Wombourne branch line

The Wombourne branch (also known as the Wolverhampton and Kingswinford Railway) was a railway situated in the English West Midlands. It branched from the Great Western Railway's Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton line at Kingswinford Junction to the north of Brettell Lane railway station and joined the same company's Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line at the triangular Oxley Junction on the north-western approach to Wolverhampton Low Level.
Construction and traffic.
The southern section of the branch, known as the Kingswinford branch, began as a goods-only single track line serving local collieries and brickworks. The first 1 miles from Kingswinford Junction to Bromley Basin opened in November 1858 at which time it was still part of the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. Following amalgamation with the GWR, the branch extended northwards in stages and by the late 1800s had reached Himley. A pre-First World War Railway Operating appendix still referred to the Kingswingford Branch Line as a 3 mile single track line used for goods and mineral traffic only.
The GWR (New Railway) Act of 1905 authorised the construction of a line from Oxley to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway, to be joined by an extension from the Kingswinford branch at Himley. This scheme was revised by the 1913 GWR Act which postponed the Bridgnorth extension and authorised construction of the Wombourne branch direct from Oxley Junction to Kingswinford Junction, including upgrading the existing Kingswinford branch. The main stations were to be at Tettenhall, Wombourn and Himley with a number of smaller halts.
Construction of the new line began in 1913, but work was halted within three years following the outbreak of World War I. After the war ended in 1918, construction resumed. The 1924 GWR Additional Powers Act which sought to extend the date for opening to 1925 also renewed the authorisation for the postponed Bridgnorth extension. The Wombourne Branch opened for passenger traffic in May 1925, but passenger numbers proved disappointing and services were discontinued in 1932 after just seven years. The Bridgnorth extension was never completed.
Closure.
The line between Kingswinford and Tettenhall remained open to goods trains until 24 June 1965, though the branch which served Baggeridge Colliery survived until the closure of that facility on 2 March 1968. This meant that the line had been open for just over half a century when it closed. Its viability was not helped by the fact that it served a predominantly rural area.
The final remaining section of the line continued to serve the Pensnett Trading Estate, developed since around 1970, until that section of railway closed in 1994. The line is now singled and heavily overgrown with vegetation and even mature trees, but most it is still in place and there have been many recent suggestions that this final stub of the line will re-open to serve the Pensnett Trading Estate once again.
The line today.
The section north of Pensnett closed is now utilised as -
In December 2019, it was announced a survey would commence on reopening the Stourbridge to Brierley Hill line to passenger services. Among the survey is a proposed extension to Pensnett. This would reuse the mothballed section to Gornal. This would be a partial reopening of the Wombourne Branch Line. However it is no planned to reopen back to Wolverhampton.


Leicester and Swannington Railway

The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&S) was one of England's first railways, being opened on 17 July 1832 to bring coal from collieries in west Leicestershire to Leicester.
Overview.
The construction of the railway was a pivotal moment in the transport history of East Midlands, which was characterised by fierce rivalry between the coalmasters of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Through the latter half of the eighteenth century, the Leicestershire miners, using horses and carts, had been at a disadvantage compared to those in Nottinghamshire, who had access to the Erewash Canal and the Soar Navigation. In 1794 the latter was extended to Leicester. A branch – the Charnwood Forest Canal – opened up the Leicester trade but, in 1799, part of it collapsed, closing it.
In 1828 William Stenson observed the success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and, with John Ellis, and his son Robert, travelled to see George Stephenson where he was building the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson visited Leicester on their invitation and agreed to become involved. The first meeting to discuss the line was held at the Bell Inn in Leicester, where subscriptions amounting to £58,250 were raised. The remainder of the £90,000 was raised through Stephenson's financial contacts in Liverpool. The line obtained the Royal Assent in 1830 and the first part opened in 1832.
The line was only the fifth such line to be authorised, opening six years before the London and Birmingham, and required techniques, particularly for the tunnel, that were then virtually untried. Its success led to the initial moves by the Nottinghamshire miners towards a rail connection from the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway down the Erewash Valley which eventually became the Midland Counties Railway.
Construction.
The engineer for the railway was Robert Stephenson, with the assistance of Thomas Miles, while his father raised much of the capital for the line from friends in Liverpool.
Like other early railways, it followed canal practice in that it consisted of essentially level sections linked by inclines (taking the place of the canal's locks), where the trains were drawn up and lowered down by rope. Even so, it featured some quite heavy earthworks. From a station and coal wharf alongside the Soar Navigation at West Bridge on the west side of the Fosse Way in Leicester, it headed northwards for about a mile, before passing through the long tunnel at Glenfield, to the valley of the Rothley Brook. It proceeded about five miles to Desford, then swung north west towards Bagworth.
The original Bagworth station was at the foot of a 1 in 29 self-acting inclined plane to the summit at . Then the line passed through a cutting at Battleflat before reaching Bardon Hill and on to Long Lane where new collieries were opened. Beyond Long Lane the railway descended by a further inclined plane of 1 in 17 to the existing coal mines at Swannington and an end on connection with the Coleorton Tramway, which linked to further coal mines and limestone quarries. The track was to be single throughout.
Construction began almost immediately, but soon ran into trouble, particularly with the tunnel. Initial boring had suggested that it would not need a lining. However, it turned out that some would be through porous sandstone. During its construction in 1831 the contractor, Daniel Jowett, fell down a working shaft and was killed.
The low power of contemporary steam engines meant that where the gradient was steepest, locomotive haulage gave way to other means. As was common in those days, "There were two inclines on the line: one at Bagworth, rising at 1 in 29 towards Swannington and worked by gravity; and a much steeper though shorter one at the Swannington end, descending at 1 in 17 and worked by stationary engine ..." The latter was built by the Horsely Coal and Iron Company, and was equipped with a very early example of a piston valve.
Early operation.
The first part of the line opened on 17 July 1832 with a train hauled by "Comet", driven by George Stephenson himself, with driver Weatherburn, from Leicester to the first Bagworth station at the foot of Bagworth incline. The locomotive's high chimney was knocked down by Glenfield Tunnel, due to the track having been packed up too high. It is said that the train stopped so that the passengers could wash themselves in the nearby Rothley Brook.
Difficulties remained with the cutting at Battleflat and the remainder of the line to Swannington did not open until 1833.
By the end of 1833 the line was delivering coal from Whitwick, Ibstock and Bagworth collieries far more cheaply than could be done from the Erewash Valley.
The expansion of the coal trade transformed the area, even giving rise to a new town at Long Lane - Coalville. George Stephenson himself settled at Ravenstone, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch and, with his son Robert, opened a colliery at Snibston in 1833. He was commemorated by the inclusion of the red fleur de lys in the arms of the former Ashby de la Zouch Rural District Council.
The usual train consisted of twenty-four wagons of 32 cwt each. The idea that there would be a demand from passengers came a something of a surprise to the directors, but a carriage was hastily built, and very soon the line was carrying about 60 passengers a day and their fares were repaying one per cent of the capital. In time, both first and second class was provided. On payment of the fare at the departure station, each passenger would receive a metal token marked with the destination. This would be given up on arrival and reused. Small four-wheeled wagons and coaches, painted plain blue, comprised the rolling stock.[1]
For many years facilities for passengers remained primitive, with local inns and tiny cabins serving as booking offices and passenger carriages being attached to goods trains. There was no platform at West Bridge until a new passenger station was opened there in 1839 to handle the passenger trains that had been introduced six years earlier.
Glenfield tunnel was only the second tunnel in the World on a passenger railway, having shortly followed the opening of one on the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. It proved an attraction for the inquisitive and had to be fitted with gates.
Meanwhile, devastated by the loss of their Leicester trade, the Erewash coalmasters met at the George Inn at Alfreton and decided to build their own line to Leicester, down the Erewash Valley from the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway, a tramway which had been built in 1819. Though not completed along its full length until much later, this was the beginning of the Midland Counties Railway, which in turn, became a founding partner in the Midland Railway.
Private connecting railways.
Groby Granite Railway.
This branch opened in July 1832, on the same day as the Leicester and Swannington. It joined the Leicester and Swannington at a point about halfway between Glenfield and Ratby. The original junction was by turntable into a loop siding off the Leicester and Swannington running line. The branch ceased use around 1843, but re-opened around 1866–1870. At around the time it as re-opened, a proper running junction with sidings was put in place.
The branch ran approximately northward for over three miles, to the Old Groby Quarry, close to the centre of Groby village. Part of the old quarry site is now the site of the Druck factory. Later extensions linked to other quarries in and near Groby: the Castle Hill Quarry (after 1870), the Bunney Hill Quarry, the Sheet Hedges Wood Quarry (1890s), and the Dowry Quarry (1907 to 1916).
The wagons were not hauled by locomotives. There was a winding system at the summit of the hill beside the Ratby Road, powered by a steam-powered stationary engine. This drew the loaded wagons from the quarries. From there, they ran downhill by gravity to the junction with Leicester and Swannington, speed being controlled by a brakesman. Two horses were aboard for the downhill journey. Steam locomotives on the Leicester and Swannington then hauled then loaded wagons to Leicester West Bridge, whence the granite was conveyed by canal to London and other places. The horses were used to pull empty wagons back up from the junction to the winding station at the Ratby Road summit.
Bagworth Colliery Branch.
Opened July 1832.
Nailstone Colliery Branch.
Opened 1866.
Ibstock Colliery Branch.
Opened 1832.
Ellistown Colliery Branch.
Opened circa 1875–1876.
Long Lane (Whitwick) Colliery Branch.
Opened 1833
Snibston Colliery Branches.
Three branches, opened between 1833 and circa 1850.
Locomotives.
Five locomotives were built by Robert Stephenson and Company for the line. The first was "Comet", shipped from the works by sea to Hull and thence by canal, its first trip being on the opening day in 1832, when it is alleged its 13-foot high chimney was knocked down by Glenfield Tunnel. The second engine, "Phoenix", was delivered in 1832; both had four-coupled wheels. "Phoenix" was sold in 1835 to work in the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway. The next were "Samson" and "Goliath", delivered in 1833. They were initially four-coupled, but were extremely unstable and a pair of trailing wheels were added. This 0-4-2 formation was also used for "Hercules," the next engine to enter service. These were the first six-wheeled goods engines with inside cylinders and, after the flanges were taken off the centre pairs of wheels, were so satisfactory, that Stephenson decided never to build another four-wheeled engine.
Whistle.
According to Clement Stretton, on almost its first run, at Thornton crossing, "Samson" collided with a horse and cart on its way to Leicester Market with a load of butter and eggs. Although the engine had a horn, it clearly was not loud enough, and at the suggestion of Mr. Bagster, the manager, the engines were provided with the first steam whistles.
However, in C. R. Clinker's account of the Leicester and Swannington Railway it states that the Minutes of Directors' meetings record accidents, some trivial. There is no reference to this collision in the Minutes, nor to any payments made for claims for damages or to a "musical instrument maker". Trade directories of Leicester for the time do not include an instrument maker in King Street.
0-6-0 Design.
By 1834, traffic had increased to such an extent that more powerful engines were needed and the next to be delivered was "Atlas," the first ever six-coupled 0-6-0 inside cylinder design. Although inside cylinders were more difficult to build and maintain, and, in the early days, prone to breakage of the crank axles, the engines were more stable than their outside cylindered counterparts. The design was so successful that it was the basic pattern for many goods engines over the next hundred years. The cramped space between the wheels, was a factor in the choice of a wider gauge in some railways overseas.
So far all the engines had been provided by Stephenson, but the directors decided to try one of Edward Bury's locomotives. Stephenson was, of course, extremely influential in the running of the line, but agreed provided the Bury engine was tested fairly. Accordingly, the "Liverpool" arrived in 1834. An 0-4-0, it proved unequal to the loads hauled by "Atlas." The next engine bought for the line was "Vulcan," an 0-6-0 by Tayleur and Company. The last two were by the Haigh Foundry, "Ajax", 0-4-2 and "Hector", 0-6-0. This last engine was so powerful that it became the pattern for engines built for the Manchester and Leeds Railway, the North Midland Railway, the Great Western Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Takeover.
Coal and quarry traffic made the line profitable, but with increasing competition, various schemes were afoot, including incorporation into the Trent Valley line with a branch from Atherstone and Polesworth via Market Bosworth, for which Leicestershire Record Office has deposited plans, as a group of Leicester and Tamworth financiers had expressed an interest in buying the line. However, in August 1845 the directors sold out to the Midland Railway, which lost no time in improving the line.
Safety concerns prevented passenger trains using the Bagworth Incline. The practice was to provide separate trains for each of the level stretches and passengers would walk between them. A deviation on an easier gradient was therefore built, necessitating the closure of the original Bagworth station at the bottom of the incline and the opening of the new Bagworth and Ellistown station beyond the summit.
Moreover, the intention was to double the line and rather than widen the Glenfield Tunnel a deviation was built from Desford to meet the main line south of Leicester London Road station. The old line to West Bridge would remain mainly as a goods line.
The line was also extended westwards to Burton upon Trent, so transforming the isolated venture into a through route.
This left the Swannington Incline as a branch at one end, and the last few miles to the L&S terminal in Leicester as another.
20th and 21st centuries.
Passenger trains on the stub to Leicester (West Bridge) ended in September 1928, although coal and oil traffic continued until 29 April 1966. Since Glenfield tunnel had limited clearance the Midland Railway built a batch of 6-wheel coaches of lower height and 4 inches narrower than normal to work through. They also had bars over their windows so that passengers could not lean out when going through the tunnel.
For enthusiast railtours in later years over the line to West Bridge passengers were carried in brake vans; trains with normal passenger stock had to stop and reverse at Glenfield tunnel. The tunnel also limited the size of locomotives that could work through to West Bridge. In the latter years only Midland Railway Johnson 0-6-0 tender locos worked the trains.
The last three veterans of this class from the late 19th century were retained at Coalville until 1964 specifically for working this line. They were replaced for the last couple of years operation by two BR standard class 2 2-6-0 locomotives which had to be specially adapted by having their cabs cut down to clear the tunnel. These were 78013 and 78028.
The pits at the Swannington end were worked out by as early as 1875, but the incline found a new lease of life lowering wagons of coal to a new pumping station at the foot that kept the old workings clear of water, so preventing flooding in the newer mines nearby. The incline closed in 1948 when electric pumps were installed in the pumping station, but the winding engine was dismantled and is now at the National Railway Museum at York. The site of the incline now belongs to the Swannington Heritage Trust.
Passenger trains on the extended line from Leicester London Road to Burton on Trent ceased in 1964. Despite the end of coal mining in west Leicestershire in the 1980s, which resulted in the end of the coal trains, the railway continues to serve two granite quarries, at Stud Farm near Markfield and Bardon Hill, which produce regular heavy trains. A plan to reopen the line to passenger traffic as a phase of the Ivanhoe Line scheme has so far failed to secure the necessary funds. Some campaigners now refer to the route as the National Forest Line, after the National Forest planted in the area since 1990.
Remains.
This is a list of some of the historical remains that can be seen, most of which are on the closed sections of the line.
A short length of platform has been rebuilt on the site of the second passenger station (of 1893) at West Bridge in Leicester, and has track alongside it and a semaphore signal, . From here the trackbed is now a public footpath for about a mile towards Glenfield tunnel, to .
A wooden lifting bridge, based on a design by Robert Stephenson, originally carrying a short branch over the Soar Navigation at West Bridge in Leicester, had been reconstructed next to the entrance of Snibston Discovery Park in Coalville, after spending some years installed on a footpath outside the Abbey Pumping Station in Leicester. However, following the closure of the Discovery Park in July 2015 the bridge has been removed.
A public footpath in Glenfield passes close to the western entrance to Glenfield tunnel, , which has been bricked up. The eastern entrance to the tunnel has been buried, while the tunnel as a whole was sold to Leicester city council for the nominal sum of £5, though the council has never decided what use to make of it. The tops of several brick ventilator shafts can be seen among the houses of the estate above the tunnel, for example beside the A563 at ; some are in the back gardens of the houses.
The tunnel itself underwent in 2008 a retrofit to install strengthening rings that are hoped to prevent a collapse of the extant tunnel shaft. The £500,000 reinforcement project was commissioned by the Leicester city council and was recorded by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and photographed by the Leicestershire Industrial History Society. Occasional "open days" are held for organised groups.
From the centre of Glenfield, , the trackbed has been converted to a public footpath to Ratby, , where there is a commemorative plaque next to a short length of rail.
Most of the incline at Bagworth, now bypassed by a deviation line, is a public footpath, at top to near bottom, though its profile has been affected by mining subsidence. Near the top was the bow-fronted incline-keeper's house, , see photograph near the top of this page. Although this was probably the oldest surviving railway building in the East Midlands, and a grade-two listed building, it was allowed to fall down to become an overgrown pile of bricks after, on a recommendation from English Heritage, the Department of the Environment struck Incline Cottage from the listed building register.
At Coalville the original building for passengers to buy tickets is now a children's nursery beside the level crossing, .
The incline at Swannington is under the supervision of the Swannington Heritage Trust and the track bed down the incline has been opened as a footpath with information boards. The foundations of the engine house at the top of the incline, , have been uncovered and about of track laid have been relaid. The historic winding engine was removed from here after the inclined closed to the National Railway Museum at York.
The central part of the line from Desford to Bardon Hill, on the outskirts of Coalville, is still used daily by the stone trains and can be observed from bridges, level crossings, and footpaths.
Motive power depot.
British Railways closed Mantle Lane depot at Coalville in 1990. Its "Category A" status was a clerical error, and was in fact a "Category C". This BR depot was unusual in having no fueling points, fitters or any other shed facilities. Locomotives would be taken in ferries to nearby Bardon or Leicester for refueling, water and sandbox filling. This perhaps shows why it was a surprise to find it as an A listed depot. Little remains at the site which hints at its formerly busy railway past. Two tracks remain where once lay four 'on shed' as it were. The Mantle Lane Sidings are overgrown with saplings that are now more than 20 years old and only a short stretch is usable from the points on the main line before the trees encroach the track.
FM Rail, shortly before its bankruptcy, leased the Mantle Lane Sidings to reduce costs. However, it had not properly assessed the state of the sidings or the work needed to bring them up to spec so only one line was ever used, up to the edge of the trees. Only one tree was ever felled, to allow a wagon to sit a yard or so further in. Following FM's demise, all of its stock at Mantle Lane was taken elsewhere for scrap or further use.
Network Rail recently replaced point mechanisms on the loop and relief lines near to the sidings, which had been out of use for 20 years until FM arrived, and Freightliner now stables its stone wagons here between trips. The former Marcroft Wagon Repair yard is now a wood yard and currently for sale. Viewing on Google Earth shows some clear grooves in the site where rails once ran. All that remains at Mantle Lane is the signalbox, still in use.
Earlier proposed railways.
The first mention of the term "railway" in a newspaper was in "The Times" and the "Derby Mercury" in 1790. At a meeting held in Leicester Castle on 12 July 1790 to discuss making the River Soar navigable to Loughborough, it was also suggested that a cut or a railway from Swannington to Loughborough Basin should be built.


List of Yorkshire railways

This is a list of Yorkshire Railways. Most were absorbed by larger railway companies which ended with two of the constituents of The Big Four (London Midland Scottish & London and North Eastern Railway) operating in the Yorkshire & Humber area. These companies were created under the Railways Act 1921 and the act came into effect on 1 January 1923. The Big Four existed for 25 years before being nationalized on 1 January 1948 under the Transport Act 1947.
Some lines escaped being nationalized such as the Derwent Valley Light Railway and the Middleton Railway in Leeds. The latter line's use as a coal railway for the National Coal Board was enough to prevent it being becoming part of the British Rail network.
Privatisation in 1994 onwards has seen the railway ownership pass from British Rail to Railtrack and then onto Network Rail.
Whilst all of these railways are in Yorkshire and the Humber, most of the bigger companies had concerns that stretched far outside of the scope of this list (Midland Railway, Great Central Railway, LNER, etc) into other regions.


Flying Dutchman (train)

The Flying Dutchman was a named passenger train service from London Paddington to . It ran from 1849 until 1892, originally over the Great Western Railway (GWR) and then the Bristol and Exeter Railway. As the GWR expanded, the destination of the train changed to and briefly to .
Early history.
The name "Flying Dutchman" has a convoluted history. In common with many steam and diesel locomotives such as a London and North Eastern Railway A1s and British Rail class 55 'Deltic', the "Flying Dutchman" was named after The Flying Dutchman, a famous racehorse, which had won both the Derby and St. Leger in 1849. The racehorse was in turn named after the famous Dutch Admiral Tromp.
In 1845 the 09:30 morning express train between London Paddington and was taking 5 hours with stops at , Bath, Bristol and , this being reduced to 4½ hours during that year. In 1848 the train, now the 09:50 from London Paddington, covered the 53.1 miles to Didcot in 55 minutes, setting a world record start-to-stop average of 57.9 mph. The return train was the 11:45 from Exeter. In 1849, the Train took on the name "Flying Dutchman", and added a stop at Chippenham without extending the overall journey time. The up train time was changed to 12:30 which gave an arrival at Paddington of 17:00.
In the 1850s performance deteriorated, but the introduction of a service from London Waterloo to Exeter Queen Street (now Exeter Central) in 4¾ hours by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1862 resulted in the down "Flying Dutchman" being retimed to leave Paddington at 11:45 with the 1840s journey time of 4½ hours being restored. This was, however, a brief interlude and soon the time to Exeter has stretched to 5 hours and 5 minutes. At this time the train left Paddington with 7 coaches. Two were detached at Swindon; one for Weymouth and the other for Cheltenham, and after detaching 2 more at Newton Abbot for Torquay the remaining three coaches worked through to Plymouth. By 1867 things had got so bad for the GWR that the "Flying Dutchman" ceased running, being cancelled in October of that year.
Latter years.
The "Flying Dutchman" began running again in 1869, taking 4¾ hours from Paddington to Exeter, but this was accelerated in 1871 when the LSWR began a service taking 4½ hours from London Waterloo; the "Flying Dutchman" was now taking 4¼ hours to Exeter and 6¼ hours to Plymouth, and during the summer was extending to Penzance although taking an extra 3 hours. By 1876 the LSWR, in extending their main line to Plymouth, introduced a train that reached Exeter in 4 hours and Plymouth in 6 hours 38 minutes, and also carrying third class passengers in contrast to the GWR express which only carried First and Second class passengers. In 1879 the "Flying Dutchman", still running on the broad gauge, was equalled by a new standard gauge train; the 15:00 from Paddington, which also carried third class passengers; third class was finally introduced to the "Flying Dutchman" in 1890. The last run of the "Flying Dutchman", still Broad gauge, was on 29 May 1892; the 11:45 from Paddington the following day was a standard gauge express train, but not distinguished by any name.


Camp Hill Line

The Camp Hill line is a railway line in Birmingham which lies between Kings Norton on the Cross-City Line and Birmingham New Street via Grand Junction on the main lines from and .
Local passenger services on the line were ended in the 1940s, and the intermediate stations on the line were closed; since then it has been used by freight trains and some longer distance passenger trains only. There are currently plans to restore local services to the line via new chords connecting the line to Birmingham Moor Street.
History.
The Camp Hill Line originated as part of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) which was opened from Gloucester to a temporary terminus at in December 1840, in August the following year the line was extended into Curzon Street the then main station in Birmingham; with the original Camp Hill terminus becoming a goods station, which it remained until 1966. The terminus later switched from Curzon Street to Birmingham New Street station in 1854. The B&GR itself was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1845.
In 1861 a junction was constructed at Bordesley, creating a north to south-east connection from the Camp Hill Line to the Great Western Railway's main line to Oxford and London (now known as the Chiltern Main Line) which remains in use, and allows trains from Oxford and beyond to run into Birmingham New Street via the Camp Hill Line.
In 1864 a 'direct' line was opened between St Andrews and Landor Street Junctions at the north end of the Camp Hill Line, connecting it to the Midland Railway's line to Derby. From this date Midland expresses from Derby to Bristol ran via this route to Camp Hill, where portions of the train bound for Birmingham New Street would be detached or attached from the train. As both the Midland Railway lines from Derby and Bristol approached New Street from the east, this arrangement avoided the need for them to reverse at New Street. This arrangement persisted until 1885 when the Birmingham West Suburban Railway (BWSR) was extended into New Street from the west, allowing Derby to Bristol trains to run directly through New Street and rejoin the B&GR route at Kings Norton railway station.
In 1892 the Lifford curve opened creating a north facing connection between the Camp Hill Line and the Birmingham West Suburban Railway, this allowed a circular service to operate from New Street via the Camp Hill Line and returning via the BWSR. Local passenger services on the Camp Hill Line were suspended in 1941 as a 'wartime economy' which was confirmed as permanent in 1946. Since then the line has been used by freight trains and some longer distance passenger trains only.
All six passenger stations along the Camp Hill line were closed as a wartime rationalisation of the network in 1941. After they never reopened, the buildings were demolished:
Future plans.
The reinstatement of local rail services to the former Camp Hill Line has been a long term aspiration of the city, and during 2007, Birmingham City Council announced that they were looking into the possibility of reopening the line between Kings Norton and Birmingham Moor Street via the construction of a railway viaduct from Sparkbrook to Bordesley, where trains would be taken into the "old" Birmingham Moor Street station. In October 2007, a 1,500-name petition was handed in to the council asking for the line to be re-opened. In 2013 the proposal was shelved indefinitely.
The 2007 proposed station sites were:
In 2016, the newly created West Midlands Combined Authority revived the plans to restore local passenger services to the line, and declared it one of their priority transport schemes to be delivered by 2025.
In 2017, the newly elected Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street pledged to get work started on restoring services to the line by 2020. And officials were said to be investigating the business case for a fourth station at Balsall Heath (previously called Brighton Road). This would mean and Camp Hill would be the only stations not to be reopened.
In August 2017, West Midlands Trains announced plans as part of their franchise deal that the line would reopen by December 2019 as part of a £1 billion investment in the West Midlands. This included a new station at Moseley.
In February 2018, Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said that the viaduct would not be needed, as Hereford to Birmingham New Street trains, currently routed via University Station, could be diverted along the Camp Hill Line to serve the three new stations (and which would also facilitate through train operation toward Shrewsbury), meaning that extra capacity at Birmingham New Street would not be required.
In July 2018, the Midlands Rail Hub was unveiled which included the reopening of Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell along with chords built to connect Birmingham Moor Street with the line to Kings Norton and another to Water Orton.
In September 2018, the designs of the new stations were revealed as , and were planned for reopening by 2021 with a frequency of two trains per hour.
This line has been identified by Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.


Snape branch line

The Snape branch line was a railway branch line located in Suffolk which served Snape Maltings. It ran from Snape Junction on the East Suffolk line and was long. The line was opened in 1859 and throughout its life was operated as a freight-only line. The line was closed 101 years later in 1960.
Opening.
The line was opened in June 1859 at the same time as the East Suffolk line, Framlingham branch line and Aldeburgh branch line (as far as Leiston). The supporters of the scheme proposed the branch to Snape Bridge in order to secure the support of the owner of Snape Maltings, Newson Garrett, and as a way of securing malted barley traffic for the burgeoning brewery trade in London.
The line was built by the East Suffolk Railway, but on opening was taken over and operated by the Eastern Counties Railway.
A passenger station at Snape Junction on the East Suffolk Junction was proposed and indeed appeared in public timetables for some years during the 1860s. It was never built, although a road leading to the site was. Although no passenger trains ever operated on the branch, a building still known as 'Station House' was constructed, and there have been references to the site as 'Tunstall Station'.
History.
In 1862 the Eastern Counties Railway became part of the Great Eastern Railway (GER).
Between 1862 and 1868 there was a dispute (between Newsom Garrett and the GER) over exactly who owned what on the site. The GER threatened to withdraw the train service and the dispute lingered on until 1878.
In the year 1893 Newsom Garrett died.
In February 1900 the line was blocked by snowdrifts for three days.
In 1908 the GER wrote to the Board of Trade and advised that the line would never carry passengers. This meant the branch could operate on a one engine in steam principle and no signals would be required at Snape. This enabled the ever careful GER to make operational savings with the only signalling be approaching the junction (and controlled by the signal box there).
In both 1910 and 1912 the line was closed for short periods due to flooding.
During 1917 the line was closed for a short period. With food shortages resulting from German U-boat action in the North Sea, barley was required for food stuffs and malting ceased. The line re-opened after a few months carrying wheat and hay as well as some barley.
A rail strike in 1919 and a miners strike in 1920, saw disruptions to trains services on the Snape Branch.
In 1923 operation of the branch became the responsibility of the London & North Eastern Railway.
A further strike in 1924 saw the loss of freight traffic to road transport.
In December 1927 snow closed the branch for four days. Two years later in 1929 as a result of complaints from local traders the facilities at Snape were expanded. Generally one train per day ran in this period.
In 1947 the line was blocked by snow drifts for several days during the severe winter of that year.
In 1948 the railways were nationalised and operating the branch became the responsibility of British Railways Eastern Region.
On 30 September 1956 the branch was visited by the Suffolk Venturer Rail Tour hauled by an E4 class 2-4-0. This was the only public passenger train to work over the branch.
Operations.
At Snape Junction the only access was from the up main line (towards Ipswich and London) so trains would generally stop on the main line and propel down the branch. However photographic evidence exists of trains propelling from Wickham Market.
The line crossed a number of timber bridges which restricted the weight of locomotives that could operate over the branch.
When the line opened traffic would have been worked by ECR 0-6-0 locomotives built by Stothert and Slaughter. Other classes of locomotive that would have operated in the 1860s were a class of 2-4-0 designed by Robert Stephenson and a class of 0-6-0 locomotives designed by John Gooch.
The branch was later worked by Y class 2-4-0 locomotives designed by Sinclair and the 417 class 0-6-0 designed by Samuel Johnson. By the 1890s traffic was generally in the hands of 477 class 0-6-0 locomotives (another Johnson design) before traffic passed c1900 to the mainstay of the branch traffic which was the Great Eastern Railway Y14 0-6-0 (better known by its LNER designation J15).
Other classes did visit the branch occasionally including GER C32 (LNER F3) and M15 (LNER F4) 2-4-2T engines and GER G58 (LNER J17) 0-6-0s.
In the early years trains were operated by Lowestoft, Norwich or Ipswich crews although later this became the almost exclusive preserve of Ipswich crews. The crews that worked the Framlingham Branch also worked the line occasionally.
In the early years of operation there was as many as three trains per day although this later reduced to two. This may have been because trains got longer as the haulage capabilities of early steam locomotives improved. Train locomotives never operated into the maltings themselves and shunting was carried out by horses or, in later year, by a Fordsons Tractor.
In later years the Snape working was a bonus working operated by Ipswich engine shed drivers where the workings were carried out as quickly as possible (in order to qualify for the bonus?).
Signalling was initially by one engine in steam with a train staff but from 1873 this was changed to the Train Staff and Train Ticket method of operation. In 1892 the original method of operation was re-introduced. Initially a small hut was provided as a signal box at Snape but this was replaced by a small signal box . This lasted until 1943 when all points were controlled from a ground frame and the box demolished. Snape Junction signal box closed in December 1960.
Traffic.
The Maltings were the "raison d’etre" of the branch line and the majority of traffic was connected with that establishment. Inwards traffic was barley, lime and coke – outwards traffic was predominantly malted barley. In the early years there was a limited amount of fish traffic although this soon switched to better connected ports. Although there were no cattle pens, livestock was occasionally handled.
In World War 1 there was additional agricultural traffic on the branch as part of the war effort which was generated by the shortages of imported food stuffs.
From the 1920s considerable tonnages of sugar beet were carried to factories at Sproughton (near Ipswich), Cantley and Bury St Edmunds, In its heyday Snape dealt with more sugar beet than any other East Anglian station. Inwards traffic included materials for road improvement schemes in the area.
Up until 1924 parcels traffic was relatively constant but this fell away as cartage rates became cheaper.
During World War 2 and afterwards, rubble from bombed buildings was unloaded at Snape and used for coastal defence purposes. Initially there were two trains per day but as the rubble was cleared this reduced and finally ceased in 1948.
As petrol rationing eased after World War 2 local agricultural traffic switched to road. This included the malted barley from the early 1950s.
During the final years of operation the only traffic of any significance was coal and coke for the maltings and seasonal sugar beet traffic.
Closure.
The line closed in 1960 as a result of declining freight revenues. Another factor was the J15 locomotives were life expired (steam had largely disappeared from East Anglia by this time) and the route availability of the line was such that only low speed shunting locomotives would be able to realistically operate the line. The time that these locomotives would take to get to Snape would have affected the timetable on the East Suffolk Line so the service was withdrawn instead.
The last train operated on 4 March 1960 worked by Ipswich engine shed’s J15 65389 with official closure following on 7 March. This was the last regular main line steam working in Suffolk. The track remained in situ until early 1961 after which it was lifted and land sold off to local farmers.


Newton Abbot

Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. It had a population of 24,029 in 2011, estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed, retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives until 1981. It now houses the Brunel industrial estate. The town has a race course nearby, the most westerly in England, and a country park, Decoy. It is twinned with Besigheim in Germany and Ay in France.
History.
Early history.
Traces of Neolithic inhabitants have been found at Berry's Wood Hill Fort near Bradley Manor. This was a contour hill fort that enclosed about . Milber Down camp was built before the 1st century BC and later occupied briefly by the Romans, whose coins have been found there.
Highweek Hill has the remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, known as Castle Dyke. A village grew up around the castle, first called Teignwick, and later Highweek, implying a village on the high ground. Another settlement developed on the low ground around the River Lemon and would become part of Wolborough Manor.
The markets.
There has been a thriving market in Newton Abbot for over 750 years.
The New Town of the Abbots (of Torre Abbey) was given the right some time between 1247 and 1251 to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays. By 1300 the two settlements were renamed as Newton Abbot (taking the low ground) and Newton Bushel (taking the high ground). On the strength of the market, it quickly became a successful thriving town and a good source of income for the Abbots.
Over the river, on the Highweek side another weekly market was created. This one ran on Tuesdays and because the Bushel family were the landowners this community became known as Newton Bushel. Over the next 200 years Newton Bushel ran more annual fairs, a number of mills were set up and the leather and wool trades started. Newton Bushel was also a convenient place for travellers to stay. Torre Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and ownership of Wolborough was granted to John Gaverock who built himself a new house at Forde.
The twin markets of Newton Abbot and Newton Bushel continued until they were merged in 1633 as a Wednesday weekly market under the control of Bradley Manor. By 1751 it had been joined by a smaller Saturday market and three annual fairs — a cattle fair on 24 June, a cheese and onion fair in September, and a cloth fair on 6 November. The markets continued to expand, and in 1826 a new market place was built. Over the next 50 years, the buildings became dilapidated and were replaced in 1871 by a substantial new market. The buildings included a Pannier Market, a corn exchange and a public hall — the Alexandra (now a cinema). The River Lemon was covered over. Further enlargement took place in 1938, as a new cattle market and corn exchange were built.
Wool and leather.
In medieval times Devon was an important sheep-rearing county. Many towns had their own wool and cloth industries and Newton Abbot had woollen mills, fullers, dyers, spinners, weavers and tailors. In particular, fellmongering (where wool is completely removed from the sheepskin) was well established in the town. In 1724 Daniel Defoe wrote that Newton Abbot had a thriving serge industry that sent goods to Holland via Exeter. The annual cloth fair was the town's busiest fair. Over the 19th century, Vicary's mills became an important employer in the town and by the 1920s was employing over 400 men. However, by 1972 business had declined and the works closed down.
Associated with the woollen industry was the leather business. Hides left after the fell-mongering process were made into leather. Tanners, boot and shoemakers, glovers and saddlers were all in business in Newton Abbot. As with the wool industry, business flourished over 600 years until after the Second World War.
The Newfoundland trade.
In 1583 Humphrey Gilbert, a local adventurer landed at St. John's in Newfoundland and claimed the area as an English colony. The fisheries quickly developed. Between 1600 and 1850 there was a steady trade between Newton Abbot and the cod fisheries off Newfoundland. Every year men from the town would gather at the "Dartmouth Inn" or "Newfoundland Inn" in East Street in the hope of being hired for a season's work. In the autumn the dried cod was stored in depots and sometimes used as payment. There was a considerable economic spin-off from this trade. Fish hooks, knives, waterproof boots and rope were all made in the town. The Rope Walk in East Street just a few yards from the Cider Bar still exists, together with the names Newfoundland Way and St John's Street.
Ball clay and the Stover Canal.
Just north-west of Newton Abbot lie the large ball clay workings of the Bovey Basin. The main workings are on the eastern outcrop of the deposits at Kingsteignton, which can lay claim to being the centre of Britain's ball-clay industry. The Bovey Basin took millions of years to fill from rivers that flowed out of Dartmoor. The sediments included clay derived from the decomposed granite. The natural deposition has resulted in clay that is purer and more refined than many others. Clay is used in a wide range of products such as bricks, tyres, porcelain, glossy magazines, medicines and toothpaste.
Kingsteignton clay was being used to make pipes around 1680. By 1700, it was being shipped from Teignmouth, and its utilisation by the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood bred success. The clay was extracted by simply digging out the lumps on courses — rather like peat cutting. The bulky clay was transported by packhorse to Hackney Quay at Kingsteignton, then loaded onto barges for shipment down the Teign Estuary, where it was transferred to small ships bound for Liverpool and other ports.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the ball-clay industry was steadily expanding. A local landowner, James Templer, built the Stover Canal in 1792 to help ship clay along the canal and the Teign Estuary from the Bovey Basin to the port of Teignmouth. Coal, manure and agricultural produce were also shipped along the canal. James Templer's father, also called James Templer, purchased the Stover Estate near Newton Abbot in 1765. Granite from Hay Tor was used to build Stover House which was completed by 1792. George Templer, son of James Templer (the second) and brother of Rev. John Templer, rector of Teigngrace, built the Haytor Granite Tramway, which had rails cut from granite, connecting the granite quarries of Haytor to the canal. This was completed by 1820 and enabled large quantities of granite to be transported for major works like the new London Bridge which opened in 1825. However, George Templer overspent his resources and was forced to sell Stover House, Stover Canal, the Haytor Granite Tramway and most of the rest of the family's considerable estates to Edward St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset, in 1829. The canal was extended to cope with this, and the industry fared well until 1858 when they were out-competed by the more economic Cornish coastal quarries. The Stover canal reverted to shipping ball clay, but had ceased to do so by 1939.
The ball-clay industry is now highly mechanised and successful. Most of the clay is transported by road and transferred to ships at the nearby port of Teignmouth.
The Stover Canal Society was formed after a public meeting in February 1999, with the aim of preserving and restoring the canal. Railtrack, which owned most of the canal, transferred ownership in 2005 for the sum of £1 to Teignbridge District Council for leisure use by the community. Work then continued to restore it as an amenity.
The railway.
Newton Abbot railway station stands at the east end of Queen Street. It provides both local and long-distance train services.
The South Devon railway reached Newton Abbot in 1846, and changed it from simply a market town with associated trades (leather and wool) into an industrial base. The South Devon Railway Company opened the station on 30 December 1846. A branch to Torquay was added on 18 December 1848, and one to Moretonhampstead on 26 June 1866, although the latter has since closed to passengers. Isambard Kingdom Brunel used the Teignmouth/Newton Abbot section to experiment with his atmospheric railway. The experiment failed, but the remains of Brunel's pumping house survive at Starcross and the old Dairy Crest milk processing factory in Totnes.
In 1876 the Great Western Railway bought up the railways and developed the repair and maintenance sheds into a substantial works that employed over 600 people to start with and by 1930 over 1,000 men. Extensive sidings were also built making a large marshalling yard. The present station was rebuilt to its current form in 1927 to designs by Chief GWR Architect P. E. Culverhouse. The large clock was a gift from the people of the town.
During the late 1980s, the number of passengers platforms was reduced from around nine down to five, only three of which still see use by scheduled trains. The remaining platforms were shortened on the southern side and the number of lines reduced to make way for a new station car park. The South Devon Railway Engineering works was decommissioned and replaced by Brunel Industrial Estate. Of the two buildings that survived into the 21st century, only one remains intact, as the old sheds burned down on 21 October 2018.
Many other industries were set up beside the railway station, including a timber yard, iron and brass foundries, and an engineering works. Newton Abbot power station was built adjacent to the line on the Moretonhampstead branch. The town's population increased from 1,623 in 1801 to 12,518 by 1901. Terraced streets were built to house the workers and attractive villas sprang up around the town for the wealthier.
Modern history.
Two Royal Navy personnel from Newton Abbot were among the first British casualties in World War I, being killed after their ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Over the course of the two world wars, more than 250 Newtonian men gave their lives for the British Empire. They are remembered on the town's war memorial. a further eleven Commonwealth soldiers are also buried in the town. The town was bombed from the air twice during World War II, killing a total of 21 people. There was a severe flood on 27 December 1979, the latest in a long series, when the River Lemon burst its banks after prolonged rain.
Tucked into a corner of the racecourse, Newton Abbot's stock-car track flourished for nearly 30 years and attracted fans and drivers from all over the South of England. A short 300-metre oval track, it featured races for the cars of the BriSCA organization, as well as saloons and "bangers".
A new community hospital to replace the one in East Street was built at the end of Jetty Marsh Road and opened on 12 January 2009.
The Flag of Newton Abbot was adopted in 2009 by the town council. It depicts a stylised image of St. Leonard's Tower defacing a modified flag of Devon. Henry Cole, of Newton Abbot Town Council, stated that the "green represents the moors, black for the granite and white for the clay" of the surrounding area. The cross of St Petroc is also used to represent a major crossroads in the town which converged on the clock tower. The arm of the cross represent the routes to Exeter and London, Bovey Tracey and the moors, Totnes and Plymouth, and Torquay and Brixham.
Governance.
Newton Abbot is the main town in the Newton Abbot parliamentary constituency. The constituency was created in 2010, when it was won by the Conservative Anne Marie Morris.
Newton Abbot has two seats on Devon County Council, for Newton Abbot North and Newton Abbot South. In the 2013 County Council elections, Newton Abbot North was won by Eve Barisic, a Conservative, having been held by a Liberal Democrat in 2009. Newton Abbot South was retained by the sitting Councillor Gordon Hook, a Liberal Democrat.
The town is represented by nine district councillors on Teignbridge District Council, and has a Town Council.
Education.
Coombeshead Academy is a comprehensive school in Coombeshead Road. It is a trust school and a specialist media and arts college for some 1,442 pupils aged 11 to 18.
Newton Abbot College, also a comprehensive school in Old Exeter Road. It came into being on 1 September 2008 as a renaming of Knowles Hill School. It is a specialist Technology College for around 1,200 pupils aged 11 to 18.
South Devon UTC is a university technical college in Kingsteignton Road, established on 1 September 2015 for pupils aged 14 to 19.
The local primary schools include St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary, Decoy Primary, which has been awarded the Becta ICT Mark, Eco and Healthy School awards, as well as Bearnes Primary, Canada Hill Primary, Wolborough C of E Primary, Bishop Dunstan School, Bradley Barton Primary, and Haytor View Primary.
Areas.
Newton Abbot civil parish has grown to include the areas of the former civil parishes of Highweek (to the northwest) and Wolborough (to the south). Other areas and suburbs include Abbotsbury, Aller Park, Broadlands, Buckland, Knowles Hill, Milber, Mile End, and Newtake.
Landmarks.
Alexandra Theatre (cinema).
The Alexandra was originally built in 1871 as a corn exchange at the end of the market building. Before it was finished it was decided instead to use it as a meeting hall for the community. It remained as such until in 1883, when a major upgrade of the building included the addition of a stage with dressing rooms below, further dressing rooms in extensions at the side of the main building, and an orchestra pit. Many other alterations followed until it was converted into a two-screen cinema in 1995.
St Leonard's Tower.
The centre of the town features the ancient tower of St Leonard – all that remains of the medieval chapel of St Leonard, founded in 1220 and first referred to in 1350 in a document of the Bishop de Grandisson of Exeter. The main chapel was demolished in 1836 to ease traffic congestion. Adjacent to the tower is a plaque marking where the first declaration of the newly arrived William III, Prince of Orange was read in 1688: The first declaration of William III, Prince of Orange, the glorious defender of the Protestant religion and the liberties of England, was read on this pedestal by the Rev. John Reynell, rector of this parish, 5th November, 1688. Although William arrived in Brixham on 5 November, he did not reach Newton Abbot until 6 November, when he stayed overnight at Forde House, as he made his way to London to take the English throne.
The tower can regularly be seen flying the Union Flag or the Flag of Newton Abbot (The Flag of Devon defaced by the silhouette of the tower).
Forde House.
Forde House (now known as Old Forde House) lies in the south-east corner of the town in the parish of Wolborough. The present house was built in 1610 by Richard Reynell (who later became Sir Richard Reynell) and his wife Lucy. It was built with an E-shaped floor plan thought to be in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, who had recently died. The grounds were originally extensive, including all of what is called Decoy (as wildfowl were decoyed there to extend the house's larder),a deer park known locally as Buckland, which is now home to a housing estate, and the trampoline park.
In 1625 King Charles I stayed at the house overnight on his way to inspect the fleet at Plymouth. He returned a few days later for a further two nights. Forde House gave shelter to Oliver Cromwell and Colonel Fairfax while on their way to besiege Royalist Dartmouth in 1646. In 1648 the estate passed to the Courtenay family through the marriage of Margaret (only daughter of Jane Reynell and Sir William Waller) to Sir William Courtenay, lord of nearby Powderham Castle. William of Orange stayed at the house in 1688 on the way to his coronation in London, having landed in Brixham. The house remained the main residence of a succession of Courtenays until 1762, when it was let to a string of occupiers.
The Courtenay family sold the house in 1936 to Stephen Simpson, who sold it two years later to Mrs M. Sellick. Teignbridge District Council bought the house in 1978 and remains the current owners. It has been refurbished for use as office and conference space, and for weddings and other social events.
Bradley Manor.
At the opposite end of Newton Abbot is a National Trust property, Bradley Manor. This 15th-century (c. 1420) manor house in a secluded woodland setting has a notable great hall emblazoned with the royal coat of arms of Elizabeth I. Nearby is Bakers Park.
The Great Western Railway named a 7800 class steam locomotive after the manor, but the engine was never based in Newton Abbot (Shed Code: 83A) and was withdrawn from mainline service in the 1965. It was restored in the 1980s and passed through Newton Abbot on special runs called The Torbay Express and The Mayflower.
Passmore Edwards Public Library.
John Passmore Edwards originally wanted a hospital built for the town in memory of his mother, who was born there, but as the town already had a hospital, he decided on a public library, which opened in 1904. The building, designed by the Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail,is among the most impressive in Newton Abbot. It originally housed also a Science, Art and Technical School, which the Council added. The elaborate Renaissance style includes yellow terracotta mouldings over windows and doorways. Passmore Edwards donated £2,500, and the County Council and public donations paid for the rest. Renovated in 2010–2012, it was renamed the Passmore Edwards Centre after its benefactor and to reflect its future as a multi-purpose facility. It works closely with Coombeshead Academy.
Almshouses.
The several sets of almshouses in Newton Abbot include these:
The workhouse.
The original Newton Abbot poorhouse was in East Street. The cellar of the "Devon Arms" was used as the oakum picking room, where paupers were given the unpleasant job of untwisting old rope to provide oakum, used to seal the seams of wooden boats. Newton Bushel had its own poorhouse, not far from present day Newton Abbot Leisure Centre, previously known as Dyron's.
The 1834 Poor Law Act required changes and incorporation that led in 1839, to a new workhouse being built in East Street for paupers from surrounding areas. In time the workhouse became more of a hospital for the sick, infirm and aged poor.
Tucker's Maltings.
Close to the railway station is the former Tucker's Maltings, long the only traditional malthouse in the UK open to the public. The malt house produced malt for over 30 breweries, and enough to brew of beer "per annum". It closed in October 2018.
Cider Bar.
Said to be one of only two remaining cider houses in the United Kingdom, Ye Olde Cider Bar in East Street sells only cider, perry, country wines and soft drinks. Its interior and simple wooden furniture remain relatively unchanged, but some old bar customs, such as limiting women and holidaymakers to half-pint measures and covering the floor with sawdust, have ceased.
Newton Abbot Town & GWR Museum.
After a 2019 relocation, the museum is now in the Newton's Place community centre in Newfoundland Way. It displays the history of Newton Abbot and of the Great Western Railway.
Newton Abbot War Memorial.
In 1922 Newton Abbot Urban District Council instructed its Borough Surveyor, Coleridge Dingley White, to design a town memorial reflecting the town's importance and the contribution its young men to the war effort The unveiling and dedication took place on Sunday 23 July 1922.
Sport and leisure.
Newton Abbot has two non-league football clubs: Buckland Athletic F.C., which plays at Homers Heath, and Newton Abbot Spurs A.F.C., which plays at the Recreation Ground. The headquarters of Devon County Football Association are in the town.
Newton Abbot's South Devon Cricket Club was established in 1851 and also plays at the Recreation Ground.
The town has a long-standing rugby union club, Newton Abbot RFC (established 1873), which plays home games at Rackerhayes in nearby Kingsteignton.
Two greyhound racing tracks existed; the Newton Abbot Greyhound Track lasted from 1974 to 2005 and a short-lived track was laid on the Recreation Ground, where Newton Abbot Spurs plays today. The racing was independent (unaffiliated to the sports governing body, the National Greyhound Racing Club) and so both were known as flapping tracks, a name given to independent tracks. Distances there were 250, 450 and 460 yards and racing lasted about five years.


Newcastle Corporation Tramways

Newcastle Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Newcastle upon Tyne between 1901 and 1950.
History.
Services began on 16 December 1901. A fleet of twenty ‘A- Class’ tramcars built in 1901 by Hurst Nelson and Co. Ltd. of Motherwell were used in Newcastle. The main routes were complete by 1904. Newcastle Corporation built Manors Power Station to supply electricity to the new tramway system.
There were three depots, Byker, Haymarket and Wingrove Road. The Wingrove Road Depot was closed on 3 June 1944, followed by the Haymarket depot in April 1948.
Later extensions were made to Fenham in 1907, Shieldfield 1912, and Throckley 1914. The name was changed in 1915 to Newcastle Corporation Transport and Electricity Undertaking. Progress was limited during the First World War but the tramway eventually reached Forest Hall, Westmoor, and Gosforth Park in 1921. In 1925 it reached Fenham to Westerhope.
By 1928 there were 300 trams in service. The tram network was gradually converted to bus and trolleybus operations from the 1930s. By 1945 there were 220 trams still in use.
Closure.
The system finally closed on 4 March 1950. Some tram services continued to be operated until 4 August 1951 by the Gateshead tramway system.


Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway

The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock and thence to Buxton.
In time it would become part of the Midland Railway's main line between London and Manchester, but it was initially planned as a route from Manchester to the East of England, via the proposed Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway which would meet it a little further north along the North Midland line at Ambergate. The Act for a line from just south of Stockport to Ambergate was passed in 1846.
Currently, the section north of Millers Dale is open as the Great Rocks freight line, Derby to Matlock still holds passenger services as the Derwent Valley line, Matlock to Rowsley is the Peak Rail heritage line, and Rowsley to Buxton has become the Monsal Trail for cycling, horse riding and walking.
Ambergate to Rowsley.
The initial plan was for "An Act for making a Railway from the Manchester and Birmingham Railway at Cheadle in the County of Chester to or near to the Ambergate Station of the Midlands Railway in the County of Derby, to be called "The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midlands Junction Railway" The Bill received Parliamentary Assent in 1846.
The line opened as far as Rowsley on 4 June 1849, but went no further, having run out of money giving its promoters something of a problem.
Matlock Bath had long been a tourist town. Since the station at Ambergate had been opened, tourists had been brought in by coach and canal. Around thirty coaches had passed that way each day, with sixty or seventy thousand visitors going on to Chatsworth House. The aim then was to develop the trade further.
The Midland Railway had held shares in the line since it had been first proposed in 1845, its interest being an extension onto its route to London. The Manchester and Birmingham had for some time been looking for a route of its own, and had considered a line through the Churnet Valley (later built by the North Staffordshire Railway), but had instead supported the alternative Matlock route with a substantial shareholding. However, in 1846 it had merged with other lines to become the LNWR, which clearly could not contemplate a competing London line. In 1852 the two companies agreed to lease the line jointly for 19 years, In addition, the Midland would work the line and pay a rent on it, and also take over the Cromford Canal.
Rowsley to Buxton.
In 1853, a junction was made to the southern end of the Cromford and High Peak Railway now LNWR-owned, at High Peak Junction, and with the latter's support, the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway connected Manchester to the northern end. In 1857, with the LNWR's barely concealed support, the SD&WBR then gained permission to extend to Buxton. It did so by a roundabout route along a massive escarpment to the east of the Goyt Valley, such that it could never become a through express route. Despite an LNWR petition against the Bill and opposition from the SD&WBR, the Midland Railway (Rowsley & Buxton) Act of 25 May 1860 authorised a line from Rowsley to meet the SD&WBR at Buxton. Work started in September 1860, under Frederic Campion, the Midland Railway's Southern Division engineer, then under Alfred Andrew Langley (from 1883 Midland's Chief Engineer).
It was the first time the Midland had built in such difficult terrain, with steep hills and deep valleys, Buxton itself being some above sea level. The line followed the River Wye as far as Bakewell, with the complication of the cut and cover Haddon Tunnel, and reached Hassop in 1862 There then followed two viaducts – at Millers Dale and Monsal Dale – and eight tunnels, reaching Buxton in 1863 at almost the same time as the LNWR reached it from Whaley Bridge. In 1884 John Ruskin complained of the effect on the dales, saying, "your railway drags its close clinging damnation".
All this time passengers were having to change at Ambergate, but in the same year, the Midland added a south-facing junction and moved the station to allow through travel from Derby and the south. However, there was still the problem of the joint control of the line.
For many years, the town of Wirksworth had been campaigning for a branch line from Duffield. The C&HPR was interested, but had insufficient funds. The Midland was initially unenthusiastic, but then realised that the branch could be extended to Rowsley, avoiding the section to Ambergate, being unsure about what might occur when joint lease expired in 1871.
However, the LNWR gave up its share of the line when the lease expired. It was, after all, remote and isolated from the company's main system. The Midland was therefore relieved of the necessity of extending from Wirksworth over a very difficult piece of terrain. The branch opened to Wirksworth in 1867 but was not carried further.
To Manchester.
In the shifting alliances and rivalries between the various companies, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway also wished to keep the Midland away from the coalmines which it served and, in 1859, was planning a line from Hyde just outside Manchester to New Mills and Hayfield. The company was also being courted by the GNR that planned to run London trains through Retford. Meanwhile, the MS&LR's manager Edward Watkin had his own plans to reach London through Sheffield.
It seemed the Midland's only chance was a circuitous route with the help of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, except that it transpired that latter had an agreement with the LNWR not to handle other companies' trains. In 1861, the Midland sent their manager James Allport and some of the directors on a scouting trip around the area, and came by chance upon a party of MS&LR directors riding in a dog cart. The upshot was that Allport who had previously worked for the latter company should arrange a deal. Since it was clear that the Midland was determined to go ahead, it would be better not to have two lines running side by side.
On 7 November 1861 it was formally agreed therefore that the Midland would join the MS&LR partner's Marple, New Mills and Hayfield Junction line at New Mills, an agreement which was put into statutes, later including the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee in the "Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Act" of 6 August 1872.
To do this, it built a junction at Millers Dale, which effectively left Buxton on a branch. Thus railway politics deprived what was (particularly at that time) the largest town in the Peak District of a through main-line station. The Midland's line proceeded to the east of, but parallel to, the LNWR's line until it reached a summit at Peak Forest. It then plunged under the LNWR through Dove Holes Tunnel with stations at Chapel-en-le-Frith, and joining the MS&LR at New Mills to run into Manchester London Road, opening in 1867. This section of route is still open for stone freight trains serving the Buxton lime industry as the Great Rocks Line.
Later history.
The Midland at last had its route into Manchester from London. Over the years it made some improvements. The route from Romiley through Hyde entailed a long detour, so in 1875 a new more direct line was opened through Reddish.
In 1865 the Midland had become a partner of the Cheshire Lines Committee which opened Manchester Central railway station in 1880. Therefore, the Midland transferred most of its trains there, at first reaching it through Stockport Tiviot Dale. However the route became increasingly congested and was hardly suitable as an express route, so in 1897, the Midland opened a new line from New Mills through Disley Tunnel and Heaton Mersey.
Closure.
The line from Matlock to Buxton was closed in June 1968 by the Labour Minister for Transport, Barbara Castle, not, as is often thought, by the Beeching reforms. Continuing support is being given by a heritage group Peak Rail who have restored the section from Matlock to Rowsley.
The line from Matlock to Ambergate, plus the section of the Midland Main Line to Derby, are now referred to as the Derwent Valley Line. Meanwhile, the Wirksworth branch still exists and is now painstakingly restored as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.
Current status.
Although the track has been lifted between Rowsley and Buxton and is now part of the Monsal Trail, plans to re-open it are still proposed from time to time, and the Derbyshire County Council has pledged to keep the trackbed free of development.
Part of the line has been re-opened by the heritage railway organisation Peak Rail who run services from Matlock to Rowsley, at a current distance of in length.
There are plans to extend to Bakewell via the site of Rowsley railway station and a Proposed Haddon halt as part of the Buxton extension project. It will involve reinstating the whole section and Bakewell railway station to their former use once planning permission has been granted, plus full restoration of the old Haddon Tunnel and both Coombs Road and Rowsley Viaducts (along the way between both Bakewell and Rowsley themselves).
Four tunnels (Headstone, Cressbrook, Litton and Chee Tor) between Great Longstone and Peak Forest and Blackwell Mill were re-opened to walkers and cyclists in May 2011.
In March 2018, it was announced that a consortium of quarry companies and the heritage railway Peak Rail is investigating reopening the line between Matlock and Buxton. This section has been identified by Campaign for Better Transport as a phase 2 candidate for reopening.
In March 2020, a bid was made to the Restoring Your Railway fund to get funds for a feasibility study into reinstating the line between Matlock and Buxton. This bid was unsuccessful. In March 2021, the bid was re-submitted as part of the third round of the Restoring Your Railway fund.


South Staffordshire line

The South Staffordshire line is a partially mothballed and active former mainline that connects Burton-upon-Trent to Lichfield in Staffordshire and formerly then to the West Midlands towns of Walsall, Wednesbury, Dudley and Stourbridge. However, Dudley and Stourbridge were already joined to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's (OW&WR) line just north of Dudley Station. It in essence, continued to Stourbridge (Dudley and Stourbridge were later to become part of the West Midlands conurbation) along with Wednesbury and Walsall.
History.
The line was opened on 1 May 1850. This was soon to become part of the London and North Western Railway as far as Dudley station, which, in 1860, was opened as a joint venture with the OW&WR itself later to become amalgamated into the Great Western Railway. This station was built ten years after the original connection, however, and trains on the South Staffordshire line ran from Walsall to Stourbridge fairly early on. Dudley provided a useful change point for passengers from Walsall and Stourbridge to Wolverhampton, though this wasn't utilised to quite the effect the OW&WR had hoped, due to the similar connection at Dudley Port by the SSR with the Stour Valley Line – which today forms part of the West Midlands section of the West Coast Main Line.
To the north of Dudley Port, a link to the Birmingham Snow Hill- Wolverhampton Low Level route was added sometime between the inauguration of the line and the opening of Great Bridge South railway station in 1866.
All three of the above – Dudley Port, Great Bridge and Wednesbury – were completed in 1850, and the line was then opened accordingly. All other stations on the route – from Lichfield to Walsall – were in operation from 1849.
Route.
The line began in Burton, it then continued to Lichfield Trent Valley running on a small section of the present-day Cross City Line. It then branched off south of Lichfield City towards Walsall via Hammerwich, Brownhills, Pelsall and Rushall. It then continued towards Dudley via Wednesbury, Great Bridge and Dudley Port. Dudley served as the terminus although some services continued onto Stourbridge on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. This allowed passengers to change for the other lines on the route at Lichfield, Walsall, Dudley and Stourbridge. The line also had sidings on certain parts of the route. Including at Angelsea Sidings, a branch to Wednesbury via Darlaston and sidings at Great Bridge and Dudley Freightliner Terminal.
Landmarks.
Just before Stourbridge, the OW&WR crossed (and continues to cross) the massive Stambermill Viaduct which is one of the local area's most significant landmarks. It also crossed Parkhead Viaduct just south of Dudley and for several hundred yards passed through Dudley Railway Tunnel. Another landmark on the route is a restored bridge over the M6 Toll at Brownhills which was built during the opening of the M6 Toll
Places served by the line.
The line officially began at Wychnor Junction, north of Lichfield, and ran through what is now Lichfield Trent Valley. Trains then continued through to Lichfield City itself. From there, a plethora of stations along the route were served. The line continued through to Walsall and a low-level station at Dudley Port. This was technically the terminus of the line but it was connected to the OW&WR's line which ran through Dudley itself from 1860. It went on to serve other stations at the south-western extremity of the Black Country at Stourbridge Junction.
The towns and villages the line formerly served before joining the OW&W railway were:
Burton
Branston
Barton-under-Needwood and Walton-under-Needwood
Alrewas
Lichfield
Hammerwich (also served Burntwood)
Angelsea Sidings
Brownhills
Pelsall
Rushall
Walsall
Darlaston
Wednesbury
Great Bridge
Dudley Port
Dudley
Services.
Services began at Burton and terminated at either Walsall, Dudley or Stourbridge. There was also a Derby to Wolverhampton service that also ran on the line via the northern end at Walsall to Lichfield. When the section to Dudley closed to passengers in 1964, the section Burton continued to see a rapid decline in use from passengers. Resulting in the section to Burton closing to passengers in 1965.
Closure.
Burton-Lichfield-Walsall (Northern Section).
Freight used the northern section of the line after closure to passengers and continued to do so until the section from Angelsea Sidings to Ryecroft Junction was closed to all traffic when the last train ran along the line 1984 and the track being lifted two years later. A stub from Angelsea Sidings to Lichfield City continued to see usage to serve an oil terminal at Newtown, Brownhills until 2001, when the stub was closed and mothballed by Network Rail.
The section from Lichfield to Burton is still open for freight traffic and depot returning trains. The line sees no regular passenger usage though is used for diversions.
Walsall-Dudley-Stourbridge (Southern Section).
The southern section of the line was still used by freight as a diversion line and to serve Dudley Freightliner Terminal. The terminal closed in the 1986 although the line remained in use until it was officially closed in 1993. However, there were a handful of other movements on the line after its official closure, including a cable-laying train which covered the route on 1 July 1993, on its journey from Birmingham to Stafford.
Present day.
Northern Section.
The section from Burton to Lichfield remains open to freight traffic and voyager trains returning a depot near Barton. The section from Lichfield to Brownhills remains in situ but mothballed. Beyond Angelsea Sidings, the section from Angelsea Sidings to Rushall is now a public greenway. Ryecroft Junction remains open for traffic on the Chase Line and Sutton Park Line. There has been multiple proposals to reopening the northern section including:
"The report is part of the Burton upon Trent Regeneration Strategy which looks at how the town could be improved for its shoppers, employees and visitors up to 2030 and beyond. If given the go-ahead, the tram trains could take passengers on the existing Ivanhoe freight line and the Worcester to Derby Main Line Railway between Stourbridge and Burton." This was among the support for reopening the Leicester to Burton upon Trent line which closed in the 1960s along with the South Staffordshire Line.
Southern Section.
The line from Bescot to Harts Hills is mothballed and is planned to be converted from Potters Lane, Wednesbury to Brierley Hill via Dudley to become part of the Midland Metro. This would involve using sections of the former track. There is also plans to build a light rail test centre at Dudley and to test rolling stock of trams as far as Castle Hill using the Dudley Railway Tunnel. There would also be passive provisions to allow heavy rail to run the section for freight and potential passenger services. The proposals for the line include:
Restoring Your Railway.
In March 2020, two bids were made to the Restoring Your Railway fund to get funds for a feasibility study into reinstating the section of the line between and and the line between and . This bid was unsuccessful.


Westerleigh Junction

Westerleigh Junction is a railway junction in Gloucestershire, England, where the Cross Country Route (XCR) from to Bristol Temple Meads meets the South Wales Main Line (SWML) from London Paddington to , near the village of Westerleigh.
The junction is located between the stations of , and .
Description.
The junction provides access from the SWML to the west and the XCR to the north. The lines cross Westerleigh Road in separate bridges, with a bridge over the old Bristol and Gloucester Railway, now a single line to a Murco depot, just to the west of the junction.
The South Wales Main Line section of the junction is due to be electrified with 25 kV AC overhead lines as part of the 21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main Line.
History.
The junction originated in 1903, when the Great Western Railway opened the Badminton Line, the direct route of the South Wales Main Line. The junction connected the eastbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway (now part of the XCR), which had opened in 1844 as the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The junction provided a route from Bristol to the Midland Railway via Filton Junction, an alternative to the direct Midland Railway route through Mangotsfield.
In 1908 a curve was added to the junction to connect the westbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway. This provided a connection from Bristol to Sharpness via Berkeley. It also gave an alternative route between Bristol and South Wales via the Severn Railway Bridge, used when the Severn Tunnel was closed. A more contentious use was that it now gave the GWR, with its running powers over the Midland to Berkeley and its own new 1906 line from Cheltenham to Birmingham, a new direct route from Bristol to Birmingham. On 1 July 1908, a new express service between Wolverhampton and Bristol was inaugurated, hauled by "Flower" class 4101 "Aurricula". The Midland resisted this new service and claimed that the loop had only been agreed on the basis of services to Berkeley and the Severn, not northwards. Various tactics were used to disrupt competing services, including slow trains scheduled ahead of GWR expresses. The matter came to court, but in November the Court of Appeal finally ruled that the GWR did have running powers northwards. Despite this, the Midland remained disruptive. In particular they refused to allow heavier locomotives, like the new 4-6-0s, over Stonehouse Viaduct and so this remained the preserve of the 4-4-0 "Counties".
The curve was removed after the Severn Railway Bridge was irreparably damaged in 1960.
In 1970 the original route of the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was closed between Bristol and Westerleigh Junction, except for the short section now serving the Murco depot.