coalyard

The Wrington Vale Light Railway was built and operated by the Great Western Railway and opened in 1901. The Wrington Vale line was one of the first in southern England to run steam railmotor services. The Great Western made another ambitious attempt to improve economy when it built a pioneering oil-burning 0-4-0T for the line, but because of technical problems it never travelled further the GWR's Swindon Works.

The railway carried passengers for 30 years, and freight - on part of the line - for a further 30 years. For the comprehensive story of the railway, see WRINGTON VALE LIGHT RAILWAY
[ 1st Edition - May 2004] by Colin G Maggs, published by Oakwood Press: www.transportdiversions.com/publicationshow.asp?pubid=4532

The Wrington Vale Light Railway was built and operated by the Great Western Railway and opened in 1901. The Wrington Vale line was one of the first in southern England to run steam railmotor services. The Great Western made another ambitious attempt to improve economy when it built a pioneering oil-burning 0-4-0T for the line, but because of technical problems it never travelled further the GWR's Swindon Works. The railway carried passengers for 30 years, and freight - on part of the line - for a further 30 years. For the comprehensive story of the railway, see WRINGTON VALE LIGHT RAILWAY [ 1st Edition - May 2004] by Colin G Maggs, published by Oakwood Press: www.transportdiversions.com/publicationshow.asp?pubid=4532
	The coalyard of Wrington station, now built over as Old Station Close, finally closed in 1990. The images on these pages are stills taken from video footage shot on the morning of 17th April that year, just days before the closure.

The office, with the weighbridge platform outside, stood just past the fork off the entrance to The Glebe. To the right again are the hoppers from which coal was bagged up

Once upon a time, the hoppers would have been filled from rail wagons, then from lorries, but in these final days, the small amounts needed were provided by slitting open pre-packs into a JCB, which would then transfer the coal into the hoppers from which other bags could be filled !





From the virtually empty stacks, the houses surrounding appear over the fence