West Somerset Railway - 'Rolling Stone'
On the 24th March 1997, EWS (English Welsh and Scottish Railways) began to operate one of their largest 'short term' flows through Taunton. This unique service was to originate from the Mendip Quarries (Merehead and Whatley) and deliver in excess of 105,000 tonnes of stone to Minehead for use in the 'Sea Defence' scheme. The sheer size of the task undertaken on the sea defences required large amounts of hard wearing, non-porous rock to prevent further breeches of the sea wall in future years, by the often violent winter storms which batter this coast each year.
The West Somerset Railway played a key role in delivering this large quantity of rock to Minehead. Both Whatley (ARC) and Merehead (Yeoman) Quarries had rail hubs used for the loading and delivering stone all over the country on a daily basis. With this contract, the WSR were able to provide the missing rail link, making it possible to keep a potential 4250 lorry loads of stone off Somerset's roads in particular the twisting A358 between Taunton and Minehead.
The West Somerset Railway played a key role in delivering this large quantity of rock to Minehead. Both Whatley (ARC) and Merehead (Yeoman) Quarries had rail hubs used for the loading and delivering stone all over the country on a daily basis. With this contract, the WSR were able to provide the missing rail link, making it possible to keep a potential 4250 lorry loads of stone off Somerset's roads in particular the twisting A358 between Taunton and Minehead.
The 1997/1998 flow set the president for a long history of stone being delivered along WSR tracks for various projects on the line. In total 4 seperate contracts have been completed from 1997, 5 if you count the constant delivery of stone in connection with the Network Rail HOBC set, based at Fairwater Yard.
THE HAULAGE:
The haulage on the flows has modernised as the years have passed, starting with Class 37's and 47's in 1997 progressing forward to Class 59's and 66's operating the later contracts.
THE MISSION:
The mission is to record every working of the stone services which have operated on the West Somerset Railway since they started running. We currently have hundreds of entries entered into a spreadsheet which have been filled in as each train operates. The sheer variety of traction used on these services, together with the attraction of seeing freight trains in a Branch line setting, was a big draw for photographers. There are likely to be plenty of photos of these trains as there were many opportunities to see them.
THANKS:
Many thanks to the for all the information supplied so far there are so many people to mention, here are just a few:
Jeff Treece, Adam Hiscock, Eddy, Mike Rowland, Dave Jones, Neil Higson, Peter Slater, Cameron Walker, Mark Few, Nathan Williamson.
Keep up the good work, and don't forget, any information or photos which you may have will be of use and can be added to the already huge list!!!
THE HAULAGE:
The haulage on the flows has modernised as the years have passed, starting with Class 37's and 47's in 1997 progressing forward to Class 59's and 66's operating the later contracts.
THE MISSION:
The mission is to record every working of the stone services which have operated on the West Somerset Railway since they started running. We currently have hundreds of entries entered into a spreadsheet which have been filled in as each train operates. The sheer variety of traction used on these services, together with the attraction of seeing freight trains in a Branch line setting, was a big draw for photographers. There are likely to be plenty of photos of these trains as there were many opportunities to see them.
THANKS:
Many thanks to the for all the information supplied so far there are so many people to mention, here are just a few:
Jeff Treece, Adam Hiscock, Eddy, Mike Rowland, Dave Jones, Neil Higson, Peter Slater, Cameron Walker, Mark Few, Nathan Williamson.
Keep up the good work, and don't forget, any information or photos which you may have will be of use and can be added to the already huge list!!!