British quarrying and mining narrow-gauge railways

Some industrial narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man were primarily built to serve quarrying, mining, and similar industries. Some of these narrow-gauge railways offered passenger services for employees or workmen, but they did not run public passenger trains. They are listed by the primary industry they served.

Cement works

Many of the cement works and their associated chalk pits had narrow gauge railways, particularly those in the South East of England. The Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd. (APCM, later Blue Circle Industries, and Lafarge) was the major producer of cement in the United Kingdom in the second half of the twentieth century and many of their plants used railways.

Lime works

Brickworks

Clay extraction

China clay extraction

In Britain large deposits of Kaolinite (commonly known as "china clay") were found in Cornwall. Many industrial railways, both narrow gauge and standard gauge, were built to serve the china clay quarries and mines of this area.

Sand and gravel extraction

The sand and gravel extraction industries made extensive use of narrow gauge railways, and several of these lasted into the 1980s – this was one of the last industries to make significant use of narrow gauge industrial railways in the UK.

Stone quarrying and mining

Slate

The most well-known of the British industrial narrow gauge railways were those serving the slate industry of north Wales. Many of the quarries had internal tramways and feeder lines connecting them to transhipment points on local railways, rivers, roads or coastal ports.

Granite

Other stone

Coal

The British coal mining industry made extensive use of narrow gauge railways, particularly underground where the restricted size of the tunnels meant that narrow gauge lines were and are particularly well suited. Many National Coal Board (NCB) mines used railways both underground and in the stock yards above ground. There were also many short lines at private mines, particularly in south Wales and the Forest of Dean regions.

Peat extraction

Other mineral extraction

Metal mining

Tin, lead and zinc

Iron

Mainly ironstone quarries

Gold

See also

• British industrial narrow-gauge railways
• British narrow-gauge railways
• Industrial railway

References

Bibliography

• "Narrow Gauge Railway Museum's list of railways".
• "List of British narrow gauge steam locomotives". Archived from the original on 21 October 2008.
• Booth, A.W. (1998). Peat Railways of Thorne and Hatfield Moors. Industrial Railway Society. ISBN 1-901556-04-2.
• Crumbleholme, Roger & Kirtland, Terry (1981). steam '81. George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-385082-0.
• Dean, Ian; Neale, Andrew; Smith, David (1983). Industrial Railways of the South-East. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-09-6.
• Hateley, Roger (1977). Industrial Locomotives of South Western England. Greenford: Industrial Railway Society. ISBN 0-901096-23-7.
• Lee, Charles E. (1945). Narrow-Gauge Railways in North Wales. The Railway Publishing Co. Ltd.
• Macmillan, Nigel S.C. (1970). The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway. David & Charles: Newton Abbot. ISBN 1-871980-17-8.
• Richards, Alun John (2001). The Slate Railways of Wales (1st. ed.). Llanrwst, Wales: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 0-86381-689-4.

• Robertson, Leslie S.; Neale, Andrew (1988). Narrow Gauge Railways - Two Feet and Under (2nd ed.). Croydon, Surrey: Plateway Press. ISBN 0-9511108-4-5.

• Stoyel, B.D. & Kidner R.W. (1973). The Cement Railways of Kent. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-370-2.
• Talbot, Edward; Taylor, Clive (2005). The Crewe Works Narrow Gauge System (2nd ed.). Croydon, Surrey: The London & North Western Railway Society. ISBN 0954695119.

• Tonks, Eric (May 1990). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 4: The Wellingborough Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-042.
• Narrow Gauge News, the journal of the Narrow Gauge Railway Society

External links

• Narrow Gauge Railway Society
• Industrial Railway Society

1. British narrow-gauge railways
2. Narrow-gauge railway
3. British industrial narrow-gauge railways
4. Industrial railway
5. Rail transport in Greece
6. Track gauge
7. List of British heritage and private railways
8. Dinorwic quarry
9. Ffestiniog Railway
10. List of track gauges
11. List of British private narrow-gauge railways
12. Corris Railway
13. Mine railway
14. Retirement of steam locomotives by country
15. Vale of Rheidol Railway
16. List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways
17. Statfold Barn Railway
18. Mining in Cornwall and Devon
19. List of preserved Hunslet narrow-gauge locomotives
20. 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways in the United Kingdom