Roger Farnworth Railways

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Wenlock Branch again. ...
A short-lived LNWR Interest in the Wenlock Railway and the Ultimate Takeover by the GWR

This is little more than a mildly interesting aside. Or perhaps an addendum to the short series about the Line between Wellington and Craven Arms. ….

The small companies that built the different lengths of the railway line between Wellington and Craven Arms struggled to manage their assets without support from the Great Western Railway. The GWR first began to operate the services on the line in the period after each section was opened, before gradually absorbing the companies that owned the different sections of the line.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/10/04/a-s...y-the-gwr/

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: Stockport and TfGM Trams in the Future
Stockport’s 21st Century Trams and Transport for Greater Manchester’s Plans for the Future.

Quote: Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has indicated that it is considering a plan to extending the already proposed East Didsbury to Stockport extension of the Metrolink tram network. The extension would utilise the underused railway line between Stockport and Denton.

Talk is of utilising tram-train technology on this possible new extension.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/12/07/sto...he-future/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: East African Railway News again. ...
November/December 2025

Uganda is to begin construction of its Standard Gauge railway network in April 2026.

"Uganda has recently confirmed that its Standard Gauge line from Malaba/Tororo to Kampala will operate with electric traction to European standards rather than diesel traction to Chinese standards."

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/12/08/eas...ember-2025

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Railway between Nice, Tende & Cuneo - Part 8
Drap-Cantaron Railway Station to Nice.


The featured image is a postcard view of la Trinite-Victor Railway Station in the very early years after the line opened.

In the first seven articles about the line from Cuneo to the sea we covered the length of the line from Cuneo to Breil-sur-Roya and then to Ventimiglia, before beginning to look at the line between Breil-sur-Roya and Nice.

Woven into the text below are a series of stills from a video of the train journey from Breil-sur-Roya to Nice. The video can be seen here. [4]

This article begins the journey from Drap-Cantaron Railway Station.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/10/07/the...n-to-nice/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Granville Colliery and the Lilleshall Co. Railways
I was asked to do a talk for the Association of Shrewsbury Railway Modellers in November 2025. These are the notes and images pulled together for that talk. In many cases, the images included have been used in other articles and rather than creating new image files a link to the original image has been provided in these notes. ………

The featured image is a view of the NCB-built engine shed near Granville Colliery. After the NCB took over the collieries owned by the Lilleshall Company, Granville Colliery supplied coal to Buildwas Power Station and the coal trains were worked by a range of locos down the 1.5 miles to Donnington. Granville Colliery had a decent sized shed and in later years used Austerity 0-6-0ST tanks but in Lilleshall Company days the bigger engines were the ex-TVR and Barry railway engines. This image and the accompanying text were shared by Marcus Keane on the Telford Memories Facebook Group on 15th September 2015.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/10/06/gra...-railways/

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: The Nidd Valley Light Railway
The short paragraph immediately below appeared in the February 1952 edition of The Railway Magazine in reply to a question submitted by G. T. Kaye.

“The Nidd Valley branch of the former North Eastern Railway (which was closed to passengers on 31st March 1951) terminated at Pateley Bridge, 14 miles from Harrogate. In 1900, a Light Railway Order was obtained for a 2 ft. 6 in. gauge line from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale, six miles further up the valley, but the promoters had difficulty in finding the necessary capital. At that time, the Bradford Corporation was about to undertake the construction of reservoirs in the Nidd Valley, and a railway was required to carry materials to the sites. The Corporation took over the powers for the light railway, and extended it for a further 6 miles, from Lofthouse to Angram. The railway was laid to the standard-gauge, and was opened to passengers between Pateley Bridge and Lofthouse on 1st May 1907. The remainder of the line did not carry public traffic. The line was worked by two 4-4-0 tank engines and passenger coaches purchased from the Metropolitan Railway. The passenger services were withdrawn on 31st December 1929, and the line was closed completely some months later.” [1: p143]

It appeared close to the back of the magazine in the section called, “The Why and the Wherefore”. It seemed like a good idea to explore what further information there is available about the Nidd Valley Light Railway. …….

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/10/13/the...t-railway/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Nice to Digne-les-Bains
The Nice to Digne-les-Bains Line in Provence-Cote d’Azur again. …

The featured image shows one of the present modern diesel units at the Chemins de Fer du Sud/Chemin de Fer de Provence station in Nice.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/10/15/the...ine-again/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Railways of Worcester
Part 1 – The ‘Vinegar Works Branch’ or ‘Lowesmoor Tramway’ – An Unusual Branch at Worcester

The Railway Magazine of April 1959 carried an article by Anthony A. Vickers about a short branch in Worcester of about 29 chains in length. 29 chains is 638 yards (583.4 metres). The line served Worcester’s Vinegar Works.

After a time operating at their Vinegar Works in Lowesmoor, Worcester, Hill, Evans & Co. decided that a connection to the national railway network was required via the nearby joint Worcester Shrub Hill railway station which at the time served both the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway and the Midland Railway.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/11/11/the...worcester/