rogerfarnworth

This is the second in a short series of articles about the line. My interest in this branch line stems from reading an article by M.R. Connop Price; Before the Railways: The Early Steamers of Cardiganshire; in the Railway & Canal Historical Society Journal in July 2022. And from staying North of Cardigan in 2023 and walking part of the route of the old line. We restart our journey from Cardigan to Whitland at Boncath Railway Station. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/25/railways-in-west-wales-part-2b-the-whitland-cardigan-railway-boncath-to-llanglydwen/

The Railway and Travel Monthly, July 1918 – A Snapshot including Advertising. In the midst of a small batch of older railway magazines, was a partial copy of the July 1918 copy of "The Railway and Travel Monthly." The price for the magazine: 1 shilling Edited by: GA Sekon. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/18/the-railway-and-travel-monthly-july-1918-a-snapshot-including-advertising/ I find these old magazines quite interesting particularly for the contemporary view they provide on what, for us, is railway history.

In July 1909, the Railway Magazine noted that the Caledonian Railway had inaugurated a motor car service on its rails. Just a short journey was involved crossing the Connel Ferry Bridge and running from Connel Ferry to either North Connel or Benderloch. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/16/the-caledonian-railway-rail-motor-car/

The Whitland & Cardigan Railway was a 27.5 miles (44.3 km) long branch line, "built in two stages, at first as the Whitland and Taf Vale Railway from the South Wales Main Line at Whitland to the quarries at Glogue. It opened in 1873 , at first only for goods and minerals and later for passengers. This is a first article about the line and follows the first length of the line out from Cardigan. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/15/railways-in-west-wales-part-2a-the-whitland-cardigan-railway-cardigan-to-boncath/

Railway World magazine in early 1965 carried a two part article about Horwich Locomotive Works. I always take note of articles about the Works when I find them, as my paternal grandfather worked there in the early years of the 20th century, before the great depression when eventually he moved his family to Stapleford in the Derby/Nottingham area and where he took a job at the Loco Works in Derby as a blacksmith. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/15/horwich-locomotive-works-again/

This article follows on from five other articles which covered the Wellington to Severn Junction Railway in the Telford area and this line from Buildwas to Presthope. We begin this next article at Presthope Railway Station and travel towards Craven Arms, as far as the village of Longville in the Dale. ……. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/27/the-wenlock-branch-from-presthope-to-craven-arms/

The new companies which came into existence with the grouping in 1923 addressed once again the best way to serve lightly populated rural communities. The options available to them centred on various forms of light railcars. Two forms of propulsion were available, the internal combustion engine and the steam engine. Electricity, in many cases required too large an investment for the likely traffic on the intermediate routes in rural areas. Steam railcars/railmotors surprisingly given early experiences, had a second opportunity to serve in the era of the big four! http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/26/steam-railmotors-part-6-after-the-grouping/

This fifth article about Steam Railcars/Railmotors focusses on articulated steam railmotors in the first two decades of the 20th century. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/20/steam-railmotors-part-5-articulated-steam-railmotors/ We will look at steam railmotors which served during the era of the big four companies after grouping in the next article.

The link in the last post does not work. This is the corrected link. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/18/steam-railcars-part-4-rigid-bodied-railmotors-owned-by-other-railway-companies/

This fourth article covers other railway companies which had steam railmotors in the early 20th century. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/1...-railmotors-owned-by-other-railway-companies/

A third article about UK Steam Railcars/Railmotors. This article focusses on the Great Western Railway. .... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/17/steam-railcars-part-3-the-great-western-railway-gwr/

This second article about Steam Railcars focusses on two early proponents of the units ...Dugald Drummond and Harry Wainwright. ..... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/15/steam-railcars-part-2-dugald-drummond-lswr-and-harry-wainwright-secr/

Sitting in a display case in our lounge is a model made by my late father-in-law in O-Gauge of a Midland railway Railmotor from the early 20th century. David painted the model in LMS livery. Its presence in our lounge has been an encouragement to find out more about steam powered railcars. The linked article is the first of at least 6 articles about steam railcars. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/06/11/steam-railcars-part-1-an-early-example/

A further article in an ongoing series about the L&LSR in Co. Donegal. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/05/27/the-lough-swilly-railway-continued-letterkenny-to-derry-part-2/

Yes SLYD, but the railway company had the name I have quoted - often abbreviated to L&LSR or 'The Swilly'. Other than limited references to the name of the railway company, I have used the abbreviated form or 'The Swilly' and referred to the city as Derry. Kind regards Roger

In April/May 2024 we spent time in Co. Donegal again. Our intention was to walk as much as possible of the Londonderry & Lough Swilly trackbed as we could between Letterkenny and Derry and the branch to Cardonagh. We were frustrated by contacting COVID at the very beginning of our holiday and recovery was slow! Walking any distance at all was impossible for both of us. I was, however, able to start work on the first of these articles about these lines. This is the first article: ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/05/16/the-lough-swilly-railway-continued-letterkenny-to-derry-part-1/

This fourth article takes the journey as far as Letterkenny. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/07/13/the-burtonport-extension-of-the-llsr-londonderry-and-lough-swilly-railway-part-4-barnes-gap-to-letterkenny/

This next article continues the journey along the Burtonport extension towards Letterkenny. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/04/30/the-burtonport-extension-of-the-londonderry-amp-lough-swilly-railway-part-3/

This next article covers a second length of the line. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/05/05/the-burtonport-extension-of-the-londonderry-lough-swilly-railway-part-2/

In April/May 2023 my wife and I stayed in Co. Donegal for a couple of weeks, planning to walk as much as possible of the L&LSR as far as Letterkenny. The linked article covers the first length of the line heading East from Burtonport http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/04/28/the-burtonport-extension-of-the-londonderry-lough-swilly-railway-part-1/

Looking through a number of 1964 Model Railway News magazines, I came across drawings of Sharp, Stewart & Co. 2-4-0, built in 1870 for the Furness Railway Co. and numbered 58 on their roster. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/03/29/furness-railway-locomotive-no-58/ Originally conceived as a mineral railway, the Furness Railway later played a major role in the development of the town of Barrow-in -Furness, and in the development of the Lake District Tourist industry. It was formed in 1846 and survived as an independent, viab le concern until the Grouping of 1923.

Towards the end of March 2024, I stumbled across a number of journals of the New Zealand Model Railway Guild. One of these, the March 2021 edition, included a pictorial article about J1211 North British 4-8-2 Locomotive No. 24534 of 1939. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/03/26/the-north-british-locomotive-company-j-class-locomotives-on-new-zealands-3ft-6in-gauge-network/ 40 No. 4-8-2 locomotives which were built in 1939 by the North British Locomotive Company and became the New Zealand Railways (NZR) J class.

Before World War 1, Mallet locomotives were seen as being the best motive power on the meter-gauge/950mm-gauge lines in East Africa. ...... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/03/24/mallet-locomotives-in-east-africa/

Railway news from East Africa in 2023 and early 2024. .... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/02/10/february-2024-recent-relatively-recent-news-about-the-railways-of-kenya-and-uganda-metre-gauge-and-standard-gauge/

This is a first article about the Wenlock Branch and covers the length from Buildwas to Much Wenlock. ... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/10/19/the-railways-of-east-shropshire-and-telford-the-much-wenlock-and-severn-junction-railway-buildwas-to-much-wenlock/ The length of the Wenlock Branch from Much Wenlock to Presthope is covered in the next linked article. .... http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/01/13/the-wenlock-branch-from-much-wenlock-to-presthope/