2. RAILWAYS
  3. COLONEL STEPHENS' RAILWAY EMPIRE

THE SHROPSHIRE & MONTGOMERYSHIRE LIGHT RAILWAY

The optimistically entitled Potteries, Shrews­bury & North Wales Railway, opened over 18 route miles from Shrewsbury to Llanymynech and on to the Nantmawr quarry on August 16th, 1866. A branch to Criggion was opened a little later. It was never profitable and amidst increasing financial difficulties deteriorated to such an extent that it was forced to close on June 22, 1880, one of the very few railways to close in Victorian times. Efforts to reopen the railway with a new company, Shropshire Railways, were made around 1890 and although considerable reconstruction work was undertaken the project was stillborn.
Colonel Holman F. Stephens took an interest in derelict line, referred to locally as "The Potts", and decided it was not dead, but sleeping. He obtained a Light Railway Order and reconstructed it economically using the original infrastructure were possible. It was reopened as the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway on April 11th, 1911, from Shrewsbury to Llanymynech with the branch to Criggion opening on July 1st,1912. To work the line he assembled an interesting collection of locomotives and vehicles.
The railway ordered two new engines, 0-6-2 T, named 'Pyramus' and 'Thisbe'. These were not a success, and were sold to the Government in 1916. The mainstay of the Railway then became three Ex LSWR 'Ilfracombe Goods' an in addition there were several oddities. The first loco was the minute 2-2-2 tank engine Gazelle, which served an inspection loco and then as a service loco on the Criggion branch. A Manning Wardle 'Morous' and an ancient 0-4-2ST 'Severn' (initially 'Hecate') of uncertain vintage completed the early roster .Three Terrier locomotives came in the 1920's but fell by the wayside in that decade and finally three ex LNWR 'Coal Engines' came from the LMS. A Ford railmotor set completed the roster.
With bus competition daily passenger services ceased in 1933 and the Great Depression of that decade caused a severe decline in revenue. By 1940 partial closure loomed but the line was taken over by the Army for servicing a network of munitions stores and in this guise the Railway survived in MOD use till 1960.
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SHREWSBURY ABBEY STATION - The ramshackle terminus of the S&MLR. Opened in August 1866, it closed again in June 1880 when the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway went bust. It lay dormant and unused until April 1911 when the line was resurrected by the efforts of Colonel Stephens, only to close again to passengers in November 1933 - even the Colonel's renowned parsimony could not keep it open! A freight service of sorts operated until 1939, when the whole line came under government control. Abbey Station opened for a third time in 1941 when the MOD took it over, rebuilt the line and opened ammunition depots along its length, remaining under WD control until nationalised in 1948. The line finally closed in 1960, although the oil sidings at Shrewsbury remained open until 1988.
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SHREWSBURY ABBEY STATION - The ramshackle terminus of the S&MLR. Opened in August 1866, it closed again in June 1880 when the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway went bust. It lay dormant and unused until April 1911 when the line was resurrected by the efforts of Colonel Stephens, only to close again to passengers in November 1933 - even the Colonel's renowned parsimony could not keep it open! A freight service of sorts operated until 1939, when the whole line came under government control. Abbey Station opened for a third time in 1941 when the MOD took it over, rebuilt the line and opened ammunition depots along its length, remaining under WD control until nationalised in 1948. The line finally closed in 1960, although the oil sidings at Shrewsbury remained open until 1988.

  • SHREWSBURY ABBEY STATION - Shrewsbury Abbey station opened on August 13th, 1866, as the temporary end of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway (always known locally as 'The Potts'). When the station became the permanent terminus after financial difficulties caused the abandonment of the planned extension to Market Drayton, it struggled to make money. On June 22nd, 1880, Shrewsbury Abbey closed for the first time when the railway could no longer continue services; a rare example of a railway closure in Britain in the 19th century. Several attempts were made to reopen the railway and in the 1890/91 a start was made on remodelling the station before financial problems again caused work to cease. The station was finally reopened on 13 April 1911 with a rebuilt line now known as the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. It finally closed to all passengers on 6 November 1933.
  • SHREWSBURY ABBEY STATION - The ramshackle terminus of the S&MLR. Opened in August 1866, it closed again in June 1880 when the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway went bust. It lay dormant and unused until April 1911 when the line was resurrected by the efforts of Colonel Stephens, only to close again to passengers in November 1933 - even the Colonel's renowned parsimony could not keep it open! A freight service of sorts operated until 1939, when the whole line came under government control. Abbey Station opened for a third time in 1941 when the MOD took it over, rebuilt the line and opened ammunition depots along its length, remaining under WD control until nationalised in 1948. The line finally closed in 1960, although the oil sidings at Shrewsbury remained open until 1988.
  • WAGON LABEL - LIVESTOCK.
  • WAGON LABEL - SHREWSBURY to FORD - On February 21st, 1948, a wagon of type undisclosed was sent from Shrewsbury to the large army depot at Ford airfield.
  • WAGON LABEL - SUGAR BEET - URGENT - (1) - Dating from the 1920's, the idea of anything being regarded as urgent on the S&MLR is difficult to believe. Interestingly, someone had used the rear as some sort of shopping list, presumably for a load of builders materials to be conveyed on the line.
  • WAGON LABEL - SUGAR BEET - URGENT - (2) - Dating from the 1920's, the idea of anything being regarded as urgent on the S&MLR is difficult to believe. Interestingly, someone had used the rear as some sort of shopping list, presumably for a load of builders materials to be conveyed on the line.
  • WAGON LABEL - This is actually a label printed whilst under the stewardship of the War Department (note date of 194?) but none the less interesting for that. Note also that the Army can't spell - RYL?
  • WD 125 - AUSTERITY 0-6-0ST - built 1943 by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn Ltd, Works No.7099 as WD No..75063 - later to WD No.125 - seen here at Shrewsbury Abbey in 1959.
  • WD 188 - AUSTERITY 0-6-0ST - built 1945 by Vulcan Foundry Ltd, Works No.5284 as WD No..75284 - later to WD No.188 - seen here in September 1958 on an SLS Railtour.
  • WD 189 - AUSTERITY 0-6-0ST - built 1945 by Vulcan Foundry Ltd, Works No.5285 as WD No..75285 - later to WD No.189 - seen here at Kinnerley Junction in May 1955 on SLS/MLS Railtour.
  • WD 189 - AUSTERITY 0-6-0ST - built 1945 by Vulcan Foundry Ltd, Works No.5285, as WD No..75285 - later to WD No.189 - seen here at Llandymynech on May 22nd, 1955, on an SLS Railtour.
  • WD 9105 - Wickham Inspection Trolley crosses the River Severn Viaduct near Crew Green on the Criggion Branch.
  • WD 75187 - AUSTERITY 0-6-0ST - built 1944 by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn Ltd, Works No.7137 - later to WD No.151 - seen here at Kinnerley, 04/47, with 75141 (Hunslet 1944, Works No.3192, later WD No.139).
  • WERN JUNCTION - The point at which the SMR joined the Cambrian Railway at it's western end. Seen here in 1902, the Cambrian line goes to the left, the SMR to the right - note sleeper across the SMR.
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