User:The joy of all things/subpage 24
| Paddy Waddell's Railway | |
|---|---|
 Looking south from the A171 road, just west of Scaling Dam Reservoir | |
| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Cleveland Extension Mineral Railway |
| Status | Never completed |
| Stations | 0 |
| Service | |
| Type | Heavy rail (freight only) |
| History | |
| Commenced | 1874 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 10.25 mi (16.50 km) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Paddy Waddell's Railway (also known as the Cleveland Extension Mineral Railway) was an abandoned railway project to connect the ironstone mining areas of East Cleveland with the ironworks at Glaisdale in the Esk Valley of North Yorkshire, England.
History
[edit]The purpose of the railway was borne out of the need to transport and process iron ore from the East Cleveland area to the iron processing works at Glaisdale, which had started operation in 1866.[1] During the iron ore boom in Cleveland and North Yorkshire, proposals for many lines were put forward, but only a few were ever constructed (Rosedale Railway, Grinkle Mine tramway). An earlier proposal was to carry on the line from Loftus south to Staithes, then turn inland to send the iron to either Grosmont or Glaisdale that way, as both locations had ironworks. As with many ideas about lines, this never came to fruition.[2] However, the Cleveland Extension Mineral Railway (as the projected line was officially known), gained an Act of Parliament in 1873, and work started on the trackbed of the line in several areas.[3]
Work on building the 10.25-mile (16.50 km) line was started in 1874,[4] and the tracks were to extend from Kiltonthorpe Junction in the north (around Brotton), working its way across the moors in a south-easterly direction, crossing what is now the A171 road (where the B1366 road from Liverton has a junction with the A171), then turning eastwards north of Beacon Hill at Danby, before turning south-eastwards again, and then due south to connect with what is now the Esk Valley Line at Glaisdale.[5] A sod-cutting ceremony was performed at the village of Moorsholm in October 1874, and the village even gained a railway hotel, in anticipation of overnighting passengers.[6] However, the project was largely rendered void by the closure of Glaisdale Ironworks in 1876.[7]
Few remnants of the attempted railway exist, but one of the most notable is the road bridge over the non-existent line in Glaisdale.[8]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Mead, Harry (1994) [1978]. Inside the North York Moors. Otley: Smith Settle. p. 130. ISBN 1-85825-028-5.
- ^ Moore 1986, p. 6.
- ^ Hoole, K. (1983). Railways of the North York Moors: a pictorial history. Clapham: Dalesman Books. p. 67. ISBN 0-8520-6731-3.
- ^ "Glaisdale country walk". Gazette & Herald. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ Moore 1986, p. 4.
- ^ Mead, Harry (1994) [1978]. Inside the North York Moors. Otley: Smith Settle. p. 131. ISBN 1-85825-028-5.
- ^ Rhea, Nicholas (1985). Portrait of the North York Moors. London: Hale. p. 137. ISBN 0-7090-2276-X.
- ^ Rhea, Nicholas (1985). Portrait of the North York Moors. London: Hale. p. 138. ISBN 0-7090-2276-X.
Sources
[edit]- Moore, R. F. (1986). Paddy Waddell's Railway. Helmsley: North York Moors National Park Authority. ISBN 0-907480-12-8.