West Somerset Mineral Railway
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The West Somerset Mineral Railway was a standard gauge line which existed in the UK county of Somerset. It ran from the ironstone mines in the Brendon Hills to the port of Watchet on the Bristol Channel. From there the ore was carried across by ship to Newport and thence to Ebbw Vale for smelting to remove the iron. The line's biggest feature was the eight hundred feet gravity worked 1 in 4 incline used to descend the north side of the Brendon Hills.
The line was built in stages between 1856 and 1861, the construction of the incline taking the last two years of this period. It was operated by the West Somerset Mineral Company which also constructed a harbour wall at Watchet. At the top of the incline the line ran along the Brendon ridge in both directions, eastward to Raleigh's Cross and the Colton mines and westward to a heathland terminus named after the nearby village of Gupworthy.
The line operated successfully and settlements of people attracted to the area by the prospect of employment in the mines grew around the Brendon ridge. However changes in the availability of imported ore made the mines a less attractive proposition and by 1880 the mines were closed and the railway dormant. A residual passenger service carried on until 1898 when the line closed for a while.
In 1907 another venture, the Somerset Mineral Syndicate, leased the railway and worked the mines again. Both the lower section of the line and the incline were brought back into use. However, the venture was under-capitalized and closed in March of 1910.
In 1911 an Australian inventor A.R. Angus used the lower section of the line to test and demonstrate an automatic signal warning device, but that was the last time the line was used. The UK Ministry for War requisitioned the rails during the First World War and they were lifted for scrap towards the end of the conflict.
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[edit] The Line Today
Today the line can still be seen in places, although some of it is private property. It runs parallel to the West Somerset Railway from Watchet to Washford, then curves south west, partly in the form of a road, past Cleeve Abbey and Roadwater village to Combe Row. From here the course of the incline swoops up through the trees. The remains of the summit winding house and the summit are accessible from the B3224 road just west of its junction with the B3190. A chapel built to attend to the spiritual needs of the miners and their families still stands at the junction.
[edit] Locomotives known to have worked on the line 1856-1898
1. 0-4-0ST Neilson & Co, Glasgow works no. 370 of 1856. Supplied new at a cost of £1065.13p Known locally as "The Box" due to the square shaped saddle tank. Probably scrapped at Ebbw Vale circa 1898. 3 Neilson type engines are known to have worked the line.
2. 0-6-0ST "Rowcliffe" Sharp Stewart works no. 995 of 1857. Order number E324. New to Ebbw Vale 1896, transferred to WSMR August 1857, returned to Ebbw Vale 1896. Tendered for disposal 4/7/1903 and sold at auction by C.D. Phillips Jr 12/5/1904. Disposal details not known.
3. 0-6-0ST "Brendon" Sharp Stewart works no. 996 of 1857. Never ran on WSMR metals. Order number E324. New to Ebbw Vale at Pontypool (Race Ironworks/Glyn Pits) 1857. Not on 1904 sales list. Disposal details not known. Industrial Railway Society records show sold or scrapped.
4. 0-6-0ST "Pontypool" Sharp Stewart works no. 1677 of 1866. Originally one of 5 locos of order E492 forthe Brecon and Merthyr Railway, transferred to order E515 for Ebbw Vale Company. New to WSMR, to Ebbw Vale 8/1/1899. Tendered for disposal 4/7/1903 and sold at auction by C.D. Phillips Jr 12/5/1904. Disposal details not known. IRS records have a note that says SS 1677 was called "Atlas" (incorrect) and that the name "Pontypool" was also carried by SS 1767 (also incorrect)
5. 0-6-0ST "Whitfield" Sharp Stewart works nu,ber 1010 of 1857. Originally built as 0-6-0 tender locomotive for London and North Western Railway 1857, order no. E329. Works number listed by John Ramsbottom as SS 1010 11/1858 and 12/1859. Roger Sellick states (incorrectly) "very probably LNWR 1873", Roger Sellick also states (incorrectly) "Sold to Alexandra Dock Company, Newport", Industrial Railway Society records state (incorrectly) "possibly SS 1014", rebuilt as 0-6-0ST by LNWR, 1870, renumbered 1815 in 9/1870, renumbered 1154 in 12/1871, renumbered 1933 in 7/1874 (a number it almost certainly never carried), sold to Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent, 7/1874, sold to Ebbw Vale 1880, rebuilt at Ebbw Vale 1893, used on WSMR 1895, rebuilt Ebbw Vale 1904 (rebuild plate). Tendered for disposal 4/7/1903 and sold at auction by C.D. Phillips Jr 12/5/1904. Sold to South Hetton Coal Company 1907 and scrapped at South Hetton sometime between 18/5 and 20/7/1948
6. 0-6-0ST "Atlas" Sharp Stewart works no. 1657 of 1866. Order number E492. Became Brecon and Merthyr Number 18. Withdrawn 1888 and sold to Rhymney Iron Company. Rebuilt as GWR 0-6-0PT no. 2191 (works number 2974). Disposal details not known.
7. 0-6-0ST "Esperenza" Sharp Stewart works no. 2263 of 1872. Roger Sellick gives works number as 2262, Gwent Handbook as 2263. Spent life at Ebbw Vale and Pontypool, worked on WSMR briefly in 1894. Tendered for disposal 4/7/1903 and sold at auction by C.D. Phillips Jr 12/5/1904. Disposal details not known.
[edit] Locomotives known to have worked on the line 1907-1910
8. 4-4-0T, Beyer Peacock works no. 1881 of 1879, rebuilt 1889. Obtained from A. King & Company, orginailly Metropolitan Railway No. 37 arrived WSMR 30/6/1907 after fouling water troughs at Creech St. Michael, chimney numerals, condensing gear and Met. Rly. device removed shortly after arrival.
[edit] Locomotives used by A.R. Angus 1911-1917
9. 2-4-0, Beyer Peacock works no. 248 of 1861. Originally built as 2-2-2 for West Midlands Railway and numbered 103, rebuilt GWR 1883. Used on WSMR 17/12/1911 to 4/11/1917, stored at Taunton until 1919, sold to Bute Works Supply Company 1920, then Cambrian Railways 1921. Returned to GWR, renumbered 1329 and withdrawn 8/1926
10. 2-4-0, Beyer Peacock works no. 249 of 1861. Originally built as 2-2-2 for West Midlands Railway and numbered 104, rebuilt GWR 1883. Used on WSMR 17/12/1911 to 4/11/1917, stored at Taunton until 1919, sold to Bute Works Supply Company 1920, then Cambrian Railways 1921. Returned to GWR, renumbered 1328 and withdrawn 11/1927
[edit] Locomotives of the Colton Tramway
The two foot gauge Colton Tramway was worked by two diminutive locomotives.
1. 0-4-0T Bagnall. Originally believed to have been works no. 210 named "Brick" supplied to Beckenham and Penge Brick Works 3/1879 and reputedly sold to Ravenhill Brick Company, Belfast. It is now believed that the loco was in fact works no. 300 named "Terrier" supplied new to W.B. Beauchamp, Windsor Hill Quarry, Shepton Mallet 1/1890
2. 0-4-0 Kerr Stuart. Assumed identity is works no. 700 of 1900 supplied new to Higgs & Hill Ltd., Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
Both locos faced Brendon Hill, both were sold at auction 28/6/1910 the Bagnall for £20 the Kerr Stuart for £18
[edit] Further information
The Old Mineral Line R. J. Sellick 1976 The Exmoor Press ISBN 0-900131-21-7
The West Somerset Mineral Railway Roger Sellick 1962 David and Charles No ISBN
Somerset's Lost Railways Peter Dale Stenlake Publishing ISBN 1-84033-171-2
Ordnance Survey Map: Explorer OL9 Exmoor (The top of the incline is at Grid Reference ST023344)
