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Mangotsfield to Bath Branch, The by Colin Maggs Loco Papers #183 Soft Cover
Mangotsfield to Bath Branch, The by Colin Maggs
Locomotive Papers 183
Soft cover
Copyright 1992
112 pages
Contents
Introduction 4
Chapter OneA Mangotsfield to Bath Branch is planned 5
Chapter TwoConstruction 11
Chapter Three Opening 15
Chapter FourConsolidation 19
Chapter FiveClosure 22
Chapter SixDescription of the Route 25
Chapter Seven Locomotives 71
Chapter Eight Bath Motive Power Depot 79
Chapter NiuePassenger Timetables and Push-Pull Working 83
Chapter TenGoods Train Services and Operation 90
Chapter Eleven Signalling and Permanent Way 94
Chapter Twelve Accidents 99
Chapter Thirteen The Avon Valley Railway 1991 - and Beyond
by A. Wray 103
Appendix One Some Interesting Operating Details 109
Appendix Two Logs of Runs 111
Bibliography 112
Introduction
Bath, Queen City of the West, has been a place of importance since very early times, tending to specialise in health or the recreational side of life. The Romans eagerly utilised the hot mineral springs to feed their baths, which fell into disuse as the Anglo-Saxons preferred country to town life. Edgar, first King of England, was crowned in Bath Abbey on Whit Sunday 973. Following the doldrums of Medieval and Elizabethan eras as far as Bath was concerned, the population remaining at about 1000 for 500 years, three very remarkable men co-operated to improve the city.
Richard Nash, commonly called Beau Nash, a gamester who had been in the fastest set at Oxford, came to Bath in 1704 and, elected as Master of Ceremonies, changed society to conform to a strict etiquette. Instead of strolling under trees in the Grove (now Orange Grove) and dancing on the bowling green, visitors now enjoyed music in the Pump Room and handsome Assembly Rooms specially erected for their gatherings.
Ralph Allen who had already made his fortune as a mail contractor, in his role as a quarry owner was anxious to prove the building value of Bath stone and brought John Wood to the city to construct outstanding classical squares and crescents.
It was the exploitation of this stone which caused a very early railway to be built in 1731. It enabled large blocks weighing upwards of four tons to be carried economically from Combe Down to the River Avon at Widcombe one and a half miles distant and 500 feet below. Loaded wagons descended the gradient of 1 in 10 by gravity, horses being used as motive power on the level and to draw each empty wagon uphill. The timber rails were set at a gauge of 3ft 9 in. and on them ran the wagons' flanged wheels. Ralph Allen died in 1764 and shortly afterwards his railway was dismantled. The population of Bath in 1750 was about 9,000, in 1801 34,150 and in 1841, the year the Great Western Railway was opened from Bristol to London, 53,206.
The spa continued to be used through Victorian times, while a certain amount of industry developed, particularly Stothert & Pitt's, iron founders and crane builders. Because of such easy access to Bath from all parts of the kingdom, particularly following the opening of the Midland Railway's branch in 1869, the city became an educational centre, with five large hoarding schools.
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