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Yeovil–Taunton Line
The Yeovil–Taunton line was a railway line in England, built by the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) to connect its main line with the market town of Yeovil in Somerset. It opened in 1853 using the broad gauge of and was the first railway to serve Yeovil. It ran from a junction at although in later years passenger trains on the line ran through to and from where better main and branch line connections could be made. The Great Western Railway (GWR) operated the line from its opening until 1849, and absorbed the whole B&ER on 1 July 1876.Leased from 1 January 1876, amalgamated 1 July 1876 A short part of the branch was incorporated into a new direct route from to Taunton in 1906 which shortened the distance from London to Devon and Cornwall. Local passenger train service was discontinued in 1964 and only the section used by Reading to Taunton trains remains open. Background The Bristol and Exeter Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1836, following quickly on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol And Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with the Great Western Railway (GWR), which built its main line between London and Bristol, and in time formed part of a through route between London and Cornwall. It became involved in the gauge wars, a protracted and expensive attempt to secure territory against rival companies supported by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) which used the narrow gauge, later referred to as ''standard gauge''. At first it contracted with the GWR for that company to work the line, avoiding the expense of acquiring locomotives, but after that arrangement expired in 1849, the B&ER operated its own line. It opened a number of branches within the general area it served: to Clevedon, Cheddar, Wells, Weston-super-Mare, Chard, Yeovil and Tiverton. The B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset And Dorset Joint Railway
The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreech Junction to Burnham-on-Sea and Bridgwater. Strictly speaking, the main line ran from Bath Junction to Broadstone, as the line between Broadstone and Bournemouth was owned by the London and South Western Railway, while the line between Bath Junction and Bath was owned by the Midland Railway. The line was used for freight and local passenger traffic over the Mendip Hills, and for weekend holiday traffic to Bournemouth. Criticised as the "Slow and Dirty" or the "Slow and Doubtful", it closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching axe despite protests from the local community. Overview The Somerset and Dorset Railway (S&D) was created in 1862, as an amalgamation of the Somerset Central Railway and the Dorset Central Railway. By the following ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athelney Railway Station
Athelney is a village located between the villages of Burrowbridge and East Lyng in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English '' æþeling'' meaning "prince" + -''ey'' meaning "isle". The village is best known for once being the fortress hiding place of King Alfred the Great, from where he went on to defeat the Great Heathen Army at the Battle of Edington in May 878. Isle of Athelney The area is known as the Isle of Athelney, because it was once a very low isolated island in the 'very great swampy and impassable marshes' of the Somerset Levels. Much of the Levels are below the level of high tide. They are now drained for agricultural use during the summer, but are regularly flooded in the winter. Archaeological excavations and written evidence indicate that at the time of Alfred the island was linked by a causeway, known as Balt Moor Wall, to East Lyng, with either end protected by a semi-circular stockade and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes'' (1965), written by Richard Beeching and published by the British Railways Board. The first report identified 2,363 stations and of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and 67,700 British Rail positions, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running. The second report identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. The 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes, including a switch to the now-standard practice of containerisation for rail freight, and the replacement of some services wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR 4500 Class
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4500 Class or Small Prairie is a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives. History They were designed as small mixed traffic locomotives, mainly used on branch lines. The design was based on the earlier 4400 Class, but with larger driving wheels and altered wheel spacing. This gave them extra speed — capable of in service. A total of 75 were built; 55 were built in four batches between 1906 and 1915 and a fifth batch of 20 locos was built in 1924, during Collett's tenure at Swindon. The first two batches were originally numbered 2161–2190 but were renumbered 4500–4529 during 1912. The first batch (2161–2180) is significant in that it was the last batch of locos built at Stafford Road Works, Wolverhampton. Of this batch 2168 (as 4507) was the last Wolverhampton-built loco to remain in service with BR, not being withdrawn until 1963. The final two batches built were nos. 4530–4554 in 1913-15 and nos. 4555–4574 in 1924. The 4575 Class ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR 1400 Class
The GWR 1400 Class is a class of steam locomotive designed by the Great Western Railway for branch line passenger work. It was originally classified as the 4800 Class when introduced in 1932, and renumbered in 1946. Although credited to Charles Collett, the design dated back to 1868 with the introduction of the George Armstrong 517 class. Precursors Like the 48xx/14xx, the 517 Class was a lightweight loco for branchline work; it was built at Wolverhampton Works between 1868 and 1885. In this period evolutionary changes included: * 517-570 – with wheelbase, inside bearings to trailing wheels, and saddle tanks built 1868-1869. * 571-576 – with wheelbase, outside bearings and side tanks built 1869-1870 * 826-836, 838-849, 1154–1165, 202-05, 215-222, 1421–1432, 1433–1444, 1465-1482 – all with wheelbase with side tanks built 1873-1883 * 1483-1488 – with wheelbase and side tanks built 1884-1885 Later gradual changes included: Belpaire fireboxes, boilers rated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR Autocoach
The GWR Autocoach (or auto-trailer) is a type of coach that was used by the Great Western Railway for push-pull trains powered by a steam locomotive. The distinguishing design feature of an autocoach is the driving cab at one end, allowing the driver to control the train without needing to be located in the cab of the steam locomotive. This eliminates the need to run the engine round to the other end of the coach at the end of each journey. When one or more autocoaches are connected to a suitably equipped steam locomotive, the combination is known as an auto-train, or, historically, a railmotor train. A steam locomotive provided with the equipment to be used as an autotrain is said to be auto-fitted. The autocoach is the forerunner of the driving trailer used with push–pull trains. Design features A locomotive fitted with additional control equipment is used to power the autotrain. When running 'autocoach first', the regulator is operated by a linkage to a rotating shaft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR Pannier Tank
The GWR 0-6-0PT (Pannier Tank), is a type of steam locomotive built by the British Great Western Railway with the water tanks carried on both sides of the boiler, in the manner of panniers. They were used for local, suburban and branch line passenger and goods traffic, for shunting duties, and as banker engines on inclines. The early examples, such as the 1901 and 2021 classes, were rebuilt from saddle or side tanks when the locos received a Belpaire firebox – this type of firebox has a square top and is incompatible with a curved saddle tank. This process mostly took place during the tenure at Swindon Works of George Jackson Churchward. Only a very small number of saddle tank locomotives escaped rebuilding as panniers, notably the 1361 Class built new under Churchward in 1910, by which date a few of the 1813 Class had already been rebuilt as pannier tanks. Classification The GWR pannier tank locomotives were classified as follows: Small engines (wheelbase under 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creech St Michael
Creech St Michael is a village and civil parish in Somerset, three miles east of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The parish straddles the M5 motorway and includes several scattered settlements. The village of Creech St Michael and the hamlets of Charlton, Creech Heathfield, and Ham lie east of the motorway. The hamlets of Adsborough, Coombe,The western parts of Coombe and Walford are in the civil parish of West Monkton. Langaller, and Walford lie west of the motorway. The parish has a population of 2,416. History The name derives from the Celtic ''crug'', "hill"(although local residents think it means "creek", because the area is relatively flat), and the parish church of St. Michael, which dates from the 13th century. Creech St Michael was part of the hundred of Andersfield. The Bridgwater & Taunton Canal provides a picturesque route through the village for pleasure boats, and the towpath is open to pedestrians and cyclists. There are also dramatic rema ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendip Hills, Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south are drained by the River Parrett, and the areas to the north by the rivers River Axe (Bristol Channel), Axe and River Brue, Brue. The Mendip Hills separate the Somerset Levels from the North Somerset Levels. The Somerset Levels consist of marine clay "levels" along the coast and inland peat-based "moors"; agriculturally, about 70 per cent is used as grassland and the rest is arable. Willow and Dipsacus fullonum, teazel are grown commercially and peat is extracted. A Palaeolithic flint tool found in West Sedgemoor is the earliest indication of human presence in the area. The Neolithic people exploited the reed swamps for their natural resources and started to construct wooden trackways, including the world's oldest known tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Parrett
The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the Bridgwater Bay nature reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000. The Parrett's main tributaries include the Rivers Tone, Isle, and Yeo, and the River Cary via the King's Sedgemoor Drain. The long river is tidal for up to Oath. The fall of the river between Langport and Bridgwater is only , so it is prone to frequent flooding in winter and during high tides. Many approaches have been tried since at least the medieval period to reduce the incidence and effect of floods and to drain the surrounding fields. In Anglo-Saxon times the river formed a boundary between Wessex and Dumn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
