UK Industrial Narrow Gauge .c 1980

[Miserable]

Did any industrial narrow gauge narrow gauge (Feldbahn type of thing, not temporary construction lines) survive until the early 1980s in the UK? It's for a cunning plan on my O gauge layout, it would be nice to reference something rather be purely fictional.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Yes, quite a few. There are some interesting details on this site:

 

http://www.ingr.co.uk/intro_rlys.html 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Claude_Dreyfus

[Miserable]

23 minutes ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

Yes, quite a few. There are some interesting details on this site:

 

http://www.ingr.co.uk/intro_rlys.html 

Thank you! I'm liking Star Lane Brickworks, plus it provides a good for the somewhat dubious NG/SG interchange that isn't stone;-)

Edited January 1, 2021 by Miserable

[russ p]

Have they all closed now?

[Miserable]

44 minutes ago, russ p said:

Have they all closed now?

Sadly all listed have. The site on the link gives the closing dates. Some lasted a lot longer that I would have supposed.

[Andy Kirkham]

 

5 hours ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

Yes, quite a few. There are some interesting details on this site:

 

http://www.ingr.co.uk/intro_rlys.html 

Not mentioned there are military systems at ammunition depots such as Trecwn in Pembrokeshire, Chilmark in Wiltshire, Ernsettle in Devon and Eastriggs in southwest Scotland (of which I have a rather dull picture). All of thse had interchange sidings with Network Rail.

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Andy Kirkham

[Miserable]

11 minutes ago, Andy Kirkham said:

 

Not mentioned there are military systems at ammunition depots such as Trecwn in Pembrokeshire, Chilmark in Wiltshire, Ernsettle in Devon and Eastriggs in southwest Scotland (of which I have a rather dull picture). All of thse had interchange sidings with Network Rail.

 

 I'm after industrial lines, so thanks for the pointer but not really what I was looking for.

[Nearholmer]

If you want to check all possibilities, get hold of an Industrial Railway Society handbook in the EL (=existing locomotives) series, the equivalent of the Ian Allan books. I’ve got rid of mine, but I think it was 14EL or 15EL around 1980.

 

I visited most (all?) of the ING lines in the southern half of England that were still open c1975-85 (some of the pictures on INGR are mine) and they were mostly just brickworks, peat, military, and sewage works by that stage.

 

Sylva Springs watercress line is I think still used, or at least a bit of it, seasonally.

 

The last knocking of Leighton Buzzard might have made it to 1980, IIRC, but that was at the very far end, not the end that once exchanged with BR, although the loco repair shop at Billington Road did remain in use pretty late, 1978 maybe.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Miserable]

3 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

If you want to check all possibilities, get hold of an Industrial Railway Society handbook in the EL (=existing locomotives) series, the equivalent of the Ian Allan books. I’ve got rid of mine, but I think it was 14EL or 15EL around 1980.

That's a bit OTT really, I'm just after the flavour of the thing - state of the track, buildings and such. I got the idea after seeing European 'Feldbahns' on Youtube, I guess I wanted to check if UK practice was for any reason different.

[Nearholmer]

Very similar in most respects. I think there are films of Cherry Orchard Lane BW and/or Star Lane BW on youtube, and of Minworth Sewage works too.

 

The state of the track was always far below mainline standards, except on some military lines, and operation was usually pretty snappy, no hanging about.

 

Propelling the train in one direction was quite common on the shorter lines, rather than running round at either end.

 

Thinking about it, possibly the latest non-military survivor with a BR exchange (via a processing plant) was Middleton Towers sand near Kings Lynn. IIRC the NG finished there c1977, and several of the locos came to Leighton Buzzard for preservation.