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.
These pictures are displayed for research/information purposes only and are not for sale or copy under any circumstances. Captions have been researched as thoroughly as is possible but the information contained therein cannot be guaranteed.
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No.2 SEVERN - believed to have been built as a tender engine for the St. Helens Railway in about 1853. Numbered 23 and named HERO, it passed to the L.N.W.R. as No. 1389 before being sold in 1865 to J. Cross and Company, who altered it to a side tank engine. In 1869 it became No. 2 of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier Company. When that company was taken over by the Midland and Great Western Railways in 1890, the locomotive was sold and its subsequent history is obscure until 1911, when Col. Stephens purchased it from the Grief Colliery. By then it had become an 0-4-2ST named HECATE. The name was changed to SEVERN in 1916. The loco was withdrawn during the early 1920's.
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No.2 SEVERN - believed to have been built as a tender engine for the St. Helens Railway in about 1853. Numbered 23 and named HERO, it passed to the L.N.W.R. as No. 1389 before being sold in 1865 to J. Cross and Company, who altered it to a side tank engine. In 1869 it became No. 2 of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier Company. When that company was taken over by the Midland and Great Western Railways in 1890, the locomotive was sold and its subsequent history is obscure until 1911, when Col. Stephens purchased it from the Grief Colliery. By then it had become an 0-4-2ST named HECATE. The name was changed to SEVERN in 1916. The loco was withdrawn during the early 1920's.

  • LLANMYNECH STATION - To the right is the Cambrian Railways station at Llanmynech and on the left, very overgrown, is the derelict SMR station in 1902.
  • LLANYMYNECH STATION - A not very good computer produced image from 1931 showing the S&MLR waiting room and platform.
  • LLANYMYNECH STATION - Seen here in August 1946 with a GWR train for Llanfyllyn, being seen off by females of various sizes, and WD 70084 in the foreground. This loco started life as GER No.388, in 1923 becoming LNER Class J67 No.7388. In October 1940 one of 13 redundant locos sold to the War Department, renumbered to WD No.84, then to No.70084 in 1945. It left the S&MLR in May 1948.
  • LLANYMYNECH STATION - Seen here looking north in 1932 with the S&M curling away to the right.
  • MAESBROOK STATION - Seen here in 1902 after the folding of the Potts and before reopening in 1911.
  • MAESBROOK STATION - This was the last station before Llanymynech and, as can be plainly seen, facilities were not lavish but no doubt sufficient to handle the traffic generated. This lady is probably the entire staff. It closed in 1933 along with the rest of the railway.
  • MELVERLEY - Second stop on the Criggion Branch in October 1931. It doesn't look like a hive of activity, does it?
  • No.2 - Webb LNWR Coal Engine 0-6-o - built 12/1874 by Crewe Works as LNWR No. 2167 - 01/18 to LNWR No.3563, 1924 to LMS No.8108 - 02/30 bought by SMLR, to No.2 - 12/40 SMLR taken over by Army - 11/46 withdrawn - 04/50 broken up at Swindon Works - seen here with WD on the tender, probably withdrawn (no rods). Note that it never carried No.2.
  • No.2 - Webb LNWR Coal Engine 0-6-o - built 12/1874 by Crewe Works as LNWR No. 2167 - 01/18 to LNWR No.3563, 1924 to LMS No.8108 - 02/30 bought by SMLR, to No.2 - 12/40 SMLR taken over by Army - 11/46 withdrawn - 04/50 broken up at Swindon Works - the first vehicle in the train is the ex-LSWR Royal Coach.
  • No.2 SEVERN - believed to have been built as a tender engine for the St. Helens Railway in about 1853. Numbered 23 and named HERO, it passed to the L.N.W.R. as No. 1389 before being sold in 1865 to J. Cross and Company, who altered it to a side tank engine. In 1869 it became No. 2 of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier Company. When that company was taken over by the Midland and Great Western Railways in 1890, the locomotive was sold and its subsequent history is obscure until 1911, when Col. Stephens purchased it from the Grief Colliery. By then it had become an 0-4-2ST named HECATE. The name was changed to SEVERN in 1916. The loco was withdrawn during the early 1920's.
  • No.3 HESPERUS - Beattie LSWR 'Ilfracombe Goods' 0-6-0 - built 1875 by Beyer Peacock Ltd. as LSWR No.324 - 1911 sold to Colonel Stephens, initially for use on the S&MLR - 1934 withdrawn - 1941 scrapped - seen here at Kinnerley.
  • No.3 HESPERUS - Beattie LSWR 'Ilfracombe Goods' 0-6-0 - built 1875 by Beyer Peacock Ltd. as LSWR No.324 - 1911 sold to Colonel Stephens, initially for use on the S&MLR - 1934 withdrawn - 1941 scrapped - seen here at Kinnerley in 1933.
  • No.5 PYRAMUS - 0-6-2T built 1911 by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. - 1916 to Government for military use, to WD No.WD84 - about 1931 withdrawn and offered for sale.
  • No.6 THISBE - Beattie LSWR 'Ilfracombe Goods' 0-6-0 - built 03/1873 by Beyer Peacock & Co. as LSWR No.283 - 06/1888 rebuilt to conventional appearance - 1899 to Duplicate List as No.0283 - 1913 withdrawn - 05/16 to S&MLR as No.6 THISBE - 1934 withdrawn - 1937 scrapped.
  • No.6 THISBE - Beattie LSWR 'Ilfracombe Goods' 0-6-0 - built 1873 by Beyer Peacock Ltd. as LSWR No.283 - 05/16 sold to Colonel Stephens, initially for use on the K&ESR but eventually for the S&MLR - 1934 withdrawn - 1937 scrapped.
  • No.6 THISBE - Beattie LSWR 'Ilfracombe Goods' 0-6-0 - built 1873 by Beyer Peacock Ltd. as LSWR No.283 - 05/16 sold to Colonel Stephens, initially for use on the K&ESR but eventually for the S&MLR - 1934 withdrawn - 1937 scrapped.
  • No.9 DAPHNE - Stroudley LBSCR Class A1X 'Terrier' 0-6-0T - built August 1880 by Brighton Works as LBSCR No.83 EARLSWOOD - later to LBSCR No.683 - 01/18 sold for £1,200 to the Admiralty - 1922 to Dalmore Distillery, Invergordon - 11/23 sold for £470 to Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway as No. 9 DAPHNE - 1931 withdrawn - 1932 brought back from S&MR and purchased by Southern Railway as spares source at Eastleigh - 04/49 scrapped at Eastleigh - seen here at Eastleigh in July 1939.
  • SHRAWADINE VIADUCT - The major engineering feat on the railway was the construction of the double track, seven arch viaduct over the River Severn. Only a single track was ever laid. The viaduct was dismantled when the railway closed.
  • SHRAWARDINE STATION - Opened in 1866 by the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway, closed in June 1880 when that railway ceased to be. Colonel Stephens, ever the optimist, reopened the line in 1911 and all of the stations. This view of Shrawardine dates from 09/37, looking towards Llanymynech, and shows the full extent of the facilities! The station had already been closed for 4 years when this was taken.
  • SHREWSBURY ABBEY STATION - I think that this is a picture taken during first manifestation of the railway, as the Potteries, Shrews­bury & North Wales Railway, probably dating from the 1880's.
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