Torre (WSMR)
General information
LocationTorre, Somerset
England
Coordinates51°09′09″N 3°21′57″W / 51.1524°N 3.3657°W / 51.1524; -3.3657
Grid referenceST045401
Platforms0[1][2]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyWest Somerset Mineral Railway
Key dates
4 September 1865Opened for passengers
7 November 1898Closed[3]

Torre was a recognised stopping place, not a formal station, on the West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR). The railway's prime purpose was to carry iron ore from mines to Watchet harbour in Somerset, England. It was "general practice to pick up or set down passengers .. at Torre."[1]

The line was unconnected to any other, though it passed under what is now the West Somerset Railway south of the village of Watchet.

The stopping place was next to a level crossing.[2][4]

Services

The line opened for goods traffic in 1857. A passenger service began in September 1865, connecting Watchet with the village of Washford and the hamlets of Roadwater and Comberow.[5] Passengers were carried from Comberow up a rope-hauled incline to Brendon Hill and on to Gupworthy on a wagon, free of charge, but at their own risk.[6]

The initial passenger service consisted of four trains a day out and back.[7]

Like other railways built to serve one industry, such as iron ore carrying lines in Cumbria, the WSMR's fortunes were at the mercy of that industry. Iron and steel making was given to boom and bust and suffered a significant downturn in the 1870s, exacerbated by imports of cheaper and better ore from abroad. The iron mines which provided the WSMR's staple traffic stuttered to complete closure between 1879 and 1883. The line did not close immediately, two mixed trains a day continued to run until 1898, when all traffic ceased.[8]

In 1907 the Somerset Mineral Syndicate made an attempt to revive the line, reopening Colton mine and starting a new bore at Timwood. Apart from a reopening day special on 4 July 1907[9] no passenger service was provided. The venture collapsed in March 1910.[10]

After closure in 1910 the line through Torre was subject to minimal maintenance.[11][12]

The line's tracks were lifted in 1917 as a contribution to the war effort.[11]

Abandonment

With neither track, rolling stock nor prospects an Act of Parliament was sought and passed to abandon the railway. Its assets were auctioned on 8 August 1924 and the company was wound up in 1925.[13]

Evocative contemporary descriptions of the line in its later years have been preserved.[14]

Afterlife

By 2016 much of the route could still be traced on the ground, on maps and on satellite images. The incline from Comberow to Brendon Hill is a Listed structure.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Washford
Line and station closed		   West Somerset Mineral Railway   Clitsome
Line and station closed

References

  1. 1 2 Sellick 1970, p. 96.
  2. 1 2 Jones 2011, p. 230.
  3. ↑ Quick 2009, p. 459.
  4. ↑ Sellick 1981, p. 54.
  5. ↑ Carpenter 1988, p. 44.
  6. ↑ Sellick 1981, p. 6.
  7. ↑ Sellick 1970, pp. 104–5.
  8. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 399.
  9. ↑ Scott-Morgan 1980, p. 10.
  10. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 327.
  11. 1 2 Sellick 1981, p. 35.
  12. ↑ Jones 2011, pp. 349 & 360.
  13. ↑ Jones 2011, p. 352.
  14. ↑ Sellick 1970, pp. 66-67 & 76-77.

Sources

  • Carpenter, Roger (Winter 1988). Karau, Paul; Beale, Gerry (eds.). "Comberow Incline - West Somerset Mineral Railway". British Railway Journal. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications Ltd (20). ISSN 0265-4105.
  • Jones, Michael H. (2011). The Brendon Hills Iron Mines and the West Somerset Mineral Railway. Lydney: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 978-1-899889-53-2. OCLC 795179029.
  • Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
  • Scott-Morgan, John (1980). British Independent Light Railways. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7933-2.
  • Sellick, Roger J. (1981) [1976]. The Old Mineral Line. Dulverton: Exmoor Press. ISBN 978-1-84114-692-8.
  • Sellick, Roger J. (1970) [1962]. The West Somerset Mineral Railway and the story of the Brendon Hills Iron Mines (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4961-8.

Further reading

  • Dale, Peter (2001). Somerset's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84033-171-4.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1990). Branch Line to Minehead: Preservation Perfection. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-80-2.
  • Thomas, David St John (1966). Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The West Country v. 1. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-946537-17-4.
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