Burneside Paper Mills Tramway

The Burneside Tramway was initially a narrow gauge and later a standard gauge industrial railway serving the James Cropper paper mills around Burneside, Cumbria.[1]

Burneside Tramway
Entrance to James Cropper, Burneside Mills. The tramway tracks still visible on the left.
Overview
HeadquartersBurneside, Cumbria
LocaleEngland
Dates of operation1880–1974
SuccessorAbandoned
Technical
Track gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Length1 1⁄2 miles (2.4 km)

History
Track from the tramway in Burneside.

The tramway was built in 1879-80 as a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) line to connect the paper mills run by James Cropper and Co in Burneside and Cowan Head.[2] Wagons were hauled by horse power.

It was converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) in 1924, and in the same year, the Motor Rail and Tram Car Company in Bedford provided an 0-4-0 Dorman Petrol locomotive called Rachel which was used to transfer wagons between the mill and Burneside railway station.[3] In 1951 Rachel was replaced by a diesel Ruston 48 No.294266.[4]

The line to Cowan Head closed in 1965, with the section between Burneside Mill and Burneside railway station still operating until it closed in 1974.[5]

Rachel has survived and is preserved at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. The Ruston was named Flying Flea at Carnforth before moving south to Sir William McAlpine's Fawley Hill Railway where it was named Sir William, and in more recent times it moved to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway.

References
  1. Joy, David (1983). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The Lake Counties. David and Charles. p. 231. ISBN 9780946537020.
  2. "Burneside Paper Mills Tranway". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey 6 inch to the mile maps. 1913.
  3. "Rachel". The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  4. "Burneside Paper Mill". Industrial History of Cumbria. Cumbria Industrial History Society. 19 April 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  5. "James Cropper PLC Annual Reports 2010" (PDF). James Cropper. 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
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