Evocotive railway remains, what derelect or abandoned structure stirs your emotions?

[Rivercider]

The  narrow gauge 2'6" Pentewan Railway linked St Austell with Pentewan. The line closed in 1918 and the harbour has since silted up.

Some track was subsequently re-used to bring beach sand to a concrete block works at Pentewan.

Much of the route of the former Pentewan Railway is now a cycle route which I may try to walk some day.

Shed and narrow gauge track at Pentewan. 6/11/2017.

 

cheers

 

[eastglosmog]

Browsing this thread has brought back many memories of walking disused railway lines.  Thought I would add two from the Liskeard and Caradon, which doesn't seem to have been mentioned so far.

A boundary marker near Cheeswring

Head of the Gonamena incline

[dibber25]

The old station at Oundle. Sad and sorry state now. Such a shame for a grand old building.

 

You must be thinking of the old pub on the opposite side of the road. Oundle station is now a private dwelling and is very well kept. It was derelict in the 1970s but was subsequently  nicely restored. The pub - The Railway - or later The Riverside - was closed in 1986 and has been derelict ever since. It was also designed by John Livock, who designed the station, and it is a listed building so can't actually be knocked down but can be allowed to fall down.

To answer the question as to what stirs my emotions, the Mechanics Institute at Swindon, a Grade 2* listed building which is, indeed, being allowed to fall down, and which could be an exquisite and very useful building. Sadly, no one wants to spend money on it, so they go round in circles with endless reports and plans which come to nothing. (CJL)

[Pacific231G]

The  narrow gauge 2'6" Pentewan Railway linked St Austell with Pentewan. The line closed in 1918 and the harbour has since silted up.

Some track was subsequently re-used to bring beach sand to a concrete block works at Pentewan.

Much of the route of the former Pentewan Railway is now a cycle route which I may try to walk some day.

IMG_8912 a.jpg

Shed and narrow gauge track at Pentewan. 6/11/2017.

 

cheers

This brings back some memories so thanks for posting it. I visited the area round Pentewan harbour in the early summer of 1969 when much of the track of the later sand railway used by the concrete plant was still intact though it hadn't apparently been used since early in 1965. According to several sources this railway, though built to the same gauge, was completely separate from the Pentewan Railway which closed in around 1915 and had been completely scrapped by the end of the First World War. 

 

Don Boreham visited the area in 1968 and, finding track in the harbour area, made the natural but apparently false assumption that it was part of the Pentewan Railway. In his article in the February 1969 MRN he does though say that he was mystified to find Hudson hopper wagons there that he didn't know the Pentewan Railway had possessed.

 

There was an article, Pentewan's Other Tramway"  by Michael Bussell in Railway Bylines of October 1999 . He'd visited and photographed the site in April 1965 when the shed in your photo contained two "fairly smart" Ruston 20hp diesels.  He doesn't though say when this second railway was built to provide sand for the concrete plant (and possibly for other uses?) One of his photos from 1965 shows the channel full of water but my recollection is that when I saw it is was completely silted up with sand piled up in front of the very derelict lock gates. 

 

When I visited the site a year after Don Boreham I don't remember seeing any wagons (which doesn't mean they weren't around) but I think all the track shown in the 1965 plan in Michael Bussell's article was still there. I can't post the plan for copyright reasons but would be happy to PM it to you. 

 

Apart from what's in your photo, were there any other traces of track around Pentewan Harbour?

 

There was an article by Iain Rice in the February 1977 Model Railways about building a 009 model of the Pentewan Railway's 0-6-0 tender loco "Pentewan"

 

Several years before visiting the site Don Boreham had built a 7mm scale model of Pentewan that he described in two articles in MRN in April and August 1965.

 

The remaining mystery is why the later sand railway was built to 2ft 6in rather than the more common for industrial railways gauge of 2ft/60cms. Ex WW2 military surplus perhaps? 

Edited November 24, 2017 by Pacific231G

[Rivercider]

This brings back some memories so thanks for posting it. I visited the area round Pentewan harbour in the early summer of 1969 when much of the track of the later sand railway used by the concrete plant was still intact though it hadn't apparently been used since early in 1965. According to several sources this railway, though built to the same gauge, was completely separate from the Pentewan Railway which closed in around 1915 and can't post the plan for copyright reasons but would be happy to PM it to you. 

 

Apart from what's in your photo, were there any other traces of track around Pentewan Harbour?

 

 

Thanks for the interesting post.

 

I knew next to nothing about the railway, but we were staying at nearby Charlestown and had spent the day at Heligan Gardens and I remembered from one 

of my many railway books that there had once been a railway here so we called into Pentewan for an hour on the way back to the hotel.

 

I took the info from the book 'Industrial Railways of the South West' by Michael Messenger, in which he writes about the industrial railway that

'This kept the same gauge as some Pentewan Railway wagons were retained for its use but there was little other connection with the former system'.

He also says the system was out of use when he visited in 1961, with the Ruston Hornsby locos locked in the shed. 

 

I did take a few more photos, but with the low autumn sun it was not ideal. There was not much track as far as I could see.

 

The tracks crossing a sluice channel that I believe was used to divert water from the St Austell River into the harbour approach channel in order to try to clear it.

On the track plan in the above book there was a fan of 6 sidings on the left, beach/sea side served from these small bridges which are fenced within the yacht club land 8/11/2017

 

The shed seen from the east side of the former harbour approach channel which is now completely sand locked, 8/11/2017

 

Looking out to sea, some lengths of rail in the sand, on the left you can see how much sand now blocks the former channel. 8/11/2017

 

The harbour itself still has water, and the rotting lock gates remain, (there is now a footbridge for coast path users). This view is looking inland.

The track plan in Michael Messengers book shows sidings ran round the east side of the harbour, and via a wagon turntable, a siding ran to terminate 

by the steps on the other side of the harbour. The rotting lock gates are just visible on the right. /11/2017

 

cheers

Edited November 24, 2017 by Rivercider

[mikejames]

re pentewan

I spent several summer weeks holidays in a caravan there in the early 1950s.

The 'sand' railway was working but asked I would have said it was taking gravel rather than sand.

it may just a question of when does sand become gravel.

The river was very white and as always with childhood summer holidays - the sun always shone!

 

regards

mike j

[eastglosmog]

Regarding the Pentewan railway, MJT Lewis wrote a book on it (The Pentewan Railway, Twelveheads Press) in 1960, with a revised and extended 2nd edition in 1981. Just got it down off my bookshelf, having not read it for some years.  He says the block works was built in 1907, when the Pentewan Railway was still operating.  (The Pentewan railway was requisitioned by the Government for the war effort in 1918 and closed.)  So use of same gauge not so surprising.  (Block works was not initially a success, due to salt getting into the blocks.)

According to Lewis, the Pentewan Dock and Concrete Co Ltd used hand and horse haulage until 1938, when they bought Ruston/Hornsby 16/20hp No. 189992.  They then bought 195842 in 1939. In 1957, both of these were exchanged for a third R & H, (No 244558 of 1946), but apparently returned to Pentewan after a short time and ended up locked in the engine shed when the concrete works closed about 1966. Lewis does not say when the first one was scrapped, but gives about 1968 as the date for scrapping of the second one.

[highpeakman]

This brings back some memories so thanks for posting it. I visited the area round Pentewan harbour in the early summer of 1969 when much of the track of the later sand railway used by the concrete plant was still intact though it hadn't apparently been used since early in 1965. According to several sources this railway, though built to the same gauge, was completely separate from the Pentewan Railway which closed in around 1915 and had been completely scrapped by the end of the First World War. 

 

Don Boreham visited the area in 1968 and, finding track in the harbour area, made the natural but apparently false assumption that it was part of the Pentewan Railway. In his article in the February 1969 MRN he does though say that he was mystified to find Hudson hopper wagons there that he didn't know the Pentewan Railway had possessed.

 

There was an article, Pentewan's Other Tramway"  by Michael Bussell in Railway Bylines of October 1999 . He'd visited and photographed the site in April 1965 when the shed in your photo contained two "fairly smart" Ruston 20hp diesels.  He doesn't though say when this second railway was built to provide sand for the concrete plant (and possibly for other uses?) One of his photos from 1965 shows the channel full of water but my recollection is that when I saw it is was completely silted up with sand piled up in front of the very derelict lock gates. 

 

When I visited the site a year after Don Boreham I don't remember seeing any wagons (which doesn't mean they weren't around) but I think all the track shown in the 1965 plan in Michael Bussell's article was still there. I can't post the plan for copyright reasons but would be happy to PM it to you. 

 

Apart from what's in your photo, were there any other traces of track around Pentewan Harbour?

 

There was an article by Iain Rice in the February 1977 Model Railways about building a 009 model of the Pentewan Railway's 0-6-0 tender loco "Pentewan"

 

Several years before visiting the site Don Boreham had built a 7mm scale model of Pentewan that he described in two articles in MRN in April and August 1965.

 

The remaining mystery is why the later sand railway was built to 2ft 6in rather than the more common for industrial railways gauge of 2ft/60cms. Ex WW2 military surplus perhaps? 

This looks like a fascinating place which I didn't know about previously so thanks to all involved for bringing up thye subject on this thread.

 

For my own curiosity I always then look at the NLS maps to give me a picture of what was involved.

 

The original track formations are clearly shown in the 1905 OS 25 inch map  http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18&lat=50.2917&lon=-4.7823&layers=168&right=BingHyb

 

Also the 1913 6 inch map: http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18&lat=50.2917&lon=-4.7823&layers=6&right=BingHyb

 

I note that the 1:25000 of 1937-61 and the 1 inch map of the same date show both no trace at all of any later sand railway which I would have expected them to. I'm curious why the later sand railway is not shown on these maps as I thought that even small tramways tend to be shown although perhaps I am wrong about that.

 

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=50.2917&lon=-4.7823&layers=10&right=BingHyb

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=15&lat=50.2950&lon=-4.7812&layers=11&right=BingHyb

[eastglosmog]

Highpeakman - The reason you can't see the Pentewan sand railway is that unlike most of the country, the area was not surveyed at 1/2,500 scale between 1907 and 1971.  The detail was not available for the small scale maps.  Things are very different these days, when such features can readily be picked up from aerial imagery.

[highpeakman]

Highpeakman - The reason you can't see the Pentewan sand railway is that unlike most of the country, the area was not surveyed at 1/2,500 scale between 1907 and 1971.  The detail was not available for the small scale maps.  Things are very different these days, when such features can readily be picked up from aerial imagery.

 

I assume that must also be the reason that "course of old railway" - the main Pentewan Railway itself is also unmarked on the later maps?

 

Although as the railway apparently closed about 1915 then the maps must have been modified during the 1907 to 1971 period to actually remove the trace of the railway course and not show it as an old railway line. 

 

Sorry, I am not trying to "worry an old bone" it is just my inate curiosity and interest in maps and railways that make me wonder why these things happen.

[eastglosmog]

I don't know the exact circumstances of what went on down at Pentewan (bit before my time), but I expect the OS surveyors went round before the 1" map was made and ticked off those things that were no longer there and removed them from the map, which doesn't take to much effort!  New roads and houses would also probably be marked - you will often see 1" maps with the notation that they have been revised for major changes.  Obsolescent sand tramways did not count as major changes! 

[sir douglas]

a rotting gate in the bushes at Bentley near Doncaster, on the north side of the crossing and on the Leeds bound side, the gate was from the mainline into private sidings for a works

 

1959 OS

 

Google

[rodent279]

Rather smaller than most items in this topic.

A stone block from the original London to Birmingham line.

It stands at the western end of Tring outside the former Britannia pub.

The pub was a regular drinking place for the navies during the building of the line.

1-DSC_0278.JPG

My brain is telling me that there are other examples near the line between Watford and Tring.

I will have to have a potter round with the camera.

Bernard

There are some embankment walls made up of these stone blocks at Watford Jn and at Leighton Buzzard up side, just north of Soulbury Rd bridge. There was a siding there which served the goods shed.

And I happen to know where one of these stone blocks from the 1840's survives, complete with original cast iron rail chair.......

Edited February 13, 2018 by rodent279

[rodent279]

For me, I have two areas with evocative abandoned railways.

 

1st is the remains of the GC through Leicester, especially the bits and pieces of viaduct north from Central station. Certainly up until the late 2000's there was a wooden signal post standing defiantly on one small section of arch.

I could just see it from my flat in Glenfield when I was a student, and could imagine seeing a green 37 with maroon stock snaking it's way across the city, in to Central, and off south to Bournemouth.

 

Central station still has its street frontage largely intact, though apart from a small section of the platform the rest is mostly gone.

 

I well remember the Bowstring Bridge, south of Central, which crossed the River Soar and Braunstone Gate, and the remains of the viaduct with local watering hole the Pump 'n Tap, all now gone. Here's the bridge in 1997:-

 

https://flic.kr/p/M412cg

 

Where we live now, in Downend, on the east side of Bristol (puts on push accent-actually we're in South Gloucs you know...), we have the remains of the Midland route from Westerleigh to Temple Meads, and the later route from Mangotsfield to Bath Green Park. Both are regular cycle and run routes for me, and as an "improver" at Nottingham in 1948, my dad fired along both regularly, with Black 5's, 5x's and 8F's. He also reached Carlisle, Doncaster, St Pancras and Manchester, so Nottingham men were fairly well travelled!

 

Today the remains of Mangotsfield station consists of the platforms and a subway, the buildings and canopy having long gone. The original Bristol & Gloucester Mangotsfield station still survives as a private residence next to the ring road built in the trackbed.

 

Staple Hill tunnel is lit and a regular run/cycle route. The platform at Staple Hill station is still there on the down (away from Bristol) side, but no other platforms are identifiable now, Fishponds station having been obliterated.

 

Going south, the remains of Warmley station is in use as a well patronised cafe, with cyclists and runners taking the place of trains between the platforms. The signal box on the south side of the road survived in a decrepit state, until about 5 years ago, when it was done up, and is now open to visitors on Sundays.

 

Past the Avon Valley Railway, you can just about make out the site of Saltford station, but I believe that closed before the war.

 

No phots of these I'm afraid, but there are plenty on Flickr.

Edited February 13, 2018 by rodent279

[Trog]

There are some embankment walls made up of these stone blocks at Watford Jn and at Leighton Buzzard up side, just north of Soulbury Rd bridge. There was a siding there which served the goods shed.

And I happen to know where one of these stone blocks from the 1840's survives, complete with original cast iron rail chair.......

 

There are also similar walls around the back of Bletchley station carpark, and beside Mcconnell drive in Wolverton. There are also some forming the front garden walls of a couple of cottages in Linslade facing onto Wing Road on the opposite side of Ship Road to the Ship Pub.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Trog

[rodent279]

There are also similar walls around the back of Bletchley station carpark, and beside Mcconnell drive in Wolverton. There are also some forming the front garden walls of a couple of cottages in Linslade facing onto Wing Road on the opposite side of Ship Road to the Ship Pub.

I've never noticed the ones on Wing Rd, I'll keep my eyes peeled next time I'm there.

[FPH 603]

What struck me the most in terms of evocative remains (as of recently) was when I came across Ropes Creek and Dunheved stations in NSW. Attached are some before and afters of the stations. Cochrane, the third station was nowhere to be seen, I believe it was demolished completely before having buildings put on top of it.

Dunheved c. 1996, although slightly overgrown the track and overhead wiring remains intact.

Basically as I saw Dunheved at the time, minus the concrete pipes.

Ropes Creek shortly after closure, still retaining a lot of infrastructure.

Whilst it was nice to see Ropes Creek restored, I still wished I could have seen the station before it burned down and before this thing was made.

[jamie92208]

Today I went up to Settle to visit mark Rand who has made the water tower into a house.   I recently helped with some research for an article that he wrote for the February issue of Steam Railway.   It centres around a chimney that was discovered some years ago in the embankment near the old turntable at Garsdale.  It was dug up and for several years was a large ashtray at Appleby.   With a bit of digging and measuring, and cross checking of facts, Mark and I, as well as the editors of Steam Railway are convinced that it is the chimney from Midland Railway No 60 that was the pilot engine on the Scotch Express that crashed just north of what was then Hawes Junction in 1910.   4 locos, 3 4-4-0's and 0ne 2-4-0 were involved and the only one with a tallish chimney was the 2-4-0 no 60.   Today I went up to visit Mark and he was kind enough to unwrap the chimney and I was able to take some photos.

 

Here's the chimney from it's rear

and side on with the front to the right

The capuchon that should be there has got broken off somewhere along the line, probably when the chimbley was detached from the loco.  This was to get the remains of No 60 to fit within the loading gauge for transport on a well wagon to Durran Hill.

Finally a shot of part of the rim showing that the top part was detachable and one of the bolt heads.

When you think about what this assembly of iron castings has been through and the accident that it was part of it was very evocative to me.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by jamie92208

[LMS2968]

http://www.foscl.org.uk/sites/foscl.org.uk/files/scrca/images-imce/img-other/Photo_1910-12-24_Aftermath-of-Hawes-Junction-Disaster_1200px.jpg

[sir douglas]

http://www.foscl.org.uk/sites/foscl.org.uk/files/scrca/images-imce/img-other/Photo_1910-12-24_Aftermath-of-Hawes-Junction-Disaster_1200px.jpg

 

its clearly not the front loco as it still has its chimney, it looks like theres a third loco or is that just mangled carriage chassis?

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by sir douglas

[jamie92208]

its clearly not the front loco as it still has its chimney, it looks like theres a third loco or is that just mangled carriage chassis?

 

 

That is the loco.   There's another photo that shows it on the well wagon with the chimney removed the surmise is that it was towed back slowly to Garsdale then craned onto the well wagon and the chimney and dome cover were removed to stop it being foul of the loading gauge.  Garsdale is the nearest convenient location where they could have sorted that out without obstructing the main line.  The chimney was found in the right area near where the turntable used to be on the down side of the line in an area that was used as a civil engineers tip. The other photos and the article are in the February issue of Steam Railway. I'll try and remember to bring my copy down on Friday.

 

Jamie

[The Stationmaster]

One point to note;-  the 2-4-0 involved in the Hawes Junction collision was No. 48, not No.60, and I doubt that neither Passed Fireman Oldcorn, who was driving it that night, nor Major Pringle in his Report, would have got the number wrong.

[jamie92208]

One point to note;-  the 2-4-0 involved in the Hawes Junction collision was No. 48, not No.60, and I doubt that neither Passed Fireman Oldcorn, who was driving it that night, nor Major Pringle in his Report, would have got the number wrong.

My apologies, it was No 48 but the boiler was reused on No 60 after 48 was scrapped in 1911.

 

Jamie

[rd84]

Grace Dieu Halt - Charnwood Forest Railway - North West Leicestershire - 1932 - it had closed to passengers in 1931. Sadly only the embankment remains now

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by rd84

[The Johnster]

Walnut Tree Viaduct remains between Radyr and Taff's Well; not the pier in the middle of the valley but the western abutments, lost in the woods on the hillside of the Little Garth, dark brick arches and vaults striding purposelessly out into the void.  They soar into the mist on dull days, or are surrounded by wild garlic in spring, and amazing autumn colours in, um...  They have a presence, but despite their size and bulk have to be looked for, and the viewpoint is upwards from underneath, enhancing the impressiveness of this monument to Davies Llandinam's greed, or enterprise, depending on which side of that fence you sit.  Tens of thousands of commuters pass by every day on the Taff Vale line and the A470 below, most of whom are unknowing and uncaring of their existence.  They not infrequently haunt my dreams...