rogerfarnworth

An update on newspaper reports about both standard-gauge and metre-gauge railways in East Africa in 2024. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/24/october-2024-news-about-railways-in-east-africa/

Part 2 This is the second article in a series about the Border Counties Railway. ... https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/23/the-border-counties-railway-part-2-chollerton-to-redesmouth-junction/

[b]Part 1[/b] An article by Seymour Glendenning in the July 1906 issue of The Railway Magazine focussed on the newly opened Burton & Ashby Light Railway. The light railway was a 3ft 6in gauge electric tram line supplied with electricity from a diesel generator plant near Swadlincote. The power plant sat alongside the tram depot there. This is the first of two articles about the line: ...... https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/19/the-burton-and-ashby-light-railway-part-1

At the end of 1905, G. Huddleston, CLE., was Deputy Traffic Manager (Goods) East Indian Railway. This article is based round the one written by him in the December 1905 Railway Magazine. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/16/the-east-indian-railway-the-railway-magazine-december-1905-and-a-journey-along-the-line/ This first article about the East Indian Railway follows the length from Kolkata.

The Railway Magazine of December 1905 included a photograph of a road vehicle powered by steam. The picture in The Railway Magazine is the featured image for this short article. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/10/gwr-steam-motor-road-vehicles/

An article in the Railway Magazine in December 1905 prompted a look at the Manchester and Leeds Railway. For a number of years my parents lived in sheltered housing in Mirfield which is on the line. Looking at the line as it appeared in 1905 and again in the 21st century seemed a worthwhile exercise! Part 1 of this short series provides a short history of the line and takes us from Manchester to Sowerby Bridge. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/06/the-manchester-and-leeds-railway-the-railway-magazine-december-1905-part-1/

The last length of the Whitland & Cardigan Railway is covered in the linked article below. Before completing the journey to Whitland, the article also looks at Locomotives and Rolling Stock used on the line. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/08/30/railways-in-west-wales-part-2c-the-whitland-cardigan-railway-rolling-stock-locomotives-and-llanglydwen-to-whitland/

The December 1905 Railway Magazine focused on Shrewsbury Railway Station as the 34th location in its Notable Railway Stations series. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/22/shrewsbury-railway-station-in-1905/ [Quote]The Railway Magazine carried an article about the relatively newly refurbished Shrewsbury Railway Station which started by remarking on the debt Shrewsbury Station owed to the construction of the Severn Tunnel: “it is to the Severn Tunnel that Shrewsbury owes the position it claims as one of the most important distributing centers in the country if not the most. In telephonic language, it is a “switch board,” and those on the spot claim that more traffic is interchanged and redistributed at Shrewsbury than even at York.”[/Quote]

[b]Light Railways in the UK – the early years after the 1896 Act – The Railway Magazine, August 1905.[/b] … A note in the August 1905 edition of The Railway Magazine mentions a 1904 report from the Light Railway Commissioners and comments from the Board of Trade in 1905. The Regulation of Railways Act 1868 permitted the construction of light railways subject to '…such conditions and regulations as the Board of Trade may from time to time impose or make'; for such railways it specified a maximum permitted axle weight and stated that '…the regulations respecting the speed of trains shall not authorize a speed exceeding at any time twenty-five miles an hour'. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/17/light-railways-in-the-uk-the-early-years-after-the-1896-act-the-railway-magazine-august-1905/ "The Light Railways Act 1896 did not specify any exceptions or limitations that should apply to light railways; it did not even attempt to define a 'light railway'. However, it gave powers to a panel of three Light Railway Commissioners to include 'provisions for the safety of the public… as they think necessary for the proper construction and working of the railway' in any light railway order (LRO) granted under the act. hour (mph) often associated with the Light Railways Act 1896 is not specified in the act but was a product of the earlier Regulation of Railways Act 1868. … However, limits were particularly needed when lightly laid track and relatively modest bridges were used in order to keep costs down."

Much Wenlock Civic Society I completed the series about this line which ran from Wellington to Craven Arms via Much Wenlock just a couple of weeks ago. This was just in time to allow me to pull together a talk for Much Wenlock Civic Society on Tuesday 17th September 2024. That talk can be found by following the link below: http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/04/much-wenlock-talk-17th-september-2024/ While asserting copyright, I have no objections to the file being downloaded and used. Hopefully you will feel something of the joy I found in drawing the photographs and the journey together.

'Demountable Flats' – The Railway Magazine – February 1922 – and developing methods of reducing freight handling costs in the 20th century. … The Railway Magazine of February 1922 introduced its readers to the advantages of 'demountable flats'. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/17/demountable-flats-the-railway-magazine-february-1922-and-developing-methods-of-reducing-freight-handling-costs-in-the-20th- century/

This article follows on from seven other articles earlier on this thread, which covered the Wellington to Severn Junction Railway and the Wenlock Branch from Buildwas to Harton Road Station. It is the final article in this series. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/17/the-wenlock-branch-from-harton-road-station-to-marsh-farm-junction-and-craven-arms/

I was reading (in August 2024) the July 1903 Railway Magazine and came across an article about the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway. The article marked the opening of the line at the beginning of April 1903. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/17/welshpool-and-llanfair-light-railway-again-the-railway-magazine-april-1903/

I wrote the first article about this line a while back. After that first article a number of folks got in touch with their photos of the line and I have, decided to write an addendum and found other photographs which people have kindly allowed me to include in this additional article. There are a few embedded links to Flickr images as well. It was a joy pulling all these together. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/09/23/the-welshpool-llanfair-light-railway-an-addendum/

The abandoned length through the town of Welshpool ... Those involved with the creation of the preservation line always intended to include the part of the line which ran through the center of Welshpool. Sadly that was not to be. The local authorities were concerned about the effect of the railway traffic on road traffic in and around the town. Pretty much all that remains of that length of the line are photographs, short bits of film and memories. Road improvements and building clearance have changed parts of the old town. Elements of the original route are difficult to identify. This is composed by OS Mapping. The 1949 6" Ordnance Survey, which should have provided a definitive map of the town center, seems to have used the route of an old tramroad to define the route of the line rather than undertaking a local survey of the line. It also seems to have left the Seven Stars pub in place when it was actually demolished to make room for the railway. The result of these things being a rather unrealistic mapped route of the line through parts of the town. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/07/24/the-welshpool-llanfair-light-railway/ For some time I'd thought about looking at the lost length of the line. I was reminded of this when my wife decided that it would be good for us to visit the preservation line. After that journey, my interest was rekindled. The linked article above is the result....

[b]Railway Statistics – The Railway Magazine, July 1903 and a brief look at modern figures. … [/b] J. Holt Schooling produced a series of articles in The Railway Magazine after the turn of the 20th century. I came across the third of these in the July 1903 edition of the magazine. Elsewhere in the same magazine, there was a short note which highlighted the total net receipts of all Britain's railways companies with the figures tabulated. The figures show a small but significant increase between 1901 and 1902. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/17/railway-statistics-the-railway-magazine-july-1903-and-a-brief-look-at-modern-figures/ Holt Schooling's article looked at some detailed statistics relating to British railways, with some comparisons made with statistics relating to the railways of the USA. …

Part 1 At the end of August 2024, we visited Kielder Water Reservoir, passing through Bellingham on the way. We noticed a disused railway for which a good number of structures and embankments/cuttings remained in place. This was the Border Counties Railway (BCR), a line connecting Hexham in Northumberland, with Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire. The BCR was also known as the North Tyne Railway as it ran beside the River North Tyne for much of its length. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/16/the-border-counties-railway-part-1-hexham-to-chollerton/ The line between Kielder and Falstone is now under the waters of the Kielder Water Reservoir.

Further posts about articles from this magazine include: The Lough Swilly Railway http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/14/the-llsr-once-again-a-perspective-from-the-19th-century-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/ New Zealand Railways 1899 http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/16/new-zealand-railways-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/ The Oxford and Aylesbury Tram Road http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/16/the-oxford-and-aylesbury-tram-road-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/

One of the delightful things about reading early copies of The Railway Magazine is the perspective from which articles are written. In this particular case the existence of the Great Central Railway is a welcome novelty! http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/16/the-oxford-and-aylesbury-tram-road-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/ [Quote]This article begins: “Quainton Road is a name which has of late become familiar to the railway public owing to its being the converging point of the lines of the Great Central Railway's recently-opened extension to London with those of the Metropolitan. It is situated in Buckinghamshire, at a distance of 45 miles from London” [/Quote]

New Zealand Railways – The Railway Magazine, November 1899. The November 1899 issue of The Railway Magazine carried the first of a short series of articles about the railways of New Zealand. As you will discover if you choose to read on, the author does not hold back on offering his personal opinions about the state of the railways and choices made by the government of the day for the country’s railways. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/16/new-zealand-railways-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/ [Quote]It is a pity that I do not have access to the subsequent article(s) about New Zealand’s Railways nor to any debate that the article may have provoked. It might be interesting to hear some present day reflections on the comments the author makes! The article is also of interest for an introduction to the rather unusual decisions taken by the Southland government about its first railway.[/Quote]

The L&LSR once again - a perspective from the 19th century! - The Railway Magazine, November 1899. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/1...h-century-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/ The November 1899 edition of The Railway Magazine carried a short article about the L&LSR which was not heavy on technical detail. It mostly reads as though it were a holiday brochure rather than an article in a railway journal. None-the-less, the article is still of interest, particularly for the fact that it was written during the period when the L&LSR was expanding.

Further posts about articles from this issue of The Railway Magazine appear on other threads, including: Through Norway by Rail The Severn and Wye Joint Railway Is a post on the thread below (posted on 17th September 2024 @ 16.16 hours)

The Railway Magazine, 1899 Through Norway by Rail E.E. Speight tells of his own experiences traveling by rail in Norway at the end of the 19th century. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/12/through-norway-by-rail-the-railway-magazine-november-1899/ In an article which is primarily a travelogue rather than a technical piece. He fails to mention the gauges of the different railways that he travels along. The matter of the differing gauges of railways in Norway is covered in some paragraphs on the linked article. In 1899, Norway had around 1,300 miles of railway. The main elements were lines running: • from Christiania South towards Sweden reaching the border at Kornsjo (169 km – the Smaalensbanen); • from Christiania East towards Sweden reaching the border beyond Kongsvinger; • from Christiania to Trondhjem (562 km) with branches to Lillehamer, Otta and from Elverum to Kongsvinger; • from Trondhjem to Storlien (108 km) to meet the line in Sweden from Stockholm; • from Christiania South to Drammen, Laurvik and Skien (204 km) with branches to Randsfjord, Kongsberg and Kroderen, Horten and Brevik. • between Christiansand and Byglandsfjord (Saetersdal); Stavanger and Ekersund (Jaederbanen); and Bergen to Vosse (108 km).

The Purton Viaduct and the Purton Steam Carriage Road. .... On the road between Purton and Etloe on the Northwest side of the Severn Estuary there is a railway viaduct. Seemingly it sits remote from any former railway. Although you might just be forgiven for thinking that it is a remnant of the Forest of Dean Central Railway which ran through Blakeney, or even associated with the Severn & Wye Railway which ran close to, but to the South of, the hamlet of Purton. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/09/10/the-purton-viaduct-and-the-purton-steam-carriage-road/

I continue to find tramways and railways in the Forest of Dean of great interest. For this next post we return to Mr Brain's Tramway which primarily served Trafalgar Colliery in the Forest. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/06/26/brains-tramway-forest-of-dean Further research has been published in a bit more information about the locomotives that worked on the Tramway. ...