Sunday, 1 May 2016

Recycled tramway rail.

I've been nosing around the Goyt Valley (just outside Buxton in Derbyshire) these past two weekends looking for remnants of the railway built to serve the construction of Fernilee Reservoir. The railway lasted from 1932 to 1937 and was 3' gauge (although a short 2' gauge line was initially built to aid the laying of a pipeline). As for railway relics, there isn't much to find. The course of part of the trackbed survives, as does an incline up to a quarry. I also located the puddle field, where clay was extracted to seal the dam wall. Now the field is home to several lagoons, the most northerly of which is supported on two sides by an embankment;


Note the metalwork sticking out of the ground to reinforce the bank, this is in fact redundant tramway rail;




Note the railhead with the give-away groove.
Some narrow gauge track can be seen as well;


Now I realise that this isn't the most interesting discovery, but it does show that odd relics do turn up in unusual places. I can only assume that tramway rail was cheap and plentifull at the time, possibly coming from Stockport as Fernilee Reservoir was built by Stockport Corporation.

Some photos of the construction of the reservoir can be seen here. And an account of the railway can be found in Harold Bowtell's 'Reservoir Railways of Manchester and the Peak', now long out of print.

Paul.
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous2 May 2016 at 17:39

    Paul,

    Thanks for sharing that. Old rails certainly have their uses. There are some very interesting photos on the linked web site.

    Geoff

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    Replies
    1. Paul B.2 May 2016 at 17:52

      My pleasure Geoff.
      I have to admit if the rails were just mainline bullhead I wouldn't have given them a second glance, let alone taken the time to photograph them, its the fact that they are from a tramway that make them (to my eyes anyway) interesting.
      That set of photos are great aren't they! The Goyt Valley looked a lot different back then, nowadays the west bank is covered with trees. Its a lovely place for running and dog walking.

      Delete
  2. Iain Robinson27 June 2016 at 19:01

    I love finding old rails at quarries and the sites of old mines. These tramway rails would be quite a find for me, and I think you correctly deduce that they came from Stockport. Imagine those old tramcars rattling over them :-)The best find we have made on our travels is a length of fishbelly rail underground, holding up a bit of roof.
    I also followed the links to the fascinating Fernilee and Goyt valley site, what a time sink, thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Paul B.27 June 2016 at 20:56

      I have located the sites of two quarries that supplied stone when the dam was built, perhaps one day I'll photograph the western one (Issue Tor Quarry). Issue Tor was reached by a self-acting incline, the course of the upper part of which still survives, in fact I often walk the dogs up it. There's no evidence of the railway surviving though, but I did enjoy exploring the area (as did the dogs!).

      Delete

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