| Leicester And Swannington Railway |
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For over half a century, Leicestershire miners, using horses and carts, had been at a disadvantage compared to those in Nottinghamshire , who had access to canals. In 1794 they had opened the Charnwood Forest Canal but this had proved unsuccessful. Like many early railways, it featured quite heavy earthworks. The Leicester and Swannington included a one-mile-long tunnel at Glenfield , while the low power of contemporary steam engines meant that where the gradient was steepest, locomotive haulage gave way to other means. :"There were two inclines on the line: one at Bagworth, rising at 1 in 29 towards Swannington and worked by gravity; and a much steepest though shorter one at the Swannington end, descending at 1 in 17 and worked by stationary engine ..." (1) The latter was Stephenson-built and was "equipped with a very early example of a piston valve..." (1). The engineer for the railway was the famous Robert Stephenson , whose father, George Stephenson , raised much of the capital for the line from friends in Liverpool. The line was so successful that railway promoters, in partrnership with the Nottinghamshire miners, decided to push for a line from Cromford to Leicester, with a branch at Codnor Park, near Ripley, to the Mansfield And Pinxton Railway . This, in the end led to the formation of the Midland Counties Railway . Five locomotives were built by Robert Stephenson And Company for the line. The first was ''Comet'', shipped from the works by sea to Hull and thence by canal, its first trip being in 1832 , when its 13 foot high chimney was knocked down by Glenfield Tunnel. On the opening day, it was driven by George Stephenson himself, with driver Weatherburn. The second engine was ''Phoenix'' was delivered in 1832 . Both these had four-coupled wheels and were sold in 1836 to work in the construction of the London And Birmingham Railway . The next were ''Samson'' and ''Goliath'', delivered in 1833 . They were initially four-coupled, but were extremely unstable and a pair of trailing wheels were added. This 0-4-2 formation was also used for ''Hercules,'' the next engine to enter service. These were the first six-wheeled goods engines with inside cylinders and, after the flanges were taken off the centre pairs of wheels, were so satisfactory, that Stephenson decided never to build another four-wheeled engine. On almost its first run, at Thornton crossing, ''Samson'' collided with a horse and cart on its way to Leicester Market with a load of butter and eggs. Although the engine had a horn, it clearly was not loud enough, and at the suggestion of Mr. Bagster, the manager, the engines were provided with the first steam whistles. By 1834 , traffic had increased to such an extent that more powerful engines were needed and the next to be delivered was ''Atlas,'' the first ever six-coupled 0-6-0 inside cylinder design. Although inside cylinders were more difficult to build and maintain, and, in the early days, prone to breakage of the crank axles, the engines were more stable than their outside cylindered counterparts. The design was so successful that it was the basic pattern for many goods engines over the next hundred years. So far all the engines had been provided by Stephenson, but the directors decided to try one of Edward Bury 's locomotives. Stephenson was, of course, extremely influential in the running of the line, but agreed provided the Bury engine was tested fairly. Accordingly the ''Liverpool'' arrived in 1834 . An 0-4-0 , it proved unequal to the loads hauled by ''Atlas.'' The next engine bought for the line was ''Vulcan,'' an 0-6-0 by Tayleur And Company . The last two were by the Haigh Foundry , ''Ajax'', 0-4-2 and ''Hector'', 0-6-0 . This last was so powerful that it became the pattern for engines built for the Manchester And Leeds Railway , the North Midland Railway , the Great Western Railway and the Liverpool And Manchester Railway . Small four-wheeled wagons and coaches, painted plain blue, comprised the rolling stock. (1) Coal and quarry traffic made the line profitable, but in August 1845 the directors sold out to the Midland Railway , which lost no time in improving the line. The track was doubled, a deviation was built to replace the Bagworth incline, and the line was extended westwards to Burton-upon-Trent and eastwards to join the Midland line at Leicester , so transforming the isolated venture into a through route. This left the Swannington Incline as a branch at one end, and the last few miles to the L&S terminal in Leicester as another. Passenger trains on the stub to Leicester (West Bridge) ended in 1928, although coal traffic continued until 1966. The pits at the Swannington end were worked out by 1875, but the incline found a new lease of life lowering wagons of coal to a new pumping station at the foot that kept the old workings clear of water, so preventing flooding in the newer mines nearby. It closed in 1948, but the winding engine was dismantled and is now at the National Railway Museum at York . The site of the incline now belongs to the Swannington Heritage Trust . Passenger trains on the line ceased in 1964, but the track is still intact despite the end of coal mining in west Leicestershire in the 1980s. There are sporadic plans to reopen it to passenger traffic. REFERENCES # Extracts marked are taken from ''The Midland Railway'', C Hamilton Ellis, Ian Allan Ltd 1953.
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