Coalport branch line
{{Short description|Disused railway line in Shropshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Coalport Branch Line}}
File:The Silkin Way near Malins Lee and Dawley and Stirchley.jpg
The Coalport branch line was a standard gauge London and North Western Railway branch line in Shropshire, England, which ran between Hadley Junction near Oakengates on the Stafford to Shrewsbury line and a terminus at Coalport East railway station on the north bank of the River Severn at Coalport.
Commercial history
The {{convert|8|mi|km|0|sing=on}} branch line opened on 17 June 1861. Passenger services were little used, with the line's existence being mainly supported by freight traffic.{{cite book|author=Oppitz, Leslie|title=Lost Railways of Shropshire|year=2013|publisher=Countryside Books|location=Newbury|page=125|isbn=978-1-85306-866-9}} There were sidings at locations including Blists Hill Ironworks and the Coalport China factory of John Rose and Co.[http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/elrs/_mileages/c/coa.shtm Coalport Branch ELRs on Railwaycodes.org.uk]
The line was closed to passengers in 1952 and to regular freight on 5 December 1960,{{cite magazine |magazine=The Railway Magazine |date=January 1961 |page=64 |editor-first=B.W.C. |editor-last=Cooke |publisher=Tothill Press |location=Westminster |issue=717 |volume=107 |department=Notes and News |title=Coalport Freight Line Closed }} the line to Stirchley finally closed to even sporadic traffic on 6 July 1964.
Preservation
On 9 April 1980 the {{RailGauge|2ft|lk=on}} gauge Telford Town Tramway was opened by the Reverend W. Awdry on the trackbed of the Coalport branch alongside Randlay Pool in Telford Town Park.{{cite web|title=Video on the opening of the tramway (starts at 13:30 in)|url=https://vimeo.com/138085976|website=Vimeo|accessdate=13 December 2015}}{{cite web|title=Video with the opening of Telford Town Tramway alone without the intertitle|url=http://www.telfordournewtown.co.uk/?attachment_id=2374|website=Telford Our New Town|accessdate=13 December 2015}} The tramway only lasted a few years before it closed in the mid-1980s. The tram has since been preserved by the Telford Steam Railway running on its own circular track by Horsehay Pool.
The interchange siding at Blists Hill now forms part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust’s Blists Hill Victorian Town site.
Four miles of the former trackbed now form part of the Silkin Way,{{cite book|author=Oppitz, Leslie|title=Lost Railways of Shropshire|year=2013|publisher=Countryside Books|location=Newbury|page=126|isbn=978-1-85306-866-9}} a cycling and walking route managed by Telford and Wrekin Council.[http://www.telford.gov.uk/downloads/file/1745/silkin_way_-_cycling_and_walking_route Telford and Wrekin Council guide] Retrieved 11 January 2017 It runs south of the former Malins Lee railway station to just north of the former Coalport East railway station.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/334985] and [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1352080] Geograph 1963 photos of Coalport East
- [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1356838 Geograph 1964 photo]
- [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/723058 Geograph photo of Madeley Market Station]
- [http://www.madeleylocalhistory.org/railways/ Madeley local history with photo]
- [http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/BygoneLines/Coalport.php LNWR Society history]
Category:Closed railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
Category:Rail transport in Shropshire
Category:London and North Western Railway
Category:Railway lines opened in 1861
Category:Railway lines closed in 1964
Category:1861 establishments in England
Category:1964 disestablishments in England
Category:Stirchley and Brookside
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