Grand Crimean Central Railway
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The Grand Crimean Central Railway was built in 1855, during the Crimean War. It played an essential part in conveying supplies, particularly ammunition, to the British soldiers besieging Sevastopol, and was largely responsible for the eventual ending of the siege in September 1855.
The Russians sold the track to the Turks soon after the hostilities ceased, and it was quickly removed.
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[edit] The start of the siege
Britain and France declared war on Russia on 28 March 1854, in support of the Ottoman Empire. By the late summer of 1854, the British, led by Lord Raglan, together with their French and Turkish allies decided that a siege of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, held by the Russians, would be the best method of forcing an end to the war.
After landing their forces to the north of Sevastopol, the British set up a base in the narrow harbour of Balaclava, about 8 miles south of Sevastopol, in September 1854. Most of the land between Balaclava and Sevastopol was a plateau about 600 feet above sea level. They connected by a road, little more than a track, which travelled northwards, rising slightly to the village of Kadikoi about a mile from Balaclava. The road then turned west, climbing steeply to the plateau via the Col of Balaclava. The French were supplied from the harbour at Kamiesch.
During the early part of October, the British troops together with their supplies and artillery made their way, with some difficulty, up the road in preparation for the siege. When these were all in place the First Bombardment took place, starting on October 17. It had been expected that the bombardment would be effective and that the siege would be short-lived, and certainly over before the winter. However, the Russians blew up one of the French magazines and the damage done by British gunfire was soon repaired. The British were running out of ammunition and supplies, winter was approaching and the with the onset of bad weather the road became virtually impassible. Supplies were arriving at the crowded port of Balaclava but it was proving impossible to convey them to the besieging troops who were increasingly suffering from disease, frostbite and malnutrition. Conditions in Balaclava itself were also deteriorating.
[edit] Towards a railway
News of these appalling conditions was relayed to Britain, mainly by William Howard Russell, special correspondent of The Times. Hearing the news, Samuel Morton Peto, one of the leading railway contractors of the day, offered with his partners Edward Betts and Thomas Brassey, to build at cost, without any contract or personal advantage, a railway to transport supplies from the port of Balaclava to the troops outside Sevastopol. They promised to have a railroad at work in three weeks after landing at Balaclava. Their offer was accepted and the contractors immediately began to obtain supplies, some from their contracts already in progress, purchase or hire ships and recruit the men, from the specialists down to the navvies required to undertake the venture. The main fleet set sail on December 21 and arrived at the beginning of February.
Meanwhile James Beatty, who had played an important part in assisting Peto's partnership to build the European and North American Railway, was recruited as chief engineer. The line was surveyed by Donald Campbell, who had also worked on the European and North American Railway. Campbell's first task was to create a wharf at Balaclava, where the railway materials could be unloaded, with a yard adjacent. He planned that the track would pass along the middle of the main street of the town. It then had to pass through a gorge at the north of the town close to the water's edge and over swampy ground with rivulets to the village of Kadikoi. From here, the railway had to rise some 500 feet to the top of the plateau. Of the possible routes available Campbell chose to follow the existing road. Although at parts its gradient was as steep as 1 in 7, Campbell managed find a route with a maximum gradient of 1 in 14, but a stationary engine would be required at the top of this stretch to pull the railway carriages up the incline. Once on the plateau, the ground was rough but fairly level and it presented fewer problems. Lord Raglan's headquarters were at the top of the col, and it was decided that a depot should be constructed in this area.
[edit] Construction
By February 8, barely a week after landing, the navvies were laying the first rails in the main street of Balaclava. A trial assembly of the stationary engines (two had been acquired in case of the failure of one of them) was made and on February 10 they were working. By February 13, the railway had reached a point 300 yards from the town and on the February 19 it was at Kadikoi. Because of the nature of the emergency, the track was not built up to the normal standards of the contractors but nevertheless it was functioning by February 23. On that day, horse-drawn supplies were taken from Balaclava to Kadikoi, 15 days after starting to lay the first rails and about three weeks after the arrival of the fleet in the port. The railway yard in Balaclava was being extended and accommodation was being built for the workers and for storage of materials. By March 26, the line was complete to the top of the col and the first load was taken to the headquarters depot. By this time, the line had been double tracked from Balaclava to Kadikol and various sidings had been constructed near the wharf. Seven miles of track had been laid in less than seven weeks.
During this time the pioneer photographer Roger Fenton had arrived and was able to record the railway and its progress. On April 2, the railway was used for a new purpose, to carry the sick and injured from the plateau down to Balaclava - this was the first hospital train ever to run. Also during this time, Colonel William McMurdo had been appointed to be in charge of a new department of the army, the Land Transport Corps. He arrived in the Crimea in early March, and one of his duties was to take over the operation of the railway from the contactors. It was finally handed over by Peto, Brassey and Betts in early July.
[edit] The war continues
The existence of the railway meant that suffient supplies and armaments had been transported to the plateau for the allies to resume their attack. The Second Bombardment started on April 9 and continued for 10 days. Initally, little progress seemed to have been made because once again the Russians were able to repair the damage caused, and the Russians continued to deliver supplies to Sevastopol from the north. However, the Russians had sustained heavy casualties. Following a period of stalemate, Allied forces cut off one of the main main supply lines at Kerch on May 24.
The increased supply of ammunition through the railway meant that the Allies were able to mount the Third Bombardment on June 6 which was much more intensive than the previous ones. It was followed by an assault on June 7 and June 8, which met a limited degree of success. More supplies were brought by the railway and the Fourth Bombardment took place on June 17. The subsequent attack was mismanaged and was a failure.
[edit] The end of the siege
The Russians suffered a significant defeat at the Battle of the Tchernaya on August 16. The Fifth Bombardment took place for five days from August 17, with the intention of destroying as many Russian defence works as possible. The Sixth Bombardment was followed by an successful Allied attack on September 8, bringing the siege to an end.
[edit] More lines - and locomotives
During the summer, further surveys had been carried out in the propect of supplying not just the British forces, but also their French and Sardinian allies (Sardinia had joined the war in January 1855), by rail from Balaclava. It was also at this time that electric telegraphy by underwater cable was used in warfare for the first time, connecting the Crimea to the Allies base at Varna in Bulgaria.
The idea of using locomotives was also considered, and the first locomotive was running on November 8, too late to affect the outcome of the siege. The locomotives were not particularly effective, as they could not manage the easy gradient from Balaclava to Kadikoi with more than a light load. In all, probably five locomotives arrived but the identity of any of these has not been positively identified, other than Swan, a 2-2-2 locomotive built at Crewe.
James Beatty left the Crimea to return to England as a sick man and his position passed to Donald Campbell. Earlier in September, Her Majesty's Floating Factory Chasseur arrived at Balaclava, to provide an engineering service under the direction of Robert Frazer. A third stationary engine also arrived during this time. Due to the haste in which the railway had been constructed, it was in danger of being severely damaged by the weather of the coming winter. William Doyne organised the building of new lines of a superior quality, again in a short time. By November 10, 6½ miles of track had been laid between Balaclava and the British headquarters. The lines towards the Sardinian and French headquarters were also advancing.
Towards and during the second winter, the supplies carried by the railway were different. The siege had ended, so ammunition was less important, and the supplies related more to the accommodation and comfort of the troops - huts (to replace tents), clothing, food, books and medical supplies. Colonel McMurdo also left the Crimea as a sick man on December 1, passing on the control of the railway to Colonel Edward Wetherall.
Following the completion of the Sardinian branch, the railway had reached its limit. In all, it measured about 14 miles (plus a few miles of sidings and loops). The French branch remained unbuilt. Locomotives were not used above the col.
[edit] The end of the war
Sevastopol lay in ruins after the end of the siege. Tsar Nicholas I had died in March 1855, and peace negotiations were soon opened by the new Tsar, Alexander II. Hostilities formally ceased between the Allies and the Russians on February 29, 1856, and the Treaty of Paris was signed on March 30, 1856. The Russians sold the track to the Turks soon after the war ended; the rails had already been uprooted and taken away, and the railway ceased to exist.
[edit] References
- Cooke, Brian The Grand Crimean Central Railway, Cavalier House, Knutsford, 1990 ISBN 0-9515889-0-7
