Colsterdale Light Railway | |
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![]() A train on the CLR | |
Overview | |
Status | Closed |
Locale | Masham, North Yorkshire, England |
Termini | Masham railway station |
History | |
Commenced | 1903 |
Completed | 1905 |
Technical | |
Line length | 6 mi (9.7 km) |
Number of tracks | 1 |
Track gauge | 2 ft (610 mm) |
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The Colsterdale Light Railway (CLR) was a narrow-gauge railway line in Colsterdale, North Yorkshire, England. It was built between 1903 and 1905 to allow materials to be taken up the Colsterdale valley for reservoir building. The building of two reservoirs (Roundhill, and later Leighton) in the valley of the River Burn, was first approved for the councils of Harrogate and Leeds respectively in 1901. Construction on the second reservoir was halted during the First World War, although the railway was kept in use carrying men and supplies to the training camp, later a PoW camp, at Breary Banks.
Initially, the Harrogate Corporation built a small railway yard near to what would become the site of Leighton Reservoir. This ran along up the valley to the site of their reservoir at Roundhill (some 1.75 miles (2.82 km) distant), and connected with the quarries on the high hillside of Colsterdale (on the southern flank). [1] [2] The yard at Leighton was a transhipment point from road to rail, but complaints about parking of steam traction engines in Masham town centre, and the "havoc wrought by traction engines [on the road between Masham and Leighton]", led to the development of the light railway connecting Masham railway station and the narrow gauge line at Leighton, engineered by Edward Wilson Dixon. [1] [3] Initially, the Leeds Corporation petitioned to build a standard-gauge railway, and the Harrogate Corporation wanted to stay with their 2-foot (0.61 m) gauge line. Both corporations submitted bills before Parliament, but Harrogate were successful, [note 1] after some negative press regarding why Leeds and Harrogate could not come to some understanding, and then, they had to negotiate with the North Eastern Railway about a connection with their terminus in Masham. [6] [7] The many river and stream crossings taken by the railway were on wooden trestle bridges, [8] but the bridge over the River Ure at Masham needed specific reinforcement against the heavy flow of the river. [9] Inward and outward bound traffic was swapped over in a yard to the north of Masham railway station, and from there, the line extended some 6 miles (9.7 km) up the valley. [10] [11]
Roundhill Reservoir was started and completed first by the Harrogate Corporation, whose aqueduct to carry water south into Nidderdale was also furnished with a 2 ft (610 mm) railway in the tunnel. [12] The Leeds company bought the rolling stock and line from Harrogate after the completion of Roundhill. Leeds initially intended to build one of their reservoirs in a side valley to the north of Roundhill at Spruce Gill Beck, [13] however, the geological conditions were found not to be unstable in that area, so a reformed plan involved building Leighton Reservoir first below the outfall of Roundhill, with a catchwater drain bringing water from Spruce Gill. [14] Before the location change, Leeds had already built the extension up to what was Breary Banks Camp, and although the reservoir would be in the adjacent valley, navvies were billeted at Breary Banks, which involved the Paddy Mail trains (workman's train) having to reverse at Leighton Junction. [15] The beginner for their project was Charles Henzell, who along with a consultant engineer, recommended that the reservoir at Spruce Gill (known as Colsterdale Reservoir on the plans) be abandoned. [16] During the 1910 Leighton reservoir building phase, the railway was carrying between 500 tonnes (550 tons) and 700 tonnes (770 tons) of goods per week. [17] Typical freight transhipped at Masham Exchange Yard included timber, coal and cement, with cement accounting for the heaviest traffic on the line. [18]
On 29 May 1911, one of the Harrogate engines was caught on the trestle of the bridge over a stream below the Leighton dam site. It derailed just before the bridge killing one of the footplate crew. [19] It was carrying several passengers, and despite the driver informing the manager that the load was too much (he reckoned about 20 tonnes (22 tons) behind a locomotive weighing 7 tonnes (7.7 tons)), the consist proceeded down the valley from Roundhill Dam, picking up speed on the 1-in-30 downhill section. The driver later attested that he could feel the weight of the train behind pushing his engine. [20]
In 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War, work on Leighton Reservoir slowed down as workers joined up to fight. The encampment at Breary Banks was commandeered by the army to house training for the Leeds Pals, and in 1915, work on the reservoir stopped completely, [21] although the railway was kept in use to bring supplies to the Breary Banks Camp for 1,000 men, and was also used to ferry soldiers to and from Masham railway station on occasion. [14] [22] Passenger workings consisted of Paddy Mail trains and occasional specials for the families of the workers on the reservoirs. [23] In 1917, the huts at Breary Banks were converted into a Prisoner of War camp. [11] [24]
Work on the reservoir resumed in 1919, and the reservoir was completed in 1926, with the rolling stock and tracks removed by 1932. [25] The passenger service along the former North Eastern Railway branch to Masham had also ceased in 1931. [26]
Masham is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census.
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Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Traction Ltd of London obtained a Light Railway Order for the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) railway from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse in 1900, but these powers were taken over by Bradford Corporation. A contract to build Angram Reservoir was awarded to John Best & Son in 1903, and he also won the contract to build the public railway and a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) private extension to the reservoir site. This was initially built to 3 ft gauge but was converted to standard gauge by 1907, when the public railway opened. Best had his own locomotives, and Bradford Corporation equipped the public railway with second hand locomotives and carriages from the Metropolitan Railway.
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The River Burn is a river that flows wholly within North Yorkshire, England. The river starts as several small streams on Masham Moor and drains Colsterdale flowing eastwards before emptying into the River Ure just south of Masham. Conservation work on removing a weir, and introducing fish to the river in 2016, has meant that salmon have been recorded spawning in the river for the first time in over 100 years.
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Wath-in-Nidderdale railway station, was one of two intermediate stations on the Nidd Valley Light Railway, in Wath-in-Nidderdale, Yorkshire, England. The station was opened in September 1907, and closed to passengers in January 1930, however the line remained open until 1936 to transport freight to and from the reservoirs in the Upper Nidd Valley.
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Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale railway station was the northernmost regular passenger terminus on the Nidd Valley Light Railway (NVLR), in Lofthouse, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire and now in North Yorkshire, England. The station was built as part of Bradford Corporation's programme of reservoir building in the Upper Nidd Valley. The station opened in 1904 and was closed to passengers in 1930. The station was renamed Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale railway station in 1907 to avoid confusion with Lofthouse and Outwood railway station, also in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
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Harrogate Gasworks Railway was an industrial railway in the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The line was a narrow gauge railway that ran between Bilton Junction on the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, to the Harrogate Gas Company's (HGC) works at New Park, north of the town centre. It opened in 1908 to carry inbound coal for gasification, and was closed to traffic in 1956. The railway was noted for its tight gauge restrictions in the tunnel through New Park. Two of its steam locomotives have survived into preservation, and are still in use on heritage railways.