Difference between revisions of "Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway"

Rolling stock

At opening the Railway had two Manning Wardle 0-6-0 saddle tanks, numbers 1734 Burwarton and 1735 Cleobury. The railway was absorbed into the GWRGreat Western Railway in May 1922, following which the locomotives were re-numbered as GWRGreat Western Railway 28 and 29; they were later rebuilt as pannier tanks at Swindon in 1930. They remained as the regular engines on the line, although other small GWRGreat Western Railway tank engines would appear on the line from time to time. During operation they were kept at a small shed at Cleobury Town,^[1] but were recorded as being at Kidderminster Shed between 1940 and 1945^[2].

28 was placed into store at Kidderminster in 1949. 29, which acquired the nickname "the Gadget", was fitted with a spark arrester cowl in case working to the Admiralty Depot at Ditton Priors was required, and was then retained at Kidderminster for occasional shunting turns, her former duties having been taken over by GWRGreat Western Railway 2021 class locomotives^[1].

The original coaching stock comprised four ex-North London Railway four-wheel coaches, later replaced by standard GWRGreat Western Railway vehicles.^[3]

A Planet diesel locomotive is believed to have been used but its dates of arrival and departure are not known. Later, three 'flameproof' 165hp 0-4-0 diesel locomotives were supplied to RNADRoyal Naval Armaments Depot Ditton Priors by RustonRuston and Hornsby Ltd. of Lincoln, engineer and locomotive manufacturer acquired by English Electric in 1966. Also, Ruston-Bucyrus Ltd established in 1930 and jointly owned by Ruston and Hornsby and Bucyrus-Erie (US) and Hornsby of Lincoln between 1952 and 1955.^[4]

Early plans for expansion

The greatest use of the line was for the transport of stone from the granite quarries on Titterstone Clee and Brown Clee which proved profitable from the first years of opening. An early scheme to bring coal traffic to the line was proposed under the title of the Stottesdon, Kinlet and Billingsley Railway; the two last named being Collieries served by the Severn Valley Railway. The Board was also interested in extending the railway northwards from Ditton Priors, with three possible schemes being considered in 1912. These were:

• An 8 mile connection to the GWRGreat Western Railway’s Severn Valley branch at Bridgnorth.
• A continuation to join the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway’s Coalport Branch at Coalport.
• A 6 mile continuation to join the GWRGreat Western Railway’s Much Wenlock branch at Presthope.

Ultimately the First World War brought an end to these plans and none of the schemes went ahead^[5]

Decline and closure

Passenger numbers were never great and declined steadily after the First World War. As early as the 1920s some stations had effectively become request stops, and by the 1930s traffic had reduced to two ‘mixed’ trains per day. Passenger services ceased altogether in September 1938. However in 1941 the Royal Navy opened a Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNADRoyal Naval Armaments Depot) at the end of line at RNADRoyal Naval Armaments Depot Ditton Priors, close to Brown Clee Hill. The line therefore remained open for both freight and military traffic, and locomotives using the line were fitted with spark arrestors.

The line became part of BRBritish Rail or British Railways(W) under nationalisation in 1948 and continued in very limited use, sometimes with just one train per week. On 21 May 1955 the Stephenson Railway Society organised a ‘special’ from Birmingham via Kidderminster and Bewdley to Ditton Priors. DeanWilliam Dean, Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Western Railway 1877-1902 Goods No 2516 (now preserved at Steam in Swindon) hauled this to Cleobury Mortimer, where 0-6-0PT No 2144 (with spark arrestor) took over using CM&DPLR rolling stock. The ‘special’ travelled as far as Cleobury North Sidings, becoming the only passenger bogie-stock ever on the line.

Ownership of the line passed from BRBritish Rail or British Railways to the Admiralty in May 1957, the occasional haulage by now being provided by the RustonRuston and Hornsby Ltd. of Lincoln, engineer and locomotive manufacturer acquired by English Electric in 1966. Also, Ruston-Bucyrus Ltd established in 1930 and jointly owned by Ruston and Hornsby and Bucyrus-Erie (US) shunters. Navy use of the line continued until 1960, when the railway finally closed (some Admiralty equipment was moved from the Depot by rail thereafter).

The line was considered as a possible candidate for preservation in the early days of the Severn Valley Railway Society, but was deemed unsuitable because of its remoteness and the relatively light axle load limits.

See also

• Map of the Severn Valley Railway and Nearby Railways

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Barfield (1994) pp. 81-89.
2. ↑ Turley (2005) p. 117.
3. ↑ Burton, Anthony and Scott-Morgan, John,'The Light Railways of Britain and Ireland', Moorland Press, 1985
4. ↑ Some Early Lines – Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway, 6 November 2010 (a blog) (Retrieved 18 September 2018)
5. ↑ Price (1995) pp.39-40.

• Leslie Oppitz (2004), Lost Railways of Shropshire

Links

• Photo of No 29 after rebuilding
• Muckley, A., An MOD Ruston & Hornsby diesel shunter passes through Cleobury Town Station on 26 March 1965
• Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway on Wikipedia
• Minutes, correspondence, miscellaneous papers, stock and share records, letter books 1901-22, The National Archives