1371

ard veering left at Penknife Jn, towards Blackbird Jn ahead.
at the end of line beyond 'Compost Heap'.





MR29] Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, Kent (MR p19) (BLN 1329.MR98): The Railway has
received a grant of £26,500 from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. The grant will allow
improvements to Sittingbourne Viaduct station to progress. 'Project Sittingbourne' will add additional
security measures, over and above new palisade fencing already installed, to prevent vandalism and
trespass. Improvements include the provision of a second public entrance to the station, with access
for the disabled. This overcomes the shortcoming of the 23-step steel stairway, which currently forms
the only entrance to the station and also causes a pinch point making social distancing difficult. Proper
hand washing and toilets, with wheelchair access, will be installed at the station by the end of Mar.

MR30] Blenheim Park Railway, Oxfordshire (MR p22) (BLN 1262.MR144): Bill Bryson, writing in his
1995 book Notes from a Small Island, was unimpressed by this 15" gauge railway. As I left the gardens
and walked back towards the palace, I took the opportunity to study the miniature steam train. It ran
over a decidedly modest length of track across one corner of the grounds. The sight of 50 English
people crouched on a little train in a cold grey drizzle waiting to be taken 200 yards and thinking they
were having fun is one I shall not forget in a hurry. Had he studied the railway more carefully he would
have seen the motive power was not steam, but internal combustion and the line was (is) 1,000 yards!

MR31] Corris Railway, Gwynedd (MR p29) (BLN 1357.MR109): The Railway was the first narrow gauge
railway in Mid Wales. Opened in 1859 as a 2' 3" gauge gravity and horse worked tramroad, it carried
slate from a network of local quarries to ships on the River Dovey at Quay Ward (Derwenlas). Later the
slate was transshipped onto the Cambrian Railway at Machynlleth. Steam locomotives arrived in 1878
and passengers were carried (officially) from 1883 to 1930. The Railway thrived in the last part of the
19th Century, in some years carrying over 80,000 passengers and large tonnages of slate.

It also pioneered omnibus tours for its passengers. Traffic waned in the 20th century and the line was
taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1930 - largely for its bus services. The railway's passenger
service was almost immediately abandoned, and a limited freight service was run until British Railways
closed the railway in 1948. After closure the track was quickly lifted and the remaining two
locomotives, wagons (the correct Corris spelling) and the brakevan were sold to the recently preserved
Talyllyn Railway. Everything that could be scrapped was scrapped. The track bed was disposed of and
within a few years all that remained of the railway was a few dilapidated buildings.

In 1966 what would become The Corris Railway Society was formed with the intention of preserving as
much as possible of the history and artifacts of the line. Initial progress was slow. The station building
in Corris had been demolished and the station yard had become
the village car park. To the north of it, properties had been
extended across the line. To the south of Maespoeth the
trackbed was broken. The shed at Maespoeth was being used by
the Forestry Commission. In 1969 the building at Corris station,
which had housed the railway's road coaches and motorbuses,
was purchased to display the many items of railway heritage
which had been collected by the Society, and the first section of
the Corris Railway Museum opened. The engine shed was
acquired from the Forestry Commission in 1981. Later, sections
of the track bed were purchased from various sources and by
1985 three quarters of a mile of track had been laid to link Corris
and Maespoeth. In view of the relatively rare 2' 3"gauge, all
rolling stock and locos had to be built or adapted and it was not
until 2002 that everything was in place to allow the
commencement of a regular public service. In an ordinary year
trains run an hourly service from Corris to Maespoeth during
weekends in the season and over the summer holiday period.

The original Corris Railway had four steam
locos but two had been scrapped by 1930.
With the line's two surviving locomotives in
operation on the Talyllyn Railway the only way
to reintroduce steam was to build a new one.
In 1995 a project to build an engine based on
the design of loco No4 (Kerr Stuart 0-4-2, 1921)
began. By 2005 this was complete and No7
entered service. The infrastructure necessary
to support an operational railway has also had
to be built and the Railway has set up well
equipped workshops. The engine shed was
built in 1878 to house the original three locomotives. While providing a good basis for the engineering
work it is not adequate to house the increasing fleet of locomotives and carriages.

(ABOVE: The unusual 'Gravity Train' which normally runs monthly for Corris Members - both photos by
Graeme Jolley.) In February 2006 work started to construct an additional 150 foot two road carriage
shed and workshop on part of the field adjacent to the Maespoeth site. This was completed in 2009.
There are currently three carriages in operation, all constructed in house. Two more are being built. At
present the Corris Railway has an operational fleet of one steam engine, three diesels and one battery
electric locomotive. Work started in 2009 on a second new steam locomotive. This is a modern
reworking of the original three Falcon locos. The rolling chassis is almost complete and the boiler is
built. Funding of this project is mostly achieved by subscription and generous donations.

At present the Railway is also focusing on rebuilding Corris station. Space is critical at the cramped site,
the platform has to be 2.5m wide to comply with regulations and long enough to fit an engine and four
coaches with a run round facility. There isn't room for pointwork at the end or even a sector plate on a
pivot. (Simple and inexpensive, the Fairbourne Railway has two in their yard which we did on our
25 March 2012 and 27 July 2013 comprehensive railtours.) The only solution at Corris is an engine
traverser costing about £10k - if anyone would like to assist with sponsorship please do make contact!

Work on the southern extension finished for the season at the end of October 2020 purely due to the
weather resulting in lorries being unable to operate on either site as it was too wet. That has not
changed. Finance is available for about another three weeks work (all contributions to extend this time
and the railway gratefully received!) and there is plenty of material suitable for the embankment at
Dolgellau. The railway is working on everything needed to reopen in 2021 but did not operate in 2020.

It is hoped to run a Sunday service from early May until the end of October. Depending on Covid, other
operating days may be added later in the season. Currently in the final planning stages, the Sunday
service will be three trains at 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00. The fare will be £25 for half a carriage for up to
6 adults or 4 adults and 4 children. Members will be interested that rare track not normally used will
feature. Normally trains would run to Maespoeth for a site tour. As it is not possible to operate the
tour, the intention is to run to the current limit of track on the southern extension instead to give
passengers a longer run. Please see the website for updates on this or contact Graeme Jolley.

MR32] Ise Valley Railway, Northamptonshire: This private 7¼" gauge and little known railway, was
located just south of Burton Latimer - between Wellingborough and Kettering. The line was about one
mile in length and had a complex layout - rather indicating the owner did not know when to stop
laying track! The railway first opened in spring 1994 and grew over the subsequent 10 years.
The railway never had public open days, although on very rare occasions private party visits were
permitted (Kentrail Enthusiasts Group comprehensively visited on Sunday 25 September 2011).
Sadly, the railway was to close in 2020 due to the physical condition of the owner. An agreement was
reached for most of the track and rolling stock to be donated to the Sandtoft Trolley Bus Museum in
Lincolnshire. The original intention for the Railway was to recreate something of the character of the

nearby narrow gauge ironstone lines of the Kettering area. These railways featured light construction,
tight curves and sudden changes in gradient - elements used in building the Ise Valley Railway.

Initially, materials employed came from the 7¼" gauge Harlestone Railway, soon supplemented by
track and rolling stock from a closed garden centre near Redditch. The rails were laid either on
corrugated galvanised steel sleepers or on 'tantalised' timber, with ordinary 20mm gravel ballast
(much cheaper than granite chips). A simple rail bender was used to form curved rail. Within two years
of opening an engine shed and rolling stock depot was built, while the well equipped Finedon Road
workshops were erected in 2006, following the purchase of additional land and buildings. The layout of
the line was substantially re-orientated at that time to allow access to the works. This meant closure of
a short section of line in the woodland area. The main purpose of the railway was to serve compost
bins, timber stores, building projects and even a small dock on the River Ise - as opposed to passenger
carrying. These functions entailed many short branches leading off what was essentially an oval
shaped main line. Operation of the railway was on the basis of a 'one engine in steam'. An early plan to
install a full semaphore and electric signalling system was not brought to fruition. Motive power over
the years was very varied: steam, battery, petrol and diesel. Rolling stock was equally diverse with a
selection wagons to suit different needs and some passenger stock. Further reading: The Railway
Observer No1095 - May 2020 page 338 and Miniature Railway No49 - early summer 2020 page 33.

MR33] Glyn Valley Tramway, Wrexham (BLN 1307.1342): The New Glyn Valley Tramway & Industrial
Heritage Trust (NGVT & IHT) took delivery of its first locomotive in September 2020. This is LBT type
RH371932/1954 from the now closed ISK Harskamp museum in Holland and it arrived with three
wagons at the Trust's museum in Glyn Ceiriog. The locomotive was built for use at a Royal Netherlands
Air Force ammunition complex at Alphen, near the Gilze Rijen air base. It worked there until the 1980s
and the rail system at the base was abandoned and stock dispersed. The Trust has set up a museum in
the former Glyn Valley Tramway loco shed in Glyn Ceiriog with a short platform in the yard. The plan is
to lay moretrack in the yard and link the shed to the platform via a reversal then demonstrate the loco.
The Trust also owns a site known as The Coal Yard at a different location in Glyn Ceiriog and plans to
add trackwork there when suitable materials have been acquired.

1371 FIXTURE REPORTS (Paul Stewart) [email protected]
619] Durham Signal Box Visits, Wed 9 Oct 2019, Part 1: Ferryhill: By Graham Parkin and Nick Jones.
Eight members met Network Rail Local Operations Manager Katrina Lawson at Ferryhill. We started
with the mandatory safety briefing before entering the first signalbox, Ferryhill, formerly Ferryhill No2.

This was the most modern of the boxes visited this day, although a London & North Eastern Railway
Type 13 design, it was built as late as 1952, but has seen many changes since. The box is at the south
end of the former Ferryhill station (CP 6 Mar 1967 but recently awarded funding towards feasibilty
studies into reopening which Boris Johnson said he was keen to see!). It originally had a lever frame
but in recent years there was just a small Individual Function Switch (IFS) Panel dating from 1992.
This only controlled acess to/from the Stillington branch to Norton-on-Tees West, with Absolute Block
controls built into the panel. It also interfaces with Tyneside Integrated Electronic Control Centre.

The box is lucky to have survived; it was a last minute reprieve. When East Coast Main Line (ECML)
resignalling was planned, British Rail anticipated that the Stillington branch would close, so no
provision was made to resignal it but the line was reprieved at a very late stage. The Stillington line
and its junction were thus not included in the 9 May 1991 ECML resignalling. For almost 30 years this
relatively large box has controlled a single two aspect signal on the Up Stillington and two on the Down
Stillington Line, during which time the number of freight trains has dwindled. Despite being right next
to the East Coast Main Line (four tracked at this point) and an Up goods loop, plus the Thrislington
(Dolomite and aggregates) branch behind the box, it had no control over these. The first the signaller
would know of a train being put into the loop would be the sound of the points being changed by
Tyneside IECC. These reports are now valedictory as the boxes all closed recently (BLN 1370.360).

[BLN 1371]
BELOW: The former Ferryhill No1 Signal Box. (The late Angus McDougall, 6 Aug 1970.)

NEXT: Photos of Ferryhill No2 Signal Box by Nick Jones on our Wed 9 Oct 2019 visit. Its surprising the
amount of paraphernalia required to operate a grand total of three signals and no points! In the first
the rusty track by the box is the Thrislington Quarry branch (TRACKmaps 2 p20C Sep 2020). Despite its
state at least 12 trains ran after 29 Oct 2019 (BLN 1320.58) and there were at least two in 2020.

CONTACT DETAILS: See BLN 1350 centre pages, e-BLN 1350 2nd and 3rd pages, website PDF or via the Editor.
●Editor: Paul Stewart, 4 Clarence Close, MALVERN, WR14 3HX 01684562862 07790652351 [email protected]

●Bookings Officer: Mark Gomm [email protected] 84 Mornington Road, STOKE-ON-TRENT, ST1 6EL.
●Fixtures Secretary: Kev Adlam [email protected] @BLSFixtures (Any post via BLN Editor above please.)
●Iain Scotchman: (Poland railtour) [email protected] 102 Shenfield Place, BRENTWOOD, CM15 9A.

●BLS Sales: Graeme Jolley [email protected] Dolbryn, Penegoes, MACHYNLLETH, Powys, SY20 8NN. 07484646542.
● MAPS: By permission of the National Library of Scotland http://maps.nls.uk/index.html

●Published by the Branch Line Society, 10 Sandringham Rd, STOKE GIFFORD, BS34 8NP. ISSN 1354-0947.





















BELOW: Looking north towards Durham; Ferryhill station (CP 6 Mar 1967 bu

ut may reopen) was here. Right (and next photo) is the Thrislington branch.





X.45] BELOW: Sat 4 Aug 2012, Markeaton Park Light Railway (since closed a

and lifted) Derby. (Alex Stewart, who has only just emailed this to his dad!)