Rails to Stogursey

Until 1958, a light railway from just south of Combwich ran up to the Quantock Hills town of Stogursey serving various mineral deposits and agriculture on route. It was initially hoped that the winding steeply inclined railway would ultimately link with the GWR at Williton on the other side of the hills to gain access to the docks at Watchet

Like so many grand schemes, the connection was never made, but the line did become a bit of a Mecca for fanciers of the former LSWR 0298 Class, 2-4-0 ‘Beattie Well Tank’ engines more widely known for their use in Cornwall. The short wheel base and light axle loading being ideal for the lightly laid track and tight curves not dissimilar to that of the Cromford & High Peak line in Derbyshire. 

Bogie passenger carriages frequently struggled with the almost trainset like curves, so it became the last line on the national railway network to use 4 wheeled passenger carriages. The carriage on this train appearing to be of GWR origin and is thought to have recently come from one of the lines in the valleys of South Wales. I’m no expert, but I’m sure one or two of you here will be able to shed further light. And for keen railway modellers, I’m sure one of the 1/76 scale 4 wheeled GWR Ratio plastic kits would suffice for those who’d like to recreate this train. By the way, EFE have recently re-released the loco in various OO gauge guises I gather. 

And going back to the rare colour photograph, here’s our delightful little train forming to 5.30pm service to Stogursey on the final week of passenger operations in July 1955, with goods trains hanging on until 1958 when the line finally closed. 

There is little trace of the line now, but the occasional gap in a hedgerow and careful exploration of Lidar mapping can reveal traces of the route. The only station remains are part of the short platform at Cockwood residing in a paddock. Please ask the owner before poking about with a spade, for all allegedly he can be a little tetchy with local claims that his missing wife is buried in the locality, despite never being found after her odd disappearance 1996. 

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