R.o.B Narrow Gauge railways
The Campbletown and Machrihanish Light Railway
Introduction: In the mull of Kintyre there is Isthmus 5 miles wide which once had a narrow gauge railway running from Campbletown in the east across the mile wide peninsula to Machrihanish in the west. This line was originally built as part of a railway to carry coal from local mines to the ships at Campbletown for delivery by ship to the docks at Glasgow and from there onwards around the country. However like quite a few lines its owners found a much better use for it and it became a passenger railway.
History of the line: For many centuries coal had been known to be found in this area of Scotland however it was of poor quality but as whisky distilleries flourished and more paddle steamers visited the remoter areas of Scotland's coast line it grew in significance if not quality. To transport the coal a canal was constructed in 1775 from the mine to Cambletown and its natural harbour. This allowed easier passage of the coal for shipment. In 1875 a new company called the Argyl coal and Canal Company decided that it would be more advantageous to introduce railway operation to the area. With the success of the Festiniog railway in mind the company built its line from 1876 using 30lb rail spiked to wooden sleepers. But as this rail rapidly wore down with the weights involved 40lb rail was introduced. Because there was a very sharp curve on the line it was realised that only 0-4-0 locomotives could be used. However this caused difficulties with the steep gradient in to and out of Cambletown. The company soon noticed a trend in coal usage, obviously in summer people did not require so much coal as would be used in winter and this naturally affected work at the mine and on the railway. Then the mines resident engineer realised that with the loss of coal purchase in summer people were pouring in to Cambletown off the ferries. During the summers of 1901 to 1903 there were about 135,000 visitors, 22,000 of whom would continue by horse and cart to Machrhianish on the Irish Sea coast. When T.Lindsay Galloway, the engineer in question, realised this and that the railway could be put to use transporting passengers during the summer he put the idea to local businessmen who were quick to realise his suggestion was profitable.
In 1904 the association of Argyll Railway company ltd was formed. A light railway order was soon applied for and in 1905 the Campbletown and Machrihanish Light railway was incorporated under the light railways act. The local town council which also was quick to see the benefits of a railway to the town gave their permission for the railway to terminate on the quay at Hall Street to one side of the road. The line though considered to have a larger gauge was to be kept at 2'3" and was to use steam locomotion. The original colliery line was to be the basis for the railway with the relevant extensions and modifications to be made. It opened in 1907 and in its first 3 weeks is reported to have carried 10,000 passengers. Sadly time at Machrihanish was limited to 40 minutes only. Though it was not a financial snowball of success the line managed to keep itself running with the freight traffic from the mines and also the summer traffic. Then in 1929 disaster struck with the closure of the mines. What did not help was that the little railway faced stiff competition from a local bus company but fortunately the buses were not as reliable as the trains and they soon fell by the wayside, leaving the railway to shuttle its passengers between the two termini. Sadly in 1932 2 months before the summer season was due to start it was found that the locomotives were beyond economic repair. So in that summer when the visitors arrived at Campbeltown they found that the little railway was no longer running though the track was still in situ. Towards the end of that year a local bus service took over running between the two towns and an official liquidator was appointed to dispose of the system.
The line: The line consisted of many idiosyncrasies along its route. There were no viaducts, tunnels or stations and it actually started tramway style in the middle of Campbeltown high street by the dock. This latter resulted in the railway being laid tramway style with the rail heads level with the road surface. Once it passed over Kilkerran road, which oddly enough the local council had misgivings about even though it had whole heartedly given permission for the trains to run through a busy street, the line started a 1 in 35 gradient climb up to the depot at Limecraigs where the engine and carriage sheds were situated and also where there was a workshop and sidings about a mile out of the town. Just after passing the depot the line actually crossed over a firing range halfway between the 500 yard and 600 yard firing butts! To stop anyone being inadvertently shot a red flag was raised to indicate firing was taking place and the train would stop and wait, strangely enough the GWR branch to Staines West also past the rear of a firing range. The line had 10 level crossings all of which had to be crossed at no more than 5mph though the line speed was 20mph in true Light railway fashion. 3 of the level crossings were for public roads but the other 7 were private. The highest point of the line was Tomaig Summit to which the line had climbed steadily from Campbeltown. At Plantation where the line had descended from the summit some re-lignment of the old colliery line had taken place. At Machrianish farm the original line had carried on to the colliery at Argyll but the new one continued to terminate behind the Machrianish mission hall. The loops at both ends of the line could not hold 6 coach trains which were sometimes needed to take all the passengers so unofficial and highly illegal, railway wise fly, shunting took place. All the passenger trains were vacuum braked and because the traffic was normally too heavy for one engine in steam practice a token system was employed. Despite the use of tokens which the train crews had control of rather than signalmen a couple of accidents did occur though on the whole it worked well enough.
Locomotives and stock: Between 1877 and 1900 3 locomotives were purchased to work the line all from different suppliers. The first 2 which were both 0-4-0 though one a well tank and the other a saddle tank, both found the line to be very rough and to improve riding and minimise derailment a trailing truck was added to both to make them 0-4-2. Sadly little is known about the first locomotive owned by the colliery. The small well tank which was the first to be delivered arrived by steamer on 11 November 1877, was named 'Pioneer' and had inside frames which the fitters found difficult to work with and had a weight of 9 tons. Sadly by 1906 it was out of use and in store. The second engine was named 'Chevalier' and was bigger and stronger than 'Pioneer'. It was to spend 50 years on the C&MLR mainly on freight trains. It also had the trailing bogie fitted giving a much improves wheelbase of 8ft 9in. She was however limited to a top speed of 15mph and during WW1 had some refurbishment work done including the fitting of a cab. The third locomotive was an 0-4-2 Skylark class tank engine built by Kerr Stuart of Stoke on Trent. One of the interesting things about this class of locomotive was that it was able to be suited to different gauges by situating the wheels either inside or outside the frames. This engine was called 'Princess' and arrived in 1900. The wheelbase was only 7ft 8in long with 2ft 3in diameter driving wheels. When it entered C&MLR service in 1906 it was fitted with a vacuum brake for passenger workings, though it was not given trains of above low medium weight.
The C&MLR soon realised that something bigger was needed for its passenger trains so 2 rather large 0-6-2 tank engines were ordered and one arrived in 1906. However it could not yet operate on the track which needed an upgrade to take the new engines weight and also needed to reach Cmpbletown proper, so on arrival the engine was loaded on to a flat wagon and taken by road using a traction engine to Plantation crossing where it was put on the rails that had been suitably re-laid This first engine was called 'Argyll'. The second locomotive arrived the following year and was named 'Atlantic'. Both were built by Andrew Barclay of Kilmarnock and had 12ft 9in wheelbases which allowed them to haul 70ton trains, though this was well above the lines normal capacity. They both had Walschaerts valve gear and did not go down well with the fitters. 'Atlantic' was the last engine to work the line and her whistle and gauge glass are now in the museum at Campbeltown. Four carriages 48 feet long with bogies coloured in cream and olive green with central corridors were delivered at 2 weekly intervals to carry passengers and allow the ticket inspector to sell his wares on route. The normal weekday service was 5 down (Machrianish) trains per day though passengers only got 40 minutes at their journeys end as the stay was governed by the steamers. The line eventually had 6 carriages the latter two been of the same design. They were used as express trains to carry the passengers as quickly as possible to the other end of the line. The wagons on the line started with the typical tram tubs to normal 3 1/4 ton and 4 1/2 ton wagons. In January 1922 it was recorded that there were 150 wagons on the line though whether they were all in use or not is another matter. It is likely that these remained the property of the colliery company as the C&MLR only had 2 on its books. The C&MLR also had a brake van and a milk wagon and somewhere it kept a sheet iron snow plough. On closure of the line when the track was lifted the locomotives were sold for scrap but the coaches went to be used for camping huts. Today little remains of this little line but there are talks of a new one following its route!