Corris Railway

The Corris Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Corris) is a narrow gauge preserved railway line along the Dulas Valley on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Wales. For most of its existence it ran from Machynlleth north to Corris and on to Aberllefenni. Branches served the slate quarries at Corris Uchaf, Foel Grochan at Aberllefenni, the isolated quarries around Ratgoed and quarries along the length of the Dulas valley.

History

The railway opened as the horse-worked Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad in 1859, connecting the slate quarries in the district around Corris,Corris Uchaf and Aberllefenni with wharves on the estuary of the Afon Dyfi at Derwenlas and Morben, south-west of Machynlleth. By 1864 an Act of Parliament was passed changing the name to the Corris Railway Company and premitting the use of locomotives on the line. It appears that around this time the line was under the control of Thomas Savin, the contractor who built the standard gauge lines in the area. The line between Machynlleth and Derwenlas was abandoned following the arrival of the standard gauge Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway (later the Cambrian Railways).

In 1878 the Corris Railway Company was bought by the Imperial Tramways Company of London who first introduced passenger carriages and then, in 1879, steam locomotives. Although the carriages arrived in 1878 it was not until 1883 that the Act of Parliament was secured to allow the formal commencement of passenger services. A semi-official passenger service had been running since the early 1870's using open wagons to convey quarry workers and visitors.

The initial passenger service ran from Machynlleth to Corris, but was extended to the line's northern terminus at Aberllefenni in 1887. In 1892 control of Imperial Tramways moved to Bristol, and in the 1900s Bristol buses were sent to run the railway's feeder services.

The line continued on through the decades, serving the quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni. As well as slate and passengers, the line hauled timber extracted from the Dyfi forest in the 1910s through 1930s. There was also a constant traffic in coal and general goods to the quarries and communities served by the railway.

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 slow decline. In 1930 it was purchased by the Great Western Railway (who by that time were the owners of the main line serving Machynlleth) and the passenger service was withdrawn in 1931. In 1948 the line was nationalised along with its parent company as part of British Railways. Serious erosion to the railway formation caused by the Afon Dyfi led to closure later that year, the last train running on 20th August 1948.

The two remaining locomotives and several goods wagons were purchased in 1951 by the newly preserved Talyllyn Railway which shares the unusual gauge. This stock is still in operation just over the mountain at Tywyn.

About the railway

The Corris Railway had several unusual features:

The 2 ft 3 in gauge is rare, shared by only three other public lines in the UK: the nearby Talyllyn Railway and Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light 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 neighbouring Talyllyn Railway.

The vertical trestle waggons for carrying large slabs of slate from the quarries were also rarely found on other railways, a notable exception being the Ffestiniog Railway.

Branch lines and tramways

The Corris Railway had numerous branch lines, mainly built to serve the slate quarries along its route. The principal branches were:

Llwyngwern quarry tramway, at Llwyngwern
Era Slate quarry tramway at Esgairgeiliog
the Upper Corris Branch from Maespoeth Junction to quarries surrounding Corris Uchaf
Mathew's Mill Siding near Aberllefenni serving Y Magnus slate enamelling works
the Ratgoed Tramway north of Aberllefenni serving the Cymerau and Ratgoed quarries

None of these branches were locomotive worked, instead being powered by gravity and horses.

Quarries Served

The principal reason for the existence of the Corris Railway was to serve the slate quarries of this district. Although usually referred to as quarries, many were in fact underground mine workings, following the course of the Narrow Vein. This list shows the main quarries that the railway served:

Llwyngwern quarry - connected by its own tramway
Era Quarry and Slab Works at Esgairgeiliog - connected by its own tramway
Abercorris quarry - connected to the Upper Corris Branch
Gaewern quarry - connected to the Upper Corris Branch
Braichgoch quarry - connected to the Upper Corris Branch
Abercwmmeiddaw quarry - connected to the Upper Corris Branch
Foel Grochan quarry - connected via internal tramway at Aberllefenni
Cymerau quarry - connected to the Ratgoed Tramway
Ratgoed - connected to the Ratgoed Tramway

The railway also served Y Magnus (Matthew's Mill), a slate enamelling works situated between Aberllefenni and Garneddwen.

The Corris Railway Society

In 1966 a group of dedicated enthusiasts led by Alan Meaden, formed the Corris Railway Society with the hope of reviving the original Corris Railway. Many of the founding members of the Society were volunteers on the nearby Talyllyn Railway.

All of the track of the railway had been lifted in the early 1950s, and the main buildings of Corris station were demolished in 1968 leaving only the adjacent railway stable block standing. As a result, early progress was slow as the Society had no formal base or access to the trackbed. In 1970 the stable at Corris was acquired and opened as the Corris Railway Museum. A short length of "demonstration" track was laid in 1971.

In 1981 the line's original locomotive shed at Maespoeth was acquired and became the Society's operational base. During the 1980's track was laid between Maespoeth and Corris, a distance of just under a mile (1.6 km). The formal "first train" back to Corris ran in 1985. In the following years the track was upgraded with the aim of resuming passenger services over the line.

The Society continued to build a friendly relationship with its neighbouring Talyllyn Railway, which resulted in both of the original Corris locos running on the revived Corris. In 1996 Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST Tattoo class loco No.4 "Edward Thomas" was loaned to the Corris to celebrate its 75th anniversary. In 2003 the other surviving Corris loco, Hughes 0-4-2ST No.3 "Sir Haydn" visited the Corris on the occasion of its 125th anniversary. Corris No.5 has travelled in the opposite direction and has been - so far - the only visiting locomotive to operate passenger trains on the Talyllyn.

In the summer of 2002 passenger services resumed after a break of seventy-two years. The society has also built a new steam locomotive, to a design based on the Kerr Stuart No.4. This loco arrived on the railway on May 17th 2005 and runs as No.7 (the Corris Railway never officially named its locomotives). No.7 went into service on 20th August 2005, fifty-seven years to the day since the last train on the original railway, and now hauls the regular passenger service between Corris and Maespoeth.

The society is also actively pursuing a southwards extension towards Machynlleth, with the initial aim of extending the line to Tan-y-Coed, midway between Esgairgeiliog and Llwyngwern and some two and a half miles south of Corris.

Locomotives

Original Railway

The locomotives that ran on the original Corris Railway between 1878 and 1948:

Number	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Notes
1	Hughes Falcon Works	0-4-2 ST	324	1878	Originally built as an 0-4-0 ST, scrapped 1930
2	Hughes Falcon Works	0-4-2 ST	322	1878	Originally built as an 0-4-0 ST, scrapped 1930
3	Hughes Falcon Works	0-4-2 ST	323	1878	Originally built as an 0-4-0 ST, now running on the Talyllyn Railway
4	Kerr Stuart	0-4-2 ST	4047	1921	Tattoo class locomotive, now running on the Talyllyn Railway

Preserved Railway

The locomotives that have run regularly on the restored Corris Railway since 1967:

Number	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Notes
5	Motor Rail Simplex	4wd	22258		"Alan Meaden" - the only Corris locomotive to be named, in honour of the Society's founder
6	Ruston & Hornsby	4wd	518493		Formerly at BICC Prescot, Merseyside
7	Winson Engineering	0-4-2 ST		2005	Built for the railway, based on the "Tattoo" class design of No. 4
8	Hunslet	4wd	7274		On long term loan from the National Coal Mining Museum

Carriages

The original railway had ten four-wheel, tramcar-like carriages, built at the Falcon Works, Loughborough, and numbered from 1 to 10, with a brake van from the same source taking the number 11. The first bogie carriage, which looked like two four-wheel bodies mounted on a single chassis, received number 12, and the four-wheelers were rebuilt on new chassis to form five bogie vehicles. A re-numbering had the rebuilds as 1 to 5 and the former 12 becoming 6. Two all-new carriages to a similar design were built by Metropolitan and numbered 7 & 8. Nos. 1 to 6 disappeared, presumed scrapped, after 1930, but 8 was rebuilt for use on the Talyllyn Railway as their No.17 while 7 is on display in the Corris Railway Museum.

So with eleven four-wheel vehicles and eight bogie vehicles having run on the railway, the Society has numbered its new carriages from 20 onwards.

Carriage 20 is similar in appearance to the bogie vehicles, but on a shorter, ex-National Coal Board four-wheel chassis. Carriage 21, and the upcoming 22, are built to appear as similar as possible to the original 19th Century bogie vehicles, but to 21st Century safety standards.

Once carriage 22 is complete, the railway will be able to run an authentic-looking "1920s" train with the "Tattoo" loco and two bogie carriages.

External links

Corris Railway Society

References

The Corris Railway, Lewis Cozens 1949
A Return to Corris, The Corris Railway Society

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