Corris Railway Society
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Maespoeth.jpeg
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge (686 mm, 2 ft 3 in ) railway line running along the Dulas Valley on the border between Gwynedd and Powys, north of Machynlleth, Wales.
It began as a horse tramroad in the 1850s, connecting the slate quarries in the districts around Corris with the estuary of the Afon Dyfi at Derwenlas. In 1878 the line was upgraded by its new owners, the Imperial Tramways Company and steam locomotives were introduced. At the same time the line was cut back to Machnylleth where it met the standard gauge main line of the Cambrian Railways. Passenger services were also introduced at this time.
The line continued on through the decades, serving quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni. After World War I, slate traffic began a slow steady decline as cheaper foreign slate and alternative roofing materials became popular. The railway went into a similar decline, with passenger service being withdrawn in 1930. This coincided with the railway being purchased by the Great Western Railway, and eventually in 1948 became part of British Rail. Following a disastrous flood on the River Dyfi that year the line finally closed.
The two remaining locomotives and several goods wagons were purchased by the newly preserved Talyllyn Railway which shares the unusual 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge. This stock is still in operation just over the mountain at Tywyn.
The line had several unusual features. The 2'3" gauge is rare, shared by only three other public lines in the UK: the nearby Talyllyn Railway and Plynlymon and Hafan Tramway and the Campletown and Macrihanish Railway in Scotland. Its origins as a horse tramroad and ascent through the narrow and winding Dulas valley meant it had exceptionally tight curves. Its original passenger carriages were simple 4-wheelers derived from urban horse-drawn tramway designs with end balconies; they rode poorly and were quickly rebuilt into longer bogie carriages by placing two of the original bodies end-to-end on a longer underframe. The stations were exceptionally narrow, again because of the geography of the line, and all were on the east side of the rails, so the carriages and locomotives had doors on that side only, as on the neighboring Talyllyn Railway. The line's vertical slab waggons for carrying large chunks of slate from the quarries were also unique to the line.
In 1966 a group of dedicated enthusiasts formed the Corris Railway Society with the hope of reviving the original Corris Railway. Through years of hard work and dedication they acquired the line's original workshops at Maespoeth and the trackbed between there and Corris, just under a mile (1.6 km) to the north. In 1985 the first official train was run back to Corris. In the summer of 2002 passenger services resumed after a break of 72 years. The society has built a new steam locomotive, a replica of the original Kerr Stuart Tattoo class 0-4-2ST No.4 (now running as Edward Thomas on the Talyllyn Railway). Loco No. 7 arrived on the railway on May 17th. 2005. The society is also actively pursuing a southwards extension towards Machynlleth.
See also
External links
- Corris Railway Society (http://www.corris.co.uk/)