Many years ago, when I first became interested in railways (about 1970), I invested in a paperback guide to the 'Preserved Railways and Tramways of the British Isles' (or something very similar!) Back then there were very few actual 'preserved' railways - the Bluebell, the KWVR and the Middleton were about the only standard gauge lines open. I think the Dart Valley had just been added, and the Severn Valley was just starting. The Kent and East Sussex was there, but under a huge shadow thanks to the Ministry of Transport refusing reopening due to a level crossing. There was the Blackpool Tramway, Shipley Glen, some cliff lifts, the Isle of Man and other borderline heritage set ups. There were some museums. There were loads of planned preserved lines, many of which made it and are now essential local attractions. But compared to now there wasn't a lot happening. Outside, on the network, lines were still being closed (!) - and most of these also became heritage routes in time. But Wales seemed to have loads of lines - the Festiniog, Tallylln, Fairbourne, Snowdon Mountain, Vale of Rheidol (still BR then), Welshpool and Llanfair and the
Great Orme Tramway. But one museum operation fascinated me - the Corris. The line was just along the way from a few other NG lines, but was in deep sleep. There were a few fascinating pictures of the line in operation (including one very similar to the one above). There was talk about laying a short stretch of track ...
45 years on I still haven't visited the Corris, but plan to in the future. It does now of course operate as
far more than a museum, with regular steam trains in the season. And hopefully eventually it will link with the Network at Machynlleth. For now it's still a work in progress, inspired by the long established NG lines elsewhere in Wales, and in turn inspiring the last great NG Welsh adventure restoration - the
Glyn Valley.
Corris Railway c1910
Part of the route saw freight traffic many years after the main line was closed in 1948.
CORRIS Aberllefenni Quarry 4.7.1969 Copyright
James Waite
Looking towards Corris - 14.5.1981
Source
The Corris Railway revived. 15.6.2013
Source
The railway closed in 1948, but a preservation society was formed in 1966, initially opening a museum; a short section of line between Corris and
Maespoeth was re-opened to passengers in 2002. The railway now operates as a
tourist attraction. A new steam locomotive was built for the railway, which was delivered in 2005. The two surviving locomotives, plus some of the original rolling stock, are preserved on the nearby
Talyllyn Railway.
The
gauge of the railway is
2 ft 3 in (
686 mm).
History
Tramroad era: 1850 to 1878
Proposals to construct a line to connect the
slate quarries in the district around
Corris,
Corris Uchaf and
Aberllefenni with
wharves on the estuary of the
Afon Dyfi at
Derwenlas and
Morben, south-west of
Machynlleth, first appeared around 1850 with Arthur Causton as engineer. At this time slate from the quarries was hauled by horse-drawn carts and sledges to transport their output to the river. The proposed
Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Railway would have run along Dulas Valley to the north shore of the Dyfi at Pant Eidal. This scheme was not constructed, and was followed by two further proposals during 1850. Following the plans for a
standard gauge railway along the Dyfi valley, these early proposals were shelved.
On 12 July 1858 the Corris Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad (CM&RDT) was formed, and immediately began construction on a 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge railway. The first train ran on 1 April 1859. Locomotives were forbidden from use, so the railway was worked using horses and gravity.
On 3 January 1863 the standard gauge
Newtown and Machynlleth Railway opened, followed on 1 July of the same year by the line from Machynlleth to
Borth of the
Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway. These two lines had become part of the
Cambrian Railways by August 1865. The opening of the standard gauge line to Borth made the section of the CM&RDT from Machynlleth to Morben obsolete. It was much easier to transship slates to the main line at Machynlleth, so the lower section of the tramway was abandoned.
With the arrival of the standard gauge, the CM&RDT saw the chance to greatly expand their operation. They applied, on 13 November 1863 to convert the tramroad to a railway, adopt
steam locomotives and formally close the section between Machynlleth and Derwenlas. On 25 July 1864 an Act of Parliament was passed changing the name to the
Corris Railway Company and permitting the use of locomotives on the line. It appears that around this time the line was under the control of
Thomas Savin, the contractor who built the standard gauge lines in the area.
It took until the 1870s for work to begin to upgrade the Corris Railway to a standard where locomotives could be used. The original tramroad was laid with light
bridge rail suitable for waggons to traverse as they were pulled by horses. These rails would not support the weight of much heavier steam locomotives. In 1878 control of the railway passed to the
Imperial Tramways Company of London. The new owners saw the potential for passenger traffic on the Corris Railway and ordered the first
passenger carriages for the railway, even though the Act of 1864 did not permit passengers to be carried. They also appointed Joseph R. Dix, son of the main-line stationmaster at Machynlleth, as Manager in successor to David Owen.
The Dix Years: 1879 to 1906
In February 1879 three new steam locomotives purchased from the Hughes Locomotive Company arrived and began work. Although the carriages arrived in 1878 it was not until 1883 that the Act of Parliament was secured to allow the formal commencement of passenger services. A semi-official passenger service had been running since the early 1870s using adapted waggons to convey quarry workers and visitors.In 1880 and 1883, two new Acts were obtained which adjusted the tolls on the railway and permitted the carriage of passengers. The second of these Acts was necessary because the owners of the quarries served by the railway objected that passenger trains would interfere with their mineral traffic. Initially the railway ran a test passenger service on the local roads; this proved to be so popular that they were able to pass the parliamentary act over the opposition of the quarry owners. It was also the first instance of a long history of the Corris Railway operating passenger road services in the area.
The railway developed a network of horse-hauled road services, including providing a link between Corris station and Abergynolwyn station on the Talyllyn Railway. This was promoted as part of a circular "Grand Tour" which took in the two narrow gauge railways and the Cambrian service between Tywyn and Machynlleth.The line was now in its settled form and began to operate a full service under Dix's energetic management. The railway was widely promoted to visitors as the best route to
Tal-y-llyn Lake and
Cader Idris (ignoring the claims of the rival Talyllyn Railway). The initial passenger service ran from Machynlleth to Corris, with new stations at Esgairgeiliog and Llwyngwern opening in 1884. The track was upgraded beyond Corris so that passenger services could reach the line's northern terminus at Aberllefenni, with services starting on 25 August 1887, and in the same year stations were also opened at Ffridd Gate and Garneddwen.
Decline: 1907 to 1930
Following a dispute with the directors Dix was dismissed and replaced by John J O'Sullivan (formerly of the
Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway). The closure of
Braichgoch Quarry in 1906 brought the railway its first loss, and although the line continued on through subsequent decades, serving the quarries around
Corris and
Aberllefenni, it never again showed a profit. As well as slate and passengers, the line hauled timber extracted from the Dyfi forest in the 1910s through 1930s. There was also a constant traffic in
coaland general goods to the quarries and communities served by the railway.
After
World War I, the decline in slate traffic continued as cheaper foreign slate and alternative
roofing materials became popular. O'Sullivan had died in office in 1917 and the new manager, Daniel J McCourt, took over after the war and was responsible for developing and extending the connecting bus services as partial compensation for the decline in rail traffic.
Takeover and nationalisation: 1931 to 1948
In 1930 Imperial Tramways sold the Corris to the
Great Western Railway (who by that time were the owners of the main line serving Machynlleth) whose primary interest was taking control of the railway's bus routes. After running a bus in direct competition with the railway in 1930, the railway's passenger service was withdrawn at the beginning of 1931. In 1948 the line was nationalised along with its parent company as part of
British Railways. Serious erosion to the railway formation caused by the Afon Dyfi led to closure later that year, the last train running on 20 August 1948. The track was lifted by the end of 1949.
In 1951, the nearby Talyllyn Railway, which shares the unusual 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge, became the first railway in the world to be
preserved. The Talyllyn purchased the two remaining locomotives, which had been stored out of use at Machynlleth, along with several goods waggons. In 1958, the Talyllyn also purchased one of the Corris carriages, which had been in use as a summerhouse in a garden in
Gobowen.
Preservation
Other than at Aberllefenni and Braichgoch quarries, no rails remained in situ along the Corris route. Initially the Society sought to purchase Machynlleth station for its museum, but when this proved impossible it turned its sights elsewhere. The main buildings of Corris station were demolished in 1968 leaving only the adjacent railway stable block standing, and these buildings - badly in need of maintenance - were acquired, along with a short section of trackbed leading southwards. In 1970 the first part of the building was opened as the Corris Railway Museum. A short length of "demonstration" track was laid in 1971.In December 1966 a group of dedicated enthusiasts led by Alan Meaden, formed the
Corris Railway Society with the aim of preserving what was left of the railway, opening a dedicated museum, and to explore the possibility of reviving some or all of the line. Many of the founding members of the Society were volunteers on the nearby
Talyllyn Railway.
During the 1970s the Society undertook lengthy negotiations with the relevant authorities to establish the requirements for re-opening the line for passengers, while steadily building up funds and equipment. A new Corris Railway Company, reviving the original name, was incorporated to act as the Society's trading and operating arm, while the Society achieved charitable status. The Museum was extended as more of the building was returned to satisfactory condition.
In 1981 the line's original locomotive shed at Maespoeth was acquired and became the railway's operational base. During the 1980s light track was laid between Maespoeth and Corris, a distance of just under a mile (1.6 km). The formal "first train" back to Corris ran in 1985. In the following years the track was upgraded to passenger standards while negotiations with the authorities continued.
In the summer of 2002 passenger services resumed after a break of seventy-two years, initially diesel-hauled. The society has also built a new steam locomotive, to a design based on the
Kerr Stuart No.4. This loco arrived on the railway on 17 May 2005 and runs as No.7 (the Corris Railway never officially named its locomotives). No. 7 went into service on 20 August 2005, fifty-seven years to the day since the last train on the original railway, and now hauls the regular passenger service between Corris and Maespoeth.
The railway is also actively pursuing a southwards extension towards
Machynlleth, with the initial aim of extending the line to Tan-y-Coed, midway between
Esgairgeiliog and
Llwyngwern and some two and a half miles south of Corris. As always, this is involving lengthy negotiations with the authorities, not least due to the line south of Maespoeth running immediately adjacent to the A487 trunk road. While these are continuing the railway has consolidated its facilities at Maespoeth with the construction of a new two-road carriage shed in the adjacent field (the original carriage sheds at Corris and Machynlleth having been demolished).
During 2009 the railway marked the 150th anniversary of the first train on the Corris with a series of events, including demonstration horse-worked freight trains and gravity runs of rakes of waggons.
Both the surviving original locomotives have visited the Corris since its reopening. In 2012 No. 3 featured in a steam Gala over May Bank Holiday weekend along with the railway's resident steam loco No. 7. No. 3's boiler ticket expired on 17 May 2012 and the loco was on static display at Maespoeth until February 2013 when the loco left the Corris to tour heritage railways and museums in the UK to raise awareness of the Talyllyn and to raise funds for its overhaul.The revived Corris Railway has maintained friendly links with the
Talyllyn Railway, which resulted in both of the original Corris locos and rolling stock returning to the railway. In 1996 ex-Corris loco No. 4 returned to celebrate its 75th anniversary. In 2003 ex-Corris loco No. 3 returned on the occasion of its 125th anniversary with a heritage train of coach No 17, brake van No. 6 and two trucks. Corris No. 5 visited the Talyllyn Railway in 1983 and 1990,
[10] and No. 7 in October 2011. It hauled a few charter trains and played a part in the TR's Corris Weekend, when it ran with the two surviving ex Corris engines; No. 4 (
Edward Thomas) and No. 3 (
Sir Haydn) and stock.
About the railway
- Its origins as a horse tramroad and ascent through the narrow and winding Dulas valley meant it had exceptionally tight curves. Its original passenger carriages were simple 4-wheelers derived from urban horse-drawn tramway designs with end balconies; they rode poorly and were quickly rebuilt into longer bogie carriages by placing two of the original bodies end-to-end on a longer underframe.
- The stations were exceptionally narrow, again because of the geography of the line, and all were on the east side of the rails, so the carriages and locomotives had doors on that side only, as on the neighbouring Talyllyn Railway.
- The vertical trestle waggons for carrying large slabs of slate from the quarries were also rarely found on other railways, notable exceptions being the Ffestiniog Railway and the nearby Hendre-Ddu Tramway.
- Corris Station and the original Machynlleth Station had overall roofs, features which were rare on a British narrow gauge railway. At Corris, the roof was over the main running line and trains for Aberllefenni passed under it; at Machynlleth the rear of the train rested under the station roof while the front was in the open air. The original Machynlleth station was demolished and replaced in 1905 with the building that still stands alongside the A487 trunk road north of the main-line railway overbridge.
