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Paddy mails, generally considered as being workmen's trains, were operated by, or for many companies to transport their workers to their place of work or between their sites of work.
Originally they were operated by railway contractors, on temporary tracks laid to remove spoil from their workings, to transport workers from their "shanty villages" to the work site. Many of these
Image of a Paddy mail at BrackleyImage of a Paddy mail in Leicestershire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddy Mail Rail transport in Derbyshire Rail transport in Nottinghamshire Rail transport in South Yorkshire History of mining in the United Kingdom
Paddy mails, generally considered as being workmen's trains, were operated by, or for many companies to transport their workers to their place of work or between their sites of work.
Originally they were operated by railway contractors, on temporary tracks laid to remove spoil from their workings, to transport workers from their "shanty villages" to the work site. Many of these navvies
Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and ea ...
as they were known were of Irish origin, hence the name given to the trains (see: Paddy).
Once the main line was built the name passed to the workmen's specials, which in many cases, were operated along the main line railways and sometimes operated by the main line companies to an exchange point where the trains were taken over by the industrial company.
In a time before the provision of pit-head baths it was illegal to travel in a normal service train in working clothes, so special trains were provided, usually of the railway company's most ancient coaches. There is a preserved example of such a vehicle from 1869 at the Midland Railway Centre
Midland may refer to:
Places Australia
* Midland, Western Australia
Canada
* Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick
* Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick
* Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Midland, Ontario
India
* Midland Ward, Kohima, Naga ...
at Butterley
Butterley is a village in the English county of Derbyshire near to Ripley. It is the site of the Midland Railway – Butterley, as well as the old Butterley Brickworks.
Notable residents
*Sir James Outram, hero of the Indian Mutiny, was born ...
.
Most of the services were terminated due to competition from motor buses in the 1930s. One much loved line was the Southwell Paddy.
Since their main line demise the name has continued in use being applied to the underground man-riding trains which operate between the pit bottom and the working coal face.
See also
*Birley Collieries
The Birley Collieries were a group of coal mines set in the Shire Brook Valley in south-east Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They were connected to the railway system by a branch line from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway ...
* Nunnery Colliery
Nunnery Colliery was a coal mine close to Sheffield at Darnall, South Yorkshire. The mining company, known as The Waverley Coal Company, also worked High Hazels Colliery about 3 miles (5 km) further east.
History
Mining started on the Nu ...
* Orgreave Colliery
Orgreave Colliery was a coal mine situated adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway
about east of Sheffield and south west of Rotherham. The colliery is within the parish of Orgreave, from which it takes ...
* Silverwood Colliery
Silverwood Colliery was a coal mining, colliery situated between Thrybergh and Ravenfield in Yorkshire, England. Originally called Dalton Main, it was renamed after a local woodland. It was owned by Dalton Main Collieries Ltd.
History
Dalton ...
* Treeton Colliery
Treeton Colliery was a coal mine situated in the village of Treeton, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
Work on the sinking of Treeton Colliery commenced, with all due ceremony, in October 1875. Trade, at the time, was in a poor state and ...
References
External links
Image of a Paddy mail at Brackley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddy Mail Rail transport in Derbyshire Rail transport in Nottinghamshire Rail transport in South Yorkshire History of mining in the United Kingdom