Tracks in the Mist 2

Colin Brading returned to the Solent Branch in March to give a second talk on “Tracks in the Mist”, the title referring to long-lost railways.

The first line looked at was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway which ran for a distance on 5 ½ miles. It was incorporated under an 1804 Act of Parliament and opened in 1806 for conveying coal, limestone and iron to Swansea. There was a branch from Blackpill which ran up the Clyne valley for about a mile. Approval to run passenger services was given in 1807, making the railway the first in the world to carry passengers in horse drawn vehicles. Passenger traffic was seriously affected by the construction of a road, and ceased in 1827. However, passenger services were reinstated in 1860. Steam power replaced horses in 1877. This in turn was superseded by electric traction in 1929 using large tramcars constructed by Brush.

The tramway thrived, but its downfall was it being taken over by the South Wales Transport Company which operated buses. The railway closed on 5 January 1960 despite much local opposition. Tram Car 2 was saved for preservation and moved to the Middleton Railway, Leeds. However, it was subjected to vandalism and destroyed by fire. The front end of Car 7 was preserved and is still to be found in Swansea.

The second line covered by Colin’s talk was the Wantage Tramway which linked the village with Wantage Road on the Great Western Railway, a distance of two miles for the carriage of passengers and goods traffic. It opened in October 1875 and initially used horses to haul the vehicles. It became the first tramway to use steam traction with the first locomotive entering regular service in 1876. Two Merkaski system compressed air trams were used on trails in 1880 but were not a success and consumed more fuel than steam locomotives.

Passenger traffic ceased in 1925, with closure to goods following in 1945. Locomotive 5, known on the railway as Jane, survives at Didcot Railway Centre and is now known as Shannon