King's Lynn. ......
I was 12 years old when we moved to King's Lynn in 1972 and we stayed there right through my teens until I left home for University in 1978. I have long thought about spending a little time reviewing the railway history of the town. This first post covers King's Lynn Harbour Branch which left the mainline just before that line entered the town in South Lynn
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/16/kin...our-branch
King's Lynn again. ...
The harbour branch left the mainline South of King's Lynn. The docks branch left the mainline close to King's Lynn Station. The post below includes a very short history of the harbour and docks and then covers the length of the branch from the station to John Kennedy Road.
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/24/kin...nch-part-1
King's Lynn again ......
The second part of a study on the Docks Branch in King's Lynn. ......
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/24/kin...nch-part-2
This post covers the area around the Alexandra Dock. A further post will follow to cover the railways around the Bentinck Dock.
King's Lynn again. .....
This is the third post about the Docks Railway in King's Lynn.
https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/10/07/ki...nch-part-3
The post covers the area around Bentinck Dock and has some detail about the Savage's Works on the East side of the dock. Savage's were internationally renowned for their steam-powered fairground attractions.
King's Lynn again. ...............
One of the directors of the Docks and Harbour Railways in King's Lynn was William Burkitt, a self-made local business man who had the means to order his own locomotive from Alfred Dodman & Company of Kings Lynn. The loco was named 'Gazelle'. This is the story of that locomotive. It pulls, Colonel Stephens, King's Lynn and the Shropshire and Montgomery Light Railway into one story!
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/07/21/gazelle
King's Lynn again. ...................
There is a lot more to cover about the railways in and around King's Lynn. This post gives a flavour of what is to come in due course.
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/10/21/ear...kings-lynn
There is a significant length of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, the branch to Hunstanton, the original length of the line from Gaywood towards Bawsey and a number of quarry and other short lines, without even considering the main line towards Ely.
When time permits. ..............
In early November 2019, my wife and I spent a week or so staying just to the Southwest of Lancaster. During our time there we walked along much of the old Glasson Dock Branch which is now a cycleway alongside the River Lune. We were fortunate with the weather!
The linked article below describes the line and its history. .....
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/11/27/the...ock-branch
Quote: Glasson Dock sits at the mouth of the Lune Estuary to the Southwest of the City of Lancaster.
Navigation up the River Lune to the Port of Lancaster was not easy. In 1779, the Port Commission decided to build a dock/port at the coast. Land was purchased and, by 1782, a pier had been constructed. Delays occurred and it was not until March 1787 that work was completed. When the dock was opened it could hold up to 25 merchant ships.
Following the demise of Lancaster as a port, Glasson Dock was, at its height, the largest port in the north west, importing cotton, sugar, spices and slaves from Africa and the Indies. ........ The settlement of Glasson remained relatively small and only saw some limited growth in the 19th century. A shipyard and Customs House were built in 1834, a Watch House in 1836, a Church in 1840, and a Dry Dock in 1841. The shipyards were largely concerned with ship repair rather than shipbuilding.
The quay was not connected to the railway network until 1883.
The Lynn and Fakenham Railway - Part 1. ...
This post results from reading Issue No. 30 of the "Railway Archive" Journal. It contains an article about the locomotives originally purchased for the Cornwall Minerals Railway. That company dramatically over-ordered motive power and when it lease was taken over by the GWR, 50% of its original order were returned to the manufacturer Sharp, Stewart of Manchester.
Eight if these locomotives found their way to the Lynn & Fakenham Railway and eventually onto the books of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway.
This first post about the Lynn & Fakenham Railway focusses on these locomotives. ...
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/11/16/the...way-part-1
Quote:Although first mooted in the 1840s, the Lynn & Fakenham Railway was not opened, over its full length, until 1880. It only had a short independent life, being absorbed into the Eastern & Midlands Railway in 1883.
A look at the history of the line and it’s route through the Norfolk countryside is for a future post.
The Lynn & Fakenham Railway is mentioned in an article in the journal “Railway Archive.” Interestingly, that article is about the locomotives which were initially purchased for the Cornwall Minerals Railway.
This next post relates in passing to the Penydarren Tramroad. It focuses primarily on the Plymouth Ironworks an Collieries which grew as a result of the existence of the Tramroad and the later railways in the Taff Valley. ...
http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/11/13/the...aff-valley
Quote: South Duffryn or Plymouth Colliery, situated to the south of Pentrebach and just north of Troedyrhiw, was opened by the Hills Plymouth Company in 1862. It was served by the Taff Valley Railway and the Penydarren Tramroad. I have been prompted to write this short post by reading an article written by Clive Thomas in the Archive Journal of September 2014.
The featured image above shows the colliery sidings in a postcard image from the early 20th century.