Redruth and Chasewater Railway

Redruth and Chasewater Railway
Locale	England, UK
Dates of operation	1826–1915
Track gauge	4 ft  (1,219 mm)
Length	9 miles
Headquarters	Devoran

The Redruth and Chasewater Railway, otherwise called the Redruth and Chacewater Railway using modern spelling, was a very early industrial railway line in Cornwall, England, UK that opened in 1825 and closed in 1915. It was built to a 4 ft narrow gauge and ran half way across the Cornish peninsula from the port of Devoran on Restronguet Creek (off the Fal Estuary) to the mining areas around Redruth.

History

Early years

The railway owed its existence to one man, John Taylor, who also reopened Consols mine, being at the time, the largest copper mine in the world. In the early years of the 19th century large quantities of minerals from the mines in West Cornwall were being carried by horse to the coast to be loaded onto ships. Due to the increasing quantities of minerals and the poor state of the roads, often impassable during wet winters, leading to mines reducing their output, a railway to link the mines around Gwennap with the coast near Devoran was authorised on 17 June 1824. The route went via Carharrack and down the Carnon Valley, via Bissoe.

The track was of 4 ft (1.22m) gauge and used wrought iron rails attached to granite blocks by cast iron chairs; it was also the first use of edge rails in Cornwall. The official opening of the Redruth and Chasewater Railway was on 17 June 1826 when some of the proprietors travelled in three wagons from Wheal Buller to the end of the line at Narabo Quay, near Devoran. The journey, downhill, was made under gravity with a horse assisting for the return. The line was extended into Devoran in November 1826, and then in 1827 it was extended at both ends; beyond Devoran to Point Quay and from Wheal Buller to Redruth. (Today the restored Count House of Old Wheal Buller Mine overlooks the trackbeds of two early and unrecorded sidings, and beyond, to the Buller branch of the railway).

The railway company, whose headquarters were in Devoran, did not initially operate the line, but rather levied tolls on traffic using it. Several mines had long branches with storage sidings for the wagons. "Chasewater" has created some debate, as the Cornish town is spelt with a "C". It appears this spelling was adopted by the railway.

Route

Reference Kidner

• Redruth (Gwennap pit) 0m
• Lanner 1½m
  • branch to Wheal Bassett mine
• Carharrack 3m
• Hale Mills
  • uncompleted branch to Chacewater
• Bissoe 6m
• Devoran 8m
• Penpol 9m

Success

Initially the line was generally successful. Serving both Great Consols and United Mines, the two largest in the area, and traffic by the 1830s was well in excess of 60,000 tons annually with the company reporting profits approaching £3,000. Copper ore transported down to ships for onward movement to South Wales was supplemented by coal carried in the other direction to serve the ever-deeper mines.

Initially the railway company had not been carriers, and up to 1854 the line was worked throughout by horses, but in November 1854 two tank engines, Miner and Smelter were delivered and began working between Devoran and Carharrack, making the Redruth and Chasewater one of the first narrow gauge railways to introduce steam locomotives. They were de3livered as 0-4-0ST's, but were rough riders due to excessive overhang at the rear, so were soon rebuilt as 0-4-2ST's At this time the remainder of the railway was operated by the company's own horses. By 1859 traffic had increased to 90,000 tons annually leading to the acquisition of a third engine, Spitfire. Spitfire was named after an incident where Miner and Smelter working hard uphill would scatter cinders and sparks. As a result, a nearby thatched cottage was in danger, the company were persuaded to rebuild it at a safe distance from the line and replace the thatch with slates. The owner was a valued shareholder in the company. The acquisition of Spitfire enabled the whole line from Devoran to Redruth to be worked by steam except the final 1½ miles from Devoran to Point Quay which remained horse-worked until final closure.

Decline

The railway workshops, like the officies, were located in Devoran, and Miner was substantially rebuilt here in 1869, but traffic began to decline as the copper mines closed and in 1879 a receiver was appointed. Smelter was relegated to the status of reserve engine; but lack of maintenance meant that the line deteriorated and derailments were common. Spitfire was rebuilt, but this was a disaster compared to that of Miner. A new firebox was ordered, it was slightly too big, and apparently the frames were forced apart to accommodate it, with subsequent wear on the rear springs and bearings.

The coming of the Great Western Railway eventually ended the R&C as the last major customer of the R&C, Basset mines, switched to using the GWR. The R&C, in the following six months only carried around 6,500 tons of goods as opposed to some 22,000 for the previous year The extension to Chacewater that gave the railway its name was never completed despite works starting in 1853. Closure of the line finally came on 25 September 1915 when Miner took the last train down to Devoran. The line was dismantled, locomotives, wagons and rails became scrap

As the line depended on the mines, so did the port of Devoran rely on the railway, less than a year after its closure, the last commercial vessel called at Devoran.

today, the granite sleeper blocks, where undisturbed, are the most obvious remains of the railway.

ref the Redruth and Chasewater railway. D Bradford Barton 1966

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
Miner	Neilson	0-4-2ST	1854		Rebuilt in 1869 as an 0-6-0ST
Smelter	Neilson	0-4-2ST	1854
Spitfire	Neilson	0-6-0ST	1859

The three locomotives were very similar to look at, being described as "odd-looking". The boiler was surmounted by a square tank from which projected a tall chimney; the cabs were open with sides lower than the top of the tanks.

Today

Most of the route of the railway is now followed by the Redruth and Chacewater Railway Trail which links up with the Great Flat Lode Trail at Redruth. It featured in the BBC TV programme "Railway Walks", first broadcast on BBC Four on 16 October 2008.

References

• Fairclough, Tony (1970). The Story of Cornwall's Railways. Truro: Tor Mark Press. 
• [1] The History of the Count House of Old Wheal Buller mine which overlooks the Buller branch of the Redruth and Chasewater Railway.

See also

• British industrial narrow gauge railways