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• Train and Vintage Bus trips...
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On 17 May 2008 and 20 September 2008, Martin's Vintage Bus will meet the West Somerset Railway trains - 10.40am from Bishops Lydeard and 10.30am from Minehead - at Williton Railway Station at 11.15am and will then conduct the party along the former route of the West Somerset Mineral Railway. There will be a lunchtime stop at the Ralegh's Cross Inn, which was once frequented by the miners and now has many photographs of the Mineral Line upon its walls, and passengers will be back at Minehead in time to take the 4.50pm train homewards.
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• The West Somerset Mineral Railway...
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It was in 1856 that the local population of West Somerset first became familiar with the sound of steam engine whistles as the West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR) was being constructed. The mineral concerned was iron ore and the WSMR was built to bring the ore down from the Brendon Hills to the harbour at Watchet from where it was shipped across the Bristol Channel to the furnaces of the Ebbw Vale Company.
Completed in 1861 the Mineral Line's most spectacular feature was the 1 in 4 gradient of the long incline at Comberow where the wagons and coaches were worked up and down by a cable from an engine house. This also meant that usually one locomotive worked the section between Watchet and the foot of the incline whilst another worked between the top and the mines. The WSMR ran a passenger service and it is believed that passengers did travel on the trains on the incline, although very much at their own risk.
The line ran successfully for some years but changes in the availability and quality of ore from other sources meant that by 1880 its staple traffic had gone. It continued with a sparse passenger service and carrying general goods until 1898 but with the closure of the mines local work was sparse and the inhabitants of the villages and hamlets moved away to seek other work and the use of the Railway declined. Between 1898 and 1907 it lay derelict, crumbling away.
An attempt at a revival was made between 1907 and 1910 which re-opened the whole of the line but this was under-capitalised and folded. In 1911 large numbers of locals turned-out to see a testing of an automatic signalling system - and no doubt went home disappointed that the system worked and the two locomotives involved did not run into each other - but that really was the end. During the First World War the rails were requisitioned as scrap and were torn up in 1917/18.
• David and Charles published a detailed history of the Mineral Line by Roger Sellick back in the 1960s but this is long out of print and only obtainable through library services or paying an absolute bomb to a specialist dealer. However a pictorial history also compiled by Mr Sellick continues to sell well and can be obtained from the Buffer Stop Shop at Minehead Station.
The cost of the combined rail and bus trip is £21.00 (no concessions) and there is a maximum of 23 tickets available for each date. Passengers should be able to comfortably board and alight from a vintage bus, sometimes on uneven ground. The cost includes all travel but does not include the lunch at the Raleigh's Cross Inn or any other refreshments.
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| | · | By telephone, using your Credit Card. Please ring 01643 704996, 9am-4pm Monday-Friday
| | · | By completing the Booking Form
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| · | 17 May 2008
| | · | 20 September 2008
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• Early booking advised...
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The Mineral Line Tour 2008
