The Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway was a

standard-gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

mineral railway that served an

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

near the village of

Wroxton Wroxton is a village and civil parish in the north of Oxfordshire about west of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 546. Wroxton Abbey Wroxton Abbey is a Jacobean country house on the site of a former Augustinian ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

The line's history

The OIR linked the quarry with the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

about to the east at a junction just north of

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

. The line was opened between 1917 and 1919 and closed in 1967; the line was 'lifted', that is the line was formally closed and physically removed from the site, between 1967 and 1968. The quarry was heavily worked in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The line also served the

Alcan Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During t ...

works at one point. The popular footpath from Drayton to Drayton Lodge crossed the railway at Drayton Crossing.

Central Ironstone Quarry was opened by 1919, closed and filled in 1967. Langley Ironstone Quarry was built near Balscot by 1926, and was closed and filled during 1943 when it ran out of ironstone. Dyke Lane Bridge was built in 1940 and abandoned in 1967. The line was extended to the Balscote Quarry which was worked between 1956 and its closure in 1967. Balscote Quarry, a shorter-lived working, was built by 1956, but closed and filled in 1967. A newer quarry close by its former site is now served by road haulage only. The mine buildings, manager's house and workers' halt are now a small set of new light industrial buildings, built circa 2006–2008. The track works'

permanent way A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

huts (p-huts) still stood at Drayton in 2007 and Horley in 2002. A few old OIR fence posts/gates remain to this day along the route. Banbury's Ruscote and Hardwick estate's (Daimler Avenue, Devon Way and Longelandes Way) are also built over a large part of its route, including most of the former Pen Hill farm grading works (Longelandes Way). Other built over places include the proposed minor Pin Hill maintenance depot (Pin Hill Road) and major active Pen Hill maintenance depot (Beaumont Road). Despite the development that has occurred north of Banbury since closure, much of the line of the route can be walked today.

Locomotive fleet

The OIR operated its own fleet of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

T and 0-6-0 ST locomotives built by

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hu ...

Peckett & Sons Peckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Locomotive Works on Deep Pit Road between Fishponds and St. George, Bristol, England. Fox, Walker and Company The company began trading in 1864 at the Atlas Engine Works, St. George ...

and

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

ST's built by

W. G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England which was founded in 1875 and operated until it was taken over in 1962 by English Electric. History The company was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall. The majority ...

and

. There was also a Vertical Boilered loco supplied by

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...

. The earliest locos carried names associated with Oxford University eg "The President" and "The Dean". Later locos carried boys and girls names, typically the 0-6-0 locos being male eg "Graham", "Frank" etc. while the smaller 0-4-0 locos otherwise eg "Betty", "Jean" etc. They also purchased thirteen Rolls-Royce

diesel-hydraulic locomotives fitted with

Rolls-Royce C range engines The Rolls-Royce ''C range'' was a series of in-line 4, 6 and 8 cylinder diesel engines used in small railway locomotives, construction vehicles, marine and similar applications. They were manufactured by the Rolls-Royce Oil Engine Division heade ...

in the 1960s. Several of these Sentinel locomotives are still in existence, with the largest collection (named "Betty", "Jean" and "Graham") at Rocks By Rail Museum. A single locomotive is also preserved nearby at the Nene Valley Railway ("Barabel"), and a further example at the East Somerset ("Joan"). All five locos above are in restored and operational condition.

Local geology

Many heavy

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

and

Ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

deposits surround Banbury and Wroxton.

The Edge Hill Light Railway connection

The firm behind the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway was one of the backers of the ill-fated 1920–1922

Edge Hill Light Railway The Edge Hill Light Railway, one of Colonel Stephens' light railways, was in Warwickshire, England. It was designed to carry ironstone from Edge Hill Quarries to Burton Dassett where a junction was made with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midlan ...

. There was talk of reopening the by then overgrown, but workable line early in to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but, it was decided that the Oxfordshire Ironstone line was to be considered adequate to serve the area's requirements.

References

External links

Photo gallery of the disused railwayApollo Business Parks LLP
*

Books

Historic imagery of the site

File:Wroxton mine relics 1.JPG, The former Wroxton Quarry in Oxfordshire. Top left is the trackbed between Drayton and

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own ec ...

, right is the trackbead in Hardwick and the bottom is the old mine itself during the year 2001. File:Pin hill gradeing works.JPG, The former Wroxton Quarry's Pin Hill farm grading works in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 2001 File:Wroxton iron mine 1.jpg, The former ironstone quarry works at Wroxton in 2001 File:Woxton-Banbury Mineral line 1.png, The surviving huts at the former quarry in 2001 and the track bed in Hardwick during 2001 File:Woxton-Banbury Mineral line 2.JPG, The mine manager's office in 2001 File:Wroxton qarry a1.png, The former ironstone quarry works at Wroxton in 2001 File:Wroxton OIR tool shed.JPG, Drayton's OIR mine's tool

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...

or possible staff

privy Privy is an old-fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, often known as an outhouse and by many other names. Privy may also refer to: * Privy council, a body that advises the head of state * Privy mark, a small mark in the design of a coin * Privy Pur ...

in 2003 File:Wroxton OIR P-hut.JPG, Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway's OIR P-hut at Drayton, Oxfordshire in 2005. At the far right is a pile of rubble was ware a signal post used to be. File:Wroxton qarry ruins.JPG, Wroxton's old ironstone mine in 2001 File:Horley tool shed or p-hut 1.png, Horley's OIR tool hut or a p-hut in 2001 outside and 2002 inside. It's overgrown and in the bushes now. File:Horley tool shed or p-hut 2.JPG, Both sides of

's OIR tool hut or a p-hut in 2001. It's overgrown and in the bushes now. File:OIR Babury Bridge.JPG, The former OIR bridge supports by the former

works in

in 2001 File:OIR track pin at Drayton.JPG, An OIR track to sleeper pin in Drayton. The words stamped on it say it was made by the

in 1928. It was found in 2002. File:OIR Drayton tool shed in 2004.png, Drayton's OIR tool shed in 2004 File:OIR Hardwick pipe in 2000.png, A broken old pipe in Hardwick. It is not part of any mains system I know of and looks very old and corroded, so it was probably part of the OIR's grading works. {{coord, 52, 04, N, 1, 24, W, region:GB_type:city, display=title Railway lines opened in 1917 Rail transport in Oxfordshire Closed railway lines in South East England Cherwell District