# UNITED KINGDOM/Closed Railway Lines



## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

I am interested in old railway lines throughout the world but particularly in Europe. I thought I might start this thread about lines in the United Kingdom which have been closed.

As a start to the thread, I have created a series of posts about the Ballachulish Branch Line in Scotland which closed in 1966.

*The Ballachulish Railway Line - Part 1*

This is the first post in that series. The Ballachulish Railway Line was the subject of an article I was reading in an old modelling magazine ove Christmas (2018). It was an old "Hornby Magazine" from 2012. This was originally intended to be a short reflection on the Ballachulish Line but it has developed into something much longer. There will be three parts to this story!

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


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Ballachulish Railway Line - Part 2*

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

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/02/the-ballachulish-railway-line-part-2


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Ballachulish Railway Line - Part 3*

This is the third of three posts planned to cover the Ballachulish Branch. It includes the final length of the line approaching Ballachulish, some details about the quarries and a November 1950 article about the line which has been taken from The Railway Magazine of that date. 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/05/the-ballachulish-railway-line-part-3


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*King's Lynn Harbour and Dock Railways - Part 1*

I was 12 years old when we moved to King's Lynn in 1972 and we stayed there right through my teens until I left home for University in 1978. I have long thought about spending a little time reviewing the railway history of the town. This first post covers King's Lynn Harbour Branch which left the mainline just before that line entered the town in South Lynn

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/16/kings-lynn-harbour-branch


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*King's Lynn Harbour and Dock Railways - Part 2
*
The harbour branch left the mainline South of King's Lynn. The docks branch left the mainline close to King's Lynn Station. The post below includes a very short history of the harbour and docks and then covers the length of the branch from the station to John Kennedy Road.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/24/kings-lynn-docks-branch-part-1


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*King's Lynn Harbour and Dock Railways - Part 3
*
The second part of a study on the Docks Branch in King's Lynn. ......

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/24/kings-lynn-docks-branch-part-2

This post covers the area around the Alexandra Dock.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*King's Lynn Harbour and Dock Railways - Part 4*

This is the third post about the Docks Railway in King's Lynn. The fourth post in the series about the closed railways in King's Lynn.

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/07/kings-lynn-docks-branch-part-3

The post covers the area around Bentinck Dock and has some detail about the Savage's Works on the East side of the dock. Savage's were internationally renowned for their steam-powered fairground attractions.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*King's Lynn Harbour and Dock Railways - Part 5*

A few random bits and pieces which relate to the docks railways in King's Lynn ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/11/06/kings-lynn-docks-branch-part-4-miscellaneous


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean - Part 1*

My wife and I enjoy an annual holiday in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. We have been there almost every year since the year 2000. During that time we have enjoyed exploring a number of the different railway routes in the forest and have begun to realise just how complex a network of tramways supported the standard-gauge railways which themselves had replaced much earlier tramways. I hope this thread will be of interest to some.

This is the first of a series of blog posts about the forest and its railways and tramways and focusses on Lydney Harbour and its transport links, particularly rail and tramway/tramroad. ...

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/lydney-harbour


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean - Part 2*

Prior to the introduction of standard gauge railways in the Forest of Dean there was an extensive network of tramways or tramroads. These tramways were of a variety of gauges from 3ft 6in to 4ft. One of these was the Severn and Wye Tramroad. This post details the various branch and feeder tramways associated with this line. The tramway was replaced by the Severn and Wye Joint Railway. ...

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ys-and-sidings-of-the-severn-and-wye-tramroad


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean - Part 3*

Parkend in the Forest of Dean is currently the terminus of a preservation line, the Dean Forest Railway (http://www.deanforestrailway.co.uk). Historically it was a small through station on the Severn and Wye Joint Railway with a short branch to transshipment wharves that allowed tramways to transfer good to the main line. Further back still t was the centre of some major forest industries which were heavily served by tramways. The first image on the blog below is a map of the tramways at Parkend in its prime as an industrial centre in the Forest.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/29/parkend-forest-of-dean


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Ashover Light Railway*

This is another thread prompted by reading old copies of "The Railway Magazine" from 1950. The September 1950 magazine carried a short article about the Ashover Light Railway which had finally closed over the majority of its length to freight traffic in March 1950.

The post below is the first of at least two.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/15/the-ashover-light-railway-part-1

I hope you enjoy it. Much of the information comes from three sources ... The Railway Magazine, Wikipedia, and the website of the Ashover Light Railway Society. The Society's website is well worth a visit.

http://www.alrs.org.uk


This is the second post in a short series about the Ashover Light Railway. It covers the length of the line from the Clay Cross Works to Stretton Halt. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/19/the-ashover-light-railway-part-2


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean Railways - Part 4*

There was a significant network of tramroads close to Parkend in the Forest of Dean.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/oakwood-and-dikes-tramways


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean Railways - Part 5*

*Moseley Green Tramways*

In 2017, my wife and I stayed in a cottage in Moseley Green this posts reflects on the tramways in the immediate vicinity of the cottage. .....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/27/moseley-green-tramways


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean Railways - Part 6*

*New Fancy Colliery*

Many of the Collieries in the Forest of Dean relied totally on the railway s in the Forest for transport as roads were not of the highest quality and quantities of coal were high.

This post is about one of those Collieries - New Fancy Colliery in the Forest of Dean ....

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2017/09/23/new-fancy-colliery-and-it-railways


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean Railways - Part 7*

One tramway/railway route in the Forest of Dean was *The Forest of Dean Tramway*. It was a major innovation in its day. It's major tunnel was Haie Hill Tunnel which was built for it in the very early 19th Century and which was for a short while the longest tunnel in the world. It was also one of the earliest tunnels built.

The tramway linked significant industrial concerns in the Forest of Dean with the Severn Estuary at Bullo Pill. The owners of the tramway were also behind the first serious attempt to tunnel under the Estuary.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/bullo-pill-and-the-forest-of-dean-tramway


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean Railways - Part 8*

A recent visit to the Forest of Dean promoted some reading and reflection on *Cannop Colliery*. This post is the result of those reflections:

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/31/cannop-colliery



> My wife and I were in the Forest of Dean on 30th August 2018 and visited a small garden centre that we have been to many times before - the Pigmy Pymetum. Later in the day I was reading an older copy of "The New Regard" - Number 23 from 2009. The first article in that edition of the magazine was about Cannop Colliery and was written by Ian Pope. The colliery was just north of the location of the garden centre.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Ashover Light Railway*

And finally ...........

This is the third of three planned posts about the Ashover Light Railway. I hope you enjoy the final installment. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/19/the-ashover-light-railway-part-3


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway, Essex, UK*

I am continuing to read through old copies of ‘The Railway Magazine’. This time it is the December 1950 edition. It contains a short article about the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway in Essex. This article held my interest because it relates to a line not too far from Braintree in Essex where we lived between 1970 and 1972.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/29/the-kelvedon-and-tollesbury-light-railway


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Penydarren Tramway*

The Railway Magazine, March 1951, carried a short note about the Penydarren Tramway as well as an article about Richard Trevithick and his locomotive which first ran on the Tramway in February 1804. The first steam locomotive on rails .....

This post pulls together information from a number of different websites about the Penydarren Tramway. The next post will follow the length of the line as best as is possible ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/02/02/the-penydarren-tramroad-south-wales-part-1


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## da_scotty (Nov 4, 2008)

Are you using this site just to promote your own? 

It's link after link to your own website, this is a forum, not a add-board, you're the only one posting here.


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## Farro (Oct 29, 2016)

You are doing a really nice work (lots of information!) but as @da_scotty wrote better avoid presenting it like this. Next time better link some photos and expalin something and then add the link afterwards. Also wait until someone answers for adding more links. Finally consider adding a link to your blog in your signature.

Like now is a bit rude and looks like self-promotion only, better avoid it before an admin do something. This is a forum so expect people asking and showing more info from their sources, people writing nice things and others being less nice and less intelligent too. If you are the only writing something is not fine about the thread.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

Hello and thank you for your comments.

I am trying to find others who might be interested in these railway matters. I will, of course, engage with people who are interested. However, it is difficult to engage proactively if no one responds.

I have no wish to be rude, or to cause upset. I'd be delighted to talk about any of the lines about which I have written. I have checked the forum's policy on posting and I seem not to be contravening any rules.

Kind regards

Roger


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Penydarren Tramroad*

The urban environment was highly dependent on transport links as it developed in the Industrial Revolution in the UK. Merthyr Tydfil was one highly significant location in the early years of
Iron and Steel production in the UK and was at one time one of the foremost industrial sites in Wales. The tramroads contributed significantly to the development of the town and the Penydarren Tramroad was the most significant of all such tramroads as it saw the first industrial use of a steam locomotive in the world

I promised a survey of the line between Abercynon and Merthyr Tydfil. This next post follows the Penydarren Tramroad along its full length.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/02/06/the-penydarren-tramroad-south-wales-part-2


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

I have just begun reading a book by John Minnis - 'Britain's Lost Railways' - and found this picture which he says is the only one known to be in existence of the Merthyr/Penydarren Tramroad in use.

In his view this is one of the most significant railway pictures in existence as it shows a tramroad in use which was the first to carry an effective steam pulled train. Sadly, the experiment did not last and the tramroad returned to horse-drawn wagons.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The East Cornwall Mineral Railway*

I have just enjoyed reading the first article in the May 1951 edition of The Railway Magazine. That article covered the East Cornwall Mineral Railway which started life as 3ft 6in narrow gauge line.

As a result I have spent a little time researching the line. This is the first of two planned posts about the line

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/03/26/the-east-cornwall-mineral-railway-part-1/


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The East Cornwall Mineral Railway*

This is the second of two posts about the East Cornwall Mineral Railway, a 3ft 6in narrow gauge railway.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/03/28/the-east-cornwall-mineral-railway-part-2

In 1908, the line was superseded by a standard gauge line which ran from Bere Alston to Callington via Calstock and included a significant viaduct over the River Tamar at Church. The standard gauge branch line is still in use today in a truncated form.

This line will be the subject of a future post.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The East Cornwall Mineral Railway and the Bere Alston to Callington Branch*

To complete this short series of posts, I have produced a survey of the standard gauge branch that replaced the ECMR. Its one and only major structure is the Calstock Viaduct which remains in use in 2019 to carry the truncated branch-line to Gunnislake.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/02/the-bere-alston-to-callington-branch

This post also provides design a little information about a possible reinstatement of the old line between Bere Alston and Tavistock.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*Westward Ho!*

An independent standard-gauge line with no direct connection into the wider network. ....... The first section of the line was completed in 1901, the full line finished in 1908. All of the track and rolling stock were requisitioned during the war and the railway closed in 1917. The materials never saw active service! ........ Interesting!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/06/04/bideford-westward-ho-and-appledore-railway-part-1-railfile


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway, Colonel Stephens and the Nesscliffe MOD Training Camp.
*

Apologies for the long title for this thread. I was challenged by someone who read my posts about the Bicester Military Railway and about MoD Kineton to look at the Nescliffe Camp.

I have started by looking at the feeder railway which was commandeered by the military and this has become a post in its own right. I will get round to the military areas in later posts in the series.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/05/1...nesscliffe-mod-training-area-and-depot-part-1

The next few posts relate to this line. .......


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

The next post in this series links the place I grew up during teenage years with the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway. 'Gazelle' was made in King's Lynn and has had an interesting history!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/07/21/gazelle


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

Gazelle is known to have taken charge of two different coaches in its time on the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway. The first was a cut down version of a London Horse Tram. The second used the same chassis with a body from a Wolseley-Siddeley Railcar which Colonel Stephens first used on the Selsey Tramway. That Railcar was itself a significantly modified rail-lorry based on a Wolseley-Siddeley chassis........

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/07/27/gazelles-trailers


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

Colonel Stephens loved to experiment. Railmotors were a particular theme. He bought a series of Ford Railmotors for his different light railways. One set was purchased for the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway. This post provides an introduction to these small vehicles:

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/08/0...nel-stephens-lines-in-general-and-on-the-smlr


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway again*. ....

This is probably my last post on the S&MLR. It covers the line and the military depots that it served from 1941 until it closure in the very early 1960s.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/08/1...nesscliffe-mod-training-area-and-depot-part-2


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

Abandoned Railways reused as Cyclepaths in the UK

The Guardian carried an article on 31st August 2019 about old rail routes being used as cycleways. It suggested the 10 best routes where old railway formations are in use as cycleways. Theirs is not the only list of routes which seeks to provide a "Top Ten."

I have pulled together a few examples in the linked post below. I'd like to add at least one which does not feature in the top ten lists, and that is the *Forest of Dean*.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/09/13/railways-and-cycleways-no-1-a-top-ten

Walking and cycling along the old railways of the Forest is a real pleasure.


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## eu01 (Oct 14, 2005)

How many of these disused railway lines in the UK could have any chances to be rebuilt and used again?


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

Very few. However, the fact that some effort has been made to keep routes in public ownership probably enhances the possibility. The major impediments would be the status of existing structures in the route and parts of the old lines which are now in private ownership.


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean again. *....

My wife and I stay in the Forest of Dean most years. September 2019 was no exception. We stayed in a cottage close to what were Cannop and Speech House Collieries which were both rail served when they were active collieries. I have already posted about Cannop Colliery as part of this series of posts. It seems appropriate that I post something about Speech House Colliery.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/09/14/speech-house-hill-colliery-and-railway


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## rogerfarnworth (Jan 7, 2019)

*The Forest of Dean again. *...

The industrial history of the Forest of Dean is such that the intensity of activity was high throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Innovation was rife and nowhere was this more true than in its transport infrastructure.

In, what history will ultimately regard as, a very short period of time, tramroads were built and became the dominant form of transport. They waned and were replaced by broad gauge railways which in turn lost out to what was the dominant but probably inferior standard-gauge. For a time, all were active in the Forest at once. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/09/15/different-railway-gauges-in-operation-the-forest-of-dean


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## espewe (Aug 27, 2014)

Quite interesting to think that the era when Beeching Axe happened, especially decades of 60s-80s were the times that most railways are closed somewhere outside UK, for example it happened the same in Japan and my country Indonesia. Maybe it was a worldwide drive to private car that hit railway company so hard that they had to "rationalize" their networks by cutting unprofitable and low-passenger routes.


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