spain and Sierra Leone, with low grade domestic ironstone brought in from the Banbury area.
On careful inspection it can be seen that this 1953 Ordnance Survey map shows the Lilleshall system as a through route, albeit the line north from Granville to Donnington was by this time under NCB ownership. Dealing with public railways first, the ex-GWR main line passes from Wellington, through Oakengates and its tunnel, then Hollinswood, as it makes for Madeley Junction (bottom right) and Wolverhampton. The line heading north-east from the edge of Wellington is the former LMS route to Stafford, and off this is the by then freight-only Coalport branch, while north of Hadley Junction and Trench is Donnington exchange sidings, the northern outpost of the ex-Lilleshall system. The mineral line is in the shape of a reversed ‘S’, with Hollinswood’s BR connection to the south, Snedshill and The Nabb south of the curves near Wrockwardine Wood, and then there is a trailing spur south to the locomotive shed and engineering works. Thereafter, it is NCB territory, so after 1958 the coal traffic headed north for a convoluted journey via Donnington, Wellington (reverse), and Madeley Junction (reverse) to reach Ironbridge power station. Crown copyright. [1: p178]
Coal from the Lilleshall pits was despatched via Hollinswood to the Ironbridge power. station, which opened in 1932, and this traffic flow continued through to 1958, when the Lilleshall railway system was cut back. Coal was still being mined in the area under National Coal Board auspices, so with the former through route unavailable, the trains for Ironbridge power station were thereafter taken from Granville Colliery, by now combined with the Grange Colliery workings, to Donnington exchange sidings. From there they were hauled to Wellington, where a run-round and reversal was undertaken at the station. Unfortunately, the most direct route via Ketley to Ironbridge was not suitable for such heavy trains. Ketley Junction to Ketley would be taken out of use anyway in July 1962, so the route for the loaded coal trains was then from Wellington, through Oakengates station to reach Madeley Junction, where another reversal was necessary to access the line to the power station.
The dotted lines on this sketch map are private railways. The Lilleshall Company’s main line ran from The Humber Arm via Donnington Sidings (which are off the top of this map) via Granville and Grange Collieries in the top-right of the sketch map via Old Lodge Ironworks and Priorslee Furnaces down to Hollinswood. This sketch map was included on the Miner’s Walk website which provides information about the local area. [131]Bob Yate provides a sketch of the whole of the Lilleshall Company’s network of railways. This extract from the sketch map shows themost northerly length of their railways The locations shown are those from Tate’s sketch map and its key. Those on this extract are: 8. The Humber Arm Railway; 9. Lubstree Wharf; 10. The Donnington (LNWR) exchange sidings and the Midland Ironworks. [142: p38]
The most northerly point on the Lilleshall Company’s Railways/Tramways was the Wharf at the southern end of the Humber Arm. The 25″ Ordnance Survey map extract below shows the original tramway sidings at the transfer wharf. The Humber Arm was a short branch canal from the Shropshire Union Canal Newport Branch.
An extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1882 which shows the southern end of the Humber Arm and the tramway terminus along side the Canal. [132]
South of what is in the 21st century a Ministry of Defence site, the old tramway/railway encountered the LNWR route to Newport and beyond. Passing under the LNWR main line, the route of the Lilleshall Company’s tramway and the later standard gauge line diverged as shown on the map extract below.
This extract from the 1882 25″ Ordnance Survey shows the point at which the LNWR bridged the Lilleshall Company’s tramway/railway. It also shows the old tramway route continuing to the South-southeast and the laterstandard-gauge mineral railway curving round to the Northeast to run parallel to the LNWR main line.[133]This final RailMapOnline satellite image shows the features noted on map extract above and shows the dramatic changes which have occurred in the immediate vicinity of the old tramway. The tramway route is not followed by RailMapOnline South-southeast of Wellington Road. [134]
The tramway ran Southwest from this location finding its own way to Old Lodge Furnaces. The standard-gauge line turned to run parallel to the LNWR main line for a short distance before entering Donnington Wharf/Sidings.
The mineral railway curve round to run parallel to the LNWR mainline. [133]At a smaller scale here but still the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1882, this map extract shows the length of the mineral railway as it curves away from the LNWR mainline. There were some exchange sidings at this location and lines which accessed a Timber Yard and the Midland Ironworks site, both on the East side of the LNWR mainline. This short length of the line appears at the Southeast corner of the relevant OS map sheet. [132]This RailMapOnline satellite image shows that the route of the old mineral railway ties in with the modern field boundary. [134]On the curve on Donnington Sidings looking East. This is the same train as shown on the next picture. This image was shared by Carole Anne Huselbee on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 14th September 2014. [135]Donnington Sidings looking Northwest. A rake of empties setting off for Granville Colliery. Wellington Road Crossing is a short distance ahead of the locomotive. This photograph was shared by Carole Anne Huselbee on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 5th October 2014. [136]Wellington Road Crossing. This picture was shared by Carole Anne Huselbee on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 5th October 2014. [137]This next extract from the 25″Ordnance Survey of 1882 shows the mineral railway heading Southeast and crossing, first, what is now Wellington Road, and then running parallel to the modern Donnington Wood Way and crossing. [133]The route of the old mineral railway runs parallel to Donnington Wood Way, approximately on the line of the footpath shown on this Google Maps extract. The red flag marker highlights its route. The diversion of Wellington Road away to the North of the old level-crossing can be seen in the top-left of this image. [Google Maps, July 2023]
The old mineral railway route runs alongside the modern Donnington Wood Way. The red flag on the extract from Google Maps above marks the line of the modern footpath which follows the centre-line of the Lilleshall Company’s railway.
To the South of Waxhill Barracks Colliery the line passed the site of Barn Colliery before arriving at Old Lodge Furnaces.
Barn Colliery as shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1881/1882. [140]
Once the ‘by-pass’ line had been installed trains were able to run direct from Donnington to the Lodge Bank Sidings as shown below.
By 1970, this was the layout of the lines between the mainline at Donnington and the Colliery. This hand-drawn image appears in Bob Yate’s book. [142: p119]Granville Colliery’s Diesel Loco (NCB No. 2D?) en-route between Donnington Wharf/Sidings and Old Lodge and Granville Colliery in NCB days with a train of empty hopper wagons. This photo was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Carole Anne Huselbee on on 15th September 2014. [146]In earler NCB days, an 0-6-0ST locomotive pulls is train of hopper wagons up the more direct route from Coal Wharf (Donnington) to Granville Pit (not going via the location of Muxton Bridge Pit) .This image was shared on the Granville Colliery Facebook Group on 10th March 2020 by John Wood. [141]
Old Lodge Furnaces
These two extracts from the 1881/1882 25″ Ordnance Survey are, together, a plan of the Old Lodge Furnaces. Together, they give an excellent view of the area around the furnaces. In the lower of the two extracts the line running off the extract to the East heads towards Granville Colliery. The line running off the extract to the South runs to Dawes Bower and Grange Colliery. Of the lines exiting the extract to the West, one, running Northwest (at the top corner of the lower image) is the old tramway link to Lubstree Wharf. There are also two lines leaving the bottom-left corner of the lower image, the lower line runs towards collieries/shafts local to the furnaces and is probably a tramway at a higher level than the upper of the two lines which is in cutting and is the connection from Old Lodge Furnaces into the wider Mineral Railway network belonging to the Lilleshall Company to the South and West of this location. [143]Lodge Furnaces Donnington/Lilleshall Company 1882. The image was shared by Jeff Williams on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 8th May 2017. [116]Lodge Furnaces Donnington/Lilleshall Company. The image was shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 16th June 2022. Marcus Keane comments: “The Lodge Arm was built in 1822 to serve two Iron Smelters build by the mighty Lilleshall Company to supplement its works at Donnington Wood. This site was expanded in 1846 and again in 1859 till finally five furnaces were operating on the site, all fed by coal brought in on small tub boats. Of course, the site is on the original level of the canal, but we did have the last laugh. The furnaces were blown out in 1888 but the display board shows a cheerful picture of traditional canal boats “put, put, putting” in and out of the basin. This is wrong on so many levels: It was a tub boat canal so no full length boats could pass through the inclined planes, the locks and bridges were limited to 6ft 7inches which is narrower than normal craft and crucially, the furnaces closed at least 30 years before the first spluttering Bollinders were employed in commercial carrying. But not withstanding all that, its a nice scene and a watery oasis in a sea of industrial decay.” [126]A view of Old Lodge Furnaces from the East. (This image was first produced in the ‘London Trade Exchange’ of 2nd January 1875. Some of the tramways are visible, as are the coke ovens in the distance, and the engine house on the right, although the engraver has omitted the chimney beside the engine house.) [142: p11]
The Friends of Granville Country Park’s website provides a general introduction to the history of the Old Lodge Furnaces: … [144]
“In 1824 the [Lilleshall] Company brought into blast two new furnaces near the site of the Old Lodge. They were named the Old Lodge furnaces because of their proximity to the site of an old hunting lodge which was demolished in 1820. In March 1825 the Lilleshall Company paid the Coalbrookdale Company £2392 for (presumably) a Blast Engine. George Roden, a stonemason from the Nabb, was paid £425 in 1825 and £777 and 5 shillings in 1826 for erecting loading ramps and the retaining walls. In 1830 the Donnington Wood and the Old Lodge ironworks together produced 15,110 tons. A third furnace was added in 1846 and two more in 1859.
New blast beam engines, manufactured by the Lilleshall Company, were installed in 1862 and the height of the furnaces was increased from 50 to 71 feet at about the same time. Limestone came, via the canal, from the Lilleshall quarries and the coal (coke) and iron stone from the local pits via an extensive system of tramways, some of which, were later converted to standard gauge railways. The 1882 map show this series of transport plateways to transport the materials to the top of the furnace, and remove pig iron the furnace bottom.
The Old Lodge Furnaces produced cold-blast pig iron of the finest quality, but eventually it could not compete with cheaper iron made elsewhere and in 1888 the last of the Old Lodge furnaces was blown out 1888. The furnaces were demolished in 1905 by Thomas Molineaux Jnr, including a tall chimney 140 feet high by 13 feet diameter, known locally as “The Lodge Stack”. In 1956 the stone was reused for St Mathew’s Church. Thereafter the company concentrated all its iron and steel making at Priorslee.
All that remains of the furnace after extensive dismantling and site restoration involving raising of the ground levels, are parts of the brickwork of the first three furnaces. … The high walls behind the furnaces are the remains of the furnace loading ramps. On the right of the ramp walls hidden in the trees is a retaining wall in front which was the blowing house. Behind the loading ramps were calcining kilns which were added in 1870 to improve the quality of the iron ore” [144]
Dr. Mike Nevill in a relatively recent article entitled ‘Seasonal Archaeology: the Old Lodge Ironworks in the Snow‘ [145] highlights the remains of the Old Lodge Furnaces. They are a superb example of the way in which old industrial sites can become considerably more visible when the leaves are not on the trees. He writes:
“The large stone and brick ruins, in place 10m high, were the remains of the Old Lodge Furnaces on the north-eastern outskirts of modern Telford in Shropshire. These furnaces were built by the Lilleshall Company in 1825-8 and form part of a wider 18th and 19th century industrial landscape encompassing two collieries and accessed via a late 18th century canal. The complex now sits within Granville Country Park and is managed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The park itself was designed as one of the green open spaces for the new town of Telford in the mid- to late 20th century. Now, this industrial landscape has reverted to semi-natural woodland and parkland, the industrial archaeology of the area appearing suddenly out of the overgrowth.” [145]
Nevill wrote this article on 19th December 2022. He goes on to say:
“In the 21st century, the circular brick bases of three of the five furnaces run in front of the high stone walls, this stone terracing, which formed the furnace loading ramps, framing these features. Standing within the ruins of a once hot and noisy furnace complex on one of the coldest mornings of the year had a certain irony. Instead of the sound of men working the furnaces and tapping the pig iron, sweating in the heat, there was only the chirp of robins defending their woodland territory and the crunch of frozen snow under foot.” [145]
These next few photos focus on the area that used to be occupied by Old Lodge Furnaces and which in the mid-20th century provided a marshalling yard for Granville Colliery.
In NCB days, Granville Colliery’s Diesel Loco (NCB No. 2D?) manoeuvring a rake of empty coal hopper wagons in the sidings to the West of the colliery, in the area which Old Lodge Furnaces used to occupy. This photo was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Carole Anne Huselbee on 5th October 2014. [147]This view from a location on the spoil heap to the South of the last image shows the later engine shed, built by the NCB, and two locomotives in steam marshalling wagons. The wagons closest to the camera appear to be empties which will probably be pushed towards the colliery screens which are a distance off to the right of this image. The photograph was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Paul Wheeler on 25th May 2018. [148]A view of the NCB-built engine shed built on the site of an earlier Lilleshall Company engine shed. After the NCB took over the collieries owned by the Company, Granville Colliery supplied coal to Buildwas Power Station and the coal trains were worked by a range of locos down the 1.5 miles to Donnington. Granville Colliery had a decent sized shed and in later years used Austerity 0-6-0 tanks but in Lilleshall Company days the bigger engines were the ex-TVR and Barry railway engines. This image and the accompanying text were shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th September 2015. [119]Granville Colliery’s No 3 Holly Bank, Hunslet Engine Co Ltd 0-6-0ST Works No. 1451 of 1924, is at the head of a train of hopper wagons at the colliery on 14th October 1966. The wagons on the left are part of the, by now, National Coal Board-owned internal system, the former Lilleshall Co Ltd-owned collieries becoming national assets upon the creation of the NCB on New Year’s Day 1947. The engine shed seen above is just off the right of the photograph. This is probably not the best location to park a Vauxhall Victor ‘F’ series for its longevity, especially as they were somewhat vulnerable to the elements! W. Potter/Kidderminster Railway Museum. [1: p178]
Granville Colliery was close to, and to the East of the site of Old Lodge Furnaces. The extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1881/1882 below shows both the colliery site and the short line which served it.
This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1881/1882 shows the full length of the Mineral Railway branch from the East side of the map extracts above (which show Old Lodge Furnaces). It is worth noting the loop which allowed locomotives to run round their trains just to the West of the Colliery site. [143]
Bob Yate tells us that the sinking of the main shaft at Granville Colliery started in 1860, to a depth of 409 yards. By 1950, this had reached 444 yards. It was linked to Grange Colliery underground in 1952 and finally closed in 1979. He continues: “The most prolific of the collieries, [Granville Colliery] supplied the LNWR, GWR and Cambrian Railways with locomotive coal, and latterly also to Ironbridge ‘B’ Power Station. In 1896, there were 177 underground and 67 surface workers. Later the pit had a fairly consistent workforce of around 300 men, but after the closure of the nearby Kemberton colliery in 1967, this grew to 900 men, but shrank again to around 600 in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, the annual output had grown from around 300-350,000 tons to 600,000 tons in the late 1960s.” [142: p16]
The Lilleshall Company Main Line South and West of Granville and Grange Collieries
The sketch map below is repeated to show the remainder of the Lilleshall Company network.
Continuing on from Granville Colliery, the network served Grange Colliery, Donnington Brick & Tile Works, New Yard Works, Snedshill Ironworks, Snedshill Brick & Tile Works, Priorslee Furnaces/Ironworks, Lawn Colliery, Dark Lane Colliery, Woodhouse Colliery, Stafford Colliery and Hollinswood Sidings. [131]This and the next extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901 show the approach to and the area of Grange Colliery. This shows what appear to be the screens, or at least a loading point where output from Grange Colliery was loaded into Lilleshall Company wagons. The disconnect between the main network and the local lines can be seen at Dawes Bower. [151]Grange Colliery as it appears on the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901, published in 1902. The railway lines shown in the immediate area of the shafts and slag heaps were internal lines unconnected to the wider Lilleshall Company network. [150]The same area as shown on the OS map extract above. This image comes from the RailMapOnline.com website. What appears to be a caravan park on the site of the old colliery is Telford Naturist Club. The buildings to the top-right of the image are the Cottage Boarding Kennels and Cattery. [134]This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1901 shows the point where the branch-line to Grange Colliery met the main Lilleshall line. The line from Grange Colliery enters bottom-right. At the top-right of this extract two sets of lines are shown. The upper lines run towards Donnington sidings, the lower lines connect to Granville Colliery. The lines leaving the top of the extract are local lines serving the area immediately around what were Old Lodge Furnaces. The line leaving the west (left) edge of the extract is the Lilleshall Company mainline to Priorslee and Hollinswood. As can be seen at the centre of the extract, a loco brining wagons from Grange Colliery would need to cross the mainline before reversing its wagons onto the mainline and, depending on its destination, then head for Donnington or Hollinswood. The sidings shown on this extract were also used for storing wagons before onward transit to their ultimate destination. [152]Again, a similar area to that shown on the OS map extract above. The purple lines are those provided by RailMapOnline.com. The Lilleshall Company Mainline curves from the top-right of this image to exit below the mid-point on the left side. [132]The next significant feature on the Lilleshall Company’s network was a triangular junction providing bi-directional access to Donnington Wood Brick & Tile Works [153]Again, a very similar area to that covered by the 25″ OS Map above. One arm of the triangular junction service Donnington Wood Brickworks can be seen on this image as providing the access route for vehicles to the old brickworks site. Redhill Way is the A4640 and it warrants a grade separated junction with the local roads. [132]Donnington Wood Brick & Tile Works were conveniently sited next to reserves of Clay. The Works had their own internal railway with a Self-acting Inclined Plane. [154]Donnington Wood Brick & Tile Works seen from the air, from the Northeast. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 27th March 2019. [155]
The Lilleshall Company main line continued across Moss Road/Gower Street on a simply-supported girder bridge and then on past New Yard Engineering Works.
New Yard Engineering Works was situated on the West side of Gower Street.
The Lilleshall Company, New Yard, Engine Sheds, Gower Street, St Georges. … Urban Terrace can be seen in background. The line to the right of the image runs round behind the engine shed and workshop to serve the Works. This picture was taken by Frank Meeson and shared on the Oakengates History Group including surrounding areas Facebook Group on 15th June 2021 by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley. [158]New Yard Engineering Works. Gower Street runs North-South on the right of the map extract New Works buildings faced East onto the road. The locomotive shed can be seen to the top-left of the image. The worskshops which stood alongside it were not built by the time of this Ordnance Survey (1901). The line to the left of the Engine Shed connected to the Lilleshall Company main line a little to the North of the map extract. [159]A postcard image of New Yard Engineering Works, this time the camera is to the Southeast of the Works and as a result shows, at the top-right, the Engine Shed and Workshop. Gower Street runs from the bottom edge of the image towards the centre-right. This image was shared on the Oakengates History Group Facebook Group by Gwyn Thunderwing Hartley on 17th February 2019. [160]The Lilleshall Company mainline curves to the South through the area known as ‘The Nabb’. Two bridges are shown. The one just visible top-right is the ‘Tin Bridge. Prior to the construction of the standard gauge mineral railway a horse-drawn tramway ran North-South through this location, running down the side of the terraced housing adjacent to the bridge. The second bridge appears bottom-left. It was a more substantial structure. [162]
This image covers the same area as the map extract and comes from railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery. Two bridges appear on the 25″ OS map extract above. That visible top-right on the map extract was adjacent to the set of terraced houses which appear at the top-tight of this image. Prior to the construction of the standard gauge mineral railway a horse-drawn tramway ran North-South through this location, it is flagged on this image and given the local name ‘pig-rails’. The location of the second bridge is centre-left on this image. [132]
The second bridge at the Nabb was just a couple of hundred metres to the Southwest.
This is the second of the two bridges which crossed the Lilleshall Main Line in ‘The Nabb’.The picture looks to the Southwest and comes from the Howard Williams Collection and was shared on the Oakengates History Group including surrounding areas Facebook Group on 27th February 2014 by Frank Meeson. The girder visible in the pictures above would have been the parapet girder on the far face of the bridge. [165]One of the bridge girders remains in the ground at this location. The mineral railway used to pass in cutting from left to right under the bridge. [My photograph, 4th January 2024]This close view of the information board at the site of the old bridge marks its location with a yellow triangle. The green area running Northeast, and marked with the number ‘3’, is the cutting of the old mineral railway. To the South of the yellow triangle, the route of old line ran behind the houses now on the East side of Willows Road. [My photograph, 11th December 2023]
The next significant feature on the Lilleshall Company main line was the level-crossing at Station Hill. While the railway crossed Station Hill on the level the earlier adjacent canal passed under the road. By the time of the 1901 Ordnance Survey that underbridge had been filled in.
The Lilleshall Company operated a number of steam engines which it picked up from various sources and some of which it built itself. The remainder of this article is no more than a glimpse of these locomotives on the Lilleshall Company’s network. The authoritative treatment of the motive power on the Lilleshall Company network is the book by Bob Yate, “The Railways and Locos of the Lilleshall Company.” [142]
Yate tells us that, because the Lilleshall Company’s network was extensive, it needed a considerable number of locomotives to operate it. He continues: “Much of the traffic was heavy, so it comes as no surprise to find that the company turned to acquiring former main line company locomotives for some of their more arduous duties. The total number of locomotives rose from four during the mid-1850s to eight by 1870, down to five by 1875, then six by 1886, increasing to nine in 1900 until 1920 when there were eleven. By the 1930s the number was back down to nine.” [142: p67] After WW2, numbers were reduced to five, and once closure was approaching all five were scrapped and two other locomotives were purchased.
It is interesting to note that the Lilleshall Company was itself a manufacturer of locomotives, and at least five of these were used within the home fleet. The company even designed and built a 2-2-2 express passenger locomotive in 1867 and exhibited it at the Paris Exhibition. It had 6ft 11in driving wheels and the locomotive was similar in appearance to James Stirling’s Great Northern Railway Single. Sadly, no buyer was found, and so it was rebuilt as an 0-6-0ST in 1873 and sold to Cannock & Rugeley Collieries, Rawnsley; it was finally withdrawn in 1962, after a life of 89 years!
The most modern Lilleshall-built engine used in the home fleet seems to have been No 2, an inside cylinder 0-6-0ST that is thought to have served between 1886 and around 1948. Over the years, 22 locomotives are known to have been used by the company, and at least four locomotives were active on the growing system by 1860. The fleet was made up of nine 0-4-0 tank engines, side and saddle tanks, one 0-4-4T, nine 0-6-0 side and saddle tanks, one 0-6-0PT, and three 0-6-2Ts. The makers represented included Andrew Barclay, Sons & Co Ltd, Manning, Wardle & Co Ltd, Neilson & Co Ltd, Peckett & Sons Ltd, Robert Stephenson & Co Ltd, and Hudswell, Clarke & Co Ltd.
There were, in addition, four ex-Great Western Railway engines that had been purchased over a number of years. No 1 – acquired by the Lilleshall Company in 1932 – was GWR No 581, a former Taff Vale Railway ‘O’ class 0-6-2T; No 3 – acquired in 1932 was GWR No 589, an ex-Taff Vale Railway ‘U’ class 0-6-2T; No 5 – acquired in July 1934 – was GWR No 251, an ex-Barry Railway ‘B1’ class 0-6-2T; and No 12 – acquired in 1949 – was Dean 0-6-0PT No 2794; it still carried its GWR number plate, and it was (by some way) the last survivor of its class. The main running shed was at the New Yard Works in Oakengates, where many of these locomotives were cut-up after withdrawal.
The line was closed in 1958, with the final rail tour taking place on 26th September, just before the end of the system. Had the line remained open for a few more years, the opportunity to preserve at least some of the more interesting engines would have presented itself. The final closure of the, by then truncated, Coalport Branch took place less than six years later, in July 1964, and much of this industrial infrastructure has since been swept away.
Modern Times
Today, the railway through Oakengates is a double-track main line without a single set of points. The 1960s ‘new town of Telford was finally provided with a station of its own upon the opening of Telford (Central) station on 12th May 1986, New Handle Halt being closed at the same time. Boasting ‘parkway’ facilities, passenger numbers at the modern station were 991,000 during 2010/2011, while ‘ Oakengates for Telford’, just 71 chains away on the other side of Oakengates tunnel was recorded as serving just 41,152 passengers in the same period. In 2013, services on the route were provided by London Midland and Arriva Trains Wales, although the latter company’s trains do not call at the unstaffed Oakengates station.
References
D. Bradshaw and S.C. Jenkins; Rails around Oakengates; in Steam Days No. 283, March 2013, p165-179.
B & R Video Productions produce a series of DVDs which have primarily been created by converting cine-film. One part of their library is the Jim Clemens Collection. These stills from the video are shared here with permission from Michael Clemens who holds the copyright on his father’s work. Michael is an author in his own right and maintains a website: https://www.michaelclemensrailways.co.uk. On that website there are details of all of the books he has published together with quite a bit of downloadable material including working timetables. His most relevant publication to this current article is: Michael Clemens; The Last Years of Steam in Shropshire and the Severn Valley; Fonthill Media Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2017. That book contains two photographs which are similar to images shown above (p67).
Many of the photographs taken by A.J.B. Dodd which appear in this article were first found on various Facebook Groups. A number of others were supplied direct by Mike Dodd, A.J.B. Dodd’s son who curates the photographs taken by his father. Particular thanks are expressed to Mike Dodd for entering into email correspondence about all of these photographs and for his generous permission to use them in this article.
Roger Farnworth 
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