Matt Ditch Photography Blog

  Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway - Argyll - 0-6-2T built 1906 by Andrew Barclay - 2ft 3inch light railway built in 1905 and closed in 1933 | The railway in its earliest form opened in 1876 linking Kilkivan Pit to a depot on the outskirts of Campbeltown. From here the coal was transported by road to the Campbeltown harbour. The railway replaced a canal which was built by in the late 1700s. The canal was closed and filled due to the inconsistent output from the pits it was built to serve. The primary market for coal from the pits were from locals, who only seemed to buy the coal in the colder winter months, meaning the railway was underused during summer months. Because of this, the colliery owners began to look for additional forms of traffic for the railway. The area was popular with tourists who arrived by boat and were transported around via horse & cart.  A light railway company (The Association of Argyll Railway Co. Ltd) wa

  Bideford, Westward Ho! And Appledore Railway One of the 3 Hunslet 2-4-2's at Bideford quay, Devon in 1905 . Author Mr Dicker This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. History & Route A map of the line dated 1919 . Detail from en:Ordnance Survey "New Popular Edition" Sheet 118. Colour highlighting by uploader The Bideford, Westward Ho! And Appledore Railway was a 7½-mile standard gauge (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)  tramway located in the south-west of England. Although standard gauge the railway was not connected to the national network. The nearest mainline station was Bideford located on the other side of the River Torridge from the railways Bideford Quay terminus. The mainline station at Bideford survives to this day as a heritage centre. Planning permission to build the railway was granted in May 1896. But, this wasn't the first scheme to bring a railwa

  Pictures Hawthorn Leslie "No.2" storms up East Tanfield bank. Click here for the full gallery YouTube video

The Owd Ratty - History & the line to Boot History of the “Owd Ratty” I’ve long been fascinated with the history of the orignal Ravenglass & Eskdale railway, or “Owd Ratty” as it is now known. Originally the line was built to 3 foot gauge and opened in May 1875 to transport Iron Ore from mines around Boot to the Furness Railway at Ravenglass, a distance of around 7 miles. During the winter of 1876 a passenger service was added after the locals campaigned for it. This made the railway the first public narrow gauge railway in England. Unfortunately the cost of upgrading the line for passenger use left the railway in serious debt, which resulted the railway declaring itself bankrupt a year later in 1877. This, however wasn’t the end of the “Owd Ratty”. The railway continued on under the control of the the receivers. The railway was dealt another setback when the Iron Ore mines it was built to serve closed. Thankfully local traffic (passengers and local goods) managed to keep th

  The North Sunderland Railway 1898-1951 This picture of Seahouses station in 1923 is displayed on the side of the tourist information centre which sits on the site of the railways goods yard. Introduction & History The North Sunderland Railway was opened in 1898 and linked the coastal village of Seahouses with North Sunderland and Chathill, a station on the East coast mainline between Newcastle and Berwick. The first railway in Seahouses was built to aid the construction of the new north Pier. This short contractors railway was worked by a small Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 saddle tank No.185 of 1877. This short tramway lead to discussions locally about the possibility of a railway being built to link Seahouses with the mainline. The North Eastern Railway were approached but they were not interested in constructing a railway. The orignal plan was for the pier tramway to link with the NSR, but this never happened. Seahouses station would also have been closer to the pier being located opp