Maidstone line

The Maidstone line is a railway line in Kent, England. It diverges from the Chatham main line at Swanley Junction and proceeds down the Darenth valley to Otford junction (where the Bat & Ball line divides towards ). It continues via Borough Green & Wrotham and Maidstone East to Ashford, where it joins the South Eastern Main Line.
History.
The line was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway from their first line (the Chatham main line). Upon the creation of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway the original Ashford terminus was closed in 1899 and services diverted to the South Eastern Railway's Ashford station. The line was electrified in 1939 (750 V DC third rail) to Maidstone East by the Southern Railway prior to World War Two. Electrification between Maidstone East and Ashford was completed in 1961 under the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan.
Infrastructure.
Traction current is supplied at 750 volts DC via the Third Rail. The supply for this is overseen by Paddock Wood Electrical Control Room. Signalling is Track Circuit Block with multiple aspect colour light signals throughout, controlled by Ashford IECC. The line is double track throughout.
Services.
Services on the line are run by Southeastern.
Services run to London Victoria and Ashford, or Canterbury West with some peak services to London Blackfriars.
In the off-peak, there are two trains per hour to Ashford International from London Victoria via Bromley South and Swanley with one train per hour continuing to Cantebury West via the Ashford to Ramsgate line. These services are done using either Class 375 or Class 377 trains.
Thameslink utilizes the route between Swanley and Otford on their London Blackfriars to Sevenoaks metro services via the Catford Loop and Elephant and Castle with two trains per hour running. Additional services through London will be introduced as part of the Thameslink Programme between Cambridge and Maidstone East. As of September 2019, these services haven't been introduced with no news about its future.


Leeds Corporation Tramways

Leeds Corporation Tramways formerly served the city of Leeds, England. The original trams were horse-drawn, but the city introduced Britain's first overhead-powered electric trams in 1891, and by 1901, electrification had been completed. The tramway opened on 29 October 1891.
Routes.
There were several lines running between the city centre and Cross Gates, Chapel Allerton, Moortown, Roundhay, Middleton, Beeston, Armley, Hunslet and Kirkstall. The network, of which certain sections were on reserved track, was far more extensive than that of the proposed Leeds Supertram, which has not been built after a funding shortfall from central government.
Trams.
The earliest trams were single decker horsedrawn trams, but later purchases were double deckers, operated by Leeds Tramways Company. The last of these ran in 1901. Steam trams were also used until full electrification. Throughout most of the twentieth century the tramway used a mixture of bus style and balloon trams, both in double-decker formation. The system of collection by trams from the overhead wiring was unusual in that it used bow collectors rather than poles, obviating the need to turn the pole round at each terminus.
Even when other cities were abandoning their tramways in the 1940s, Leeds continued to modernise its system. Two prototype modern single-deck trams (somewhat similar to those used in continental European cities) were built in the early 1950s, in particular two single deck trams painted purple for the coronation, was in operation on route 3 to Roundhay in 1953 – perhaps because this followed a segregated track along Roundhay Road to the popular attraction of Roundhay Park. These two were a conventional air and magnetic braked vehicle (601) and an all electric "vambac" car (602). The latter resides in the Crich tramway museum.
In the early 1950s (1951), Leeds purchased 90 "Feltham" secondhand trams (dating from 1931), from London Transport. By this period, Leeds tramcars were normally painted in red.
Closure.
After the closure of the Leeds system on 7 November 1959, Sheffield became the last city in England operating trams (closing in 1960), with Glasgow (Scotland) the last in the UK (closing in 1962). The Blackpool tramway then became the UK's only commercial tramway, until the opening of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992.
It is argued that the closure of the tramway was shortsighted, particularly given the fact that the majority of the network ran on reserved track, and as such did not interfere with the road system. Leeds had one of largest and most advanced urban transport systems in the UK, and was developing new tramcars and opening new lines right until its closure. The people of Leeds have now tried multiple times since the 1980s to get their tramway back, with no success.
Preservation.
Several Leeds electric trams are now preserved at the National Tramway Museum at Crich. The last remaining Leeds horse tram, number 107, has been restored by the Leeds Transport Historical Society and is currently on display at the National Tramway Museum. What were once commonly thought to have been original tram poles remaining in Roundhay were actually lighting standards in a bus park. There is an old electricity sub station used for the tramway on Abbey Road in Hawksworth.
Queens Hall.
Queens Hall was the central tram shed, situated off Swinegate. This was used as a concert hall from the trams closure until 1989, when it was demolished. Queens Hall became a renowned punk venue and hosted other artists such as Elton John. However, the venue's poor acoustics and high upkeep costs brought about its closure. The site is an unmade car park; the proposed Criterion Place development was to be built here.


Durham to Bishop Auckland Line

The Durham to Bishop Auckland Line was a railway line originally built by the North Eastern Railway (NER) to provide rail transport access to coal mines in West County Durham. It closed under the Beeching Axe to passenger traffic in May 1964, and freight in 1968. Today it forms the major part of the Brandon to Bishop Auckland rail trail.
Background.
After the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in 1825 to transport coal from the Witton Park Colliery to Newport on the River Tees, railways had been expanding across County Durham to provide coal mine owners with access to cheap economic transport.
Bishop Auckland gained its first rail link in 1842, when the S&DR backed Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway (BA&WR) gained the powers via an Act of Parliament to build a railway line from the S&DR's station at via Bishop Auckland and Witton-le-Wear into Crook, County Durham. After the completion of Shildon Tunnel, the BA&WR erected a permanent station in the town which opened to freight on 8 November 1843, and passengers on 30 January 1843. All operations were sub-leased as agreed to the S&DR.
The opening of Bishop Auckland created a new railway junction, with lines eventually progressing north to Crook and Weardale (accessing limestone reserves along the River Wear valley); and south to via . However, there were still coal mines to the east of Bishop Auckland, and the substantial passenger traffic from Durham.
History.
Developed by North Eastern Railway (NER), they built a new terminus in Tenter Street, Bishop Auckland. The line to Durham opened to freight on 19 August 1856 and passengers on 1 April 1857. There were intermediate stations at , and , while a fourth station serving Brandon Colliery opened in 1861.
However, the S&DR and NER quickly came to the agreement of development of a joint station at , and so rebuilt the existing former BA&WR station, with NER trains using it from December 1857.
Durham and ECML junction.
Although there were three existing station within Durham, the NER choose to develop a new fourth station site on the current location, requiring a viaduct over North Road and a further viaduct over the River Browney immediately to the south. As Durham gained connections to along both the Deerness Valley Railway and the Lanchester Railway, the three lines connected at Deerness Valley Junction. In 1871 the NER developed a new line from Tursdale through Durham, and onwards north to Newcastle Central via Chester-le-Street. This soon became the main line between London and Newcastle, the current East Coast Main Line. The existing lines connected with the new mainline via Rellymill Junction.
Closure.
Hunwick lost its freight service in 1958. Scheduled passenger services between Sunderland, Durham and Bishop Auckland ceased in May 1964, although in July 1964 a Durham Miners' Gala train used the line to pick up passengers. Freight services were ceased from Brancepeth, Willington and Brandon Collieries from 10 August 1964. The line remained in place until 1968, when contractors removed the residual track.
Since closure of all three branchlines, the mainline between Rellymill Junction to Deerness Valley Junction has been incorporated into a realigned East Coast Main Line curve, eased to increase line speed.
Present.
After lying derelict for over 25 years, of the former trackbed has been redeveloped by Durham County Council as the Brandon to Bishop Auckland rail trail.
In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).
Collieries served.
The line served a number of collieries:


Fawley branch line

The Fawley branch line, also known as the Waterside line is a standard-gauge railway line to Fawley, in the English county of Hampshire. It is on the opposite side of Southampton Water from the city of Southampton itself, in an area known as Waterside. For 40 years a passenger service operated, but this was withdrawn with the exception of the occasional enthusiasts' railtour. The line serves the freight needs of Marchwood Military Port, having also served the same function for Fawley Refinery until 2016.
A proposal exists to reopen the line with three stations at Marchwood, Hythe Town, and Hythe and Fawley Parkway.
History.
Authorised in 1903, after some years of trying, the line was built under the Light Railways Act 1896 as the Totton, Hythe and Fawley Light Railway and opened on 20 July 1925. It begins at South Western Main Line at Totton, west of Southampton, where -bound trains run parallel with the branch for a mile before curving away to the south.
The passenger service served Marchwood,Hythe, and Fawley.Between Hythe and Fawley there was a Hardley Halt which opened for workmen in 1958 and closed in 1965. Operated by steam trains, then the 'Hampshire' diesel-electric multiple units, the service was withdrawn on 14 February 1966.
At first, traffic was light but they subsequently expanded when the then largest oil refinery in Britain opened at Fawley in the 1920s. The line became part of the British Railways (Southern Region) following nationalisation in 1948. The first station to be closed was on 5 April 1965, followed by , Hythe and on 14 February 1966. The line was then only used by freight from Marchwood Military Port and Fawley Refinery until 2016.
Reopening proposal.
On 16 June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies announced it was looking into the reopening of the railway as far as Hythe, with a possibility of a further extension to Fawley if agreement could be reached with Esso, which owns the land where Fawley railway station once stood. The proposals were:
It was envisaged that the railway link could be built over a five to 10 year period at a cost of around £3 million. The service would be operated by the then franchisee South West Trains using diesel multiple units (DMUs). If the scheme delivered a sufficient financial return, there would be a future possibility of electrification. The service was planned to run half-hourly during peak times and hourly at other times.
On 8 November 2013 Councillor David Harrison of Totton South and Marchwood obtained a copy of the final GRIP 3 Study report and shared it via his website. In the report it was stated that the service would be half-hourly, using DMUs calling at all stations between Hythe and Southampton, including a new station to be called Hounsdown (once planned to be called Totton West). A new passing loop would have to be installed at Hounsdown to allow passing of freight and passenger trains. Other upgrades would include AWS/TPWS and signalling. For reasons of security at the oil refinery, Fawley station would not be reopened as part of the scheme. It has been pointed out that there are some possible drawbacks to this scheme. For example, if the Waterside line gets the green light, the subsidy from Hampshire County Council for the Southampton & Hythe ferry service would be likely to cease, and the local bus companies which operate in the area might be at risk of losing some of their subsidy.
On 21 January 2014 Hampshire County Council decided to shelve the plans to reopen the line. The council's report came down against committing further funding for the scheme due to a perceived poor value for money business case, although it said the authority should review the position should local circumstances change.
The last train serving the refinery ran on 1 September 2016, after which trains would normally run only as far as Marchwood, although the occasional private hire train would travel the branch line as far as the gates at Fawley oil refinery.
Hampshire County Council announced in November 2017 that it would look again at running passenger service due to planned housing development alongside the Waterside and on the former Fawley power plant site.
In August 2018, it was revealed that plans to reopen the line had been resurrected as part of the redevelopment known as Fawley Waters. It proposed a half-hourly service on a Monday to Saturday from to . At Marchwood the journey time would take 12 minutes and the line would be 60 mph. The new Fawley station would be called ‘Hythe & Fawley Parkway’. In November 2018 Hampshire County Council announced the removal of the Hythe Ferry subsidy, despite there being no progress on the proposed rail scheme.
The line has been identified as a priority for reopening to passenger use by Campaign for Better Transport.
On 23 May 2020, the DfT announced that the Waterside Line had been shortlisted for further funding to investigate restoration of passenger services. This would see the reinstatement of station and a new station at Hythe Town, a little further west of the previous station. The end of the line would be unused, but a southern terminus, called Hythe and fawley Parkway, would open on the site of the station.
On 28 July 2020, South Western Railway ran a 'fact-finding train' down the branch line, stopping at Marchwood, to demonstrate the branch line's potential. This service carried the station's first passengers in 54 years.
On 08 May 2021,South Western Railway ran another Fact-finding train down the branch line,stopping at Marchwood, to further demonstrate the branch line's potential.


Stour Valley Line

The Stour Valley Line is the present-day name given to the railway line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, in England. It was authorised as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway in 1836; the title was often shortened to the Stour Valley Railway.
The line opened in 1852, and the line is now the main line between those places. Associated with its construction was the building of the major passenger station that was later named New Street station, and also lines in tunnel each side of the station, connecting to the existing routes. The station was opened in 1854.
Before completion, the Company became controlled by the London and North Western Railway, which used dubious methods to harm competitor railways that were to be dependent on its completion.
The line was electrified in 1966 and now forms part of the Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line an important and very heavily used part of the railway network.
Origins.
Birmingham's first main railway passenger terminal was Curzon Street station; it opened in 1838, although it was not given that name until 1852; at first it was simply the Birmingham station. The Grand Junction Railway opened to a temporary station at Vauxhall on 4 July 1837, approaching by curving round the north and north-west of the city by way of Bescot and Aston.
The "London and Birmingham Railway" opened to Curzon Street station from the south on 9 April 1838, completing its line to London on 24 June 1838. Through communication between London and Lancashire was achieved.
The London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway were not always harmonious allies, and the L&BR courted alternative means of connecting with the industries of Lancashire. However, on 1 January 1846 they, and the "Manchester and Birmingham Railway", amalgamated to form the London and North Western Railway.
Birmingham was a major centre of industry and the workshops and manufactories of the district proliferated. The L&BR and the GJR had been planned as inter-city railways, and numerous locations that had gained in importance now demanded rail connection. The GJR route passed more than a mile from Wolverhampton, although there was a Wolverhampton station. So it was that the LNWR projected a direct line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
Promoted in Parliament.
In the 1846 session of Parliament, the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway was promoted. Its concept had originally included a branch towards Stourbridge; this was now omitted, but the reference to the Stour in the title remained. In fact the company was colloquially referred to as the Stour Valley Railway.
The route was to run between a new central station at Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, joining the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton. The line was to start in central Birmingham and run broadly north-west, following the Birmingham Canal, which had already attracted much industry to adjacent areas. This meant avoiding the Grand Junction Railway's sweep through Aston, and instead cutting through the high ground in central Birmingham. There was to be a Dudley branch, though this was not built in the form originally authorised.
There were sixteen railways proposed in the immediate area in the 1846 session, and there was much controversy over which of them should be authorised. There was a strong body of opinion that only one line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton was justified. As well as the Stour Valley Railway, two other lines between Birmingham and Wolverhampton were proposed in the same session: the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway, taking a more northerly route, and joining the (proposed) Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Priestfield; and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway.
During the Parliamentary process the S&BR was induced to omit the section of its line south of Wolverhampton, taking instead a one-quarter share in the Stour Valley Railway; the LNWR had a quarter, as did the Birmingham Canal; private investors collectively took the other quarter.
Finally, despite the earlier presumption that only one connecting line was needed, both the Stour Valley Railway and the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway were authorised, on 3 August 1846.
New Street station.
The Stour Valley Railway would need a connection at the Birmingham end; this was authorised separately after considerable debate over the preferred site; opinion at first was that there would only be one main station. The station selected was what became New Street station, although that name was not used at first. It too was authorised on 3 August 1846, by the London and Birmingham Railway (Birmingham Extension) Act, which included nearly a mile of route from near Curzon Street, as well as the new station. The authorised capital was £35,000.
Construction of the Stour Valley Line.
So the Stour Valley Line was authorised, with the LNWR, the Birmingham Canal and the S&BR having large holdings. However an Act of 1846 gave the LNWR control of the Birmingham Canal Navigation company's system, so that the LNWR at once became the majority shareholder of the Stour Valley Railway. A further Act of 1847 permitted the LNWR to lease the (unbuilt) Stour Valley Line.
The LNWR embarked on a prolonged and underhand attack on the S&BR, which it saw as a competing line for Lancashire and Cheshire traffic that the LNWR wished to have exclusively. It purposely delayed completing the line, in order to disadvantage the S&BR, which it now saw as a competitor for traffic for the north west. The S&BR had opened its line as far as Wolverhampton on 12 November 1849, but was unable to get access to Birmingham.
Perkins wrote in 1952, referring to the Shrewsbury and Birmingham and the Shrewsbury and Chester companies:
[The LNWR] became the bitter enemy of both of the smaller systems, and strove to crush them by every means in its power. The story is sordid and remarkable, and it seems almost incredible that a great public institution should have descended to such paltry devices to injure or destroy its competitors.
The Stour Valley line was practically complete in 1851, but the LNWR made no attempt to finalise the work or prepare it for opening. In response to an application to Parliament by the S&BR, the LNWR announced that the Stour Valley Railway was ready for opening by 1 December 1852, but the LNWR refused the S&BR access, on the grounds that the S&BR had announced its intention to amalgamate with the GWR. It had not actually done so, merely announced the intention, but this gave the LNWR the opportunity to prevaricate.
When judgment in Chancery was found against the LNWR, it refused to open the line to the S&BR, stating that it would be unsafe, as certain safety undertakings had not been formalised by the S&BR. The latter company then announced its intention of running a train anyway, on 1 December 1851. However the running powers held by the S&BR were for the Stour Valley line, which did not include entry to New Street station, which was part of a separate construction, and the LNWR physically obstructed the running of the train.
The S&BR threatened a Parliamentary Bill to resolve the matter, and in February 1852 the LNWR opened the Stour Valley Railway to its own goods trains, and to passenger trains on 1 July 1852. Still the LNWR found reasons to exclude the running of S&BR trains, and it was only on 4 February 1854 that this usage started.
Opening of the Birmingham station.
The station was opened on 1 June 1854. The Midland Railway had been using Curzon Street and that company transferred its trains to the new station on 1 July 1854.
On 14 November 1854 the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway opened for traffic. This was a rival scheme in GWR hands, and the S&BR, now amalgamated with the GWR, transferred its trains to the friendly line, which used the GWR stations in both Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
The Birmingham station was known at first by the title Navigation Street Station.
Some years before this the Midland Railway and the LNWR had both given guarantees of dividend to the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. In time the B&GR company was absorbed by the Midland Railway, and the LNWR guarantee remained as that company's obligation. On the opening of New Street station, an agreement was reached that the guarantee from the LNWR would be cancelled, and in return the Midland Railway was given access to New Street station. (It had been using Curzon Street station.)
After opening.
The allegiance of the two lines between Birmingham and Wolverhampton was entirely polarised, the Stour Valley Line being in the LNWR group and the BW&DR being a Great Western Railway line. Both had been formally leased or absorbed.
The Stour Valley Line became an important trunk route, but it also served numerous communities and industrial centres in its short length. As Birmingham itself grew in importance, and as the residential districts and neighbouring towns grew in prosperity, the suburban traffic using New Street station expanded considerably.
New Street Station widening.
The approach to Birmingham New Street station from the east became very congested, with the LNWR's own main line traffic, supplemented by that from the Aston lines, as well as the Midland Railway's use of the station. A scheme for widening the approaches was undertaken at the end of the nineteenth century, duplicating the tunnel section and diverting the Midland lines from Derby and Gloucester (via Camp Hill). This work was completed in May 1896.
The Midland Railway had their own part of New Street station from 8 February 1885, and the entire station was made joint between the LNWR and the Midland Railway from 1 April 1897.
After 1923.
Most of the main line railway companies of Great Britain were "grouped" following the Railways Act 1921, into one or other of four new large companies. The LNWR and the Midland Railway were constituents of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (the LMS), which from 1923 operated the Stour Valley Line and New Street station. In 1948 the railways were nationalised, following the Transport Act 1947 and British Railways were the new owner.
Electrification and modernisation.
In the 1960s a major scheme of modernisation was undertaken on British Railways. Part of the scheme was the electrification at 25 kV overhead, 50 Hz, of the West Coast Main Line and certain branches. The main line itself came first, but electrification on the Rugby – Coventry – Birmingham – Wolverhampton – Stafford route followed. On 6 December 1966 the Birmingham – Wolverhampton section was inaugurated. The Grand Junction route via Bescot had become important for freight, and as a diversionary route for through passenger services, and it too was electrified: Bescot – Bushbury – Stafford was opened to electric trains on 24 January 1966, and Stechford - Bescot on 15 August 1966. A major modernisation of Birmingham New Street station was undertaken as part of the work.
In the 1960s a number of branch lines had been closed as road-based passenger transport, and private car ownership, increased. It was considered useful to have an intermediate passenger railhead without entering the centres of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and Oldbury station was selected for development. It was retitled Sandwell and Dudley, and opened on 14 May 1994. Selected main line trains called there.
The original connection between the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and the LNWR route at Wolverhampton had been closed in 1859, when the S&BR was given a better route over the GWR line. In 1966 it was reopened for the electrification, giving access for Shrewsbury trains to Wolverhampton High Level station, and electric train access to the important carriage sidings at Oxley, on the S&BR line.
New Street station in the twenty-first century.
The 1960s modernisation of Birmingham New Street station was considered by many to be unsatisfactory; the platform areas were dark and cold, and access to the platforms was congested. In 2006 Network Rail a regeneration scheme was announced, and work started in 2010. The shopping area above the station was extended and upgraded, and re-opened with the title Grand Central. It was completed in 2015. The new concourse is three times larger than the former, and is enclosed by a large atrium, allowing natural light throughout the station.
The present day.
Electrification in the 1960s meant concentration of all through passenger traffic on the Stour Valley route; most freight continued to use the Grand Junction Railway route via Bescot. There is a heavy passenger service on the Stour Valley line; twelve passenger trains are indicated in the Network Rail journey planner from Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton in the hour from 11:00 to 11:59 on a weekday in June 2019.


Blakesley Miniature Railway

The Blakesley Miniature Railway was an gauge railway from Blakesley railway station to Blakesley Hall in Blakesley in South Northamptonshire, which operated from 1903 to 1946.
Location.
The 15-inch (381 mm) railroad was less than half a mile (800 m) long and ran from Blakesley Railway Station on the standard gauge East & West Junction Railway to the power plant and cowsheds at the back end of the property. It served primarily for the transport of coke, but was also occasionally used for transporting passengers from and to the nearby station.
History.
The track was laid in 1903 by Charles William Bartholomew (1850–1919) on his estate at Blakesley Hall. He was a wealthy civil engineer and landowner, major shareholder of the Great Central Railway and the East & West Junction Railway (E&WJR), self-proclaimed squire of the communities of Blakesley and Woodend. It was inaugurated in 1903 with a Cagney steam locomotive. In the following year, 1904, another Cagney steam locomotive was temporarily used on the track, which is now on display at the Strumpshaw Hall Steam Museum in Norfolk. In 1905, the petrol locomotive "Petrolia" was built and put into operation. The route was extended in 1909 to the bungalow of the farm, while a large part of the circle and the wye were dismantled. The locomotive "Blacolvesley" was delivered on 11 September 1909. The Cagney was then lent to the Sutton Hall Railway.
The track was extended in 1910 to the cowsheds and had subsequently a total length of 804 yards (735 m). The petrol locomotive Petrolia was rebuilt to look more like a steam locomotive. The Cagney locomotive was returned in 1914 by the Sutton Hall Railway. Charles William Bartholomew died on 29 April 1919. His heirs then tried to sell the Cagney locomotive in 1923. Either 1928 or 1929, the track section from the bungalow to the animal stables was shut down.
After Charles William Bartholomew had died in 1919, his widow still used the trains occasionally "on high days and holidays", which were otherwise stored in a three-track locomotive and wagon shed. The railway was used once again in 1932 as a feeder to the Blakesley Show, 1935 at the silver jubilee of George V and in 1937 to celebrate the coronation of George VI.
The Cagney steam locomotive and possibly "Petrolia" and some of the rails were sold in 1936 to the Deans Mill Railway. Justice of the Peace Dorothy Elliot, a longtime family friend and secretary of the Wombwell Colliery, acquired in 1942, under dubious circumstances, the remaining wagons and probably also some track material. It later turned out that she had embezzled £91,630 from the mine, for which she was imprisoned. The sale of her home and her possessions raised only £21,000 towards the repatriation of the misappropriated funds.
The main line was used from 1942 to about 1944 with manually pushed V-skip trucks to transport coke to the estate's power plant. Around 1946, the remnants of the line were dismantled and the trucks scrapped. When Sarah, the second wife of Charles William Bartholomew, with whom he had the children Ivy and James, moved to her son's house in Norfolk in 1947, the furniture and other contents of the manor house were auctioned off. The property was initially sold to the Hesketh family in 1949, but subsequently changed ownership several times. Sarah died in 1953 at the age of 89 years. After Blakesley Hall had fallen into disrepair for over ten years, it was demolished in 1957.


Clarence Railway

The Clarence Railway was an early railway company that operated in north-east England between 1833 and 1853. The railway was built to take coal from mines in County Durham to ports on the River Tees and was a competitor to the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). It suffered financial difficulty soon after it opened because traffic was low and the S&DR charged a high rate for transporting coal to the Clarence, and the company was managed by the Exchequer Loan Commissioners after July 1834. An extension of the Byers Green branch was opened in 1839 by the independent West Durham Railway to serve collieries in Weardale.
The Stockton and Hartlepool Railway opened in 1841 to connect the Clarence to Hartlepool Docks and the Hartlepool West Harbour & Dock opened in West Hartlepool in 1844. On 17 May 1853 the Clarence Railway, Hartlepool West Harbour & Dock and Stockton and Hartlepool Railway were merged to become the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway. The West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1865.
The line from Ferryhill to Stockton has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.
History.
Origins.
The S&DR opened in 1825 linking Stockton-on-Tees with the coal fields in the Shildon area via Darlington, although a more direct, northerly route to Stockton had support in that town. The promoters of a competing Tees and Weardale Railway, supported by Christopher Tennant, petitioned Parliament in 1823 for permission for a railway from the coal field south of Durham to the River Tees to allow onward transport by sea. This application failed as the standing orders had not been complied with, and another in 1824 failed, partly due to opposition to use of steam locomotives. By 1826 the S&DR had outgrown the port in Stockton and initially a port was proposed on the north bank of the Tees near Haverton Hill, but a branch to Middlesbrough on the south bank was proposed at a meeting in July 1827, and this was ratified by the shareholders that October.
The Tees & Weardale promoters developed a new scheme to transport coal to Haverton Hill: a main line that formed a junction the S&DR at Simpasture, a branch to the Deanery estate and a branch to Stockton that would provide a shorter route than the S&DR. This route didn't go into Weardale, so it was named Clarence Railway after the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV. The line was surveyed by Tennant with Edward Steel, an early assistant of Stephenson, the railway was supported by a town meeting in Stockton, and Henry Blanshard leased Coxhoe colliery for a high price from the Hale sisters, on condition they use their family's influence to promote the railway.
The "Clarence Railway Act" received Royal Assent on 23 May 1828, for a line from Haverton Hill to Simpasture with three branches, one to the Deanery estate near Bishop Auckland, another to Broom Hill, north of Ferryhill and a third to Stockton. The route was surveyed again, this time by George Leather, who suggested different route that was straighter and with better gradients. Samphire Batts replaced Haverton Hill as the terminus, as this would allow loaded ships in the docks at low water. Branches were planned to Sherburn via Coxhoe, Durham via Shincliffe, Byers Green and to the S&DR at West Auckland, although this last branch was not in the bill put before Parliament. Opposed by the S&DR and also the Marquis of Londonderry, who was building a port at Seaham and planning a railway to the pits at Rainton (near Houghton le Spring), the second "Clarence Railway Act" received royal assent on 1 June 1829. The new railway was long; the main line to Samphire Batts was now long, the City of Durham branch was , and there were four other branches to Stockton, Deanery, Sherburn and Byers Green. Due to the objection of Robert Surtees of Mainsforth, locomotives were not permitted on parts of the Byers Green and City of Durham branches.
Opening and early operation.
Further Acts in 1832 and 1833 allowed for two more branches and the Durham branch to be cut short at Shincliffe. Construction involved heavy earthworks, such a deep cutting through solid rock near Ferryhill and a high embankment at Whitton or Bishopton Beck. With the main line built between Simpasture and Samphire Batts, the Stockton branch complete, the Durham branch ready as far as Thrislington and the Sherburn branch as far as Quarrington, the company needed to earn some income. It started carrying coal on its main line in August 1833, and in a year had reduced the traffic over the S&DR to Stockton from over 26,000 tons to under 9,500 tons. In October 1833, the Clarence started shipping coal for export, but the S&DR continued to charge the landsale rate, rather than the lower export rate.
In January 1834 the railway opened as far as Quarrington on the Sherburn branch and a straith was opened at Haverton Hill; Port Clarence opened at Samphire Batts a few months later. Traffic was low and in financial difficulty the company asked the Exchequer Loan Commissioners to take over management in July, and the line was managed from London. A branch to Chilton Pit was authorised in 1833 and opened in 1835 and the Byers Green branch opened on 31 March 1837; the City of Durham branch was not built north of Ferryhill, and nor was the Deanery branch. The line was mainly double track, originally laid with rails, but later heavier ones weighing were used; trains run on the right. Horses were used exclusively until 1835, when a colliery owner began trains using his locomotives after having obtained permission from Surtees; the Clarence Railway used them from the following year. A passenger service was operated over the Clarence Railway between Stockton and Coxhoe from January 1836, initially by a contractor using horse-drawn coaches. A service using steam locomotives hauling two carriages began in June 1838, a new contractor providing the carriages and two locomotives, "Victoria" and "Norton". The three services a day ran the at an average speed of ; the fare was 2s outside and 2s 6d inside; a horse omnibus provided a connecting service between Coxhoe and Durham.
Locomotives.
In 1839 the Clarence owned twelve locomotives for hauling mineral trains; these travelled at .
By 1840, locomotives included:
West Durham Railway.
Plans for a South Durham Railway, connecting the Clarence Railway's Byers Green branch with the collieries in Weardale, was presented to Parliament in 1836, but the bill failed in the House of Lords and amended plans failed again the following year. In March 1837 some wagons of coal were drawn by horse on temporary track laid on the Byers Green branch to allow the Clarence Railway to show the line had been opened within the limit of time specified in its Act; the branch was only fully open in 1841. Work started on the West Durham Railway (WDR) in 1837, effectively an extension of the Byers Green branch to Willington Colliery; an Act for the line received Royal Assent on 4 July 1839. A section of line had opened on 12 June, although coal was not carried until 19 October, as before then locomotives were unable to be used on the Byers Green branch. From Byers Green a stationary engine was used to haul loaded wagon up a incline, the River Wear was crossed by a bridge and there were two more inclines before the terminus. The line was primarily for minerals, although there was a Saturday market-day train to Stockton; in 1854 this was still horse-drawn to Ferryhill, a dandy cart was used by the horse after it started the train at Byers Green.
Stockton and Hartlepool Railway.
Christopher Tennant, who had moved to Hartlepool, backed the Hartlepool Dock & Railway (HD&R) and this was given permission on 1 June 1832 for a line from the coal miles in central Durham to a port at Hartlepool. With a main line, of branch and of land set aside for the docks, trains ran between Thornley pit and Castle Eden after January 1835, Hartlepool dock opened that July and on 23 November the first train ran the between Haswell and Hartlepool. By the end of that year there was of line operational.
In 1837 the Great North of England, Clarence & Hartlepool Junction Railway (GNEC&HJR) obtained permission for a line connecting the HD&R with the Byers Green branch, thus giving access to Hartlepool Dock bypassing Stockton. The Stockton and Hartlepool Railway was built to keep the traffic on the Clarence by building a branch from Billingham to Hartlepool. Work started in 1839, without an Act of Parliament, and the line officially opened to passengers on 9 February 1841, although freight had travelled earlier. At Hartlepool an HD&R locomotive took trains forward to a inclined plane to a new Victoria Dock. The S&HR was incorporated by an Act that received Royal Assent on 30 June 1842.
The WDR closed for some weeks at the beginning of 1842 as it was short of money. This had an adverse effect on the revenues of the Clarence, the Exchequer Loan Commissioners taking possession of the railway that September, to sell it by public auction, although the debt was paid by raised by issuing and selling more shares. The Stockton and Hartlepool Railway leased the Clarence Railway for 21 years from 2 September 1844, and the Clarence paid its first dividend, of per cent, in 1845.
To prevent traffic being diverted over the shorter GNEC&HJR to Hartlepool, the WDR was linked to the Clarence Railway by line over private land; as this was not limited by Act and the Clarence was able to change whatever toll it wished. The GNEC&HJR also found it lacked permission in its Act of 1837 to cross the Clarence to reach the Byers Green. Unable to come to an agreement it returned to Parliament in 1843, where the GNEC&HJR was able to fix a toll for traffic on the short private line and gain permission to build a bridge over the line. However, the Clarence Railway still refused to co-operate building a bridge over the line and it was 1846 before the railway was completed.
Hartlepool West Harbour & Dock.
The Hartlepool West Harbour & Dock received permission on 23 May 1844, and this opened on the Stranton shore on 1 June 1847. Port Clarence suffered as traffic was being diverted to Hartlepool and the relationship between the S&HR and the Clarence Railway became strained. Some Clarence shareholders suggested a merger with the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Tennant had died in 1839; Ralph Ward Jackson had backed the S&HR and Hartlepool West Harbour & Dock and now negotiated a permanent lease of the Clarence from 1 January 1851. The Hartlepool West Harbour and Stockton and Hartlepool Railway were united from 1 July 1851. By an Act given Royal Assent on 30 June 1852, the Clarence Railway, Hartlepool West Harbour & Dock and Stockton and Hartlepool Railway were merged to become the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway on 17 May 1853; Clarence Railway shareholders held the majority of the shares with voting rights.
West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway.
In 1852 the Leeds Northern Railway (LNR) reached Stockton and formed a junction with the Clarence Railway Stockton branch; an alliance had been formed and in anticipation the West Harbour had been enlarged from . From the following year the West Hartlepool moved services to the LNR Stockton station and this became known as North Stockton, the 1848 S&DR station becoming South Stockton. A price war broke out between the LNR and York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR), the fare for the between Leeds and Newcastle dropping to two shillings.
In 1862 the WHH&R was in financial difficulty, and as a result of legal action it was discovered that the company owned over £3,700,000, above the permitted £2,800,000; the level of debenture debt was almost three times that allowed. The company had purchased collieries and steam ships costing £1,000,000. Jackson was held responsible, and he resigned in April, although a report the following year showed there had been good commercial reasons for buying the collieries and ships. The debt was able to be converted into shares in 1863 and the new board sold the ships at a loss, but it was not possible to sell the coal mines, as the trade in coal being depressed at the time due to the American Civil War. Jackson suggested merger of the WHH&R and NER in a letter to the "Railway Times" in April 1864, and this was agreed later that year. An Act was gained the following year and the companies merged in June or July 1865.
Later history.
The merger of the West Durham Railway with the NER was agreed in 1866 and was complete in 1870. The NER opened a new line to Bishop Auckland in 1885 from the Byers Green branch and the passenger service was diverted over this line, a new station opening at Byers Green. The West Durham Railway closed west of Todhills in 1891. From 1913 former Clarence Railway lines were electrified with 1,500 Vdc overhead lines and electric locomotives hauled coal trains between Shildon and Erimus marshalling yard, which had opened in 1908 between Middlesbrough and Thornaby. The trains took the former S&DR line from Shildon to Simpasture Junction, joining the former Clarence Railway line to Carlton, where a later line allowed access to the Stockton to Middlesbrough extension. The locomotives operated for 20 years, but then coal traffic had reduced, which made it uneconomical to maintain the electrification system.
As a result of the "Railways Act 1921", on 1 January 1923 the North Eastern Railway became the North Eastern area of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). In 1933 The rest of the former West Durham Railway was closed. In 1939 the services from to Bishop Auckland were withdrawn and the Billingham to Port Clarence services cut back to Haverton Hill.
During World War II a Royal Ordnance Factory was built at ROF Aycliffe, served by two stations at and . Britain's railways were nationalised on 1 January 1948 and the lines were placed under the control of British Railways. On 31 March 1952 the passenger service was withdrawn from Stockton to Spennymoor via Ferryhill. On 14 June 1954 the public passenger service ceased on the Port Clarence Branch, although workman's trains continued until November 1961. In 1963 the line closed between Simpasture and the junction with the former Durham branch.
Legacy.
Current Durham Coast Line passenger services provide one train per hour over the route of the former Clarence Railway from Stockton to Billingham, from where the former Stockton and Hartlepool Railway is taken to Hartlepool; four trains a day travelling between London King's Cross and Sunderland use the route. The line to Port Clarence is used by an irregular freight service, the branch signalled for one train working. The freight only Stillington Branch follows the route of the former Clarence Railway Durham branch to Ferryhill south junction. this two track railway carries three freight services a day, but this could be increased if freight is diverted from the East Coast Main Line. It is planned to carry out any necessary infrastructure works to allow the diversion of Intercity Express Programme Class 800 and 801 units over the line by 2019.
The Auckland Way Railway Path follows the route of the Byers Green branch from Spennymoor, taking the route of the later NER branch to Bishop Auckland at Byers Green.


Burton upon Trent Corporation Tramways

Burton upon Trent Corporation Tramways was a tramway service in Burton upon Trent between 1903 and 1929.
The tramway opened on 3 August 1903. In 1906 the Burton and Ashby Light Railway was opened and its cars used the Burton Corporation tracks as far as the junction of Bearwood Hill Road and High Bank Road where they moved onto their own tracks.
The system comprised four routes going out from Station Street to Horninglow, Branston Road, Stapenhill, and Winshill. The depot was in Horninglow Road.
The initial 20 tramcars were built by the Electric Railway & Tramway Carriage Works of Preston. A further four cars were obtained in 1919.
The system was closed on 31 December 1929.


Accrington Corporation Tramways

Accrington Corporation Tramways operated an passenger tramway service in Accrington between 1907 and 1932.
History.
Tramway services in Accrington had been provided by the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Company since 1886. Despite the name, it was independent of the Corporation. On 20 September 1907, Accrington Corporation formally purchased the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Company for £2,227 (equivalent to £ in ).
Before the formal takeover, the Corporation had started the electrification of the tramway. On 2 August 1907, a double track line to Church was opened and then a single track to Oswaldtwistle. On the day of purchase, the line to Clayton-le-Moors opened, followed a few weeks later by a line to the Cemetery at Huncoat, and then the line to Baxenden railway station.
The Baxenden line was extended to the Commercial Hotel in Haslingden on 28 September 1908 and then on 20 October to Lockgate for a connection with Rawtenstall Corporation Tramways.
Fleet.
The livery for the tramcars was red and cream.
Closure.
On 30 April 1930, the tram route to Rawtenstall was closed, followed on 26 August 1931 by the routes to Clayton-le-Moors and Oswaldtwistle. The final tram ran to the Cemetery at Huncoat on 6 January 1932. Three of the 8-wheeled tramcars built by Brush in 1919-1920 saw further service on the Southend-on-Sea Corporation Tramways. They arrived there in 1934, and had to be regauged to run on the gauge tracks. Five other cars, built by Brush in 1920-22, went on to Work on the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway where they were also reguaged to gauge.1932.


Bury Line

The Bury Line is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink running from Manchester city centre to Bury in Greater Manchester. Originally a railway line, it was, along with the Altrincham Line, converted into a tram line during 1991–92, as part of the first phase of the Metrolink system.
The line runs entirely on an old railway alignment without any street running. It runs north from and connects the suburbs of Cheetham Hill, Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe. The entire route from Victoria to Bury is roughly long. Two services travel along the line, both starting at Bury, and terminating at and respectively.
History.
Pre-Metrolink.
The line was originally heavy rail. The first part of what is now the Bury Line was opened by the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) in 1846, From to via Salford, Clifton Junction and Radcliffe, continuing north from Bury to Rawtenstall. The ELR was absorbed into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) in 1859.
The second part was opened in 1879. In order to connect the growing suburbs of Cheetham Hill, Prestwich and Whitefield, the L&YR obtained an act to construct a new line from Manchester in 1872 to the original ELR line at Radcliffe. Construction began in 1876 and was completed in 1879. Originally the line had only five intermediate stations at Crumpsall, Heaton Park, Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe. Three more stations were added later: Woodlands Road, Bowker Vale and Besses o' th' Barn.
In response to competition from trams, the line was electrified in 1916 using a unique 1,200 volt side-contact third rail system, which remained in operation until the line was converted to Metrolink operation in 1991. From 1959 until 1991, the line was operated by EMUs. In 1961 they were scheduled to cover the 9¾ miles from Bolton Street to Victoria in 23 minutes and take 24 minutes in the other direction, running at 20 minute intervals for most of the day, but half-hourly on Sundays. With an extra stop, the trams take 23 minutes uphill and 24 minutes downhill.
In August 1953, the Irk Valley Junction rail crash occurred on the line near Manchester Victoria, resulting in ten deaths and 58 injuries. It was caused by an electric train overrunning a danger signal which collided with a steam train, resulting in the front carriage of the electric train crashing into the River Irk.
The original station was closed in 1980 and replaced by the new, more conveniently located Bury Interchange. The original Bolton Street station is now part of the East Lancashire Railway heritage railway.
Conversion to Metrolink.
The Bury line was identified by transport planners in the 1980s as one of the local railway lines in the Greater Manchester area which was used mostly for local traffic, and could therefore be split off from the main line network and converted to light-rail operation. It was chosen for conversion as part of the first phase of the Metrolink, along with the Manchester Piccadilly to Altrincham Line to the south of Manchester: The two previously unconnected lines were to be linked together by a new street-running line across Manchester city-centre, which included a branch to Manchester Piccadilly railway station. Trams on the Bury Line would thus continue from Victoria station into the city-centre, to either Altrincham or Piccadilly via a new exit into the streets to the south.
Railway operations ended on 17 August 1991, in order for the line to be converted to Metrolink operation. This mostly entailed removing the old third rail system and replacing it with a 750 volt DC overhead line system. Available funding only allowed for minimum upgrades to be made, and so most of the infrastructure such as the stations and track were changed little.
The line became the first Metrolink line to open for business on 6 April 1992, initially between Bury and Victoria. On 27th April 1992 the city centre section opened, and trams then ran from Bury to Deansgate-Castlefield, the first station on the soon to be opened Altrincham leg of the network. The rest of the line to Altrincham opened on 15 June 1992, and the branch to Piccadilly opened on 20 July 1992.
One of the original stations was closed in 2013, after two new stations, ( and ) were opened nearby.
Services.
As of February 2017, trams between Bury and Manchester run as follows:
These two services combined mean that trams between Bury and Manchester operate every six minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes, and every 12 minutes during evenings and Sundays. During evenings, trams run to Piccadilly only, so journeys to Altrincham require a change of tram at .
Rolling stock.
All services are operated by M5000 trams. Between 1992 and 2009, the line was operated by the original fleet of 26 T-68 trams. From 2009 the new fleet of M5000 trams was introduced, and these replaced the original T-68 trams. which were withdrawn from service during 2012–14.


Elham Valley Railway

The Elham Valley Railway was a line connecting Folkestone and Canterbury in Kent, England. It opened between 1887 and 1889 and closed in 1947.
The line was originally proposed by the independent Elham Valley Light Railway Company in the mid-19th century. After the project was cancelled owing to financial difficulties, it was revived by the South Eastern Railway who were competing with the rival London, Chatham and Dover Railway for railway traffic. The scheme was complicated by the imposing geography of the Elham Valley and the construction of two significant tunnels. The southern section from Cheriton to Barham opened in 1887, with the northern section to Canterbury opening two years later.
The Elham Valley Railway was never commercially successful as it passed through predominantly rural areas. During World War II it was appropriated by the War Department who used it for defence, including a large rail-mounted gun stationed on the line. After the conflict, the line passed back into civilian use, but the route now had competing bus traffic. A shuttle service from Folkestone to Lyminge was reinstated in 1946, but closed the following year; the remainder of the line never re-opened. Some of the railway has been demolished, including Elham railway station, but parts of the infrastructure including the two tunnels have survived. The history of the line is commemorated in a local museum.
Background.
The South Eastern Railway opened the main line to Ashford in 1842. A connection to Folkestone opened the following year and to Canterbury in 1846. At the same time, the East Kent Railway was constructing a line from Canterbury to Dover. However, the imposing geography of the Elham Valley that connects Canterbury to Folkestone meant that unlike much of Kent, no railway line was proposed to run through it during the Railway Mania of this time.
The valley was poorly connected to the nearest market towns, Ashford and Canterbury, with the main road being little more than a dirt track. Landowners and residents saw that they were isolated in the absence of a railway, and proposed an independent scheme for a line. The first prospectus was presented to Parliament in 1865, outlining an "Elham Valley Light Railway Company" which would build a single-line railway starting at Hythe on the coast, running up through the Seabrook valley, through Newington and joining the existing SER and East Kent lines. The line was planned as a light railway with a maximum speed of . It was authorised by Parliament (as the Elham Valley Railway) on 6 August 1866, but serious financial difficulties plagued the scheme due to the national financial crisis, and the project was cancelled. It was abandoned by a Board of Trade Order on 30 August 1873 because of to "failure to raise sufficient capital".
The East Kent Railway had since been renamed as the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), and developed ideas for a new line from Folkestone to Canterbury. The LCDR's chairman James Staats Forbes argued this would provide better connections between Folkestone and Canterbury as passengers would not need to change trains. The route would compete with the coastal SER line via Dover that passed by unstable chalk cliffs. On 14 November 1875, a severe storm damaged the SER line towards Dover, and in January 1877, a series of storms flooded the track, culminating in the collapse of the Martello Tunnel on 12 January. The line was shut until 12 March and did not recover full operation until 30 May. During this outage, the LCDR billed the SER for temporary use of its lines.
To compete with the LCDR, the SER proposed a line from Cheriton to Canterbury in 1879. This project was rejected by Parliament the following year, but it was reintroduced in a modified form as the Elham Valley Light Railway Company, which received Royal Assent on 18 July 1881. Despite an authorised capital of £150,000 (£ as of ), no construction took place. The rival SER and LCDR schemes were advocated locally, with posters displayed around Folkestone supporting both, while Forbes and the SER's Edward Watkin accused each other of sabotage. In order to strengthen their case, the SER agreed to take over the Elham Valley Railway, and construct it as a double-track line to standard gauge like the rest of its network. The SER scheme was authorised on 28 July 1884 by the South Eastern Railway (Various Powers) Act 1884. It was nominally independent, with power adopted by the SER on completion.
Construction and opening.
Construction formally started on 28 August 1884 with the "cutting of the first sod" by Sir George Russell at Peene near Folkestone. Work had started on the Etchinghill Tunnel before any ground had been cut for the main track. The entire line was undulating, including a stiff climb at 1 in 90 for from Cheriton Junction. It approached Bridge by a short climb at 1 in 86 from the south; running south from Harbledown Junction there was a mile-long climb at 1 in 70 followed by a mile and a half at 1 in 183. The work was engineered by Thomas A. Walker. Residents of Cheriton and Newington requested the SER to build a station for their villages, but were refused.
Construction was quick, and the line was ready from Cheriton Junction to Barham in 1887. A Board of Trade inspection took place on 1 July, conducted by Major-General Charles Scrope Hutchinson. It passed, and the line opened to passengers on 4 July. There was no formal ceremony but local villagers came out to celebrate the first service from at 8:05 am. Continuing north, landowner Matthew Bell objected about the line passing through his land at Bourne Park, and following a dispute the company agreed to a cut-and-cover tunnel. A station was built at Bishopsbourne because the land could be provided by Bell's family for free. Watkin was still keen to link the railway with the LCDR and proposed a junction where the two lines cross near Harbledown. It was rejected by the LCDR.
The northern section was complete by 1889 and opened on 1 July following a satisfactory inspection by Hutchinson. Harbledown Junction signal box had 15 levers. The construction of the line had cost £361,776 (£ as of ), with land and associated charges amounting to £68,148 (£ as of ). The £12,000 per mile estimated in 1866 had risen to £27,000 per mile. In addition to the stations, public sidings were provided at Wingmore, south of Barham, and Ottinge, just over south of Elham. The SER absorbed the Elham Valley Light Railway on 1 July 1891.
Post-opening.
The passenger timetable had settled down by 1890, when every up train for the Elham valley started from Dover, stopping at every station to Canterbury. Alternate trains continued to Ramsgate and Margate. There were seven weekday trains and five Sunday trains each way. The South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway formed a working union known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR) in 1899.
In 1905 eight steam-powered railmotors were built for the SE&CR; these were self-contained coaches with a small steam engine, intended to enable low-cost passenger operation on lightly used branch lines. Two were allocated to Dover in 1911, when they operated between Folkestone Junction and Elham. The small power unit struggled to cope with gradients, and the 1 in 90 climb up to Etchinghill was challenging in the summer months when they conveyed a trailer car. They were not considered successful and were withdrawn in 1916. During World War I, the line was singled. Double track was reinstated shortly after the war ended. On 19 December 1915, a landslip at resulted in the South Eastern main line being closed. The Elham Valley Railway was then the only way to travel between Folkestone and Dover by rail.
When the Elham Valley Railway was being built, local people had requested a station at Cheriton, but the SER refused. On 1 May 1908 a halt at Cheriton was opened to the public. It was on the main line but used by the valley trains and staff trains only, except on rare occasions. It was closed seven years later for the duration of World War I, and was re-opened in June 1920 until World War II, when it was abandoned for five years.
Decline and military use.
The Railways Act 1921 mandated that most railway companies in Great Britain would be "grouped" into one of four new companies. Consequently, the SE&CR became part of the Southern Railway (SR) at the beginning of 1923. By this time, revenue on the line had dropped because of competition from road transport. The line had only ever conveyed local, rural traffic, and in 1931 arrangements were made to single the line between Harbledown Junction and Lyminge as an economy measure. This was commissioned on 25 October 1931. The signal box at Lyminge was closed on 1 May 1937 as a cost-cutting measure, a ground frame being provided in the station building.
The Kent coast area was considered to be vulnerable in the event of an anticipated attack by enemy forces during World War II. On 13 August 1940, a Dornier Do 17 crashed into the line just north of Barham station. The authorities took complete charge of the line for defence purposes and on 25 October, the passenger service between Lyminge and Canterbury was suspended. This was so that loop sidings could be installed at Canterbury South, Barham and Elham. Sidings were also added north of Lyminge and the line through Bourne Park tunnel was relaid as a passing loop. At Lyminge, two twelve-inch guns were mounted on the railway, but moved to Elham after an attack on 7 November.
On 2 December, the SR suspended the passenger service north of Lyminge and the line was handed over to the Railway Operating Department, Royal Engineers. The remainder of the line continued to run, though Cheriton Halt was closed on 1 February 1941. Goods were transported by the War Department, but retained SR staff at all stations.
Three heavy rail-mounted guns were deployed on the Elham Valley line. The railway route followed a meandering course, enabling the guns to be trained by moving them along the line to a suitable location. The wooded landscape also gave cover. The heaviest gun was an railway howitzer nicknamed the "Boche Buster". It was stationed at Bourne Park and could be stood down in the tunnel, avoiding enemy attack. The gun could fire a shell up to and was capable of reaching Pegwell Bay near Ramsgate. The other two guns were deployed, to Elham and Adisham respectively.
The gun was first fired on the morning of 13 February 1941, when the equipment was towed to a stretch of track near Kingston for calibration tests. Several rounds were fired out into mid-channel; the results were sighted and marked by observation posts on the cliffs at Dover. In the Kingston and Barham area villagers were warned to open doors and windows, but the blasts were so severe that in many cases houses were damaged. The gun was fired on only two other occasions, shortly after the first; one at the World's Wonder bridge between Barham and Elham and the other at Lickpot bridge, Elham. On 31 October 1941, a fireman was killed on the footplate near Barham during an air raid. In 1944, all three guns were transported to Salisbury Plain in connection with preparations for the Normandy landings.
On 3 May 1943, Lyminge and Hythe stations were closed to passengers. Goods traffic continued to be run by the War Department. The line was briefly used for military training purposes during this time.
Closure.
In March 1944, the line was derequisitioned by the War Department, and normal goods operation was resumed on 19 February 1945. However, the railway was not in a suitable state to carry passengers; the signalling system needed to be restored and surplus sidings needed to be renewed. Station buildings had several broken glass planes and damaged locks, and the floor at Elham station had been saturated with oil, rendering it unusable. The War Department ground frames and points at Bishopbourne were decommissioned on 2 May 1946.
The Folkestone to Lyminge section of the line was reinstated as a shuttle passenger service on 7 October 1946. By then, bus routes were providing an alternative to passengers that could not use the line while it was under military operation. It became increasingly obvious that the passenger train service was not competitive. On 16 June 1947 the passenger service was withdrawn, and on 1 October 1947 the line closed completely to revenue traffic.
Track was still "in situ" at Elham and Lyminge in 1952, and at Harbledown Junction in 1953. The road bridge across Wincheap (the A28) south of Canterbury was removed in March 1955. The bridge across the River Stour was demolished on 26 April. The remaining steel bridges across the line were removed between 1958 and 1965.
Rolling stock.
The line used several types of motive power, including Cudworth's 118 Class, Stirling's O and Q Class, Maunsell's N Class and Wainwright's C and H Class locomotives, and railmotors. During World War II, the War Department operated the Dean Goods locomotives on the line.
Legacy.
Both tunnels survive, as does some of the trackbed albeit largely covered by vegetation. Three stations still exist, Lyminge as a public library and those at Bishopsbourne and Bridge as private residences. Between Canterbury West and South only a short section of embankment survives curving away from the junction at Harbledown. Little remains of the route between Barham and Lyminge. After closure, Elham station was regularly occupied by squatters. It suffered increasing vandalism and was demolished in 1964.
The section between Peene and Cheriton Junction has been built over by the Channel Tunnel terminal building. Canterbury South and Barham stations have been lost to housing developments. At Elham, a small section of brickwork from the "up" station platform has survived.
There is a museum at Peene, near the Channel Tunnel terminal, which contains many artifacts of railway history including a signal box, and a working model railway of the line as operated by the SER. It is housed in an early 18th century barn that was previously sited on what is now the Channel Tunnel terminal.
References.
Citations
Sources


Connington South rail crash

The Connington South rail crash occurred on 5 March 1967 on the East Coast Main Line near the village of Conington, Huntingdonshire, England. Five passengers were killed and 18 were injured.
The 22:30 express from King's Cross to Edinburgh, hauled by D9004 "The Queens Own Highlander", was travelling along the Down Fast line at around 75 mph when the rear portion of the train was derailed to the left. The last four coaches came to rest on their sides and two others were derailed.
Investigation.
The interlocking showed that the Home signal had been at Danger when the accident occurred, but the driver and secondman stated that it was displaying Green until it passed out of their sight.
Just beyond the Home signal there were points for controlling movements from the Down Fast to the Down Goods line, and it was on these that the train was derailed. The points were locked in position by two means:
No fault was found with either the track or the train.
Immediately after the accident, 20-year-old signalman A. J. Frost claimed that he had accidentally changed the points while "swinging" on the levers. The Railway Inspectorate inquiry into the accident surmised that, as the train approached Connington South signal box, the signalman had:
This sequence would have had to occur in the time between the train passing the Home signal and running on to the track circuit, i.e. in less than two seconds. Tests were conducted using a similar signalling frame to the one at Connington South and it was found that an experienced signalman could just about manage to reproduce the sequence. Thus, it was shown that the interlocking could be defeated.
It was clear that the signalman had stood for some seconds with the points lever slightly out of its frame, moved it just as the sixth coach was passing over it, then returned it to its normal position. This would be a premeditated rather than an accidental act.
Consequences.
The signalman had entered the railway service in January 1965 after serving with the Royal Marines. He had been discharged after suffering from "hysteria and immature personality", but this was not known to the railway management at the time, even though his references had been taken up.
He was tried on charges of manslaughter and endangering the safety of railway passengers in November 1968. After a trial lasting 11 days, the judge instructed the jury to acquit him on the charges of manslaughter and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment for unlawfully operating the signal and points mechanism of the Connington South signal box so as to endanger persons being conveyed on a railway, on which charge the signalman had changed his plea to guilty.


Hatfield and St Albans Railway

The Hatfield & St Albans Railway was a branch of the Great Northern Railway which connected the Hertfordshire towns of St Albans and Hatfield. It opened in 1865 with the principal aim of allowing St Albans traffic to access the Great Northern's main line to London at , but soon came into difficulties when the Midland Railway inaugurated a direct route to London through St Albans. Passenger receipts declined in the 1930s, resulting in the temporary withdrawal of services in 1939. Passenger services were permanently withdrawn in 1951, leaving goods traffic to linger on until December 1968. Much of the route of the line is now incorporated into the Alban Way, a footpath and cycleway.
History.
Authorisation and opening.
The Hatfield and St Albans Railway Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 30 June 1862. It had been promoted by various landowners in Hatfield and St Albans in Hertfordshire and supported by the Great Northern Railway, which saw the line as a means of regaining traffic lost to the London and North Western Railway since 1858 as a result of the opening of its Watford to St Albans line. The Great Northern agreed to contribute £20,000 () to the total estimated cost of £88,000 (). Two lines were authorised: the first through the parishes of Hatfield, St Peter, St Stephen and St Albans to a junction with the London and North Western's St Albans line; the second from the parish of Hatfield to a junction on the northern side of Hatfield station on the Great Northern Main Line. The Great Northern opened its own St Albans station and was granted running powers into the LNWR station; the LNWR received reciprocal rights over the link line between the stations.
The new line opened on 1 September 1865 with one planned intermediate station at Springfield (renamed Smallford in 1879), although this was not ready in time. The Great Northern worked the line from the beginning and eventually absorbed the railway company on 1 November 1883.
Operations.
The initial weekday service consisted of eight trains in each direction from St Albans and London King's Cross, with a journey time of 15 minutes between Hatfield and St Albans. On weekdays, services went through to the LNWR's St Albans station, but on Sundays they terminated at the GNR station. Services were drawn by Sharp 2-2-2Ts until the 1870s, when Sharp 0-4-2T rebuilds and Sturrock 0-4-2Ts were used. The opening of the Midland Main Line through St Albans in 1868 saw receipts fall on the line and the Hatfield and St Albans Railway was unable to pay its debts. A receiver was appointed and the independent company had no choice but to be absorbed by the Great Northern, this being formalised by an Act of Parliament in 1883.
The Great Northern tried to counter the effect of the Midland, by running a few through coaches from St Albans to King's Cross but this did not last. It tried instead to foster local commuter traffic by timing the connections at Hatfield, so that services from St Albans, Luton and Hertford arrived within a few minutes of each other, whilst leaving a few minutes for the King's Cross connection. This was not competitive with the Midland's Main Line, but St Albans and Hatfield as well as surrounding villages prospered as local traffic developed. In 1897 a new station and siding opened at followed by in 1899. A third station was opened in 1910 at . By the 1920s, Class C12 4-4-2T locomotives were the mainstay of the branch, carrying out all passenger and freight workings, except for the final passenger working which was made by any available Hatfield locomotive.
Decline and closure.
By the late 1930s, passenger numbers were declining in the face of increased competition from bus transport. Passenger trains became uneconomic and in September 1939, following the start of hostilities, the LNER withdrew them. The needs of the de Havilland aircraft works at Hatfield however obliged the railway company to reopen the line three months later. To facilitate access to the factory and to reduce the number of cars which would attract enemy attention, the LNER opened an unstaffed halt at Lemsford Road in 1942. Passenger numbers fell back to their pre-war level once the war ended, and passenger services were again withdrawn in 1951. The last passenger service on 28 September 1951 was the 5.08 from Hatfield, hauled by Class N7/1 No. 69644, which took 23 minutes to reach St Albans Abbey.
Goods services continued for a further 18 years; two goods trains per day in each direction ran in the summer of 1963, carrying mainly coal for the St Albans gasworks. The line continued to be unprofitable and general goods services were withdrawn on 5 October 1964. A weekly service continued until the end of the year to the Salvation Army siding in order to fulfil the contract, and banana trains ran to Butterwick siding when needed. As there was no traffic beyond this point, the rails were lifted from a point near Colney Lane Bridge to the junction with the Watford line. The remaining section of the line closed on 31 December 1968. A contract with a scrap metal dealer at Smallford had meant that trains ran there until the end of 1968.
The line today.
After tracklifting in 1969, the councils of Welwyn Hatfield and St Albans purchased the trackbed for conversion into a footpath and cycletrack. Most overbridges had been removed and the construction of the A1(M) tunnel destroyed a section of the route near Hatfield. The first section of the route between Old Man's Lane and Hill End opened as the Smallford Trail on 8 December 1985, with the remaining part to Hatfield opening in mid-1986. The final section from Hill End to St Albans was officially opened on 17 April 1988, and the footpath is now known as the Alban Way.
The platforms at Hill End, Nast Hyde Halt and Lemsford Road Halt have survived, as have the station buildings at Smallford. London Road station is now a listed building.


Skelmersdale branch

The Skelmersdale branch was a standard gauge railway (SKE) which connected the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway at Ormskirk with Rainford Junction via Skelmersdale. At Rainford it connected with the Liverpool and Bury Railway and the St. Helens Railway. It was built by the East Lancashire Railway, which was taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway shortly afterward. The steam railmotor which served the line was sometimes known locally as the "Skem Dodger" and other times as the "Skem Jazzer".
History.
Opened on 1 March 1858, passenger services ended 5 November 1956, with goods trains to Rainford ceasing on 16 November 1961 and to Skelmersdale on 4 November 1963. Since then Skelmersdale has had no rail connection but has grown considerably.
Re-opening proposals.
Proposals have been put forward for the reopening of a section of line, reconnecting trains for Skelmersdale into Merseyrail's Northern Line Ormskirk branch. In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies, in its report, called for funding for the reopening of this station as part of a £500m scheme to open 33 stations on 14 lines closed in the Beeching Axe, including seven new parkway stations. The report proposes extending the line from Ormskirk railway station by laying 3 miles of new single track along the previous route towards Rainford Junction, at a cost estimated to be in the region of £31m. The route is largely intact, however deviation north of Westhead would be required. The proposed Skelmersdale station would be on the north west corner of the town near the Skelmersdale Ring Road, right next to where the old station once was.
In February 2017 Lancashire County Council confirmed that the preferred site for Skelmersdale railway station was the former site of Glenburn Sports College/Westbank Campus. County Council Transport portfolio holder John Fillis said that the site "is big enough to provide a high quality station with scope to expand to meet future demand.". By September, Merseytravel announced that they would be committing £765,000 to the study into the re-opening, estimating that the station could be open within a decade with a lot of additional funding. Merseytravel's plan would also see a new station built at Headbolt Lane in Kirkby. It has been proposed a new station at Skelmersdale would act as the terminus for Merseyrail's Northern Line, with connections available to Wigan and Manchester. Initial estimates suggest that the scheme could cost around £300 million to develop. On page 36 of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, it states that Merseytravel is currently working with Lancashire County Council and Network Rail to develop a plan to extend the Merseyrail network from Kirkby through to Skelmersdale, with work completed in 2019. They are considering 3rd rail electrification and other alternatives with a new station at Headbolt Lane to serve the Northwood area of Kirkby. The document on page 37 states two trials of electric 3rd rail/battery trains will be undertaken in 2020, this is one of the "alternatives".
This line has been identified by Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.


Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad

The Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad operated a tramway service between Blackpool and Fleetwood between 1898 and 1920.
History.
Construction of the tramway began in 1897. Within Blackpool, the tracks were constructed by the corporation. Services started on 14 July 1898.
Tram depots.
There were three depots:
Tramcar fleet.
The company had a fleet of 41 tramcars in a brown and cream livery.
Crossbench Rack cars.
The Crossbench Rack cars were 16 open-sided trams built between 1898-1899 by G.F. Milnes. They were originally numbered 1-13 and 25-27 in the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad fleet, before being renumbered 126-141 after being purchased by Blackpool Corporation Transport in 1920. The Crossbench Rack cars were 1-10 (126-135) and 25-27 (139-141) and the trailer cars were 11-13 (136-138). The trailer cars were later converted to motor cars. Rack car No. 2 (127) is preserved by the National Tramway Museum in Crich.
Box cars.
The Box cars were 15 trams built between 1898-1914 by G.F. Milnes. They were originally numbered 14-24 and 38-41 in the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad fleet, before being renumbered 101-115 after being purchased by Blackpool Corporation Transport in 1920. Box cars 20-24 became 101-105, Box cars 14-19 became 106-111 and Box cars 38-41 became 112-115. The last four cars were built without clerestory roofs and were known as New Fleetwood Box cars. Box car No. 40 (114) is preserved by the National Tramway Museum in Crich.
Yankee cars.
The Yankee cars were 7 partially open-sided combination trams built in 1899 by the Electric Railway and Tram Carriage Works (ER&TCW). They were originally numbered 28-34 in the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad fleet, before being renumbered 116-122 after being purchased by Blackpool Corporation Transport in 1920. Apart from No. 30 (118), they were rebuilt with enclosed saloons between 1920-1921 and became known as Greenhouse cars and Glasshouse cars.
Vanguard cars.
The Vanguard cars were 3 trams built in 1910 by United Electric Car Company. They were originally numbered 35-37 in the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad fleet, before being renumbered 123-125 after being purchased by Blackpool Corporation Transport in 1920. Blackpool Corporations' OMO car No. 7 was rebuilt as a replica Vanguard car in 1987 and was renumbered 619, its previous number when it was a Blackpool Corporation English Electric Railcoach prior to its rebuild as an OMO car. It is preserved by the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester.
Closure.
The Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad was taken over by Blackpool Corporation Tramways on 1 January 1920 at a cost of £284,000 (equivalent to £ in ). Two tramcars survive, both in the National Tramway Museum collection. Rack No. 2 built in 1898 is on display at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire. Box No. 40 built in 1914 is operational at the National Tramway Museum in Crich. In addition, Replica Vanguard No. 619 from the Blackpool Tramway, rebuilt in 1987, is in the Heaton Park Tramway collection.


British Rail Class 936

The British Rail Class 936 was reserved for former electrical multiple units not from the South-East, converted for departmental use. Units were converted for various tasks, including application of sandite, and de-icing duties.

Merseyrail Units

Scottish Units