The Romance
A branch line has been defined as: (a) minor line acting as a feeder to main trunk lines. Given the very
large number of branch lines that operated in the UK (see for example the Ian Allen publication Sectional maps
of the British Railways as at December 1947 (1948) (reprint no date given ISBN 7110 1156 7) obviously there
is not enough room here to discuss all of them. (In fact it is probably not possible to do that anyway unless you
wanted the railway equivalent of the Britannica.) What I shall do is to examine one branch line as a paradigm.
Many articles and publications and indeed much of the railway modelling fraternity - especially those like me
who model steam era - are motivated by what has been called the ‘romance of steam.’ (Will there one day be a
‘romance of diesel’?)

Take for example the English publication Steam Days. Its sub head is ‘Steam nostalgia and railway history at
its best.’ There is in some historiography (the writing of history) and also in the collective mind of the general
public, a tendency to see the past in romantic terms. This may be boiled down to the term “the good old days”.
The steam era is now seen in those terms.

After the nationalisation of the railways in the UK in 1948, private ownership in the form of the Southern, the
GWR, the LMS and the LNER were no doubt seen as the good old days. It is possible that prior to 1923 and the
formation of the Big Four, in my former part of the world - North Staffordshire - the good old days was the
“Knotty” - the North Staffordshire Railway. (See illustration above)

Some historians and some of the public, also see the pre-industrial period in England, i.e. prior to 1750, as a
romantic period. Industrialisation it was argued, destroyed the rural and therefore ‘perfect’ England where
everyone was happy. By extension, the Beeching “axe” (an emotive term if ever there was one) destroyed the
wonderful rail system that served the British people so well and we had steam trains to boot as a bonus. The
reality was far different.

On my layout - LMS between about 1920 to 1948 based on the WCML I have a branch line. This branch is
modelled on the Churnet Valley and the stations are Oakamoor and Kingsley and Froghall. When it was NSR
(prior to 1923), the Churnet Valley branch ran from North Rode Junction south of Macclesfield to Uttoxeter,
some 33 miles or 53-km. The stations on the line were Bosley, Rushton, Rudyard Lake, Rudyard, Leek,
Cheddleton, Consall, Kingsley & Froghall, Oakamoor, Alton, Denstone, Rocester and Uttoxeter. Of the 2,363
stations closed under Beeching by 1965, 8 were on this branch line.

This line was begun in 1846. It ran though prime agricultural land - the beautiful Churnet Valley, used mostly
for dairying. However, it also had a significant industrial base in Bolton’s Copper Works at both Kingsley &
Froghall and Oakamoor and the important quarries in the area, especially at Cauldon Low. Additionally, there
was a large tourist demand for transport from the industrialised city of Stoke-on-Trent to Rudyard Lake - a
famous beauty spot. Even the design of the station buildings contributed to the romantic notion of the line. Built
in the Victorian period between 1846 and 1901, the station buildings were of Jacobean and Tudor-Gothic
design, harking back to a more romantic period of English history.

On my layout it is always summer. (See above) The grass is always green, the canal (even though it is still
industrially functional) is quiet and peaceful. Behind the crossing keepers house is the cattle dock and beyond
that is the quarry. At the other end is Boulton’s copper works. Beer for the village pub is delivered by rail and
so are most of the other goods. The village is supported economically by the copper works and the quarry, milk
and cattle. The population is small and the workers in the industries come from the city and return to it in
special workers trains. The Sunday trains bring the hikers and the sightseers. Even the noise and the smoke of
the locomotives does not disturb the peace and tranquillity of the area. At Kingsley there is a sawmill. Perhaps
this description would fit a great many British rural branch lines and perhaps some urban ones.

The Reality
The reality on this branch was somewhat different to the romantic picture that I have inferred. Even though it
had been part of the through route between London and Manchester, for most of its life the CV line had only
four services each way per day. On Sunday there was only one train each way. At the end of 1960 passenger
services were withdrawn. Later the mineral trains - mostly sand - also ceased. The CV line began as a mineral
line and for a century had made a major contribution to the economy of North Staffordshire. Its passenger
services were just that - a social service to the rural communities, most of which were engaged in agriculture.
For an Australian parallel, take the Yarra Valley that begins on Melbourne’s eastern fringe. By the early 1960s
the townships in the valley lost their railway service (that had existed since 1901) when the line from Lilydale
to Warburton was closed. In 1992 I interviewed Niall Brennan author of many books who had lived most of his
life in the Valley. One of the questions that I put to him was about the railway closure and its effect on the
community. He said that the people were outraged, held public meetings, fumed and complained, wrote letters
to the papers and much more. It was all to no avail, since railway closure was government policy. However,
what was more interesting was that Niall told me that he was at a loss to explain the uproar, since the people in
the valley never used the railway anyway. The closure of this scenically beautiful and functionally important
branch line up the Yarra valley is a paradigm. This line was in its day very important economically. It allowed
primary produce to be moved to the city and the port; it allowed the developing community of Warburton to be
used as a tourist destination (as well as Wandin with its railway excursions to Picnic Hill) and for the general
movement of livestock up an down the valley. There was also limited general passenger movement.

Perhaps the most salient points about this paradigm are that (1) the line’s historical development was cyclical,
in that it arose, peaked and declined (2) its initial rational was economic (3) it’s demise was also triggered by
economics and (4) its passing was a matter of community outrage, but that same community did not use (and
therefore economically support) it anyway. Perhaps a fifth point is that from a social perspective the line’s
benefit as service to its community was a secondary consideration. Could this be said to be true in the British
context? In other words, does the British experience fit the paradigm set out above?

About the same time that Yarra Junction lost its daily trains, Dr. Richard Beeching (1913-1985) was active and
doing the same thing - depriving Britons of their trains, as with the CV line. Let us put this in context. The
growth of railway route kilometres in Britain between 1840 and 1975 shows that in 1840, only 11 years after
the Rainhill trials, there was already 2,388 km of track in use. By the turn of the century there was in excess of
29,000km. The peak was reached in 1920, (and much of it was branch lines) but it is the fifteen year period
between 1960 and 1975 that is instructive: 11,712km (7,229 miles) of railway line ceased to be available for use
both for freight and passenger traffic. The question has to be asked: where did it go and why?

There are certain dates in the history of Britain’s railways that are significant (and probably well known: 1804
(the first use of a train to carry passengers); 1829 (the Rainhill trials); 1903 (City of Truro reaches more that
100 mph); 1923 (the amalgamation of the private railways into the “Big Four”); 1948 (the nationalisation of the
railways), 1963 (the so-called Beeching Report) and 1967 (the end of steam) to name but a few.

In the 1960s the British rail network was still struggling some 15 year after the Second World War. In fact one
of the reasons that it was struggling was the war. The Transport Act of 1962 relieved British Rail of an
accumulated debt of a staggering 1.175 billion pounds. Additionally, it was given the freedom to impose
charges that it had never been able to do before. However, there was a proviso in all this that said that the
railways were to concentrate on services that were deemed to be profitable. Dr. Beeching’s first report: The
Reshaping of British Railways of 1963 had the country in uproar. The railways were grossly overstaffed and
many people were to lose their jobs. They were also to lose their rail services, most of which were branch lines.
Dr Beeching, Chairman of the new Railway Board did his sums and came to some nasty conclusions. As with
the Lilydale to Warburton line, the operation of very many branch lines was far different to the romance and the
beauty often ascribed to them. It was found for instance that of Britain’s 7000 stations, about half of them
produced only 2 per cent of total passenger revenue. Half the number of freight stations produced only 3 per
cent of the total freight traffic. It was also found that those stations that were least used cost the taxpayer 9
million pounds a year.

Here is an example of this from the Southern Railway - the Cranleigh branch from Guildford to Horsham. After
railway nationalisation in 1948 British Railways began to make heavy losses, and by the mid 1950s there were
plans for many line closures and a lot of modernisation. During the railway strike of 1955 all services stopped
on the branchline. This seriously affected the freight traffic on the branch, which never recovered, and the line
started losing money. Timetabling also didn’t help. Guildford bound trains were leaving Horsham a few
minutes before trains with potential passengers arrived there, yet these trains then waited for 15 minutes at
Cranleigh because Guildford couldn't accommodate them at “busy times” which meant that there were no
connections of any use when the train did arrive at Guildford. In the Beeching Report of 1963 all the five
stations on the line (Bramley & Wonersh -Cranleigh - Baynards - Rudgwick - Slinfold) were listed for closure.
The report showed that it had less than 5,000 passengers per week, less than 5,000 tons of freight per week.
Cranleigh & Bramley ticket offices received between £5,000 & £25,000 per year, where as the other three
stations received less than £5,000 per year. At this time the line was loosing about £46,000 a year or £884 per
week. (To put this in context, as a newly qualified tradesman in 1963 I received £15 per week. A train trip from
Stoke-on -Trent to London cost me £3 return!)

It was said of railway stations in a social context: “Many country stations had the telegraph installed as early as
1868. Rural stops handled milk, animals for market, farm produce, beer, grain and a host of articles. With its
own buildings, including waiting rooms, booking hall, staff rooms, toilets, sometimes even a refreshment room,
with a signal box, possibly an engine shed, with a yard for goods deliveries, a well-kept garden, and staff
houses, country stations were often almost self-contained communities.” (A romantic view perhaps? Judge for
yourself, but great for modelling!.)

Nothing could be more romantic than Robin Hood. (Of whom, by the way, there is no historical evidence.)
Here is yet another example of a closure, but it has a happy ending. The Midland Railway was formed in May
1844 and the Nottingham-Kirkby line opened on 2 Oct 1848 to coincide with the Nottingham Goose Fair. The
Nottingham-Mansfield service opened a year later from the new Mansfield Central station. The line between
Mansfield and Southwell opened for all traffic on 3 April 1871. This line through Rainworth, Farnsfield and
Kirklington can truly be called the Forest Line for this area was the heart of Sherwood Forest. Blidworth, just
south of Rainworth was the home of Maid Marian and the burial place of Will Scarlett, while the fight between
Robin Hood and Friar Tuck took place at nearby Fountain Dale. Farnsfield was originally founded on the edge
of the forest. (This information was taken from the Robin Hood Line web page, but see the historical note above
about Robin Hood.)

Passenger traffic over the Mansfield-Worksop line commenced on 1 June 1875 from the new Mansfield Town
station and with new pits being sunk around the Mansfield area in the 1860s and ’70s, Midland Railway built
branch lines to serve them. Passenger trains around Mansfield reached their peak in the twenty years prior to
1914 with 15 different services provided over 200 miles of track. After the First World War competition from
lorries and buses began to make inroads on rail traffic and routes slowly closed down. By 1939 Mansfield
Central had 14 passenger trains to Nottingham Victoria station. Loss-making services were scrutinised after the
formation of British Railways in 1948 and services cut further. Under the Modernisation Plan for British Rail in
1955 diesel locomotives would be introduced as well as electrification but it made little difference to Mansfield
Railways. Mansfield Central station closed its doors at the end of 1955. The Nottingham-Mansfield-Worksop
passenger service was withdrawn in October 1964, closing a route that had existed for 115 years and leaving
Mansfield as the largest town in Britain without a railway station. The track remained since it was required for
coal traffic but goods yards were relentlessly closed along with some of the older collieries. The Annesley
Tunnel and its approach cuttings were gradually filled with spoil and refuse.

The community reopened the line largely due to local action. The Nottingham-Newstead service opened on 17
May 1993 with a station at Hucknall. Bulwell station opened a year later. Passenger services were extended
from Newstead to Mansfield Woodhouse on 20 November 1995 with new stations at Sutton Parkway,
Mansfield and Mansfield Woodhouse. Kirkby station was added a year later. Mansfield Woodhouse to
Worksop re-opened for passengers on 25 May 1998 with new stations at Shirebrook, Langwith-Whaley Thorns,
Creswell and Whitwell. The upgrading cost £5M compared to the £148,000 when the line was originally built
in the 1870s. As colliery closures continued, the service has provided people with a means of travelling to
employment elsewhere - mining jobs in the Mansfield area had declined from 41,000 in 1983 to 1,230 in the
year 2000. Following privatisation of British Rail, Railtrack undertook engineering work and the service
operated by Central Trains.

One last set of statistics: by 1965, much of what Beeching had recommended had been put in place. (Whether
this was draconian is a moot point. You can follow the debate if you are on the net at
www.rodge.force9.co.uk/faq/beeching.html or just put in “Dr Beeching” and follow your nose). Out of 7000
stations, 2,363 were closed - 33.75 %. Additionally, 8,100km of track was closed too, also about 27% of the
system total - more than one kilometre in every four. (The actual distances (mileage) closed varies from source
to source, but you get the idea.

Finally, it has to be said that branch lines off the modeller a golden opportunity to capture the ‘romantic’ past
and if you are looking for a modelling challenge, a branch line will certainly give you one, but the results will
be well worth it.