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Earl of Dudley's Railway

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56-549: The Earl of Dudley’s Railway or Pensnett Railway , was a 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge railway that developed from a single 3-mile (4.8 km) line opened in 1829 to, at its maximum extent, a 40-mile (64 km) long network around the Earl of Dudley ’s Iron Works at Round Oak near Brierley Hill . In the 19th century, the Ward family, owners of Dudley Castle , had large holdings of land in

112-527: A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Another SSSI within the reserve is Brewin's Canal Section . This site was designated because the canal cutting, dating from the 1858 canal improvements, displays geological strata from the base of the coal measures. Just off the Cinderbank road, inside the reserve, lies the site of Netherton Hall, once owned by the family of the Lords of Dudley with records going back to

168-628: A country (for example, 1,440 mm or 4 ft  8 + 11 ⁄ 16  in to 1,445 mm or 4 ft  8 + 7 ⁄ 8  in in France). The first tracks in Austria and in the Netherlands had other gauges ( 1,000 mm or 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in in Austria for the Donau Moldau line and 1,945 mm or 6 ft  4 + 9 ⁄ 16  in in

224-640: A favoured locomotive supplier up to the close of the 19th century. This company provided several locomotives to the railway including Brandon (1859), Himley (1859), Victory (1863), and Ednam (1872). In the first half of the 20th century many locomotives were obtained from Scottish manufacturer Andrew Barclay including Viceroy (1903), Billy (1925), George V (1930), Lady Edith II (1941) and Lady Rosemary II (1941). A few locomotives were also obtained from Peckett and Sons including Lady Edith (1900), Lady Morvyth (1921) and Lady Rosemary (1921). From 1955 to 1962, 10 diesel locomotives were obtained from

280-483: A local business called Great Western Windows based in Wellington Road. The network achieved its maximum extent in the 1870s when it included nearly 40 miles (64 km) of track. At this point it stretched to Himley in the north, Dudley in the north-east, Ashwood Basin in the west, Cradley Station in the south and Old Hill to the south-east. In 1876 a report was made into the state of the railway by Rupert Smith. It

336-515: A local ironmaster, and Francis Downing, the mineral agent of John William Ward , the 4th Viscount Dudley and Ward, soon to become the 1st Earl of Dudley. James Foster (1786-1853) controlled the company John Bradley & Co a large industrial concern that owned the Stourbridge Iron Works. In 1823 John Bradley & Co., had taken a lease of land at Shut End, Kingswinford from J.H.H. Foley . In addition to John Bradley & Co., James Foster

392-505: A standard gauge of 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ), and those in Ireland to a new standard gauge of 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ). In Great Britain, Stephenson's gauge was chosen on the grounds that existing lines of this gauge were eight times longer than those of the rival 7 ft or 2,134 mm (later 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in or 2,140 mm ) gauge adopted principally by

448-760: Is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson ), international gauge , UIC gauge , uniform gauge , normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia , Finland , Uzbekistan , and some line sections in Spain . The distance between

504-745: Is currently operated by the Ghana Railway Company Limited . Kojokrom-Sekondi Railway Line (The Kojokrom-Sekondi line is a branch line that joins the Western Railway Line at Kojokrom ) Indian nationwide rail system ( Indian Railways ) uses 1,676 mm ( 5 ft 6 in ) broad gauge. 96% of the broad gauge network is electrified. The railway tracks of Java and Sumatra use 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Planned and under construction high-speed railways to use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft  5 + 21 ⁄ 32  in ) to maintain interoperability with

560-400: Is not clear whether it was a temporary or permanent stoppage. Shortly afterwards, W.O. Foster's agent wrote back agreeing to provide a new engine as part of an agreement to improve the railway. The new locomotive was delivered to Foster's company John Bradley & Co. in 1865. It is generally assumed that Agenoria was abandoned around this time. When the new lines were built in the mid 1840s

616-562: The Black Country region of England. They had added to their possessions in the 18th century by the enclosure of Pensnett Chase which had formerly been common land and, much further back in time, a hunting ground for the Barons of Dudley. Much of this land covered coal seams and deposits of industrial material including iron ore and fire-clay. Canals had been cut into the Black Country region in

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672-598: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway , authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The extra half inch was not regarded at first as very significant, and some early trains ran on both gauges daily without compromising safety. The success of this project led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Thus the 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge became widespread and dominant in Britain. Robert

728-671: The National Railway Museum in York. In 1843 a consultant, F.P. Mackelcan, was hired by the Dudley estate to produce plans for further rail lines. A contractor, William Hughes, was hired to put a modified version of these plans into practice between 1844 and 1845. These new lines, in service in 1846, were known as the Pensnett Railway and were built to service local mines, factories, furnaces and transport hubs. The lines, roughly centred on

784-542: The Yorkshire Engine Company . These engines were given numbers rather than names. A final diesel locomotive was obtained second-hand in 1969. A short piece of track is still visible at the Round Oak Steel Terminal but the steel works and the pits have been demolished. Some trackbeds have become footpaths, while others have disappeared completely. Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway

840-521: The 16th century. The hall fell down in 1860 century as a result of mining subsidence. Saltwells Local Nature Reserve is situated in the Netherton area, about 2 miles south of Dudley . The main part of the reserve is formed by Saltwells Wood and the west side of Netherton Hill. The reserve also follows the Tipsyford Brook and Mousesweet Brook as far as the boundary of Quarry Bank and Cradley Heath to

896-547: The 19th and early 20th centuries, people came to bathe in the water, which was claimed to have healing properties. The baths were near the present-day Saltwells Inn. An 1833 publication noted: "in Lady-wood is a valuable spring, called the Spa Well, in high estimation for its efficacy in cutaneous disorders and complaints arising from indigestion". Saltwells Wood contains a number of sculptures in both wood and metal. The designs for

952-678: The Daphne Pool. South of the Lodge Farm Estate lies Saltwells Wood, which is a plantation dating from the 18th century. Parts of the wood were once known as Lady Dudley's Plantation or Lady Wood. In late spring, the woods are carpeted with bluebells. To the south of the woods a path follows the course of the Black Brook and Mousesweet Brook until it exits the reserve on the A4100 road between Quarry Bank and Cradley Heath. The reserve gets its name from

1008-609: The Dudley Estate obtained an engine or engines to work the lines (a locomotive driver was engaged in 1846) but no details are available of the type or the manufacturer. The first locomotive to run on the railway after Agenoria, of which anything is known, was the Alma , supplied in 1855 by E.B. Wilson of the Railway Foundry in Leeds. Subsequently, the Leeds manufacturer Manning Wardle became

1064-620: The Dudley Estate to take over the Foster leases, which included the Ashwood Basin itself. The final major development of the network came when the Dudley estate developed a large coal mine at Baggeridge near the Earl of Dudley's Himley Park. The line to the colliery was constructed by the GWR in 1907 starting from Askew Bridge on the Pensnett Railway. Although the GWR built it, the branch was owned and operated by

1120-889: The Great Western Railway. It allowed the broad-gauge companies in Great Britain to continue with their tracks and expand their networks within the "Limits of Deviation" and the exceptions defined in the Act. After an intervening period of mixed-gauge operation (tracks were laid with three rails), the Great Western Railway finally completed the conversion of its network to standard gauge in 1892. In North East England, some early lines in colliery ( coal mining ) areas were 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ), while in Scotland some early lines were 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ). The British gauges converged starting from 1846 as

1176-517: The Level New Furnaces at Brierley Hill ran north to Barrow Hill , north-east to High Lanes (in the direction of Dudley ) and south to Nine Locks. The incline at Barrow Hill was so steep that a stationary engine had to be installed to work the line on the slope. In 1852 the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway opened their route to Dudley. The line crossed the Pensnett Railway at Round Oak,

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1232-631: The Netherlands for the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij ), but for interoperability reasons (the first rail service between Paris and Berlin began in 1849, first Chaix timetable) Germany adopted standard gauges, as did most other European countries. The modern method of measuring rail gauge was agreed in the first Berne rail convention of 1886. Several lines were initially built as standard gauge but were later converted to another gauge for cost or for compatibility reasons. 2,295 km (1,426 mi) Victoria built

1288-473: The Pensnett Railway was connected to the Kingswinford Railway, so that the original line, built in 1829, was connected to the network. Also in 1865 the line to High Lanes was extended to Dudley where a land sale wharf was built at Wellington Road. Coal was sent to the wharf by rail to be collected by coal merchants and distributed by road. The railway line though long closed was recalled for many years by

1344-472: The Pensnett Railway. The mine went into production in 1912. Although the railway was a mineral line, passengers were carried from 1928 until 1937 to the annual fetes at Himley Park . For the first year, passengers were carried in converted mineral waggons. However, from 1929, proper passenger carrying carriages were hired from the GWR . The route started at Wallows Shed, which was a repair facility for locomotives near

1400-629: The advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. By the 1890s, the entire network was converted to standard gauge. The Royal Commission made no comment about small lines narrower than standard gauge (to be called "narrow gauge"), such as the Ffestiniog Railway . Thus it permitted a future multiplicity of narrow gauges in the UK. It also made no comments about future gauges in British colonies, which allowed various gauges to be adopted across

1456-476: The coal mines of County Durham . He favoured 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham , and used it on his Killingworth line. The Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was built primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees . Opening in 1825,

1512-581: The colonies. Parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. The American gauges converged, as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. Notably, all the 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) broad gauge track in the South was converted to "almost standard" gauge 4 ft 9 in ( 1,448 mm ) over

1568-459: The course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States . In continental Europe, France and Belgium adopted a 1,500 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 1 ⁄ 16  in ) gauge (measured between the midpoints of each rail's profile ) for their early railways. The gauge between the interior edges of the rails (the measurement adopted from 1844) differed slightly between countries, and even between networks within

1624-518: The crossing being made on the level. This crossing, at a near right angle, became a well known feature of the railway. Also in the early 1850s, an extension was made to the Pensnett system to the south-east to service collieries at Saltwells in Netherton. In 1855, the Dudley Estate opened the Round Oak Ironworks next to the Level New Furnaces in the centre of the Pensnett railway network. In 1865,

1680-533: The end of Lord Ward's Canal , included an intermediate stop at Barrow Hill and ended at Himley Park, a distance of 3.5 miles. The years immediately after the Second World War brought great changes to the Pensnett Railway. Some of the pits served by the line were nearly exhausted of minerals and so some branches of the railway had little traffic. In 1952 the tracks were lifted in the Saltwells area. In 1953 most of

1736-552: The first of these was the Agenoria , built in 1829. This locomotive worked the near-level stretch of the line between Shut End and the top of the incline above the Ashwood canal basin but was not powerful enough to manage the two inclines on the line. A letter from the mineral agent of the Dudley Estate to W.O. Foster implied that the locomotive was not running on the line in April 1864 although it

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1792-735: The first railways to the 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) Irish broad gauge. New South Wales then built to the standard gauge, so trains had to stop on the border and passengers transferred, which was only rectified in the 1960s. Queensland still runs on a narrow gauge but there is a standard gauge line from NSW to Brisbane. NMBS/SNCB 3,619 km (2,249 mi) Brussels Metro 40 km (25 mi) Trams in Brussels 140 km (87 mi) 1,032 km (641 mi) The Toronto Transit Commission uses 4 ft  10 + 7 ⁄ 8  in ( 1,495 mm ) gauge on its streetcar and subway lines. Takoradi to Sekondi Route,

1848-429: The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made, debuting around 1850, to the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge. The historic Mount Washington Cog Railway ,

1904-534: The inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met – a " gauge break " – loads had to be unloaded from one set of rail cars and reloaded onto another, a time-consuming and expensive process. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a "standard gauge" of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ), allowing interconnectivity and interoperability. A popular legend that has circulated since at least 1937 traces

1960-400: The inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary / Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which is equivalent to 1,435.1   mm. As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between

2016-517: The level section of the line. The two inclines were worked by self-acting mechanisms where loaded coal wagons moving down the slope pulled empty wagons uphill. The locomotive, constructed by Foster Rastrick & Co of Stourbridge ran for in excess of three decades. After a period of neglect, it was eventually donated to the Science Museum in South Kensington in 1885 and is now on display at

2072-571: The line to the Ashwood basin (i.e. the original Kingswinford Railway) was closed. In the same year Wellington Wharf at Dudley closed, its track being lifted the following year. Diesel locomotives were introduced into the system in the 1950s, steam power being last used in 1963. The final remaining short section of track became the property of the Round Oak Steelworks , which itself closed in 1982. The Pensnett Railway employed many different locomotives during its long history. As already mentioned,

2128-499: The origin of the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge even further back than the coalfields of northern England, pointing to the evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire . Snopes categorised this legend as "false", but commented that it "is perhaps more fairly labeled as 'Partly true, but for trivial and unremarkable reasons. ' " The historical tendency to place

2184-405: The outermost portions of the wheel rims, it became apparent that for vehicles travelling on rails, having main wheel flanges that fit inside the rails is better, thus the minimum distance between the wheels (and, by extension, the inside faces of the rail heads ) was the important one. A standard gauge for horse railways never existed, but rough groupings were used; in the north of England none

2240-404: The railway as well as 15 boys. In 1885 some of the original land leases obtained by James Foster in order to build the Kingswinford Railway were set to expire. James' successor at John Bradley & Co., W.O. Foster, decided that the link to the Ashwood Basin was no longer necessary for his Shut End works, which were by then connected to the canal and mainline rail network. It was then arranged for

2296-411: The rest of the network. All other railways use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft  5 + 21 ⁄ 32  in ) ( broad gauge ) and/or 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge . BLS , Rigi Railways (rack railway) 449 km Several states in the United States had laws requiring road vehicles to have a consistent gauge to allow them to follow ruts in

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2352-602: The road. Those gauges were similar to railway standard gauge. Saltwells Local Nature Reserve Saltwells Local Nature Reserve is situated in the Netherton area of Dudley Metropolitan Borough in West Midlands , England. The reserve, created in 1981, covers 247 acres and includes Saltwells Wood and part of Netherton Hill within its boundaries. The reserve encloses two Sites of Special Scientific Interest and one scheduled ancient monument. Saltwells Local Nature Reserve

2408-471: The saline water that welled up in the mine workings. In his Natural History of Staffordshire , published in 1686, the naturalist Dr Robert Plot wrote: "in Pensnett Chase South from Dudley about a mile and a half there is another weak brine belonging to the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward, of which his Lordship once attempted to make salt; but the brine proving too weak, he thought fit to desist". In

2464-457: The second half of the 18th century but not all were conveniently close to the mines of the Dudley Estate. It was therefore decided to construct a railway linking coal mines near Shut End to a purpose-built canal basin at Ashwood on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal , a distance of around 3 miles (4.8 km). An agreement to construct a rail line was signed in 1827 by James Foster ,

2520-461: The south, whilst to the north-east the reserve stretches to the A459 (Cinderbank Road). The reserve can be divided into two main parts. To the north of the Lodge Farm Estate, lies the gorse-covered side of Netherton Hill and grassy fields. A path leads from the fields to Cinderbank Road. This path, known as Hall Lane, once led to the now-demolished Netherton Hall. There is a small pond in this area called

2576-485: The term "narrow gauge" for gauges less than standard did not arise for many years, until the first such locomotive-hauled passenger railway, the Ffestiniog Railway , was built. In 1845, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges reported in favour of a standard gauge. The subsequent Gauge Act ruled that new passenger-carrying railways in Great Britain should be built to

2632-434: The wheels of horse-drawn vehicles around 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Research, however, has been undertaken to support the hypothesis that "the origin of the standard gauge of the railway might result from an interval of wheel ruts of prehistoric ancient carriages". In addition, while road-travelling vehicles are typically measured from

2688-415: The wooden sculptures, which include a "wildlife totempole " included input from nearby primary schools and local artists. The metal sculptures, constructed from re-used industrial parts, represent various animals. Located within the boundaries of Saltwells Local Nature Reserve, Saltwells Inn is a historic public house dating back to the 18th century. Originally serving as a resting place for those visiting

2744-426: The world's first mountain -climbing rack railway , is still in operation in the 21st century, and has used the earlier 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) gauge since its inauguration in 1868. George Stephenson introduced the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge (including a belated extra 1 ⁄ 2  in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on curves ) for

2800-434: Was also involved with the engineer John Urpeth Rastrick and, in 1819, they formed the company Foster Rastrick & Co. Rastrick had experience of steam engine construction and railway engineering. The line opened on 2 June 1829 with the steam locomotive Agenoria purpose-built to haul wagons of coal from pits to the canal basin. The railway crossed land either owned by the Dudley Estate or leased by James Foster. The line

2856-416: Was calculated that the total length of line was 39.366 miles. Three connections with the GWR mainline had been made by this date: at Round Oak, Cradley (later renamed Cradley Heath) Station and at Askew Bridge. The report noted that there were 576 crossings, one turntable, 4 locomotive running sheds, and eleven locomotives 'exclusive of the old Pershore .' At the end of 1876 a total of 137 men were employed by

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2912-457: Was created in 1981 and was the first such reserve created in the county of West Midlands. Although now mainly woodland and grass-covered areas, the reserve was once the scene of extensive industrial activity, particularly the extraction of coal, which took place from medieval times until the second half of the 20th century. For example, Saltwells Wood, in the centre of the reserve, contains the remains of medieval coal-mining activity, and part of it

2968-403: Was designated as a scheduled ancient monument in 2002. Much more recently, the side of Netherton Hill in the reserve, now covered in gorse and grassland, was the site of opencast coal mining in the 1960s. Saltwells Wood contain other traces of industrial activity, the most notable probably being Doulton's Claypit , a site where clay was extracted for many years. The claypit has been designated

3024-571: Was known as the Kingswinford Railway although sometimes it was called the Shutt (or Shut) End Railway. It was a standard gauge line set on stone blocks. From the Ashwood canal basin, the line ran up an incline for around 500 yards before reaching a level section which extended for around 2 miles. The line then tilted upwards again for a second incline to the vicinity of Shut End. A short level section brought it to its termination at Corbyn's Hall collieries. Agenoria only had sufficient power to pull carriages along

3080-768: Was less than 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). Wylam colliery's system, built before 1763, was 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ), as was John Blenkinsop 's Middleton Railway ; the old 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) plateway was relaid to 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) so that Blenkinsop's engine could be used. Others were 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm ) (in Beamish ) or 4 ft  7 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,410 mm ) (in Bigges Main (in Wallsend ), Kenton , and Coxlodge ). English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for

3136-589: Was reported to have said that if he had had a second chance to choose a gauge, he would have chosen one wider than 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ). "I would take a few inches more, but a very few". During the " gauge war " with the Great Western Railway , standard gauge was called " narrow gauge ", in contrast to the Great Western's 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge . The modern use of

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