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Railways built for the craziest reasons

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Journeyman

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A lot of UK railways didn't make a lot of commercial sense, with Victorian competition leading to some rather questionable projects - duplicate main lines, rural lines in deserted territory etc. However, a few lines seem to have been built for very daft or eccentric reasons.

I particularly admire the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway for this - a giant train set for a rich racing driver and an eccentric ex-military type. :) I love how completely frivolous that is, but that somehow their plaything became a permanent fixture, even boasting an armoured train in the war!

Are they any other railways that were built for bizarre reasons?
 
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Dr Hoo

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Surely the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway had a genuine underlying purpose of generating development on the hitherto deserted marshes and pebbles? Whilst those bungalows and chalets were not particularly elegant communities they changed the area for ever.

The RH&DR may have been done in a quirky way but arguably had a proportionately greater impact than a large number of ‘proper’ lines.
 

Journeyman

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Surely the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway had a genuine underlying purpose of generating development on the hitherto deserted marshes and pebbles? Whilst those bungalows and chalets were not particularly elegant communities they changed the area for ever.

The RH&DR may have been done in a quirky way but arguably had a proportionately greater impact than a large number of ‘proper’ lines.

The development came, but I question that was the reason for building it - it just happened to be a side-effect. The builders considered various locations and chose the site because it was flat and deserted.
 

yorksrob

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Surely the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway had a genuine underlying purpose of generating development on the hitherto deserted marshes and pebbles? Whilst those bungalows and chalets were not particularly elegant communities they changed the area for ever.

The RH&DR may have been done in a quirky way but arguably had a proportionately greater impact than a large number of ‘proper’ lines.

The development came, but I question that was the reason for building it - it just happened to be a side-effect. The builders considered various locations and chose the site because it was flat and deserted.

The standard guage South Eastern Railway line to Lydd and New Romney arrived on the scene earlier, so would surely have been responsible for some of the development in the area. The same goes for the 1937 re-routing of that line along the coast through Lydd-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea.

Sadly lost in 1967.
 

Dr Hoo

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The standard guage South Eastern Railway line to Lydd and New Romney arrived on the scene earlier, so would surely have been responsible for some of the development in the area. The same goes for the 1937 re-routing of that line along the coast through Lydd-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea.

Sadly lost in 1967.
The standard gauge line that became part of the SER really only served New Romney as a place of any significance beyond Lydd. The new alignment of 1937 was to try and cash in on the area that the RH&DR had already facilitated since it opened in 1928. The stations weren't conveniently situated and with the war soon intervening the new line never really justified its construction. Dymchurch never had a standard gauge line and St Mary's developed almost entirely thanks to the RH&DR.
Any development boost provided by the main line railway to New Romney had petered out long before the RH&DR opened and the timetable remained very flakey for donkeys years - poor connections at Appledore, low frequency, faffing around with Dungeness shunts and portions, etc.
Captain Howey (assisted by others) undoubtedly spotted a development opportunity and demonstrated the ultimate development of the 15-inch gauge, at least up to that time. "Frivolous"? No way! (The motor racing foreign Count had sadly passed away before the route was selected.)
 

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The Harrow & Stanmore Railway was financed by [corrected] the businessman and hotelier Frederick Gordon to take guests to his stately home/hotel at Bentley Priory. Opened in 1890 and operated from the outset by the London North Western Railway, the two-mile line ran through what was then open countryside and terminated close to the village of Great Stanmore (population at the time of 1,400), still some way short of the house. It was only in the 1930s as London's suburbia spread and a new halt was opened at Belmont that commuter traffic developed to any extent, and even then it suffered competition from the Metropolitan Railway's new Stanmore branch and from bus services which fed into the cheaper Underground services at Edgware. Passenger services to Stanmore (by then Stanmore Village) ceased in September 1952 and the final peak-hour shuttles between Harrow & Wealdstone and Belmont were withdrawn after 3rd October 1964, by which time any residual freight traffic had also finished.
 
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Calthrop

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For a railway built for not exactly a crazy reason; but definitely for an unusual one, in response to unusual and turbulent times -- one could cite the line constructed by the U.S. Army in World War II (its life-span approximately the same as that of the conflict concerned), fifty-odd miles through the Louisiana swamps from Camp Claiborne to Camp Polk: not for any commercial reason, but for the purpose of training staff for railway operation / construction in active-wartime situations in various parts of the world. For such training purposes, the whole idea was to make conditions on this line, as difficult and chaotic as possible.

I am terminally bad at doing links: can only invite folk to Google "Claiborne -- Polk Military Railroad".

The Harrow & Stanmore Railway was financed by General Gordon to take guests to his stately home at Bentley Priory.

Hoping not to offend: by my understanding, the finance-provider as above was -- rather than the British Army's General Charles George Gordon, 1833 - 1885, of the celebrated heroic death at Khartoum -- the civilian Frederick Gordon, 1835 - 1904, millionaire businessman in a variety of commercial fields, particularly that of hotels.
 

Wirewiper

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<snip>
Hoping not to offend: by my understanding, the finance-provider as above was -- rather than the British Army's General Charles George Gordon, 1833 - 1885, of the celebrated heroic death at Khartoum -- the civilian Frederick Gordon, 1835 - 1904, millionaire businessman in a variety of commercial fields, particularly that of hotels.

I'm not offended at all; it's entirely my fault for getting it wrong as I didn't do my fact-checking! I will correct my original post.
 

yorksrob

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The standard gauge line that became part of the SER really only served New Romney as a place of any significance beyond Lydd. The new alignment of 1937 was to try and cash in on the area that the RH&DR had already facilitated since it opened in 1928. The stations weren't conveniently situated and with the war soon intervening the new line never really justified its construction. Dymchurch never had a standard gauge line and St Mary's developed almost entirely thanks to the RH&DR.
Any development boost provided by the main line railway to New Romney had petered out long before the RH&DR opened and the timetable remained very flakey for donkeys years - poor connections at Appledore, low frequency, faffing around with Dungeness shunts and portions, etc.
Captain Howey (assisted by others) undoubtedly spotted a development opportunity and demonstrated the ultimate development of the 15-inch gauge, at least up to that time. "Frivolous"? No way! (The motor racing foreign Count had sadly passed away before the route was selected.)

Given that along with New Romney, Lydd is the only other sizeable settlement on the marsh (and that wasn't even served by the RH&DR, only the main line), I'd say that the main line was quite important for the development of the area. Also many services ran through to Ashford anyway.

It's also worth noting that the main line facilitated most of the industry in the area. Shingle extraction, the army camp at Lydd, sheep farming, coal to the RH&DR. You only have to look at the size of the goods yard at Lydd.
 

RichT54

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Given that along with New Romney, Lydd is the only other sizeable settlement on the marsh (and that wasn't even served by the RH&DR, only the main line), I'd say that the main line was quite important for the development of the area. Also many services ran through to Ashford anyway.

It's also worth noting that the main line facilitated most of the industry in the area. Shingle extraction, the army camp at Lydd, sheep farming, coal to the RH&DR. You only have to look at the size of the goods yard at Lydd.

When I lived on the Marsh in the early sixties quite a lot of people were employed at the nuclear power stations at Dungeness. Others, like my dad, worked at Lydd airport (which was known as Ferryfield back then) when Silver City used to operate Bristol Freighters and Carvairs on the car ferry service across the channel. The RH&DR has certainly been a tourist attraction for day trippers and people staying at local holiday camps, but I don't think it had such a major effect on the development of the area.
 

Dr Hoo

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Given that along with New Romney, Lydd is the only other sizeable settlement on the marsh (and that wasn't even served by the RH&DR, only the main line), I'd say that the main line was quite important for the development of the area. Also many services ran through to Ashford anyway.

It's also worth noting that the main line facilitated most of the industry in the area. Shingle extraction, the army camp at Lydd, sheep farming, coal to the RH&DR. You only have to look at the size of the goods yard at Lydd.

Thank you. I thought that I had made it clear that I was talking about the coastal strip rather than Lydd.

It is a simple fact that there was a lot of development of the coastal strip after the RH&DR arrived in 1927-28. It's arrival was seen as significant by royalty and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports!

Although I am a great admirer of the Southern Railway and Herbert Walker the belated Greatstone Deviation was hardly their greatest success. Funny how it hardly rates a mention in the common histories of the Southern and Walker biographies.

(I do not pretend that the RH&DR was still driving development of Dungeness Nuclear Power Station! The OP was asking about railways built for "crazy reasons", not about operations 40 years later.)
 

yorksrob

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When I lived on the Marsh in the early sixties quite a lot of people were employed at the nuclear power stations at Dungeness. Others, like my dad, worked at Lydd airport (which was known as Ferryfield back then) when Silver City used to operate Bristol Freighters and Carvairs on the car ferry service across the channel. The RH&DR has certainly been a tourist attraction for day trippers and people staying at local holiday camps, but I don't think it had such a major effect on the development of the area.

I grew up in Ashford and know the Marsh quite well. Had a good open day visit around the powerstation in the 80's !
 

yorksrob

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Thank you. I thought that I had made it clear that I was talking about the coastal strip rather than Lydd.

It is a simple fact that there was a lot of development of the coastal strip after the RH&DR arrived in 1927-28. It's arrival was seen as significant by royalty and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports!

Although I am a great admirer of the Southern Railway and Herbert Walker the belated Greatstone Deviation was hardly their greatest success. Funny how it hardly rates a mention in the common histories of the Southern and Walker biographies.

(I do not pretend that the RH&DR was still driving development of Dungeness Nuclear Power Station! The OP was asking about railways built for "crazy reasons", not about operations 40 years later.)

"Marshes and Pebbles" suggests both the coastal strip and the marshland behind it. Perhaps I was taking your post too literally.
 

RichT54

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I grew up in Ashford and know the Marsh quite well. Had a good open day visit around the powerstation in the 80's !

That's a coincidence, I was born in Willesborough Lees, but we moved to St Mary's Bay about 2 years later. I have some vague memories of going on a school trip to one of the Dungeness power stations. It was in the sixties, so it must have been Dungeness 'A'.
 

yorksrob

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That's a coincidence, I was born in Willesborough Lees, but we moved to St Mary's Bay about 2 years later. I have some vague memories of going on a school trip to one of the Dungeness power stations. It was in the sixties, so it must have been Dungeness 'A'.

Mine took in 'A' and 'B'. They were both very impressive to look around.
 

Iskra

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Surely with the benefit of hindsight, the London Necropolis Railway has to be in with a shout here?
 

Dr_Paul

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Surely with the benefit of hindsight, the London Necropolis Railway has to be in with a shout here?

Surely the London Necropolis Railway was not a frivolous idea. The churchyards in Central London were dreadfully overcrowded and one of the solutions was the building of large cemeteries outwith London, Brookwood being one of them, and probably the one that was furthest away. In those days, the railway was the only quick form of travel, and having a station in Central London specifically for funeral trains to Brookwood, which had its own two stations off the main LSWR line, was a very bright idea, as it kept Waterloo free from hearses, coffins and mourners. A classic touch was that the funeral trains had three classes, first, second and third, not merely for mourners but also for the coffins: it just wouldn't do to have had the classes intermingling, even in death.
 

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According to the voiceover on Train Truckers the other day, the Watercress Line was built solely to convey said plant to London. The conveyance of a rather obscure salad ingredient, probably in fairly small quantities, struck me as a pretty flimsy justification to build a railway line.

Most of the Welsh narrow gauge lines were built to serve some industry or open up a particular area, but wasn't the Vale of Rheidol built purely for tourist purposes?
 

ChiefPlanner

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According to the voiceover on Train Truckers the other day, the Watercress Line was built solely to convey said plant to London. The conveyance of a rather obscure salad ingredient, probably in fairly small quantities, struck me as a pretty flimsy justification to build a railway line.

Most of the Welsh narrow gauge lines were built to serve some industry or open up a particular area, but wasn't the Vale of Rheidol built purely for tourist purposes?

The VoR was built for all year round lead and general freight traffic on a short term basis , but from day one capitalized on seasonal tourist traffics (which saved it from the early 1930's when freight died)
 

Taunton

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Did you hear the one about building another railway from London to Birmingham, to knock just 15 minutes off the previous journey time. Talk about crazy ...
 

Llanigraham

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According to the voiceover on Train Truckers the other day, the Watercress Line was built solely to convey said plant to London. The conveyance of a rather obscure salad ingredient, probably in fairly small quantities, struck me as a pretty flimsy justification to build a railway line.

Most of the Welsh narrow gauge lines were built to serve some industry or open up a particular area, but wasn't the Vale of Rheidol built purely for tourist purposes?

No, the VoR was originally built to transport lead ore from the mines around Cwm Ystwyth and along the course of the Afon Rheidol down to the port of Aberystwyth. Tourism was encouraged when those mines started failing and some other source of revenue was needed.
At one stage there were even aerial ropeways across the Rheidol valley.
 

yorksrob

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I always find it amusing that we gained not one, but two railways (Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner) primarily to cater for race goers !

The happy ending to this story is that both routes are still with us.

I did read a rumour once that the Catford Loop was built partly because Queen Victoria didn't like travelling through Penge Tunnel. I strongly suspect that this is apocryphal.

The Chatham Central branch over the Medway wasn't unusual in being built by the South Eastern Railway purely to compete with the London Chatham and Dover Railway. The fact that it only ever got as far as Rochester makes it somewhat more preposterous. Nevertheless, the chunky looking bridge over the Medway that came with it is still proving useful to this day.
 

Ianno87

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Did you hear the one about building another railway from London to Birmingham, to knock just 15 minutes off the previous journey time. Talk about crazy ...

Sounds less crazy when the actual saving is more like 40 minutes, goes to places other than London and Birmingham, and provides extra capacity.
 

30907

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According to the voiceover on Train Truckers the other day, the Watercress Line was built solely to convey said plant to London. The conveyance of a rather obscure salad ingredient, probably in fairly small quantities, struck me as a pretty flimsy justification to build a railway line.
Not sure the name was even in use pre preservation, unlike " Over the Alps," but in any case I doubt it was the sole reason.

Did you hear the one about building another railway from London to Birmingham, to knock just 15 minutes off the previous journey time. Talk about crazy ...
You mean the Bicester cut-off of course :)

I did read a rumour once that the Catford Loop was built partly because Queen Victoria didn't like travelling through Penge Tunnel. I strongly suspect that this is apocryphal.

I agree. There are rather too many tunnels on the LCD route to Dover and in any case HM was decidedly elderly by 1892! The tunnel was (and is) long and tight to gauge, which may have been an factor.
 

Calthrop

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I always find it amusing that we gained not one, but two railways (Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner) primarily to cater for race goers !

The happy ending to this story is that both routes are still with us.

I did read a rumour once that the Catford Loop was built partly because Queen Victoria didn't like travelling through Penge Tunnel. I strongly suspect that this is apocryphal.

The Chatham Central branch over the Medway wasn't unusual in being built by the South Eastern Railway purely to compete with the London Chatham and Dover Railway. The fact that it only ever got as far as Rochester makes it somewhat more preposterous. Nevertheless, the chunky looking bridge over the Medway that came with it is still proving useful to this day.

The OP would seem to mention, at least by implication, such "blocking lines" created to keep the competing company B out of company A's envisaged territory; as a fairly widespread general oddity of the pre-Grouping era -- with OP seeking instances of railways created for yet dafter reasons / non-reasons.

That said -- some "blocking lines" were wonderfully ludicrous, and of rather doubtful use in the role of public carriers. One of my favourite examples of such, is the Great Northern Railway of Ireland's Armagh -- Keady -- Castleblayney branch; which came on the scene very late (opened circa 1910, if I have things rightly); and owed its inception and existence, largely to the GNR(I)'s wishing to thwart perceived plans by the Midland Great Western Railway to "muscle in on" Great Northern territory by extending north from Kingscourt. The southern section of this line, Keady -- Castleblayney, had an extremely brief working life. This was so, largely because of politics taking a hand. At the partitioning of Ireland -- in 1920 or '21, I forget which -- this section (running essentially through [beautiful] "wilderness", generating little traffic) was cut by the new border. The GNR(I) -- afflicted at Partition, by a very large number of intersections of its system by the border -- was glad of the chance to rid itself of one of these anyway, by abandoning Keady to Castleblayney as early as 1922. The section of the branch within N.I., Armagh -- Keady, continued to carry passengers until 1933, and freight right up to 1957, when its connecting secondary-main line through Armagh was abandoned.
 

RichJF

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There was the proposed Ouse Valley Railway in Sussex - this would have passed through very few large settlements. Would travel from Balcombe to near Bexhill through all the little Sussex villages & was proposed solely to keep the rival South Eastern Railway out of LBSCR territory. Construction started but was never finished.

The Brighton Mainline between Earlswood & Purley is interesting. The original route through Merstham & Redhill was shared between the LBSCR & SER (with each company owning different bits). They got increasingly fed up with each other sharing the track and the ensuing service congestion so in 1899 the LBSCR opened the Quarry Line: It pretty much mirrored the original route but had no stations. Built purely to allow LBSCR trains to avoid Redhill & the track-sharing with the SER.
 

PeterC

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The VoR was built for all year round lead and general freight traffic on a short term basis , but from day one capitalized on seasonal tourist traffics (which saved it from the early 1930's when freight died)
When I was at university in Aberysywyth in 71 you could still make out some remnants of the harbour branch.
 

341o2

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The OP would seem to mention, at least by implication, such "blocking lines" created to keep the competing company B out of company A's envisaged territory; as a fairly widespread general oddity of the pre-Grouping era -- with OP seeking instances of railways created for yet dafter reasons / non-reasons.
Hurstbourne to Fullerton, built by the LSWR in direct response to the planned Didcot Newbury and Southampton railway, backed by the GWR with the intention of penetrating deep into LSWR territory. Stations were biult to main line standards, double track throught and extensive goods yards.
In pre grouping days, there were the London Chatham and Dover, (James Staats Forbes) the South Eastern and the South Eastern (Edward Watkin) and Chatham Railways Managing Committee. Because of company rivalry, in particular between these two gentlemen, almost every town in Kent and East Sussex had at least two, sometimes three stations
 
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