Trefor Quarry railway explained

Railroad Name:Trefor Quarry railway
Start Year:1864
End Year:1962
Length:1 mile
Hq City:Llanaelhaearn
Locale:Wales
Successor Line:Abandoned

The Trefor Quarry railway was an industrial, narrow-gauge railway connecting the Trefor granite quarry with the pier at Llanaelhaearn on the Llŷn Peninsula.

History

The Trefor granite quarry (also known as the Yr Eifl quarry) opened in 1850. In 1855 the quarry applied to build a jetty on the coast to ship granite products. The pier was not built, but the application was renewed in 1867, the pier being built by 1870 and a railway was constructed connecting the quarry with the pier. There had been horse-worked internal quarry tramways as early as 1865.

In 1873 steam locomotives were introduced to work in the quarry and along the ½ mile long section from the foot of the quarry incline to the pier. One incline was particularly steep with one section at a gradient of 1 in 1¾, said to be the steepest incline in any granite quarry in Britain.

A short branch line served the village of Trefor at the foot of the incline. This branch was lifted before 1920. From 1951 onwards the railway was gradually replaced by road transport. The main incline was abandoned in 1959 and the railway finally closed in 1962.

Locomotives

NumberNameBuilderTypeDateWorks numberNotes
De Winton1873Scrapped by 1914
De Winton1875Scrapped by 1914
IsabelW.G. Bagnall19001614Scrapped 1930
BettyHunslet19121101To Brymbo Steel Co., Hook Norton in 1942; scrapped in 1949
RedstoneDarbishire's1905Only briefly ran at Trefor in 1921
MichaelKerr Stuart19172494Withdrawn in 1932; subsequently scrapped
MarkKerr Stuart19204213ex-War Department Light Railways; scrapped by 1938
Motor Rail19181378ex-War Department Light Railways; sold
Motor Rail19253736Rebuilt ex-War Department Light Railways locomotive; scrapped
Motor Rail19305513To Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co.
1Motor Rail19315609sold. Now at the Chasewater Railway[1]
2Motor Rail19181078Rebuilt ex-War Department Light Railways locomotive; scrapped by 1954
2Motor Rail19375949Sold or scrapped
3Motor RailSold or scrapped by 1954
3Motor Rail19387221Sold
4 (ex-6)Motor Rail19295025Sold
5Motor RailSold or scrapped
5Hunslet19412207Sold in 1965 to Rich Morris. Moved to Gloddfa Ganol in 1977. Put on display at Duffws station in 1979.[2]
6Hunslet19412208Withdrawn by 1962
7Ruston & Hornsby1938189953Sold
8Motor Rail19408570Sold or scrapped 1954
9Hunslet19402024ex-Forestry Commission. Sold in 1962 to the Cwt-y-Bugail quarry. Now preserved at the Bala Lake Railway.[3]
10Hunslet19402025ex-Forestry Commission; withdrawn by 1961
11Hunslet1940Sold
12Ruston & Hornsby1940200480Scrapped c. 1960

See also

References

  1. Web site: Stock List: DECEMBER 2010. Chasewater Railway. 17 July 2011.
  2. Book: Bradley, Vic . 1992 . Industrial Locomotives of North Wales . London . Industrial Railway Society . 0-9010-9672-5.
  3. Web site: Hunslet No. 2024 . Bala Lake Railway.

52.984°N -4.412°W