Category Archives: British Isles – Railways and Tramways

The Penydarren Tramroad, South Wales – Part 1

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This post is prompted by reading a short set of notes about the Penydarren Tramroad carried in the Railway Magazine in March 1951. [13]

Merthyr Tramroad, or the Penydarren Tramroad, ran from quarries near Morlais Castle via a junction on the Dowlais to Jackson’s Wharf tramroad at SO 0512 0669 (at the present junction of Tramroadside North and Penydarren Road and now marked by the Trevithick Memorial (NPRN No. 91516)) in Merthyr Tydfil, to the Glamorganshire Canal basin at Abercynon (ST 0846 9493) where a commemorative plaque has been erected (NPRN No. 400379).

The tramroad was built because the Dowlais Company’s tramroad ran past the Penydarren Ironworks on a high level course, making it impossible to build a junction for the Penydarren Ironworks to use. In response, Samuel Homfray of Penydarren Works commissioned the tramroad to follow the eastern bank of the River Taff down to Navigation (modern day Abercynon). The tramroad was completed in 1802, and was in use until 1875, except for a period of uncertain length starting in 1815 (and maybe continuing to 1825) because of the collapse of a bridge at Edwardsville just north of Quakers Yard. [5]

Essentially, the Morlais Quarry section was built to supply Merthyr’s Ironworks with limestone, and the Merthyr to Abercynon section to avoid the congested Glamorganshire Canal (NPRN No. 34425). [4]

To accommodate the horses, the tramroad didn’t use sleepers as we’re now used to from our modern railways. The rails sat on two lines of stones, allowing the horses to walk between the rails without difficulty. It also made things easier for the man who led the horse throughout the journey! There are several good examples of the tramroad stones still in existence along the route. Today, the rails are gone, but the tramroad formation still exists, and can be followed from Abercynon up to Merthyr Tydfil. The entire length up to Pontygwaith is part of the Taff Trail route of the National Cycle Way. [5]

“The tramroad and the system of which it formed the major part had two other important and interesting features which are less well known: the permanent way of the first railway in the area and the series of early industrial locomotives (most of them Welsh-built by Neath Abbey Ironworks) that traversed the line in the 1830s and 1840s. … The history of these lines is complicated, confusing and at times conjectural.” [1] Many of the notes below come directly from a blog written by M.J.T. Lewis entitled, “Steam on the Penydarren” which is held in the archives of the Industrial Railway Society. [1] These notes are supplemented from other sources, as referenced.

“The major industrial development of South Wales began in the 1780s and especially the 1790s. In Taff Vale and some of the other valleys the main commodity involved was not coal – the real growth in that trade only came later – but iron. Resources were plentiful and demand good; only transport was lacking. It was the canals that began to open up the country, with a series of roughly parallel routes up the valleys, dating mostly from the 1790s. The terrain often prevented these canals from actually reaching the industry, so that feeder railways proliferated.” [1]

The Glamorganshire Canal was opened from Merthyr down to Pontypridd in 1792 and to Cardiff in 1794. It served Cyfarthfa (see below) directly, and the Dowlais Works has to lay a two-mile railway to carry its iron down to a basin at Merthyr Tydfil. This line was complete by June 1791, and cost about £3,000 of which the Canal Company, wishing to attract traffic, paid £1,000. The gradient was very steep – an average of about 1 in 23, with a maximum of 1 in 16½ – and horses worked the waggons in both directions. [1]

“There were three ironworks to the east of Merthyr Tydfil. Dowlais (begun in 1759) grew rapidly in the early 19th century, until in 1845 it was the largest ironworks in the world, employing a workforce of 10,000. The others were smaller: Penydarren works (1784), adjoining Dowlais on the south and west, and Plymouth (1763), to the south of Penydarren, which established several offshoots nearby – in 1803 a forge and later a rolling mill at Pentrebach, and in 1819 a group of furnaces at Dyffryn. Neither Plymouth nor Penydarren developed nearly as fast as Dowlais. All three companies, sooner or later, mined or quarried their own ore, coal and limestone, and all had their own railway systems leading between the various branches of their undertakings. All three produced primarily pig iron, but converted an ever increasing proportion of it to wrought iron, and as Railway Age got under way they came to concentrate on rolling rails.” [1]

The fourth major ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil was the Cyfarthfa works which were sited on the north-western edge of Mertyr. The Cyfarthfa Ironworks from the air in about 1920. [19]

The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon (by then a merchant in London), who in that year with William Brownrigg, a fellow native of Whitehaven, Cumberland, leased the right to mine in a tract of 4,000 acres land on the west side of the river Taff at Merthyr Tydfil. [6]  The heyday of the works was in the tenure of Richard Crawshay (1739-1810) and the works went into gradual decline thereafter. The Dowlais Works became the leading Ironworks in the Valley. [6] As we have already noted, the Cyfartha Works were directly served by the Glamorganshire Canal. This was not the case for the Dowlais, Penydarren and Plymouth Works. Because the owners of the Cyfarthfa Ironworks dominated the management of the Glamorganshire Canal, the other Merthyr Tydfil ironworks built a tramroad bypassing the upper sections of the canal. [8]

We have already noted that the Dowlais Works became the largest ironworks in the world in  the early to mid-1800s. The Works, founded in 1759, owed much of their success in the 1820s to the production of rails for the railway and tramway industry in the UK. [7] In the 1850s, the Works was the first UK organisation to licence the Bessemer Process for the production of steel. The first Bessemer steel was actually rolled at the works in 1865. Unlike the Cyfarthfa Ironworks nearby, the Dowlais Ironworks converted to steel production early allowing it to survive into the 1930’s. [7] The Dowlais Steelworks. [18]

The Penydarren Ironworks were founded in 1784 and operated independently, but at times sporadically, until the late 1800s. [7][8] The Dowlais Works bought mineral ground of the Penydarren Works in 1859. [7]The Penydarren Ironworks, © Bronwyn Thomas [16]

The Plymouth Ironworks commenced operations in 1763 and remained operational until the 1870s. [9]The Plymouth Ironworks ways spread over 3 different sites. [17]

Initially a tramway was built for the Dowlais Works alone to reach the canal near Mertyr Tyfil. We could call this the first Dowlais Tramway. There is record of a dispute between the proprietors of the Dowlais Works and the Penydarren Works. The result appears to have been that Penydarren built their own railway to the canal, closely paralleling the Dowlais line and in places right alongside it. The date was somewhere in the 1790s, but the original type of rail and gauge are quite unknown. This railway, though not the Dowlais one, had a short tunnel under Bethesda Street in Merthyr. [1]

Up to this time, all railways had wooden trackwork. In the north of the UK, a gauge in the 4ft to 5ft range and waggons holding up to 3 tons were the norm, with the wooden rails occasionally protected against wear a tear by thin wrought iron plates. The West Midlands and Wales, however, followed the example set by the Shropshire collieries and ironworks, which favoured narrower gauges (up to 3ft 6in or so), smaller waggons and sometimes flat cast iron plates laid on top of the wooden rails. [1]

“This form of protection was introduced at Coalbrookdale in 1767, but  rail made solely of cast iron, only appeared in 1791. This happened in South Wales, an area that always looked towards Shropshire in mining, ironmaking and transport, and the line involved was the Dowlais-Merthyr railway. William Taitt of Dowlais wrote on 17th March 1791: ‘We are now making Rails for our own Waggon way which weigh 44 li or 45 li [Ib] per yard. The Rails are 6 feet long, 3 pin holes in them, mitred at the ends, 3 Inches broad Bottom, 2½ In. top & near 2 In. thick thus:'” [1]

As far as is known, these were the first all-iron rails ever made for flanged wheel railway. It was copied in the next few years on a number of feeder railways to the Monmouthshire and Brecon & Abergavenny Canals. The gauge of these lines was 3ft 4in, they were engineeered by the Dadford family and as the Dadford’s also engineered the Dowlais tramway, it is likely that this would have been the track-gauge of the line. [1]

Because of difficulties in sourcing materials, the Dowlais Works built a second tramway from the Morlais quarry to the works. (Penydarren owned the western part of Morlais quarries and Dowlais the eastern part, and both no doubt began by carrying the limestone to their respective works by cart.) This second tramway was probably built in 1792, it’s course is uncertain but probably approximated to the future Brecon & Merthyr Tramway from Pantyscallog to Dowlais Central. Whether Penydarren had its own tramway from Morlais in the 1790s is not known. [1]

The story clearly does not end there, Dowlais Works constructed another plateway/tramway in the 1790s linking its colliery, probably to the south-east of the Works to the Works. [1]

In the late 1790s, the accepted design of plate-ways/tramways in South Wales changed. Old edge-railways with flanged wheels were replaced by flanged (usually L-shaped) rails and wagons were fitted with plain wheels. “Practically always, the rail ends were set on separate stone block sleepers instead of on transverse wooden ones. In early days the rails were simply spiked down, through notches at their ends, into wooden plugs in the blocks; later, chairs were introduced and even cast iron cross-ties which, though not spiked down, were held on the blocks by the weight of ballast, the rails being fixed in dovetailed sockets.” [1] George Overton was a protagonist for the new plate-ways and was ultimately responsible for the Penydarren Tramroad. [1]

The later Penydarren Tramroad owed its origin to a quarrel between Richard Crawshay of Cyfarthfa and the ironmasters of Dowlais, Penydarren and Plymouth. Crawshay had a controlling interest in the Glamorganshire Canal Company and claimed preferential treatment in the matter of carriage, to the detriment of the other Merthyr works. The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust comments: “The Penydarren Tramroad from Penydarren to Abercynon was constructed in 1802 because of disagreements over tariffs charged on the Glamorganshire Canal between Richard Crawshay of Cyfarthfa, who held the largest share in the Canal Company, and the owners of the other iron works of the area, Penydarren, Dowlais and Plymouth.” [10]

The three iron-masters petitioned Parliament in 1799 for a tramroad from Cardiff with branches to Merthyr, Abernant and the head of the Rhymney valley. The Bill “was defeated by canal opposition, but already, on 18th January 1799, Samuel Homfray of Penydarren, William Taitt of Dowlais and Richard Hill of Plymouth had agreed to build the section from Merthyr to Abercynon: by‑passing, that is, the upper and most inconvenient stretch of the canal. The tramroad was built without an Act; compulsory powers, though not invoked, were already provided by the Glamorganshire Canal Act, which authorised proprietors of works within four miles of the canal to build railways to it. Dowlais and Penydarren each owned five shares in the tramroad, Plymouth four. The line was built under the general supervision of Richard Hill; George Overton was the engineer. ” [1][11] Work began in 1800, and the tramroad was completed in 1802. It was 9½ miles long from a junction with the Dowlais-canal line in Merthyr to the canal basin at Abercynon. The gauge was 4ft 2in inside the plate flanges, or 4ft 4in over them. [1]Dowlais Ironworks in 1840. Watercolour by G. Childs  [British Steel Corporation] [1]

“At about the same time there were considerable changes to the private Penydarren and Dowlais systems. The Dowlais-canal line, above the new junction with the Penydarren Tramroad at Merthyr (where the Trevithick Memorial now stands) was converted to 4ft 4in plateway, so that through running from Dowlais to Abercynon was possible; the lower part, from the junction to the canal at Merthyr, was apparently closed. The Penydarren Company’s line to the canal remained, consisting now of plate rails at 3ft outside gauge – the standard Penydarren Company gauge.” [1]

“About 1800 a new tramroad was built from the western Morlais quarries via Goetre Pond to Penydarren works, as part of the general agreement to make the Penydarren Tramroad. … In 1803, the three ironmasters agreed to add 4ft 4in track to this Morlais-Penydarren tramroad, ‘the present Road to remain on the inside of the Wide Road’, and the stone blocks once visible indicated three-rail track. The purpose of this dualling of the gauge was to permit through running via the Penydarren Tramroad to Plymouth works, and thus to free Hill from his bondage to Crawshay in the matter of limestone. The Morlais line became a part of the “General Road”, paid for initially according to the shares each ironworks held, and maintained thereafter according to the tonnage carried by each.” [1]

Also in about 1800, Overton converted each of the Morlais-Dowlais tramway and the Dowlais Colliery to the furnaces tramway into a plateway. The result of these changes was significant. Prior to the alterations one horse pulled one wagon, “now ‘each horse regularly hauled from the farthermost part of the colliery twelve [wagons], carrying fifteen hundred-weight each, and took the empty ones back’. As was usual in such cases, the exact route of this line was frequently altered as new pits were opened and old ones closed. Penydarren also had its own coal lines, which included inclines, on the 3ft gauge and going in the same general direction as the Dowlais ones.” [1]

1804 saw the famous trials of a steam locomotive on this tramway. The Route of the line, and that taken by Trevithick’s locomotive, is shown on the adjacent sketch drawing from The Railway Magazine from March 1951. [13] … Richard Trevithick “was, in October, 1803, busily engaged in constructing at Penydarran, in South Wales, a tramway locomotive, to run on rails not exceeding an elevation of 1 in 50, and of considerable length.” [12] On 21st February 1804, the locomotive was active on the Penydarren Tramway with a “full supply of steam and power.” [12] Indeed, “before a week had passed, from the first getting-up of steam, this pioneer of railway-engines had run several times, drawing a load of 10 tons, and was more controllable than horses. Only two miles of road were to be run over during the first trials, but within the week the engine ran a distance of 9.75 miles.” [12] Trevithick’s locomotive was the first steam locomotive to pull a load on a railway. [4] 

The engine in working order weighed about 5 tons its cylinder was 8.25 inches in diameter, with a stroke of 4.5 feet. It took empty wagons up an incline of 2 inches in a yard, at forty strokes a minute, progressing 9 feet at each stroke in other words, it took its load up an incline of 1 in 18 at the rate of four miles an hour. Deatials of the locomotive were provided in an article in the March 1951 edition of The Railway Magazine. [14]Although the tramway was the route used for this first-ever steam-powered railway journey, those early iron rails couldn’t take the weight of the engine. The tramroad soon reverted back to using horses to draw the wagons down to Navigation (Abercynon). [5]Dowlais furnace tops and tram waggon, 1840. Watercolour by G. Childs. [British Steel Corporation] [1]

…………………………………..

The Penydarren or Merthyr Tramroad clung to the hillside on the east side of the Taff for almost all the way, with the gentle average gradient of 1 in 145. Apart from the occasional road bridge and culvert, it had only three engineering features of note. At Plymouth works, the line passed right underneath the charging area of the furnaces in a tunnel 8ft high and 8ft wide: ample clearance for horse-drawn trams but a distinct impediment to locomotive working. Two bridges carried the line across a large loop of the Taff near Quakers Yard, both of which began life as timber structures. The Wikipedia article about the tramway says: “In 1815 a wooden bridge over the Taff near Quakers Yard collapsed beneath a train carrying iron from Penydarren. The whole train including the horses, the haulier and four other people riding on it fell into the river killing one horse, badly cutting another and injuring two of the people.” [3] Both timber bridges were replaced by large stone arch bridges.

“The Penydarren was a single-track tramroad with frequent passing loops. The original track consisted of 3ft‑long cast iron plate rails with upward-bellied flanges and a strengthening rib below; they weighed about 60 lb each and were spiked directly to rough stone blocks about 1ft 6in square. Later, chairs were introduced to provide a better bearing surface and a new pattern of rail that instead of a spike-notch had a downward projection to prevent longitudinal movement. These rails were keyed in the chairs. A third type of rail was a dual-purpose one, with both notch and projection. All this ironware was doubtless cast at the three ironworks interested in the line. Many blocks are still in position from Mount Pleasant southwards, and some rails may be seen in the Cyfarthfa Museum at Merthyr. … When locomotives were introduced the continual breakage of plates under their weight created a serious problem, but cast iron rails were retained to the end.” [1]

“The trams (or wagons) were about 7ft 6in long by 4ft 9in wide at the top, each side consisting of a vertical plank 1ft high topped by a flared plank 9in high. The bodies were originally of timber strapped with iron, though later 1/8in plate iron was adopted. The cast iron wheels were usually 2ft 6in to 2ft 9in in diameter, with a tread 1¾ in wide. A tram’s capacity was two tons or a little more, and its weight was 15cwt By 1830 there were 250 of them..” [1]

Early on, one horse would pull five trams (a total of about 10 tons of iron) down and the empties back up, making one return trip a day.As demand increased, so did the length of tram trains. As many as three horses could be teamed up and would haul about 25 trams (about 50 tons of iron). Although the line was privately built, other parties were allowed to carry goods on it on payment of a toll; but it is not known if this ever happened. Passenger traffic, though quite unofficial, was winked at: anyone who was ready to tip the driver and to perch on a tramful of iron was allowed a ride.

“The traffic consisted largely of iron for export from Cardiff, and grew markedly for much of the tramroad’s life. In 1820, Dowlais sent down 11,115 tons of iron, Penydarren 8,690 tons and Plymouth 7,941 tons; in 1830, the respective tonnages were 27,647, 11,744 and 12,177; and in 1840, 45,218, 16,130 and 12,922. From the late 1820s, however, more and more iron ore was imported, a traffic which came to outstrip the tramroad’s capacity on the uphill haul, so that the bulk of it was carried by canal up to Merthyr and transferred to the Penydarren Company’s line there.” [1]

In 1835, Dowlais alone imported 15,668 tons of ore and cinders. To deal with the increase in both traffics, locomotives were introduced. Trevithick’s engine had hauled several trains to Abercynon in 1804, but it was simply an experiment which was only a partial success. Regular locomotive working began in 1832, when an engine owned by the Penydarren Company was closely followed by a series belonging to Dowlais, some of which worked the steep section up to Dowlais with the aid of a rack rail laid between the running rails. However, the tramway was becoming increasingly outdated and the Iron Works needed a better method of transport.Penydarren Ironworks in 1813.  [J.G. Wood, “The Principal Rivers of Wales Illustrated”]Bethesda Street, Merthyr, looking east. The car is standing on the route of the Penydarren Company’s line to the canal, with Bethesda Street tunnel beyond; the Dowlais Company’s line to the canal ran along the street to the left. [P.G. Rattenbury]

“As early as 1823 they promoted a Bill to extend the tramroad to Cardiff – again the primary cause was a quarrel with the Glamorganshire Canal Company – and again the Bill was lost. In the end, with Hill of Plymouth and Guest of Dowlais among the chief promoters, the Taff Vale Railway obtained its Act in 1836, and was opened from Cardiff to Abercynon in 1840 and to Merthyr in 1841.” [1]

The Taff Vale had powers to make branches to the ironworks, but nothing was done until in 1849. Dowlais obtained its own Act for a standard-gauge line from the works, via a long incline, to the Taff Vale at Merthyr. This was opened in 1851, at first as a public passenger railway, but later carrying the owner’s goods traffic only. [1]

From 1841, Dowlais sent out considerable quantities of traffic from the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) terminus at Merthyr, but it is not clear how produce was transported to the terminus from the Works. The TVR station was actually very  close to the Penydarren Tramroad. Dowlais stopped using the Penydarren Tramroad by 1851 if not before, and it seems likely that the tramway between Dowlais and Penydarren Works was abandoned at the same time. [1]Victoria Bridge, the lower Penydarren Tramroad bridge across the Taff at Quakers Yard. The piers beyond carried a feeder to the Glamorganshire Canal.   [collection T.J. Lodge] [1] Penydarren Tramroad stone block sleeper, showing impressions of the rail ends and the single spike hole.   [T.J. Lodge] [1]Road bridge over the Penydarren Tramroad half a mile south of Mount Pleasant.   [T.J. Lodge] [1]Crossing of a set of points with scallop-edged channel rails for level crossings.   [P.G. Rattenbury] [1]Trackbed of the Moralis-Penydarren tramroad, showing rows of stone blocks which carried the dual gauge track.   [collection T.J. Lodge] [1]

Thereafter the tramroad fell out of use piecemeal. When Penydarren works closed in 1859 the section down to Plymouth was probably closed too. Plymouth went on sending some iron down to Abercynon for a while, but ceased to produce iron in 1880, though it continued its coal mining. Already, in 1871, Plymouth had built a standard gauge mineral line that used parts of the tramroad route as far as Mount Pleasant; south of here the tramroad seems to have been lifted about 1890. [1]As we have already noted, the Merthyr/Penydarren Tramroad was largely superseded when the Taff Vale Railway opened in 1841 and sections gradually went out of use over the two decades from about 1851. In 1823, a Bill had been unsuccessfully promoted to extend the tramway to Cardiff. It was some of the same promoters who obtained the Act for the TVR in 1836. Although the TVR opened to Merthyr in 1841 it wasn’t until 1851 that the standard gauge Dowlais Railway was completed allowing through running to its works. Penydarren Ironworks closed in 1859. Plymouth Works didn’t cease iron production until 1880 but had built a standard gauge line over part of the tramroad in 1871. South of Mount Pleasant the disused tramroad was lifted in about 1890. [3]

Locomotives

“In 1829 Stephenson supplied a six-wheeled locomotive with inclined cylinders mounted at the rear for use on the narrower gauge internal lines at Penydarren, it cost £375. In 1832 it was returned to Stephensons for conversion to a four-wheeled locomotive for use on the Merthyr Tramroad and at the same time the single flue was replaced by 82 copper fire tubes. It was at this time given the name “Eclipse” and commenced work on the Merthyr Tramroad on 22 June 1832. The chimney must have been hinged to allow it to go through the Plymouth tunnel.” [3]

“The Dowlais Company’s line linking their works to the Merthyr Tramroad had a maximum gradient of 1 in 16.5 and considered too steep for locomotives to work by adhesion alone. In 1832 the Neath Abbey Ironworks supplied a six-wheeled rack and adhesion locomotive weighing 8 tons named “Perseverance” with inclined cylinders and twin chimneys (allowing them to be lowered alongside the boiler to pass through the tunnel at Plymouth).” [3]

Another similar locomotive named “Mountaineer” was built in 1833 by the Neath Abbey Co. for the Dowlais Company. The drawings included a cross section of the Plymouth tunnel and it had a hinged chimney, so it is very likley that it was intended for use on the Merthyr Tramroad (unlike a second smaller locomotive built in 1832 which had a fixed chimney). [3]

The Wikipedia article on the Tramway continues to use information provided by Stuart Own-Jones [15] to describe locomotives used on the line:

The 0-6-0 “Dowlais” built at Neath Abbey in 1836 had inclined cylinders mounted at the front (unlike the previous locomotives which had rear mounted cylinders) and rack drive for use on the incline to Dowlais. “Charles Jordan” delivered from Neath Abbey in 1838 was an adhesion only locomotive very similar to “Mountaineer”. The last record of spare parts being supplied to Dowlais for these locomotives was in 1840-1841. An 1848 inventory of Dowlais plant lists only “Mountaineer” of the above locomotives. No plateway locomotives were listed in 1856. [3]

Locomotives had a maximum 3 ton axle load and as a result plate-layers were carried on the trains to replace broken plates. On 1 April 1839 more than 4,000 plates were required to make the tramway good. By 22nd June that year 1,600 more plates were broken, of which the Dowlais engines were blamed for smashing 1,450. By July the tramroad was reported to be almost impassable, for two days being blocked by a derailed Dowlais locomotive and Anthony Hill of Plymouth unsuccessfully applied to the Trustees for the locomotives to be banned. [3]

Stuart Herbert [5] provides a lot of additional sources to allow a deeper exploration of the history and geography of the line. These include:

  • The Glamorganshire and Aberdare Canal – Volume 1, by Rowson and Wright.
  • Richard Trevithick: Cornwall’s Pioneer of Steam, by the South Western Electricity Historical Society
  • ENGINEERS: Richard Trevithick the Cornish genius, by Cotton Times
  • Trevithick 2004, a joint public/private/voluntary sector partnership to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Penydarren Locomotive – the first steam locomotive in the world to haul a load on rails.
  • Cynon Culture, a website dedicated to the history and culture of the Cynon Valley.
    Victoria Bridge, Quakers Yard – Restoration Works Contract Payment, a report to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.
  • Our Woods in Focus, a website by the Woodland Trust.
  • Taff Vale Railway entry on Wikipedia.
  • Map of the Taff Vale Railway, on the GWR modellers website.
  • Isambard Kingdom Brunel 200th Anniversary Exhibitions, from the Heritage In Action (Herian) website.
  • Discover South Wales, a map of heritage sites from the Heritage In Action (Herian) website.
  • The Taff Vale Railway – Volume 1 by John Hutton, ISBN 1-85794-249-3.
  • Newsletter 110 June 2006 [PDF], from the Institution of Civil Engineers.
  • Merthyr Tydfil Tramroads and their Locomotives, by Gordon Rattenbury and M. J. T. Lewis, ISBN 090146152-0.
  • Pontygwaith entry on Wikipedia.
  • Bringing the people of Merthyr closer to nature, the Forestry Commission press release from 29 August 2003 announcing the plan to create the Pontygwaith Nature Reserve.
  • Pontygwaith on Alan George’s website.
  • Cefn Glas Tunnel, on the excellent Cardiff Rail website.
  • Quakers Yard and Merthyr Joint Railway, on the excellent RAILSCOT website.
  • The Taff Vale Railway by D.S.M. Barrie, published on the Trackbed website.
  • The Edwardsville Viaducts on Alan George’s website.
  • Building Control Regulations for Merthyr County Borough Council, which includes a list of listed buildings in the borough.
  • Trevithick and the Penydarren Tramroad on Deryck Lewis’ WalesRails website.
  • ST0799 on the Geograph.org.uk website.

Much of the route can still be followed, though in places it is buried in industrial waste, and most of the southern part has been thoroughly disturbed in recent times by the laying of a large water main. [1] We will follow the route of the line is the next post.

References

  1. https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/59/Penydarren.htm, accessed on 1st February 2019.
  2. https://www.walesrails.co.uk/trevithick.html, accessed on 1st  February 2019.
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merthyr_Tramroad, accessed on 1st February 2019.
  4. https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/91513/details/merthyr-tramroad-penydarren-tramroad, accessed on 2nd February 2019.(cf.: Mercer, S., Trevithick and the Merthyr Tramroad, in Transactions of the Newcomen Society, xxvi (1947-9), p89-103).
  5. http://blog.stuartherbert.com/photography/2007/04/22/the-worlds-first-steam-engine-railway-journey, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyfarthfa_Ironworks, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  7. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Dowlais_Ironworks, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  8. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Penydarren_Ironworks, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  9. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Plymouth_Ironworks, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  10. http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/Merthyr_Tydfil/English/Merthyr_019.htm, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  11. http://www.himedo.net/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/Wales/Industrialization/WelshIndustry1800/MyrthyrTramroad.htm, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  12. F. Trevitick; “The Life of Richard Trevithick”; quoted from … https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Life_of_Richard_Trevithick_by_F._Trevithick:_Volume_1:_Chapter_9, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  13. The Penydarren Tramroad; Notes and News; The Railway Magazine Volume 97 No. 599, March 1951, p206-208.
  14. E.W. Twining; The First Railway Locomotive; The Railway Magazine Volume 97 No. 599, March 1951, p197-201.
  15. Stuart Owen-Jones;  The Penydarren Locomotive; National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; 1981. p6–10. 
  16. http://www.bronwenthomas.co.uk/?page_id=325&main_image=352, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  17. http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/plymouthironworks.htm, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  18. http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/Dowlais_works.htm, accessed on 2nd February 2019.
  19. http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/cyfarthfa_ironworks.htm, accessed on 2nd February 2019.

The Ballachulish Railway Line – Part 3

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Part 3 of our study of the Ballachulish line will include material from some present day pictures from along the National Cycleway which follows the line together with parts of a description of that journey from another website, the completion of the journey along the line from Kentallen to Ballachulish Station, and a study of the slate mining at Ballachuish which probably was the main justification for the construction of the branch-line.

The Railway Magazine November 1950

My spare time over Christmas 2018 has been spent looking at a few older magazines which have been waiting my attention for some time. I have discovered an article in “The Railway Magazine” November 1950 edition. The article was written by H.A. Vallance and entitled ‘From Connel Ferry to Ballachulish’.

A copy of that article can be found in the Railway Magazine Archive which grants access on payment of an additional sum over and above the annual subscription to the magazine. [26]

Kentallen to Ballachuish

We finish our journey along the line from Kentallen to Ballachuish ……

Initially we continue our look around the station at Kentallen.This image provides an overview of the station site. The footbridge, station buildings, signal box and water tank are all visible as well as the siding on the northeast corner of the site. [8]Ex-Caledonian Railway ‘439’ Class (LMSR Class 2P) 0-4-4T 55230 enters Kentallen Station from the South during July 1959 with an Oban – Ballachulish train. [9]

The following images were all taken in the mid-1970s by J.R. Hume, after closure of the railway but before re-development. A Mk 3 Cortina is visible in two images which for the officionados may well date the pictures more definitively. They are all available on the Canmore website. [8]The station from the road-side. [8]The railway cottages and water tank on the southeast side of the A828. [8]The station buildings from the Northeast. [8]The waiting shelter on the west side of the station with Loch Linnhe behind. [8]Unidentified ex-Caledonian Railway (LMSR Class 2P) 0-4-4T, the morning Ballachulish to Oban train crosses a Ballachulish-bound train at Kentallen Station during July 1959, (c) Kelvin Hertz. [11]The water tank at Kentallen, still standing in May 2015. [10]

The water tank in 2014. [13]

Moving on from Kentallen, the next two images are taken just to the north-east of the station.Local passenger train approaching Kentallen in 1961 from Ballachulish, (c) H.B. Priestly. [7]Local pick-up goods approaching Kentallen from Ballachulish in the mid-1960s . [6]

The next station along the line was Ballachulish Ferry, it was reached after a the line had travelled East along the south side of Loch Leven. Close to Ballachulish Pier the A828 crossed the railway on a bridge and then hugged the shoreline as far as the ferry and the hotel.In 2014, we stayed in a bed and breakfast  along this length of the A828 and walked a distance along the track-bed on the old railway line. These next few images show the B&B and the cycleway/path. As you will see below the cycleway/path is marked characteristically along its full length by ornate ironwork.Part 1 of this short series of posts carried a video of the ferry. Please follow this link:

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/01/the-ballachulish-railway-line-part-1

Some pictures will suffice here, three images in total, of which the third shows the Ballachulish Bridge under construction.

Ballachulish Ferry, before the bridge was started. Looking from the north side, towards Sgorr Dhonuill, © Copyright Ian Taylor. [14] Argyll postcard of Ballachulish Ferry. [15]

Ballachulish Ferry and Bridge, © Copyright N T Stobbs. [16]

Finally at this location, Ballachulish Hotel and Ferry Slipway [17]

Ballachulish Ferry Railway Station is hidden away inland south of the ferry behind the hotel. It had one platform on the North side of the railway line.Ballachulish Ferry Railway Station, looking towards the terminus at Ballachulish.[18]Ballachulish Ferry Railway Station facing West, (c) H.B. Priestley. [19]

The railway continues in an easterly direction towards Ballachulish Station, crossing the A828 and running along the shore. Close to Ballachulish, the A828 turns inland to find a good bridging point across the River Laroch. The railway continued along the shore on embankment so as to have the most convenient approach to Ballachulish.The station opened as Ballachulish on 20 August 1903 [2] with two platforms. There was a goods yard on the north side of the station. [1] Within two years it was renamed as Ballachulish & Glencoe [2] and renamed again following the opening of the ‘new’ road between Glencoe village and Kinlochleven in 1908 as Ballachulish (Glencoe) for Kinlochleven. Apart for a short closure in 1953, this latter name remained until closure in 1966. [2] In the railway timetables the name was shortened to simply Ballachulish with a note stating “Ballachulish is the Station for Glencoe and Kinlochleven”. [3]

The Callander and Oban Railway were responsible for the construction of the branch-line and for the opening of the station. That company was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, and was closed by the British Railways Board in 1966 [2] when the entire length of the Ballachulish Branch closed.

In the early 1990s the station buildings were converted into a medical centre. Houses have been built in the station yard. The engine shed remained, being used by a local garage until 2015, when it was demolished to make way for more private housing.
Ballachulish Railway Station. [1]A close up of the station buildings. [20]Ballachulish Station in the 1950s, (c) Marcel Gommers. A google search produced this picture, but the link failed to operate and the website appears not to exist.An eye-level view into the station from West along the line. [20]Ballachulish Engine Shed, used as a garage for sometime before its demolition recently. [20]

The adjacent picture shows the shed acting as a local garage in 2012. [21]A track plan of the station. [20]The three pictures above show the old station building in use as a medical centre in 2011, (c) J.M. Briscoe. [22]

We have travelled the full length of the branch-line and done our best to get an impression of it operating as a railway. As we have done so, we have noted on a few occasions that the railway line is now in use as part of the National Cycle Network Route 78.

National Cycle Network Route No. 78

We have already seen some of the ornate ironwork which has been used to give this particular part of Route 78 an identity. These next few images highlight other locations along the route where the ironwork has been used.The cycle-way which follows much of the branch-line is marked by ornate ‘gateways’ and sculpture work as in this image and that below. Details of the cycle-way (Sustrans No. 78) can be found at the end of this post. [5]The National Cycle Network gateway close to Kentallen. [12]Similar ironwork closer to Oban. [23]

The description of the cycle route on the Sustrans website, which is an excellent way of following the route of the branch-line, follows in italics [4]:

Connel Bridge to Benderloch – two miles

Follow the Route 78 signs over the bridge and then through housing and past Connel Airfield. There is a currently a short gap in National Route 78 here. It is possible to join the main trunk road for just under a mile – but please note that this is narrow high-speed road, and it is not recommended for children or inexperienced cyclists. A footpath heads off to the left through the trees before you reach the trunk road, but in addition to being a bit muddy and overgrown this is not part of the National Cycle Network route. This joins with the beginning of the tarmac path to the south of Benderloch. This area (but not the additional path) is shown in this map link.

Benderloch to the Sea Life Sanctuary – four miles

A traffic-free path follows the line of the old railway into Benderloch village. From near the primary school, it runs alongside the A828 trunk road to the Sea Life Sanctuary, which has interesting marine displays, other wildlife such as otters, a nature trail and an adventure play area, plus a cafe.  

Sea Life Sanctuary to Appin and Dalnatrat (the Highland boundary) – 13 miles

This is a glorious, almost entirely traffic-free section that starts from the east side of the Sea Life Sanctuary car park. There are several crossings of the trunk road on this section, where you should exercise care. The route runs through woodland and then joins minor roads through the settlement of Barcaldine and the forest of Sutherland’s Grove, and along railway path to above Creagan road bridge. Here you will see signs for the Loch Creran Loop, a six mile route on quiet road. Route 78 continues over the bridge. A traffic-free path runs alongside the road to Inverfolla and then the route rejoins the line of the old railway past Appin and Castle Stalker. Look out for the signs for the Port Appin Loop, which takes you down to Port Appin where you can catch the passenger ferry to the Isle of Lismore. After passing Castle Stalker, there’s a bit under a mile where the route shares a quiet access road with road traffic and skirts a layby, followed by more traffic-free path and less than a mile on very quiet minor road. A further two miles of entirely traffic-free path ends at Dalnatrat, near the foot of Salachan Glen.

Dalnatrat to Duror – two miles

Between Dalnatrat and Duror is currently a gap of almost two miles in the National Route 78. It has not yet been possible to build a path here and to continue a northbound journey temporarily using the busy trunk road is unavoidable. Please note that this is narrow high-speed road, and it is not recommended for children or inexperienced cyclists, or those on foot. Look out for the cycle route signs to the right as you enter Duror village to take you back onto the National Cycle Network.

This area is shown here on Sustran’s mapping.  There are some rough paths and tracks in nearby woodland to the southeast of the road – but these are not part of the National Cycle Network, they don’t bridge the gap entirely, and the loose surfaces and steep inclines make them relatively challenging even if on an unladen mountain bike or on foot. Please note that current Google based mapping shows a bridge which no longer exists. Openstreetmap currently (Sept 2017) shows the correct details.

Duror to Ballachullish – six miles

Traffic-free path runs from the south of Duror village and loops round on minor road to rejoin the line of the old railway. The path over the hill to Kentallen takes you to the highest point on the route where you get a seat and a wonderful view over Loch Linnhe. The path then heads down to Kentallen, across the road and onto one of the most scenic sections as the railway path hugs the coastline for a couple of miles, before heading inland and emerging just to the south of Ballachulish Bridge. At this junction, you can continue right for another three miles on a traffic-free link path to the village of Glencoe, or turn left to continue on Route 78 over Ballachulish Bridge to North Ballachulish.

Ballachulish Quarries

Ballachulish Slate Quarries before the arrival of the Railway (1897 OS Map).

Just to the south of the A82 and at the east end of the village of Ballachulish are the fascinating  remains of the Ballachulish slate quarries, which employed up to 300 men at any given time for over two and a half centuries until 1955. Today the quarries have been opened up as a scenic attraction in their own right, and are well worth a visit. [24]

The story of slate quarrying in what was originally known as East Laroch began in 1693, just the year after the Glen Coe massacre took place, a little over a mile and a half to the east. The quarries grew dramatically during the 1700s and slate from here was shipped out to provide roofing for Scotland’s rapidly growing cities. It is recorded that in one year alone, 1845, some 26 million Ballachulish slates were produced.

The arrival of a branch railway from Oban in 1903 gave the quarries a further boost, as it made overland transport of the slates both possible and cheap. The Railway’s arrival was, however, unfortunate timing in one sense, as a major industrial dispute was under way in the quarries at the time over the provision of medical care, which involved the workforce being locked out for a year. Further trouble flared up in 1905, but the quarries remained in business until finally closing in 1955.

Ballachulish slate had one major drawback compared with some of its competitors. The presence of iron pyrite crystals within the slate meant that rust spots and holes were prone to appear in slates exposed to the weather, which of course is a drawback on a roof. Because of this, only about a quarter of the slate actually extracted could be used for roofing, with the remainder finding less lucrative uses or being wasted.

The adjacent images come from the Undiscovered Scotland Website as does the text above, although it has been edited slightly. [24]

Some further images of the quarries have been provided below. They have been sourced from the Canmore Website. [25] Canmore contains more than 320,000 records and 1.3 million catalogue entries for archaeological sites, buildings, industry and maritime heritage across Scotland. Compiled and managed by Historic Environment Scotland, It also contains information and collections from all its survey and recording work, as well as from a wide range of other organisations, communities and individuals who are helping to enhance this national resource. The old road used to pass under the incline. [25] An aerial image of the quarries. The route of the railway line is clearly visible. [25]The quarrying operation was of a significant size and lasted for well over two centuries employing around 300 men. [25]

And finally … a video of travel along the branch-line in the 1960s.

References

  1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish_railway_station, accessed on 1st January 2019
  2. R. V. J. Butt; The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1995, p23.
  3. Table 33, British Railways, Passenger Services Scotland summer 1962, quoted in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish_railway_station, accessed on 1st January 2019.
  4. https://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map/route/oban-to-fort-william, accessed on 3rd January 2019.
  5. https://cuilbay.com/2014/07, accessed on 1st January 2019.
  6. https://hollytreehotel.co.uk/facilities/history, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  7. https://www.highlandtitles.com/blog/highland-reserve-interviews-lord-douglas-lady-penelope, accessed on 4th January 2019.
  8. https://canmore.org.uk/site/107540/kentallen-station?display=image, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  9. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/amp/pin/382031980881862868, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  10. https://wildaboutscotland.com/2015/05/28/lejog-day-11-connel-to-fort-augustus/amp, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  11. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/382031980881872965/?lp=true, accessed on 4th January 2019.
  12. http://www.scottishanchorages.co.uk/kentallen-bay/4532986587, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  13. http://www.boydharris.co.uk/w_bh14/140818.htm, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  14. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/362353, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  15. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BALLACHULISH-FERRY-Argyll-postcard-C31111-/253269532962, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  16. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/753925, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  17. https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ballachulish/ballachulish/index.html, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish_Ferry_railway_station, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  19. http://myrailwaystation.com/FORMER%20LOCATIONS/index.htm, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  20. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122717-kentra-bay-a-what-might-have-been-caley-west-coast-terminus, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  21. http://www.petesy.co.uk/2012/09/28, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  22. https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG346, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  23. https://www.glencoescotland.com/see-do/mountain-biking/sustrans-to-oban, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  24. https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ballachulish/slatequarries/index.html, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  25. https://canmore.org.uk/site/23552/ballachulish-slate-quarries, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  26. H.A. Valance; From Connel Ferry to Ballachulish; The Railway Magazine, November 1950.

The Ballachulish Railway Line – Part 2

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In Part 1 we covered much about the history of the line between Connel Ferry and Ballachulish. We start Part 2 with a few reminders of what was covered in Part 1 and provide some additional material from various sources before continuing our journey North along the branch.

Several sea lochs made road travel between Oban and Fort William difficult, and Argyll County Council had indicated that it would co-operate with the Callandar & Oban Railway (C&OR) if the railway were to build dual-use bridges; the C&OR was considering an ambitious railway from Oban to Inverness by way of Fort William. The C&OR decided to decline the idea, and to make the railway on its own, and to undertake the work it itself. The C&OR had difficulty in raising enough money for a survey of the proposed line, but undaunted, it presented a Parliamentary Bill for the line in September 1894, for the following year’s session. [1]

The C&OR made this move without consulting with its parent company, the Caledonian Railway (CR). When the CR heard of the plan, they announced that they would oppose the Bill in Parliament. The Bill was swiftly withdrawn. [1]

The C&OR converted their proposal into a branch line to Ballachulish from Connel Ferry. Ballachulish had a population of 1,800 at the time, and its industry was chiefly quarrying. The branch was authorised by Act of Parliament on 7 August 1896. [3] The C&OR line was to have a triangular junction a Connel Ferry, and to cross Loch Etive by Connel Bridge which was second in Britain only to the Forth Bridge in the length of the main span, and it was the largest single-span steel bridge in Britain. [5] The route approved north of the bridge was later changed substantially, a hotel had been built at Loch Creran to serve a proposed station there; the hotel was never opened as the railway as built did not go there. The capital was to be £210,000 of which the Caledonian Railway agreed to fund £15,000. [5]

The Route North from Benderloch

In Part 1 of this survey we travelled as far North as Benderloch. We saw at Benderloch a station very typical of the branch line with buildings (now long-gone) which matched those at other stations on the line.

Leaving Benderloch the railway and the A828 ran closely parallel to each other with the railway running closest to the loch shore. This continued until the railway approached the location of Barcaldine House.


The extract from the OS Map above shows the road turning inland at this point and crossing two rivers. The first is Death Abhainn, the second is Abhainn Teithil. The two rivers have over time created a small area of open land at the loch-side which the road avoided. The railway maintained a straighter route and was carried over each of the rivers on bridges.

Barcaldine Halt opened to passengers in 1914. It comprised a single platform on the east side of the line. A siding was installed at the same time, to the south of the platform. [9]

Barcaldine Halt in 1950. [8]

Incidentally, a search for Barcaldine on the internet produces some very interesting information about railways and tramways in Queensland, Australia. Something for another time!

I have recently received the next two images from Tony Jervis -the first is taken from a train passing through Barcaldine Halt. The second is a ticket for the journey from the Halt to Connel Ferry.

Tony comments: “The railway ticket was probably sold at Connel Ferry Station; if someone has list of station Audit numbers, 4777N against that station should confirm it. The train had just deposited the man and his bicycle.” [22]

Travelling on from Barcaldine, the A828 and the railway swapped places and the railway too a very slightly more inland trajectory and began to rise to a height which would allow it to cross the next loch – Loch Creran. The A828 was forced to take a detour to the East to follow the shore of the loch. The railway took the more direct route.


It crossed the loch at the narrowest point on a high level, Howe Truss Girder bridge. When the railway closed, the bridge remained as a pedestrian/cycle route until its foundations were used to divert the A828.

Creagan Bridge from the East, taken after closure of the railway line. [10]

The new bridge. The picture was taken in 2008 by Jack Russell from a very similar location to the one above. As can be seen, the new bridge made use of the foundations and lower piers of the previous railway structure. [11]

Creagan Station was then approached from the EastEast, as the railway turned westward along the loch-side. The railway ran on the north side of the A828. Creagan Station was the only station on the Ballachulish branch that had an island platform. There was a siding to the east of the platform, on the north side of the railway.

One platform was taken out of use on 1 April 1927. [12]

The station at Creagan when still in use. [8]

An earlier image of the station, taken when both lines were in use. [8]

The island platform building at Creagan in the 21st century. [12]

The line continued West from Creagan through the Strath of Appin to Appin Station, by which time the railway was beginning to turn to the North.

Appin Station was once again typical of the stations on the route. The station building was a substantial two story structure of the same design as elsewhere. The station was laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There were sidings on both sides of the line. A camping coach was sited here for a number of years.

Appin Station building. [8]

Branch goods at Appin. [8]

Two passenger trains pass at Appin. The camping coach is just visible on the right of the picture. [8]

1920s view of Appin Station. [8]

A similar view in the 1950s. [8]

Appin Station Signal Box. [8]

The service from Ballachulish in the later years of the line. [8]

Heading out of Appin Station towards Ballachulish, the line travels Northeast along the coastline. The A828 runs alongside the railway on the landward side all the way to Duror Station.

The next two images below show Duror Station while it was still in use for its intended purpose. The signal box can be seen beyond the main station building.

Duror Railway Station. [15]

Duror Station after the closure of the loop. [16]
The station was laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There was a siding to the north of the station, on the east side of the line. One platform was taken out of use on 8th April 1927 along with the crossing loop.

The station building at Duror is still standing and is a well-maintained private house. The pictures immediately below show the property taken from its access road. The station building remains almost intact, as do the platforms which lie within the garden of the private property. These are also shown below.

Google Streetview Image.

Another view of the station (c) Nigel Thompson. [17]

The station platforms in the 21st century. [16]
The line turned East for a short distance beyond Duror Station, and then turned to the Northeast. Its route is shown on the 1940s OS Map below and as a dismantled railway on the later OS Map below. On that map, Duror Station site is marked with a yellow flag.

The route North-east from Duoro took trains through a narrow valley hidden away from Loch Linnhe which brought the line and the A828 down to Kentallen and Kentallen Bay. The village was at the head of the bay, its station some distance to the North-east. By the time the station was reached the railway was on the seaward side of the A828.


The station was laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. Alongside the station was a pier from which interconnecting steamers operated. The main station building was on the southbound platform and still stands in much extended form. There was a goods yard at the north end, on the east side of the line. There was a smaller shelter on the northbound platform. The pier survives, in cut back form.

To the south of the station site, and across the road, are railway cottages and the former water tank.

Following closure in 1966, the station buildings were enlarged and converted into a hotel and restaurant.

Holly Tree Hotel and Restaurant on the site of Kentallen Station in 2005. [18]

The Hotel from above on the hillside. [19]

July, 1959. Ex-Caledonian Railway 439 Class (LMSR Class 2P) 0-4-4T No. 55200 stands at Kentallen Station with an Oban to Ballachulish train, (c) Keith R. Pirt. [21]

A steam train at Kentallen shortly before the line closed in 1966. [20]

Kentallen Station and Pier. [8]

Kentallen Pier. [13]

We have noted that train times and ferry times were designed to allow connections to be made between the station and the pier at Kentallen. The two pictures above show the pier in use by ferries. The ferry timetable is shown below:

The Oban to Fort William Ferry timetable. [13]

The ferry made travel between Oban and Fort William manageable with a significant road journey. The stop at Kentallen allowed a combined train and ferry journey to be made.

To finish this post and before moving on towards Ballachulish we look at a few period images of Kentallen Station.

The station immediately after closure and before conversion to a hotel commenced. [13]

Pick-up goods heading south through Kentallen. [13]

The local passenger service heading south through Kentallen. [14]

I had originally expect that there would be just one post relating to the Ballachulish line but the material has been mounting up and I have now (January 2018) discovered an article from November 1950 in “The Railway Magazine” which means that a third post is warranted. We finish this part of the journey at Kentallen and will commence again from here to complete the journey to Ballachulish in part three of the story of the line.

References

  1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callander_and_Oban_Railway, accessed on 1st January 2019.
  2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish_railway_station, accessed on 1st January 2019
  3. E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959
  4. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/126169-appin-station, accessed on 2nd January 2019.
  5. David Ross, The Caledonian: Scotland’s Imperial Railway: A History, Stenlake Publishing Limited, Catrine, 2014.
  6. R. V. J. Butt; The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1995, p23.
  7. Table 33, British Railways, Passenger Services Scotland summer 1962, quoted in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish_railway_station, accessed on 1st January 2019.
  8. http://oldappin.com/ballachulish-railway-line, accessed on 26th December 2018.
  9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcaldine_railway_station, accessed on 2nd January 2019.
  10. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3213543, accessed on 2nd January 2019.
  11. https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=File:A828_Creagan_Bridge_-_Coppermine_-_18816.jpg, accessed on 2nd January 2019.
  12. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creagan_railway_station, accessed on 2nd January 2019.
  13. https://hollytreehotel.co.uk/facilities/history, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  14. https://www.pinterest.at/amp/pin/510666045218505803, accessed on 5th January 2019.
  15. https://canmore.org.uk/site/106021/duror-station, accessed on 3rd January 2019.
  16. https://railscot.co.uk/img/9/766, accessed on 3rd January 2019.
  17. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5394443, accessed on 3rd January 2019.
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentallen_railway_station#/media/File:Kentallen_railway_station_in_2005.jpg, accessed on 4th January 2019.
  19. https://hollytreehotel.co.uk/about-area/station, accessed on 4th January 2019.
  20. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3027899, accessed on 4th January 2019.
  21. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScottishRailways/search/?query=galloway&epa=SEARCH_BOX, accessed on 6th June 2019.
  22. Email from Tony Jervis on 15th May 2021.

The Ballachulish Railway Line – Part 1

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An old copy of Hornby Magazine fell open at a modelling idea – the creation of a model representing the Ballachulish line in Western Scotland. Having walked a length of this line in the past, the article grabbed my attention and prompted some research. [1]

Ballachulish Railway Station.[4]

Ballachulish is a village at the foot of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands. Glencoe is a deep valley which forms the natural road route into this remote part of Scotland. During the Victorian era it’s transport links centred around a steamer connection with Fort William, about 15 miles North, and Oban, a little further in a southerly direction.

Despite its remote location, Ballachulish had extensive slate quarries and during the 1880s it was hoped that local interest would be served by a railway line from Crianlarich up Glencoe and on to Fort William. This was not to be. The Rannoch Moor route was chosen instead. Other lines, such as an Oban to Fort William Railway failed to materialise.

Instead, rather late in the day in 1896, a branch line was authorised from the Oban-Crainlarich line at Connel Ferry. It was hoped that this would meet a similar line from Fort William but, although powers were obtained, it was never built because of problems gaining permission for bridges across sea lochs. [1]

Ballachulish

Ballachulish is a slightly confusing place. It’s not unusual to find places that come in two halves. But Ballachulish comes in two halves plus another, larger, settlement two miles along the road towards Glencoe.

The name comes from the Gaelic for village of the narrows, and the first settlement to bear the name lay where North Ballachulish is today. Its twin, on the south side of the loch, rapidly followed. Loch Leven narrows dramatically here and North and South Ballachulish grew up around the slipways used by ferries crossing the loch from a very early date. A vehicle ferry started to cross the narrows in 1912, but the service finally disappeared in 1975 when the bridge opened. With it disappeared the choice facing drivers of the sometimes long ferry queues at busy periods or the nineteen mile detour via Kinlochleven.

While the ferry has long gone, the slipways that served the ferry remain: though they are by no means opposite one another. The steel truss bridge that opened here in 1975 fits nicely into its environment. Indeed, it comes as something of a surprise to find it is such a relatively recent addition to this part of the Western Highlands.

South Ballachulish largely comprises the slipway and the nearby Ballachulish Hotel. Close to the steps leading down from the bridge to the Oban road near the hotel is a memorial to James Stewart, hanged here in 1752 for the Appin Murder. This was the killing of Colin Campbell, an event used as the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped. Stewart’s execution was a result of the greatest miscarriage of justice in Scottish legal history. A number of the sites associated with the Appin Murder have been linked by the Last Clansman Trail.[2]

Ballachulish Bridge should not be confused with the Connel Ferry bridge closer to Oban.

North Ballachulish is a little more developed and is home to an art gallery, lochside hotel and the slipway for the old ferry.

The largest settlement carrying the name of Ballachulish lies on the south side of Loch Leven, a mile or so west of the village of Glencoe. This started life as the hamlets of East and West Laroch in the 1500s, names still attaching to parts of the village on detailed Ordnance Survey maps. In 1693, slate was first quarried here in the Ballachulish Slate Quarries (only a year after the Glencoe massacre took place nearby). By the early 1700s, this had developed into a major slate quarrying operation which continued for over 250 years until 1955, when the quarries closed. The name of Ballachulish simply seems to have attached itself to the larger village that grew out of the earlier settlements to house the 300 workers and their families.
The Ballachulish Medical Practice today stands on the site of the railway station that formed the terminus of a branch line railway running from Connel via Ballachulish Ferry. This opened in 1903 and closed in 1966. Ballachulish now has its own Visitor Centre, which comes complete with ample parking and public conveniences. Just across the road from the visitor centre are the old Ballachulish slate quarries, which now provide scenic walks. There’s no mistaking what they are, but in the half century since they closed, nature has made a start on the task of reclaiming what was once taken from it. The main settlement of Ballachulish is now largely bypassed by the A82, which passes along the Loch Leven side of the village. [2]

The Railway
Construction work on the line started in 1898 and was completed in 1903. This was one of the last branch lines to be built in the UK. [1] The following notes in italics are taken from an on-line article published on the website “Unseen Steam” on the 50th Anniversary of the closure of the line in March 2016. [5] Images used are credited where possible and taken from a variety of sources.

The authorised capital of the new line was £210,000, of which the Caledonian Railway agreed to fund £15,000. There were two major engineering structures required: the viaducts over Loch Etive and Loch Creran at Creagan. The former, constructed by the Arrol Bridge & Roofing Co, was started in 1898. The cantilever bridge that resulted was the second only in length to the Forth Bridge and was the longest steel single-span bridge in Britain.

Construction Drawing – Connel Bridge. [8]

Connel Bridge under construction. [4]

Connel Bridge under construction. [4]

Connel Bridge. [7]

Creagan Railway Bridge, Loch Creran. [6]

The Connel Ferry Bridge, the world’s 2nd largest steel cantilever bridge, Argyllshire, Scotland, opened in 1903. [9]


Although a triangular junction was authorised at Connel Ferry to permit direct Oban-Ballachulish services, in the event the north-west curve was never constructed. Originally both the viaducts had footpaths alongside; however, in order to counter a proposal by MacAlpine Downie to operate a ferry across Loch Etive in 1913, the Callendar &Oban Railway decided to make the railway bridge capable of handling road traffic. This was completed in June 1914 and saw the railway charge tolls for road users crossing the bridge; special signalling ensure the safety of the arrangement.

The 27½-mile long branch opened throughout to passenger services on 28 March 1903. There were intermediate stations at North Connel, Benderloch, Creagan, Appin, Duror, Kentallan and Ballachulish Ferry that opened with the line. Barcaldine Siding (Halt from 1960) followed in 1914; this station was closed during World War 2 and was used for summer services only for a period after reopening postwar. Ballachulish Ferry was to be closed between 1 January 1917 and 1 March 1919 as an economy measure during World War 1. The population of Ballachulish when the line opened was less than 2,000 but quarried stone represented a useful source of freight traffic.

During the summer of 1910 there were three return workings over the branch each day, making a connection with the ferry to and from Kinlochleven. Services ran to and from Oban, with reversal at Connel Ferry. Down services departed from Oban at 8.20am, 11am, 5pm (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only) and 8.30pm (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only; this was the only working that did not connect with the Kinlochleven ferry). Up workings departed at 7.15am, 11.15am and 3.45pm. A single journey from Connel Ferry to Ballachulish took about 70 minutes. There was no service on Sundays.

By the summer of 1947, the final year of the line’s operation by the LMS before Nationalisation in January 1948, there were still only three return workings per weekdays. Departures from Oban were at 8.10am, 12.5pm, 4.pm (except Saturdays) and 8.50pm (Saturdays only). Services departed from Ballachulish at 7.30am, 10.50am, 3.50pm (Saturdays only) and 4pm (except Saturdays). There was no Sunday service. A revised pattern of service was operated by British Railways (Scottish Region) during the period from September 1964 through to June 1965. There were two down departures from Oban, departing at 8.15am and 5pm with a third service starting at Connel Ferry at 12.30pm. The station at North Connel was a request halt for both the 8.15am and 12.30pm services. In the up direction there were departures from Ballachulish at 7.14am (to Oban), 10.40am (to Connel Ferry), 4.20pm (to Oban) and a Saturdays only 6.57pm (to Oban). For all, apart from the 7.14am, the station at North Connel was a request halt.

In terms of motive power over the line, the early years witnessed the operation of three generation of 4-4-0s specifically designed for the C&OR — the ‘Oban bogies’. During the war Class 5 4-6-0s are known to have operated troop trains to Benderloch. In the later years, steam passenger services were dominated by Macintosh-designed ‘19’ class 0-4-4Ts. By the end of 1961, three of the class were based at Oban — Nos 55204/217/260 — but before the final demise of steam over the branch, these were replaced by ex-LMS or BR 2-6-0s. With the dieselisation of the C&OR main line and its branches to Killin and Ballachulish, 45 steam locomotives were replaced by 23 Type 2 diesel-electrics plus four diesel shunters. It was the diesel-electrics that operated the final passenger services over the line to Ballachulish.

Whilst both the Crianlarich-Oban and Crianlarich-Fort William-Mallaig lines were not listed for closure under the Beeching Report of March 1963 — albeit a number of intermediate stations on the former were — the line to Ballachulish was not so fortunate. Passenger traffic ceased over the on 28 March 1966; with freight having ceased in June the previous year, the line was closed completely from that date.

Today many of the structures that once served the line are still extant or have been reused for new purposes. The station at Ballachulish remains, having been converted into a medical centre. Platforms remain extant at Ballachulish Ferry with a section of the line westward having been converted by Sustrans into a cycleway. At Kentallen, the platforms of the station have been incorporated into a new hotel. At Duror, the station has been converted into a private house. The station at Creagan, which was overgrown for many years, has now been restored. The piers of the bridge across Loch Creran at Creagan remain, having been used in the late 1990s for a new bridge for the A828. The bridge at Connel Ferry also survives; following the closure of the line it was converted to take road traffic exclusively. [5]

The Route of the Ballachuliush Branch. [3]

The Connel Bridge

The red ‘x’ on the plan above marks the Connel Bridge which sits just to the north of the Calendar to Oban line. The bridge was the largest cantilever span in Great Britain aside from the Forth Bridge when completed. A truly unique bridge, it features several members positioned in unusual angles and inclines, resulting in a striking appearance that looks ahead of its time and may even call to mind images of modern cable-stayed and steel rigid-frame bridges.
The bridge was originally built as a single-track railway bridge to carry the Callander and Oban Railway. In 1909, a special railway service was added that carried motor vehicles across the bridge, albeit only one car at a time. This unusual arrangement did not last long, however. By 1914, the bridge was reconfigured with a roadway along the western side of the deck and the railway on the east side of the deck. Despite this arrangement, the relatively narrow width of the bridge prevented cars and trains from crossing the bridge at the same time. When a train needed to cross the bridge, the crossing was treated like a grade crossing, with gates to keep cars off the bridge. In 1966, the railway line was closed and bridge was reconfigured as a highway-only bridge, with the rails being removed. The narrow bridge operates as a one-lane bridge, with traffic signals controlling the flow of traffic over the bridge. [8]

The distinctive design of the cantilever truss is due to the configuration of the trusses over the piers. Typically, cantilever trusses have a vertical post, sometimes called the “main post,” located directly over the pier that is also at the deepest section of the truss web. For the Connel Bridge, these posts are instead inclined, not only inward toward the center of the span, but also inward toward the centre of the roadway. As such, the inclined main posts extend out beyond the truss lines to the pier below, giving the bridge a bowed out appearance when viewed from certain angles. The inclined posts also mean that the deepest “tower” section of the truss is located not over the pier, but partway into the central span of the truss. [8]

The inclined main post is countered by what engineering periodicals described as a “back strut” extending from the bearing on the piers back to the abutment at the roadway level. The back struts angle out to meet the main post locations outside of the truss lines, adding to the bowed out appearance of the bridge. The end post of the truss, also inclined, extends all the way to the main post of the truss, meaning there is no upper chord for this entire length, an unusual design that gives the bridge a striking appearance when approached on the road. If the end post, the main post, and the back strut at each end of the bridge are looked at as a single shape, the bridge has the appearance of two giant triangles resting on their apex at the piers. Another unusual detail of the truss is found at the deck level, where a beam that may look like a lower chord of the truss to casual viewers also angles out to meet the inclined main post at the roadway level, and was described as an “outer boom” in engineering periodicals. [8]

This bridge used steel from a large variety of companies and mills. Numerous names can be found on the steel and are documented in the enormous detail in the photo gallery available for this bridge.[8]

The bridge crosses the Falls of Lora, turbulent rapids that are strongly affected by tidal flows. This is one of the reasons a cantilever truss bridge was constructed at this location. it could be erected over the waterway without the use of falsework in the fast-flowing rapids.

The Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1903 had an obituary for Thomas Arthur Arrol the builder of this bridge. Thomas Arthur Arrol should not be confused with the more famous Sir William Arrol, who also built bridges.

Thomas Arthur Arrol was born in Glasgow on the 24th August, 1852, and was educated at the Collegiate and High Schools of Glasgow, and at the Glasgow University. He served his time as an engineer with Messrs P. & W. MacLellan and remained in their service till he became general manager. After spending a few months in the United States he returned to his native city and entered into partnership with his brother, the late Mr James Cameron Arrol. Together they founded the Germiston Works, at which roof and bridge building and general engineering were carried on until 1892.

The concern was subsequently converted into a Limited Company under the designation of Arrol’s Bridge & Roof Co., Ltd., with Mr T. Arthur Arrol as managing director. Under his supervision many important contracts were successfully carried out, and among others in hand at the time of his death were those for the Connel Ferry Bridge, which is the second largest cantilever bridge in Europe; the Larkhall and Stonehouse viaducts for the Caledonian Railway; and the transporter bridge across the Mersey at Runcorn, which is the first of its kind in Britain. He died suddenly at Aberdeen on 29th October, 1902. Mr. Arrol joined the Institution as a Member in 1875, and took an active interest in its affairs. He was a Member of Council for Sessions 1882-84, and a Vice-President for Sessions 1884-86. He was again elected a Member of Council in April, 1901. [8]

A striking overhead image from Google Earth showing the bridge and the Falls of Lora.

Immediately north of the bridge the railway entered the first railway station on the Branch. Road and rail first had to separate and the railway then entered North Connel railway station which was adjacent to Oban Airport.

A train approaches the bridge from the north. [10]

A train leaves the bridge and heads towards North Connel Station. [4]

This video was sent tome in January 2020 by Chris Deuchar with permission to share it in this article. It shows both the area around Connel Bridge and a car journey over the bridge. [12]

1955: North Connel. (Photo by Raymond Kleboe/Picture Post/Getty Images)

Further North the line followed the line of what is now the A828. The original road north ius now an access road for Oban Airport.

The roads crossed the line just south of North Connel Station and dropped down to meet the roads on the north side of Loch Etive before passing under the line in a westerly direction. The road then turned sharply to the north and passed over the line on a bridge at South Ledaig.

The old road and the railway ran parallel to each other heading north through North Ledaig and on to the next station at Benderloch.

Approaching Benderloch the two ran immediately next to each other as can be seen on the adjacent OS Map.

The station at Benderloch was laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There were sidings on both sides of the line. There was a large two story station house in the style typical of the line, one of which still remains at Duror. There was also a standard design signal box.

The south bound track was the faster line with the north bound track forming the loop. Goods facilities/sidings were to the south of the station. The station was attractive and appears to have been cared for well.

Benderloch Station. [11]

Benderloch Station taken from a north bound train. [4]

Benderloch Station taken from the south with a branch goods heading towards Connel Ferry. [4]

References

1. Evan Green-Hughes; Ballachulish; Hornby Magazine Issue 61, July 2012, p44-46

2. https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ballachulish/ballachulish/index.html, accessed on 1st January 2019.

3. https://www.railscot.co.uk/companies/B/Ballachulish_Branch_Callander_and_Oban_Railway, accessed on 1st January 2019.

4. http://oldappin.com/ballachulish-railway-line, accessed on 1st January 2019.

5. http://www.unseensteam.co.uk/News-spotlight/Ballachulish-closure, accessed on 1st January 2019.

6. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1589044, accessed on 1st January 2019.

7. https://www.westcoasttours.co.uk/blog/2016/connel-bridge-and-the-falls-of-lora, accessed on 1st January 2019.

8. https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=unitedkingdom/connelbridgeconnelbridge, accessed on 1st January 2019.

9. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Media-Storehouse-Poster-Connel-4331400/dp/B07BB5HMYH, accessed on 1st January 2019.

10. http://www.myrailwaystation.co.uk/FORMER%20LOCATIONS/pages/NORTH%20CONNEL%20STATION_%20With%20the%20station%20behind,%20the%20train%20crosses%20the%20road%20before%20moving%20on%20to%20the%20bridge_jpg.htm, accessed on 1st January 2019.

11. http://ardchattan.wikidot.com/benderloch-station, accessed on 1st January 2019.

12. https://vimeo.com/324830517, accessed on 15th January 2019.

The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway – 3

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The Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway[1] was opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-Under-Lyne.

The company was formed in 1835 and it appointed Charles Vignoles as its engineer.[2] A route was proposed which required a 2 mile long tunnel and passed through Woodhead and Penistone. Vignoles and Joseph Locke[3] were asked to make independent surveys and in October met to reconcile any differences. Their meeting resulted in the decision to build a longer tunnel so as to lessen the gradients needed on the line.

The line obtained its Act of Incorporation in Parliament in 1837 and work on the tunnel started. Vignoles arranged for the boring of a series of vertical shafts followed by a horizontal driftway along the line of the first bore. Enough land was purchased for two tunnels but it was only intended to build one at first.

A ceremony was held on 1st October 1838 at the west end of the tunnel at which ground was disturbed for the first time. In 1839 work was progressing well with Thomas Brassey as contractor. However Vignoles was not relating well to the company’s board and he resigned. Joseph Locke agreed to act in a consultative capacity if the Board would appoint resident engineers for the day to day supervision of the work.

In 1841 Locke reported that the tunnel would probably cost £207,000, about twice the original estimate, because the amount of water encountered required the purchase of more powerful pumps. By this time a length of the line was open for business from Godley to a temporary Manchester terminus at Travis Street.

In 1842, Manchester Store Street (now Piccadilly) was brought into use and at the eastern end the line had linked to Broadbottom and Glossop.

By 1844, the western end of the Woodhead tunnel had been reached.

In 1845 the eastern section of the line in Yorkshire was opened between Dunford Bridge and Sheffield. The tunnel was finally ready for inspection in December 1845 and after it was approved the formal opening of the line took place on 22nd December that year.

Besides Woodhead, there were short tunnels at Audenshaw Road, Hattersley (two), Thurgoland and Bridgehouses. Among the bridges the two most notable were the Etherow Viaduct and the Dinting Vale Viaduct, the latter with five central and eleven approach arches. The line initially terminated at a temporary station at Bridgehouses until Sheffield Victoria was built in 1851.Dinting Vale Viaduct – at the top, the original viaduct, at the bottom, the later replacement.

While the line was being built, the directors were looking at ways to extend it. They had hoped to connect to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, but their approach to the board of that line was rejected. Eventually they secured a relationship with the London and Birmingham Railway which enabled the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway to be put before Parliament in 1845. That line was not completed for some years.

The Ashton to Stalybridge branch which had been part if the original scheme was completed in 1845. And in the same year a branch was built to Glossop itself, which needed no Act, since it was financed by the Duke of Norfolk and ran over his land, the original Glossop station was renamed Dinting.

In 1844 representatives of the proposed Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway made plans for a line from Sheffield to Gainsborough. Plans were also made for the Barnsley Junction Railway to connect Oxspring with Royston on the North Midland Railway.

The directors of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway realised that expansion was best achieved by amalgamating with other lines, after the pattern being set by the Midland under George Hudson.

In 1845, they gained shareholders approval for the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway,[4] the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway,[5] and also the proposed Barnsley Junction Railway.[6] They would also lease the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company.[7]

The board also contemplated:

• a line from Dukinfield to New Mills connecting with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_and_Birmingham_Railway)
• an extension of the Barnsley Junction to Pontefract joining the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway.
• The Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway.

In September 1845 agreement was reached in a meeting in Normanton, agreement was reached to amalgamate with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway and the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Railway. Further amalgamations included the Grimsby Docks Company Railway and an attempt to take over the East Lincolnshire Railway which was planned between Grimsby and Lincoln, although ultimately that was taken over by the Great Northern.

The merger received royal assent in July 1846 and the combined company was formed at the beginning of 1847. The line became the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.[8]

 

References

1. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Sheffield,_Ashton-under-Lyne_and_Manchester_Railway, accessed 9th March 2018.

2. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Charles_Vignoles, accessed 10th March 2018.

3. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Joseph_Locke, accessed 10th March 2018.

4. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester,_South_Junction_and_Altrincham_Railway

5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_and_Lincolnshire_Junction_Railway, accessed 10th March 2018.

6. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1793638, accessed 10th March 2018.

7. https://www.railscot.co.uk/Huddersfield_and_Manchester_Railway_and_Canal_Company/index.php, accessed 10th March 2018.

8. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester,_Sheffield_and_Lincolnshire_Railway, accessed 10th March 2018.

The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway – 2

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The following are links to information about the line which became part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1847:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield,_Ashton-under-Lyne_and_Manchester_Railway

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/Sheffield_Ashton-under-Lyne_and_Manchester_Railway/index.php

 

The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway – 1

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I am reading a book by Bill Laws: “Fifty Railways that Changed the Course of
History” published by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, UK, 2013 ISBN-13:978-1-4463-0290-3.

The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway features as the 17th of these and particularly for the construction of the Woodhead Tunnel. This was a project that exposed one particular company’s shocking attitude to the safety of its workers and it provided some significant impetus to campaigns for better working conditions for navvies.

“When the early transport ships bearing British miscreants to New South Wales landed in Australia, hundreds had perished during the voyage. The prisoners, including a few of those disreputable railway labourers, notorious for their hard drinking and fighting, were so crammed into the ships’ holds that they died. The British government ordered that, in future, the charterers be held responsible for the convicts’ well-being. It produced immediate results. The transporters, paid a bonus for every prisoner safely landed, now took care of their cargo,” (p72).

However, this principle of responsibility for one’s workers was usually ignore by Victorian entrepreneurs and business leaders: “What use had a mill owner for some eight-year-old girl who, through her own carelessness, lost her hand in a machine? Why should a railway company be responsible for a navvy’s family, when the man died, dead drunk, in a tunnel collapse? And why should the shareholder, risking his capital on such a brave enterprise as the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway Company’s plan to tunnel under the Pennines, have to mollycoddle workers who were being paid to do their job?” (p72/73).

Wellington Purdon, who was assistant engineer on the tunnel, was asked by a government enquiry if it was not wiser to use safety fuses while blasting rock He replied, “Perhaps it is: but it is attended with such a loss of time, and the difference is so very small, I would not recommend the loss of time for the sake of all the extra lives it would save, ” (p73).

Purdon’s comments revealed how little the railway companies valued their workers. The enquiry and Purdon’s comments should have changed the course of industrial history. Instead, Parliament shelved the enquiry’s report.

Edwin Chadwick

In 1845 the first train through the completed Woodhead Tunnel was met by a celebration. However, the social reformer Edwin Chadwick did not celebrate for he had calculated that the rate of attrition on the contract to build the tunnel was the equivalent of losses incurred in war. “With 32 killed and 140 injured, the casualty rate was higher than in the Battles of Waterloo” (p73).

The navvies on the Woodhead Tunnel paid to keep their own doctor on hand, Henry Pomfret. “The chief engineer, Wellington Purdon’s boss was Charles B. Vignoles who was also a share­holder in the railway company. When the contract ran over time and over budget, the job bankrupted him. The pioneering engineer Joseph Locke took over as more than a thousand labourers hewed away at the muck and mud from seven different shafts, one at each end and five vertical shafts from above, with pick, shovel and explosives. It was obvious to Locke that the only way to complete the project was to drive the men like animals and, if questioned, lie” (p73/74).

The job took six years to complete. When it came to an end Dr. Pomfret talked to his friend Dr. Roberton, who, inturn talked to Edwin Chadwick. “In January 1846 Chadwick delivered a paper to the Manchester Statistical Society: The Demoralization and Injuries Occasioned by Want of Proper Regulations of Labourers Engaged in the Construction and Works of Railways. Despite the exhausting title, the contents were as volatile as navvies’ explosives. They revealed how injured men were forced to fend for themselves, how most workers lived in homemade hovels (occasioning an outbreak of cholera) through the worst of the Pennine winters. Chadwick exposed the practice of not paying wages for several weeks and then paying them in public bars. The pubs encouraged the navvies to drink their wages, while delayed payments forced them onto the truck system, a version of the company store principle that kept the men and their families in hock to the railway company. (The truck was already outlawed in Britain, but the statute, laid down before the railway rush, had not specified railway workers.) Chadwick showed how the reputation of the average navvy as a feckless, reckless drunk was a direct result of the industry plying him with booze instead of provid­ing him with proper food and housing” (p75).

“The rail company and the engineers denied the charges against them. Nevertheless, the government inquiry in July 1846 recommended extending the Truck Act to the railways, making the companies responsible for the health, welfare and accommodation of their navvies and, most important of all, putting the liability for deaths or injuries on the company. The Members of Parliament also insisted that men should be paid weekly, and in cash, not in tokens for the truck. The inquiry report was never even debated” (p75).

However, “although no railway man was censured over the Wood-head Tunnel scandal, Chadwick’s efforts were not in vain. His correla­tion between losses on the battlefield and those on the railways caught the public imagination and in future, when navvies were killed, the press was quick to take up the story” (p75).

Woodhead Tunnel is infamous for the loss of life during its construction, but it is nothing compared to the massive loss of life associated with many colonial railways in Asia, Africa and South America.