Snailbeach District Railways

Snailbeach District Railways

Map of the Snailbeach District Railways
Snailbeach Lead Mine, served by the railway
Locale	England
Dates of operation	1877–1959 (rail operation)
Successor	abandoned
Track gauge	2 ft 4 in (711 mm)
Length	3 1⁄2 miles (5.63 km)
Headquarters	Tonbridge until 1948

Snailbeach District Railways was a British narrow gauge railway in Shropshire. It was built to carry lead ore from mines in the Stiperstones to Pontesbury where the ore was transshipped to the Great Western Railway's Minsterley branch line. Coal from the Pontesford coal mines travelled in the opposite direction. The line ended at Snailbeach, the location of Shropshire's largest and richest lead mine, though there had been a plan to extend it further, which would have brought it closer to more lead mines.

The railway was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 5 August 1873, and opened in 1877. It was built with the unusual gauge of 2 ft 4 in (711 mm). The line was prosperous at first, carrying 14,000 long tons (14,225 t; 15,680 short tons) annually, and paying a 3% dividend. However, in 1884, the Tankerville Great Consols Company mine, the largest user of the railway, closed and tonnage fell to 5,500 long tons (5,588 t; 6,160 short tons).

In 1905, the Ceirog Granite Company opened a quarry near Habberley, and a branch was built to serve this. An extra locomotive was required, and 0-4-2 T Sir Theodore was borrowed from the 2 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in (724 mm) gauge Glyn Valley Tramway. However the slight difference in gauge made this locomotive too wide for the track, and it was returned unused. Instead a new locomotive, Dennis, was bought.

Freight reached a peak in 1909, when 38,000 long tons (38,610 t; 42,560 short tons) were carried, but this proved to be a short term change in fortune for the railway, and demand dwindled again during World War I. In 1923 it was taken over and re-equipped by Colonel Stephens. Stephens bought two new Baldwin locomotives from the War Department Light Railways.