East Somerset Railway

East Somerset Railway
Cranmore railway station is the line's headquarters
Locale	Somerset
Commercial operations
Original gauge	7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge
Preserved operations
Length	2 1⁄2 mi (4.0 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	9 November 1858
1 March 1862	Extension opened
1874	Converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Closed to passengers	1963
Closed	1985
Preservation history
1972	Restoration (of the ESR) begins
1974	ESR Granted Light Railway Order
1975	ESR re-opened
1981	ESR extended to Merryfield halt
1985	ESR extended into Mendip Vale
Headquarters	Cranmore

East Somerset Railway
Legend
Cheddar Valley line to Yatton Wells (Tucker Street) Somerset & Dorset Joint Ry to Glastonbury Wells (Priory Road) Wells East Somerset Shepton Mallet (High Street) Somerset & Dorset Joint Ry ← Bournemouth • Bath → Mendip Vale Maesdown Bridge Old Tramway Bridge Merryfield Lane Halt Cranmore West Engine sheds and sidings Cranmore Merehead Quarry Wanstrow Heart of Wessex Line to Weymouth Witham Frome Heart of Wessex Line to Bristol

East Somerset Railway shown within Somerset
(grid reference ST665435)

The East Somerset Railway is a 2 ¹⁄₂-mile (4 km) heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore and Mendip Vale. Prior to the Beeching Axe, the railway was once part of the former Cheddar Valley line that ran from Witham to Yatton, via Wells, meeting the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway at the latter station, in-between.

History

The East Somerset Railway Company was incorporated under the East Somerset Railway Act on 5 June 1856^[1][2] and was built as a 7 ft ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) broad gauge line. The line was originally between Witham railway station and Shepton Mallet and this line opened on 9 November 1858. It was planned by Mr. Brunel and built by engineer Mr. Ward and contractor Mr. Brotherwood. The station buildings at Shepton and Witham Friary, as well as the bridges along the route, were constructed of Inferior Oolite from nearby Doulting Stone Quarry.^[3] Shepton was now 129 miles (208 km) from London by rail, a journey of just over four hours.^[4]

Four years later the line was extended to Wells; this part of the line was opened on 1 March 1862. The East Somerset Railway was bought by the Great Western Railway on 2 December 1874, shortly after it was converted to 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge.

In 1878, the GWR joined the East Somerset line with the Cheddar Valley line to Wells, which had been built by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, by obtaining running rights over a section of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway and running its trains through the S&DJR Wells station at Priory Road, though GWR trains did not stop at Priory Road until 1934. At this stage, the main traffic became the through trains from Yatton to Witham and the East Somerset Railway station in Wells closed, with Wells (Tucker Street) becoming the station for the city on the line. The Yatton to Witham service remained in use with the GWR and later BR until passenger service finally ceased in 1963 as a result of the Beeching Axe, however trains carrying bitumen continued until 1985.

Preservation

In 1971/72, the artist David Shepherd came across, viewed and later purchased Cranmore station and a section of the track to house and run his two locomotives; the BR 2-10-0 Class 9F No. 92203 "Black Prince" and BR Standard 4 4-6-0 No. 75029 'The Green Knight'.^[5] In 1973, the line opened offering Brake Van rides before extending first to Merryfield in 1980 and then to Mendip Vale and into Cranmore station itself in 1985.

Today the railway plays host to a variety of preserved diesel and steam locomotives.

The East Somerset Railway only operates the line between Cranmore, Cranmore West, Merryfield Lane Halt and Mendip Vale. Between the last two sections, the train runs through the Doulting Railway Cutting Site of Special Scientific Interest.^[6] The section between Cranmore and the mainline is used for heavy quarry traffic to the nearby Merehead Quarry.

In 1991, a new station building was constructed at Cranmore which now includes a cafe, booking office, gift shop and toilets. The platform then extends to the old station which is now a museum. On the platform is an old red telephone box which incorporates a stamp machine and post box. It was made around 1927 and is one of only 50 made to that design.^[7] Opposite the platform is a signal box dating from 1904 and is the standard GWR pattern of the period. Close to Cranmore station are the engine sheds and workshop (known together as Cranmore Shed) which were built in 1973, (during the preserved line's restoration at the time).

An order by the Secretary of State for Transport in 2005 allowed a further 600 metres of track to be used.^[8]

On 25 March 2007, the East Somerset Railway announced that it had received a £7,500 grant from Shepton 21 Group, a local organisation, set up to regenerate the area around Shepton Mallet. The money was to be spent on conducting a feasibility study into extending the line towards Shepton Mallet, with a possible new terminus at Cannards Grave, on the outskirts of Shepton Mallet.^[9]

The route of the ESR

• Cranmore — The Headquarters of the ESR
• Cranmore West
• Merryfield Lane (halt)
• Mendip Vale — Current Terminus of the ESR
• Shepton Mallet East - Proposed

Events

The railway hosts several events throughout the year

• "Spring into steam"
• "Mendip steam dream"
• Santa Special trains
• "The way we were" days
• "Vintage vehicle steam gala"
• "Spooky Specials"
• "Peppa Pig" and "Tractor Ted" days

Locomotives

Operational steam locomotives

Number & Name	Description	History and Current Status	Livery	Photograph
No. 5637	GWR 5600 Class 0-6-2T	No. 5637 was built in 1925. It entered traffic at Cardiff Cathays shed in late September 1925, but was transferred six weeks later to Barry shed and was used on local services in the Newport and Cardiff districts. No. 5637 spent all its life in South Wales, and was withdrawn from traffic in June 1964 and was sold the Woodham Brothers arriving at Barry scrapyard in September 1964. In August 1974, No. 5637 became the 61st locomotive to escape from Barry, when it was sold to the Birmingham Railway Museum at Tyseley. In 1981 it was resold, without any restoration having been carried out, to Thamesdown Borough Council for leasing to the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. Some time after, it was purchased by a group of volunteers at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. In 1998, after almost 18 years of restoration, No. 5637 was steamed for the first time since 1964. The locomotive was subsequently transferred by road to the East Somerset Railway for running in, and stayed there ever since. It has become the primary engine at the ESR, running most of the services. Boiler ticket expires in 2020.	BR Lined Green with the Late Crest
No. 1719 Lady Nan	Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. 0-4-0ST	No. 1719 "Lady Nan" was built in 1920. It was delivered to J. and R. Howie Ltd., Hurlford Fireclay Works, near Kilmarnock on 23 December 1920 and was known as 'Hurlford Fireclay Works No. 2'. The locomotive worked there until it was sold in April 1959 to Glenfield & Kennedy ltd. of Kilmarnock. There it was repaired using parts from a 1903 Barclay locomotive and named 'Glenfield No. 2'. By early 1966 rail traffic at Glenfield had diminished and the locomotive was offered for sale, but was not sold until March 1972 when a local scrap merchant effected the purchase. Later that month, the locomotive was resold to Mr. R.P.Weisham just before scrapping was to commence. The locomotive was moved for storage purposes to the National Coal Board at Backworth, Northumberland on 14 April 1972. On 6 May 1973, the loco was moved to Radstock for a further period of storage, until 5 November 1975 when the loco was moved to Cranmore. 'Glenfield No.2' entered Cranmore Works during 1978 and was the subject of a complete general overhaul. Being completed and fitted with vacuum brake gear, 'Glenfield' emerged in 1985 in blue livery and was renamed 'Lady Nan'. For several years, 'Lady Nan' was loaned to the National Railway Museum, but it returned to Cranmore during 2000. Boiler ticket expires in 2017.	Caledonian Railway Blue
No. 46447	LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0	No. 46447 was built in 1950. It was first allocated the Crewe North, not far from its birthplace of Crewe Works, though moved to Workington within months to replace many elderly LNWR locomotives in the local area. It was moved to various sheds in North Wales and Derbyshire, right up until 1966, subsequently sold for scrap to Dai Woodham. It was rescued in 1972 as the 20th locomotive to leave Barry Scrapyard and moved to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. No. 46447 later moved to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway in 2008. In 2012, an agreement was made between the ESR and the IoW which saw No. 46447 move to Cranmore in exchange for LB&SCR E1 No. 32110 Burgundy. It arrived at Cranmore in November 2012 and it was launched back into service following restoration in October 2014. It will now run on the ESR for 10 years.	BR Lined Black with the Late Crest

Steam locomotives under overhaul

Features

References

Further reading

• Phillips, Derek (2001). Steaming through the Cheddar Valley. Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-86093-551-5. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to East Somerset Railway.

• Official website