Trefor Quarry railway

The Trefor Quarry railway was an industrial, 1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge railway connecting the Trefor granite quarry with the pier at Llanaelhaearn on the Llŷn Peninsula.

Trefor Quarry railway
Overview
HeadquartersLlanaelhaearn
LocaleWales
Dates of operation1864–1962
SuccessorAbandoned
Technical
Track gauge1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm)
Length1 mile

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
Number Name Builder Type Date Works number Notes
De Winton 0-4-0VB 1873 Scrapped by 1914
De Winton 0-4-0VB 1875 Scrapped by 1914
Isabel W.G. Bagnall 0-4-0ST 1900 1614 Scrapped 1930
Betty Hunslet 0-4-0ST 1912 1101 To Brymbo Steel Co., Hook Norton in 1942; scrapped in 1949
Redstone Darbishire's 0-4-0VB 1905 Only briefly ran at Trefor in 1921
Michael Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST 1917 2494 Withdrawn in 1932; subsequently scrapped
Mark Kerr Stuart 4-6-0T 1920 4213 ex-War Department Light Railways; scrapped by 1938
Motor Rail 4wPM 1918 1378 ex-War Department Light Railways; sold
Motor Rail 4wPM 1925 3736 Rebuilt ex-War Department Light Railways locomotive; scrapped
Motor Rail 4wDM 1930 5513 To Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co.
1 Motor Rail 4wDM 1931 5609 sold. Now at the Chasewater Railway[1]
2 Motor Rail 4wDM 1918 1078 Rebuilt ex-War Department Light Railways locomotive; scrapped by 1954
2 Motor Rail 4wDM 1937 5949 Sold or scrapped
3 Motor Rail 4wPM Sold or scrapped by 1954
3 Motor Rail 4wDM 1938 7221 Sold
4 (ex-6) Motor Rail 4wDM 1929 5025 Sold
5 Motor Rail 4wPM Sold or scrapped
5 Hunslet 4wDM 1941 2207 Sold
6 Hunslet 4wDM 1941 2208 Withdrawn by 1962
7 Ruston & Hornsby 4wDM 1938 189953 Sold
8 Motor Rail 4wDM 1940 8570 Sold or scrapped 1954
9 Hunslet 4wDM 1940 2024 ex-Forestry Commission; sold
10 Hunslet 4wDM 1940 2025 ex-Forestry Commission; withdrawn by 1961
11 Hunslet 4wDM 1940 Sold
12 Ruston & Hornsby 4wDM 1940 200480 Scrapped c. 1960

See also

References
  1. "Stock List: DECEMBER 2010" (PDF). Chasewater Railway. Retrieved 17 July 2011.


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