Wellington to Craven Arms Railway

The railways local to Coalbrookdale were heavily used by mineral traffic; the hoped-for trunk hauls to and from South Wales via Craven Arms were not realised.

The line is now entirely closed to ordinary traffic, but the heritage Telford Steam Railway operates on a section near Doseley.

From 1709 Abraham Darby the elder established an iron foundry there, leading to a massive increase in technological and industrial output, and the formation later of the Coalbrookdale Company.

[1][2] When the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway planned its line, it was projected to run through Wellington, to the north of Coalbrookdale, avoiding the difficult terrain of the Severn Valley.

Many manufacturers transferred their transport to the railway, reaching the industrial districts in the north west of England more conveniently.

In the 1847 and 1849 sessions of Parliament the S&BR obtained an Act for a branch line to Madeley from a triangular junction near Shifnal, and an extension from Coalbrookdale to Ironbridge.

A demonstration run on the line from Ketley to Horsehay for shareholders took place on 21 February 1857, and it appears that goods and mineral traffic operated on this section from that time.

[note 6] However the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway could not raise enough money to build on from Lightmoor to Coalbrookdale, and the Company decided to leave the completion in abeyance.

[11] The section from Ketley to Horsehay was inspected by Captain Tyler for the Board of Trade on 3 March 1859, but he was scathing about the deficiencies and he declined to approve the line for passenger traffic.

Some shareholders expressed dissatisfaction that their railway terminated at Lightmoor, but the directors were adamant in declining to undertake to complete the line to Coalbrookdale; there was no possibility at the time of raising the necessary money to do so.

[15][19][20][1] Construction proceeded and a Board of Trade inspection of the line was carried out by Col William Yolland on 31 December 1861.

It was to build a short extension line from the Severn Valley Railway at Buildwas up to Coalbrookdale, and a much longer line from Much Wenlock towards Craven Arms, making a junction with the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway at Marsh Farm, three miles north of Craven Arms.

It was to authorise the GWR to build from Lightmoor to Coalbrookdale, reaching that place from the north while the Wenlock scheme would approach from the south.

The company was unable to raise further money, and decided on 4 December 1863 not to proceed with the line onward to Craven Arms for the time being.

By the end of September 1867 the line on to Marsh Farm was thought to be ready, but Colonel Rich for the Board of Trade condemned the rail chairs of 21 lb.

The scheme, called the Much Wenlock and Severn Junction (Lightmoor Extensions) Act, got the Royal Assent on 21 July 1873.

In December 1887 the GWR made new proposals for the payments it would make for working the line, but the smaller companies stalled.

[38] The Great Western Railway introduced railmotors from 1904; these were self-contained carriages with an integrated small steam engine.

Generally they had power-operated steps enabling passenger calls to be made at stopping places without elevated platforms.

The railmotors' weakness was the small passenger capacity; on the steeply graded routes they were unable to haul a trailer, and they were considered unsuccessful on the Wenlock lines, and in 1906 they were taken off.

However the trial was unsuccessful because of the severity of the gradients and, in addition, the inability of the earlier cars to haul a trailer if traffic demanded it.

[1] Following the end of World War II, there was a steep decline in passenger business between Much Wenlock and Craven Arms, and the decision was taken to close the service; it ceased on 31 December 1951.

[41][1][42] A seven-mile stub from Marsh Farm Junction was retained for wagon storage purposes, but in December 1955 it was cut back to a half-mile section at Marsh Farm Junction end, used for parking the Royal Train overnight during visits of the Royal Family to the area.

The section of line between Madeley Jn and Buildwas via Lightmoor carried merry-go-round coal trains feeding the power stations, and the usage was considerable, but Ironbridge B has now been decommissioned, from 2015.

It is similar to the Victoria Bridge near Arley... and like it was designed by Sir John Fowler and cast by the Coalbrookdale Company.

The original wrought iron and timber decking was replaced in 1933 by steel beams and plates, supporting ballasted track.

This is thought to be one of the last, if not the last, major cast iron railway bridges to have been built and is still in use today, carrying the daily coal supply to the Ironbridge Electricity Generating Station nearby.