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Jee's Harts Hill Granite and Brick Company's works railways

Coordinates: 52°32′34″N 1°30′40″W / 52.5427°N 1.5111°W / 52.5427; -1.5111 (Former quarry)
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Jee's Harts Hill Granite and Brick Company
Hunslet 0-4-0T steam locomotive 'Norwood' built in 1908 for Jee's Hartshill quarries near Nuneaton with a gauge of 2 ft 6+12 in (775 mm)
Technical
Track gauge2 ft 6+12 in (775 mm) and 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Route map

Routes of the tracks, 1913

Jee's Siding at Hartshill station of the London and North Western Railway, September 1921
Light railway tracks in Jee's granite quarry, Hartshill, ca 1911
Jee's granite quarry workings and railway, Hartshill, ca 1920
Jee's Granite and Brick Co. Ltd. Hartshill, 1910s

Jee's Harts Hill Granite and Brick Company's works railways consisted of a narrow gauge light railway and a standard gauge works railway at Hartshill station of the London and North Western Railway in England.

History

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Richard Gee[1] (died 25 February 1853)[2] founded Jee's Harts Hill Granite and Brick Company Limited in 1822 to quarry granite between Nuneaton and Polesworth and to manufacture building blocks at Chapeltown, on the outskirts of Nuneaton.[1]

A narrow-gauge light railway, with the unusual gauge of 2 ft 6+12 in (775 mm), connected the granite quarries to a quay on the nearby Coventry Canal. It was initially operated as a horse-drawn railway, and from 1908 onwards with a Hunslet Engine Company steam locomotive.[1] The light railway was still in operation in 1947 with more than 15 wooden wagons.[3]

A standard gauge siding connected to the London and North Western Railway; it was exactly 100 miles from Euston. Freight wagons were initially leased from the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. In 1899, the company purchased 24 wagons (Nos. 1 to 24) in two lots. The wagons were built with five planks and side doors, painted lime green and lettered diagonally in black from bottom left to top right and with the words "Harts Hill" at the top left and "nr. Atherstone" at the bottom right.

Industrial rail transport ceased in 1954, replaced by road transport.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Turton, Keith. "Jees Harts Hill Granite and Brick Company Limited".
  2. ^ Alder Mill Design & Planning Consultants: Snow Hill Recreation Ground – Behind Victoria and Church Roads, Snow Hill, Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Page 7.
  3. ^ Hartshill Jee's Quarry Stone Crushing Plant Large Old Warwickshire Photo, 1947. Archived version of an eBay auction ending on 29 August 2020.

52°32′34″N 1°30′40″W / 52.5427°N 1.5111°W / 52.5427; -1.5111 (Former quarry)