Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway

An MOD Ruston & Hornsby diesel shunter passes through Cleobury Town Station on 26 March, 1965, less than two months before the old CM & DPLR closed completely.  Andrew Muckley.

CMDPLR Former GWR 0-6-0PT No.2144 at the head of an ammunition train from Ditton Priors,  Burwarton Station on 23 February, 1954.    Geoffrey F. Bannister.

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - CLEOBURY MORTIMER AND DITTON PRIORS LIGHT RAILWAY

A line which always fascinated me was the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway, a long title for a small line! The mix of pannier tanks with their smoke arrestors, the fact the line stayed open in part until as late as 1965 and its rural location gave it a unique character for a British Light Railway.

In its final years it operated as a military line linking a number of ordnance depots hence the spark arrestors on the steam locos.

Not a lot of the line survives thanks to its route with few earthworks and small, low platformed stations.

More info (from Wikipedia)

The Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway was a pre-grouping railway company that served part of south Shropshire.

Everard Calthrop was appointed Consulting Engineer in 1900, responsible for surveying the route and preparing the construction plans, and the line opened in 1908. The line had a junction with the Wyre Forest line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Cleobury Mortimer and was absorbed into the GWR in 1922.

After 30 years of passengers services, the line closed just before the start of World War II.

The line was then used by the Royal Navy which had a Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD) at the end of line at RNAD Ditton Priors. The railway finally closed in 1960.

Route

Cleobury Mortimer - Cleobury Town - Stottesdon - Burwarton - Ditton Priors. An extension was proposed, running east from Stottesdon to Billingsley. Three possible extensions were proposed from Ditton Priors: east to Bridgnorth; north east to Coalport; north to Presthope (near Much Wenlock). None of the extensions was actually built.

Locomotives

The line had two locomotives, both 0-6-0 saddle tanks built by Manning Wardle and these became GWR numbers 28 and 29. They were rebuilt by the GWR with new boilers andpannier tanks, after which they bore a strong resemblance to the GWR 1366 Class. Other locomotives used on the line included GWR 2021 Class nos. 2101 and 2144 and GWR 1600 Class no. 1661.

Following the opening of the RNAD at Ditton Priors, the steam locomotives were fitted with spark arrestors but, after the arrival of RNAD diesel locomotives, they did not enter the armaments depot. The steam locomotive was taken off the goods train at Cleobury North (just south of Ditton Priors) and the wagons were drawn into the depot by an RNAD diesel locomotive.

Three "flameproof" diesel locomotives of 165 bhp were supplied to RNAD Ditton Priors by Ruston and Hornsby between 1952 and 1955. A similar machine Francis Baily of Thatcham (ex-RAF Welford) is preserved at Southall Railway Centre. Before the Rustons, a Planet diesel locomotive is believed to have been used but its dates of arrival and departure are not known.

Royal Naval Armaments Depot

The depot, which had 25 magazines and four stores for naval mines, opened in 1941 around Brown Clee Hill. The buildings were camouflaged and served by rail sidings. Trains and their dangerous cargo could then be loaded and unloaded inside.

In 1960 the railway line was finally closed but the Royal Navy continued to use Ditton Priors until 1965. The following year the depot was taken over by US forces that had left France following the French withdrawal from NATO's military structure.

The depot finally closed in 1968.

The site today

Parts of the site are now occupied by an industrial estate and fireworks factory. Many of the original buildings have new uses.

Land adjacent to the defunct railway line was sold off by the MOD in 1971. Ten farms have been created in this area.

Black Forest in Devon

Huge thanks to Clive Schneidau who did all the research on this very obscure line and has kindly allowed me to use his material and pictures. 

The Black Forest or Mamhead Railway started at Starcross Junction. Built in 1918 as a military timber line it ran for the most part directly on the road surface. Little mentioned and leaving no traces it is now a forgotten ghost. Even the local museum has no records of it, just blank faces. It closed in 1919 and was lifted soon after. The locomotive that ran on it was finally sold to Exeter Gasworks in 1923. The Line was worked by Italian and German POWs and a camp was situated just below Black Forest Lodge.

The original 19th C. Starcross Signalbox was in need of updating when the government agreed to the new line, so the G.W.R. modestly updated it at their expense. Of a total £909 spent on the junction, £650 was spent on a new Box, the old one had enough spare levers.

Starcross Junction Plan.

The Pumping House Yard at Starcross. The 1918 line junction was just by the white building and led down onto the road surface. Looking towards Cockwood.

Route Plan.

Laid by the side of the road. When trains ran on the line, the roads were closed by using civil and military police.

longmoor military railway

FACEBOOK - MILITARY RAILWAYS

Liss LMR 6.7.1977 (Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Back in 1970 and still a bit wet behind the ears I took a little excursion out to see what remained of the Longmoor Military Railway, closed just a year earlier. I was staying in Winchester so accessed it via Alresford and Alton (on the Watercress Line) then to Bentley, where I'd hoped to catch a bus. Unfortunately it was a bank holiday - no buses - so I had to walk! I did finally find the Bordon end of the line, track was still down but all I have is a few vague memories, as it wasn't until a year later that I started taking photographs.

Just a year earlier I could have travelled on the line on its last Open Day, behind steam, but life for  a rail fan in the 60s and 70s was often a case of near misses!

A few years later I did get to stop at Liss and see the revival project's stock of steam locos and rolling stock, but yet again no camera! The preservation scheme was scuppered by peculiar locals who were convinced that a heritage steam line on their doorsteps would LOWER the value of their properties - idiots!

The LMR was an unusual railway, fairly recently built, it had a circular run, ungated level crossings, open days and heavy passenger and freight services. It was also immaculately maintained. It starred in a few films, probably the best was the Great St Trinian's Train Robbery, where it was really the star. 

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More info (via Wikipedia) - Authorised for construction from 1902, activities date from 1903 when an 18 in (457 mm) gauge tramway was laid to assist in removing 68 large corrugated iron huts from Longmoor Military Camp Camp to Bordon.

The railway was relaid to 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in 1905–1907 and was initially known as the Woolmer Instructional Military Railway. It was renamed the Longmoor Military Railway in 1935. The Liss extension was opened in 1933. The stations and junctions included:

• Bordon – the northern terminal, adjacent to Bordon station and with access to British Railways via the LSWR owned Bentley and Bordon Light Railway.
• Oakhanger Halt - serving the village of Oakhanger, Hampshire. Bordon station was nearer to Oakhanger and Oakhanger station was nearer to Bordon.
• Whitehill Junction - serving the village of Whitehill, Hampshire.
• Two Range Halt
• Woolmer - serving the hamlet of Woolmer.
• Longmoor Downs – the original terminus, and largest station on the line, serving the military camp.
• Weaversdown Halt – originally a passing place at the hamlet of Weaversdown, a station was constructed which served the eastern side of Longmoor Military Camp.
• Liss Forest Road - serving the hamlet of Liss Forest.
• Liss Junction – with access to the exchange sidings, and onwards into Liss British Railways goods yard.
• Liss – the southern terminus, with a platform adjacent to those serving the Portsmouth Direct Line (still running).

An additional loop ran eastwards from Longmoor camp via a station at Hopkins Bridge to Whitehill Junction, completed in 1942. This provided circular running to the line, allowing for improved training without the need to turn trains at the terminals.

As a training railway, it was often being constructed/deconstructed. The layout would often change, and at one time housed a machine which could lay 1,500 yards (1,400 m) of track a day. At its peak, the railway ran to over 70 miles (110 km) of operational laid track and sidings.

Operations

 

The trackbed of the Military Railway in 2007, looking north from near Woolmer

 

The trackbed looking the other way, with Longmoor Camp around the curve to the left

The vehicles and stock on the LMR were very much an assortment to give the maximum learning opportunity. Well over a thousand locomotives had associations with the railway, although many only through the need for storage. The same was true of the signalling at the various locations on the line, including an Army version of flag signalling. After the end of World War II, the collection also included captured enemy equipment, including a "Schienenwolf" or railroad plough: a German wagon which dragged behind it a huge hook, used to destroy sleepers and so render railway lines unusable to advancing enemy troops.

In addition to the various military items, there were old versions of standard passenger carriages. A passenger service was operated over the line at various times, nominally for personnel required on the railway, and others from the War Department/Ministry of Defence and their families.

There was only one fatal accident recorded on the line, which occurred in October 1956. With a declining military role for railways both in Britain and the rest of the world, it was inevitable that the significance of the facilities offered by the LMR would be reduced in later years. Even so, the LMR was still important enough for the tracks of the Bentley to Bordon branch to be left in place when passenger services were withdrawn on 16 September 1957. This line remained in place as, although there was a British Railways connection at Liss, the Bordon branch made it easier to accommodate the movements of military traffic at short notice. In 1966, the movement of goods over the Bordon branch was suspended, and the line was taken up in 1967.

In light of the reducing role of the military and the severely reduced British Empire, it was decided by the Ministry of Defence to close the railway. On hearing of its impending closure local locomotive preservation groups became interested in acquiring the small but complete rail system, and a bid was placed to purchase LMR along with the airstrip at Gypsy Hollow which would have enabled the production of a unique transport museum. The MOD rejected this proposal, which had been backed by the Association of Railway Preservation Societies and The Transport Trust. However the Army did offer the last 1½ miles of line from Liss Forest Road to Liss. The offer was accepted, a provisional lease was drawn up and planning permission was sought for developments at Liss.

Unfortunately the people of Liss did not share this enthusiasm and opposed the planning permission. Several residents raised £9,100 in a successful bid to buy this last piece of line. Longmoor Military Railway closed down with a ceremonial last day of operation on 31 October 1969, though for another two years some locomotives and stock remained on site, and there were occasional movements. Three items of rolling stock (a van, a brake van, and a bogie flat) still remain on the Longmoor site, as part of the FIBUA training village.

chattenden and upnor

(Copyright Max Sinclair)

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The Chattenden and Upnor Railway (later known as the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway) was a narrow gauge railway serving the military barracks and depot at Upnor and associated munitions and training depots. It was built in 1873 as a 18 in (457 mm) gauge railway, converted to 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge around 1885, and continued in use until 1961.

The Chattenden and Upnor Railway was originally laid in 1873 to 18 in (457 mm) gauge, as a training exercise for the Royal School of Military Engineering which was then based at Chattenden. The line ran from Pontoon Hard by the River Medway and climbed steeply towards Chattenden. A spur lead from Church Crossing to the Upnor Depot of the Royal Engineers and until 1895 a branch ran from Chattenden to Hoo.

In 1885 the railway was relaid and converted to 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge by the 8th. Railway Company of the Royal Engineers who managed the line. In 1891 the Admiralty took over Upnor Depot to use as a gun and ammunition store. Another armaments depot was constructed at Lodge Hill, north of Chattenden which was also served by the railway. In 1905 the entire Chattenden enclosure was taken over by the Navy, and in 1906 the railway was also taken over by the Navy and renamed the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway. The Navy extended the line to connect with the 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge branch from Sharnal Street on the South Eastern & Chatham Railway's Hundred of Hoo branch.

The railway saw intensive use during the Second World War, but use declined after the end of hostilities and the railway closed in 1961.

More pics here.

fawley

(All 22.3.1975 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - LIGHT RAILWAYS

The Fawley branch is an interesting survivor. It was built very late, in 1925, as a light railway, and retained features such as ungated level crossings. It lost its passenger services in the 60s, but I suspect the line could be reopened for passengers at minimal cost, thereby serving the fairly large town on Hythe as well as Marchwood and Fawley itself.

These pictures are from a railtour on 22 March 1975. There was still a lot of infrastructure surviving even ten years after closure to passengers.

The line is still open and serves the large oil refinery at Fawley and also connects with the Marchwood Military Railway at Marchwood. We were scheduled to travel on the military railway but it was not to be due to security concerns - the IRA was involved in a mainland bombing campaign at the time.

More info (from Wikipedia)

Fawley railway station was the terminus of the Totton, Hythe and Fawley Light Railway, which was built along the coast of Southampton Water to connectTotton and Fawley and to provide a freight link from the South Western Main Line to Fawley Refinery.

History

The station opened on 20 July 1925 and closed to passengers on 14 February 1966 and goods on 2 January 1967.

Present situation

The single-track non-electrified line remains open to serve Fawley Refinery, with the site of Fawley railway station now within the perimeter of the refinery.

In June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies published a report (Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network) strongly indicating that the reopening of Hythe station, to serve the village of Hythe, north of Fawley, would be viable, in that the ratio of business, economic and social benefits to costs would be as high as 4.8. However the ATOC report did not suggest any passenger service for Fawley, or anywhere south of Hythe.