Rail companies that survived the closure of their lines

[Shimbleshanks]

Snailbeach District Railway - Kent & East Sussex Railway

Snailbeach District Railway The Snailbeach opened in July 1877 as a 2’4’’ narrow gauge mineral railway to serve the ancient and long established lead mining district along the western flank of the Stiperstones range of hills in Shropshire and in particular the Snailbeach Mine Co.. Envisaged as a...

kesr.org.uk

The Snailbeach opened in July 1877 as a 2’4’’ narrow gauge mineral railway to serve the ancient and long established lead mining district along the western flank of the Stiperstones range of hills in Shropshire and in particular the Snailbeach Mine Co.. Envisaged as a full public railway public railway carrying passengers it did not evolve beyond a limited mineral line, running some three miles along the hillside, from sidings near Pontesbury on the GWR & LNWR joint Minsterley branch line, to a terminus at Crowsnest....

I read the other day on a couple of sites that the Snailbeach District Railway company was still in existence, even though the line itself had ceased all rail operation by 1959. However, according to the KESR site, Snailbeach District Railways Company remains as a company.

On 14th April 1947 Shropshire County Council leased the Pontesbury to Callow Hill section, continuing to use tractor operation. By1959 road access had been provided to Callow Hill Quarry (which is still in production today) and the remaining section of line fell out of use.

The Snailbeach District Railways Company however remains in legal existence to this day.

I think it was due to the need to maintain wayleaves over the route of the line, and also because Shropshire County Council ran their lorries along part of the trackbed converted to a road and paid rent to the railway company.

In fact, Companies House now indicates that the company has, since 27 June 2022, become something called SDR MEBO Ltd, but with previous names of Snailbeach District Railways Company; Snailbeach District Railways Company (1873) Limited; and Snailbeach District Light Railway Limited. (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search?q=Snailbeach).

SDR MEBO LTD​

Matching previous names:
SNAILBEACH DISTRICT RAILWAYS COMPANY · SNAILBEACH DISTRICT RAILWAYS COMPANY (1873) LIMITED · SNAILBEACH DISTRICT LIGHT RAILWAY LIMITED

Companies House also lists a firm called Snailbeach Line Ltd, incorporated in 2019 - whether this has any connection with the railway, I don't know.

But it got me thinking, are there other rail businesses still in existence as companies even though their rail operations have long ceased to exist?

I know the Lough Swilly Railway in Northern Ireland existed until quite recently as a bus operator.

Are there other examples of companies outliving their operations?

 

[Ploughman]

Th Derwent Valley Railway in York.
The Company lasted longer than the Railway.
Except for the preserved length at Dunnington.

 

[daodao]

County Donegal Railways and the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway (an interurban tramway) continued to run bus services after closure of their rail operations.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Th Derwent Valley Railway in York.
The Company lasted longer than the Railway.
Except for the preserved length at Dunnington.

The company still exists as Derwent London, a property company.
The original railway closed in 1981, however in 1993 the current preserved railway was opened at the National Farming Museum in Murton. It's run by a separate organisation AFAIK and not linked to the original company.

 

[Rescars]

The Guernsey Railway closed in 1934, but the Guernsey Railway Co continued as a bus operator until 1980.

 

[Fleetwood Boy]

County Donegal Railways and the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway (an interurban tramway) continued to run bus services after closure of their rail operations.

And the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway?

 

[Cheshire Scot]

And the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway?

Yes

 

[Uncle Buck]

I do whether, if only the railways, as opposed to the railway companies, had been nationalised in 1948, they might have remained as major concerns- especially LMS which in 1939 was I believe the single largest company in the British Empire. American Express evolved from a coach-and-horses company; perhaps something similar might have taken place here.

 

[norbitonflyer]

And the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway?

Already mentioned - the Swilly did not survive as a railway long after Irish partition.

In the early yeras of the 20th century my teenage great-uncles worked on it in an unofficial capacity, and went on to have careers on the railways in southern Africa, both sadly cut short by WW1

 

[daodao]

Already mentioned - the Swilly did not survive as a railway long after Irish partition.

The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway operated train services for over 30 years after Irish partition, as did the County Donegal Railways. The Stormont administration in the 1950s was unsympathetic to rail services and all cross-border railways in Ireland other than the Belfast to Dublin main line were closed by 1965.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Slightly different, but the British Railways Board survived into the 2010s after privatisation to administer property and structures on closed lines, as well as compensation claims etc. Incongruously, it was merged into the Highways Agency. The 'Big Four' survived as shell companies into 1949 after nationalisation to tidy up their affairs.

 

[Brent Goose]

The then existence of the BRB was on often cited reason why the affairs of companies associated with the London Olympics (such as the ODA) needed to be closed out expeditiously after the games

 

[Rescars]

Slightly different, but the British Railways Board survived into the 2010s after privatisation to administer property and structures on closed lines, as well as compensation claims etc. Incongruously, it was merged into the Highways Agency. The 'Big Four' survived as shell companies into 1949 after nationalisation to tidy up their affairs.

Somewhat similarly, it appears that the Railway Clearing House, which only had one member following nationalisation and the creation of the British Transport Commission, survived at least in part until being fully absorbed by the BRB in 1963.

EDIT: The 1960 British Railways General Appendix claims to originate from the RCH, "By order of the General Managers".