Which was (is) the last narrow gauge railway for normal traffic?

[Gostav]

If not include Glasgow Subway and industry railways, l think all narrow gauge railway systems that survive in the UK today are heritage or tourist railways which have a high price for the ticket and part-time operation, they are no longer as a transport system for the locals.
So, which narrow gauge line was the "last one" to keep the traffic for normal transport? and which year the line closed/ turned to a heritage line？

 

[dubscottie]

Isle of Man. The Manx Electric Railway serves like a bus. Well worth a visit. I know Manx is not part of the UK but it is an example.

 

[delt1c]

If not include Glasgow Subway and industry railways, l think all narrow gauge railway systems that survive in the UK today are heritage or tourist railways which have a high price for the ticket and part-time operation, they are no longer as a transport system for the locals.
So, which narrow gauge line was the "last one" to keep the traffic for normal transport? and which year the line closed/ turned to a heritage line？

How about the RHDR, it was still provides a normal service for communities and I believe school children

 

[matt]

How about the RHDR, it was still provides a normal service for communities and I believe school children

The school service finished a few years ago

 

[Dr Hoo]

Hythe Pier

 

[pdeaves]

If you exclude industrial systems, doesn't that exclude many sensible answers? That said, I don't know any such off the top of my head. I see someone else has mentioned Hythe pier. Would you count the Ffestiniog as providing a transport function? Connected to the main line at both ends with through ticketing available.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Whilst some would argue it is an inclined elevator, there is a short funicular railway at the north end of London’s Millennium Bridge

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

Define 'normal'. If a railway was built with seasonal, tourist use as it's raison d'etre isn't it entirely 'normal' for it be used in that way today?

Examples would be the Snowdon Mountain Railway, the WHR and the Great Orme Tram and that's just in north west Wales. They're doing what they were designed to do. Surely that counts as 'normal traffic' for them?

 

[Clarence Yard]

If we are talking non-electric, then the Isle of Man Railway in the pre-Ailsa era was the last real passenger/freight line, so that would be 1965 when it "hibernated" prior to re-opening, effectively as a tourist attraction (with some abortive attempts at freight) in 1967.

In the UK otherwise, the County Donegal worked passenger/freight in and out of Strabane (NI) until 1960.

As far as narrow gauge steam is concerned, a freight only (and workers passenger) contender would be the Bowaters system in Sittingbourne, Kent, which finished in 1969.

As mentioned above, a lot of other narrow gauge lines have existed and still continue to exist as tourist attractions.

 

[Calthrop]

Define 'normal'. If a railway was built with seasonal, tourist use as it's raison d'etre isn't it entirely 'normal' for it be used in that way today?

Examples would be the Snowdon Mountain Railway, the WHR and the Great Orme Tram and that's just in north west Wales. They're doing what they were designed to do. Surely that counts as 'normal traffic' for them?

If we are talking non-electric, then the Isle of Man Railway in the pre-Ailsa era was the last real passenger/freight line, so that would be 1965 when it "hibernated" prior to re-opening, effectively as a tourist attraction (with some abortive attempts at freight) in 1967.

In the UK otherwise, the County Donegal worked passenger/freight in and out of Strabane (NI) until 1960.

As far as narrow gauge steam is concerned, a freight only (and workers passenger) contender would be the Bowaters system in Sittingbourne, Kent, which finished in 1969.

As mentioned above, a lot of other narrow gauge lines have existed and still continue to exist as tourist attractions.

"Nitpickery" on my part perhaps: with the OP's words being "in the UK", but: posters cite the railways of the Isle of Man, which is as @dubscottie says, jurisdiction-wise not in the UK -- are we, in practice, focusing on the geographical area of the British Isles, without constraints of "who governs where"? With Ireland having been brought into the mix (the CDRJC, with its mile or two on UK territory at the Strabane end): narrow gauge serving genuine transport needs, lasted a little longer in the Republic: in the shape of the West Clare system, abandoned early in 1961.

@Tomos y Tanc: I would respectfully demur, as regards (my bolding above) the Welsh Highland. This line originated with the idea / in part the reality, of being a "real" railway fulfilling transport needs -- as well as catering to tourists; its northern part as far as Rhyd-Ddu opened in the late 19th century, as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway: among other things, serving slate quarries. Rhydd-Ddu -- Beddgelert -- Porthmadog, opened in the early 1920s, was originally intended to provide genuine transport for local dwellers, in addition to tourism-type doings -- albeit this failed really to take off, and the WHR up to 1937 was in actual fact almost exclusively a tourist line.

 

[30907]

The school service finished a few years ago

The Ravenglass and Eskdale also ran a commuter-type service, with an early train around 0740 - I am not sure when that finished, nor whether it ran pre-preservation. Both survived much longer than the others mentioned, though pedants might call them miniature rather than n/g anyway

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

TfL’s Journey Planner has previously included the Ruislip Lido Railway in results for relevant journeys. All depends on your definition of ‘normal’

 

[matchmaker]

In the Irish Republic the last operating passenger/goods narrow gauge line was the West Clare which closed in February 1961, despite extensive modernisation in the mid 1950s which included complete dieselisation.

 

[vlad]

How about the Vale of Rheidol Railway? If it was operated by BR then you can argue it must have done more than just carry tourists along the valley.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

How about the Vale of Rheidol Railway? If it was operated by BR then you can argue it must have done more than just carry tourists along the valley.

Not really - the "public service" of freight and local passengers really ceased by 1939 - closure of lead mines etc and road transit for other goods. - the line slept over the war years - till sole tourism came back.

The venerable Talyllyn of course carried both local parcels and light goods into the preservation era and of course ran Friday shopping trains for the locals ....

 

[marsker]

How does the Welshpool and Llanfair fit in here, it ran a freight service under BR until 3/11/56.

 

[Belperpete]

"Nitpickery" on my part perhaps: with the OP's words being "in the UK"

Even more nit-pickery, while the OP mentions the UK in his preamble, neither the thread title, nor the question asked in the OP, restrict discussion to the UK.
So, which narrow gauge line was the "last one" to keep the traffic for normal transport? and which year the line closed/ turned to a heritage line？

As mentioned previously, the Talyllyn never closed, and technically neither did the Ffestiniog. Both still serve as a transport system for locals, and I would hazard a guess that the numbers of locals carried now is probably not dissimilar to those carried immediately pre-preservation. Although nowadays totally dwarfed by the numbers of tourists.

If you are talking about railways that retained their original normal purpose, then the Post Office Railway should count. Closed 2003, re-opened as a heritage line in 2017.

There are of course many narrow gauge railways outside the UK that have retained their original normal purpose (as well as carrying tourists), and are still running, such as those in Switzerland, Austria, Germany..........

 

[AlbertBeale]

Whilst some would argue it is an inclined elevator, there is a short funicular railway at the north end of London’s Millennium Bridge

Really? Where exactly? I've never noticed it...

 

[Ploughman]

In the 70's there were a number of narrow gauge lines hauling sand from fields between Ormskirk and Skelmersdale.
Not permanent but moved as extraction moved on from field to field.
All for the glass industry in St Helens.

 

[341o2]

Hythe Pier

Hythe Pier has to be the winner as it was commercially operated by Blue Funnel, its most recent owner, until handed over to the Pier Association last year

 

[341o2]

The venerable Talyllyn of course carried both local parcels and light goods into the preservation era and of course ran Friday shopping trains for the locals ....

The Talyllyn never ran special shopping trains, but Rolt felt, despite almost entirely relying on tourists, the needs of those living locally and relying on the train outweighed those visiting the area. It was this principle which led him to run the Friday train, despite a broken spring on the loco

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The Talyllyn never ran special shopping trains, but Rolt felt, despite almost entirely relying on tourists, the needs of those living locally and relying on the train outweighed those visiting the area. It was this principle which led him to run the Friday train, despite a broken spring on the loco

Agreed - and Rolt thoroughly enjoyed the serving the community ethos , - but of course with no slate and little local traffic , the line would have struggled to say the least had not tourism arrived.

The TR did run some bespoke Winter Friday only "shopping" trains in the 1970's , but not for long as good as it was for the community , the numbers were unsustainable. They did run some diesel shuttles last year when road works closed off direct access to Abergynolwyn. Excellent initiative .......

Slightly off topic - but in 1990 had the pleasure of traveling on the then DR operated Radebeul line in Dresden , which still carried on "local" functions - a frequent service to quite late evening , local newspapers and parcels carried in the van and a reasonable number of locals travelling into the big city via NG and tram for an evening out. We were quizzed as to where we had come from......

 

[Shimbleshanks]

In the 70's there were a number of narrow gauge lines hauling sand from fields between Ormskirk and Skelmersdale.
Not permanent but moved as extraction moved on from field to field.
All for the glass industry in St Helens.

If we're including freight, then there are a few industrial systems still serving their original purpose including those in mines, peat bogs and major tunneling contracts like the new Thames water main and, until quite recently, the Crossrail tunnels. Worth noting that the Hythe Pier Railway also carries freight in the form of fuel oil for the ferry.

(Just read the original post again - industrial railways are excluded. So that leaves the Hythe Pier Railway, which is also arguably the only narrow gauge line left to form part of an urban transport system, unless you include the 4ft gauge Glasgow subway.)

 

[Gostav]

The TR did run some bespoke Winter Friday only "shopping" trains in the 1970's , but not for long as good as it was for the community , the numbers were unsustainable. They did run some diesel shuttles last year when road works closed off direct access to Abergynolwyn. Excellent initiative .......

Really? What about the fare at that time?

 

[30907]

Slightly off topic - but in 1990 had the pleasure of traveling on the then DR operated Radebeul line in Dresden , which still carried on "local" functions - a frequent service to quite late evening , local newspapers and parcels carried in the van and a reasonable number of locals travelling into the big city via NG and tram for an evening out. We were quizzed as to where we had come from......

And its timetable and fare structure (local period travelcards are valid IIRC) still reflects residual local traffic.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

And its timetable and fare structure (local period travelcards are valid IIRC) still reflects residual local traffic.

Certainly still school traffic evident on the line - or there was last time I went on it. Nothing though can beat that 1990 ambience of a "proper" working , slightly gritty , brown coal burning train service. (Especially when the connection back to Dresden was an olive green DR double decker - where again we were quizzed by the local travellers) Marvellous.

 

[Journeyman]

Not really - the "public service" of freight and local passengers really ceased by 1939 - closure of lead mines etc and road transit for other goods. - the line slept over the war years - till sole tourism came back.

According to Wikipedia, the GWR axed winter services as early as 1933, so the VoR wasn't a viable form of regular public transport after that.

 

[vlad]

Not really - the "public service" of freight and local passengers really ceased by 1939 - closure of lead mines etc and road transit for other goods. - the line slept over the war years - till sole tourism came back.

I assumed the smiley would make it obvious I was being tongue-in-cheek. Apologies that wasn't understood - I'll keep my jokes to myself from now on.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I assumed the smiley would make it obvious I was being tongue-in-cheek. Apologies that wasn't understood - I'll keep my jokes to myself from now on.

Jokes are very welcome ......keep them coming - banter is excellent !!!!

 

[Belperpete]

The Ffestiniog has locals railcards, and also used to be part of British Rail's Red Star parcels network for awhile, so not totally a tourist line. It still maintains its railway letter service, but I doubt many locals use it.