The Trefor Quarry railway was an industrial, narrow-gauge railway connecting the Trefor granite quarry with the pier at Llanaelhaearn on the Llŷn Peninsula.
History
The Trefor granite quarry (also known as the Yr Eifl quarry) opened in 1850. In 1855 the quarry applied to build a jetty on the coast to ship granite products. The pier was not built, but the application was renewed in 1867, the pier being built by 1870 and a railway was constructed connecting the quarry with the pier. There had been horse-worked internal quarry tramways as early as 1865.
In 1873 steam locomotives were introduced to work in the quarry and along the ½ mile long section from the foot of the quarry incline to the pier. One incline was particularly steep with one section at a gradient of 1 in 1¾, said to be the steepest incline in any granite quarry in Britain.
A short branch line served the village of Trefor at the foot of the incline. This branch was lifted before 1920. From 1951 onwards the railway was gradually replaced by road transport. The main incline was abandoned in 1959 and the railway finally closed in 1962.
Locomotives
NumberNameBuilderTypeDateWorks numberNotesDe Winton1873Scrapped by 1914De Winton1875Scrapped by 1914IsabelW.G. Bagnall19001614Scrapped 1930BettyHunslet19121101To Brymbo Steel Co., Hook Norton in 1942; scrapped in 1949RedstoneDarbishire's1905Only briefly ran at Trefor in 1921MichaelKerr Stuart19172494Withdrawn in 1932; subsequently scrappedMarkKerr Stuart19204213ex-War Department Light Railways; scrapped by 1938Motor Rail19181378ex-War Department Light Railways; soldMotor Rail19253736Rebuilt ex-War Department Light Railways locomotive; scrappedMotor Rail19305513To Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co.1Motor Rail19315609sold. Now at the Chasewater Railway2Motor Rail19181078Rebuilt ex-War Department Light Railways locomotive; scrapped by 19542Motor Rail19375949Sold or scrapped3Motor RailSold or scrapped by 19543Motor Rail19387221Sold4 (ex-6)Motor Rail19295025Sold5Motor RailSold or scrapped5Hunslet19412207Sold in 1965 to Rich Morris. Moved to Gloddfa Ganol in 1977. Put on display at Duffws station in 1979.6Hunslet19412208Withdrawn by 19627Ruston & Hornsby1938189953Sold8Motor Rail19408570Sold or scrapped 19549Hunslet19402024ex-Forestry Commission. Sold in 1962 to the Cwt-y-Bugail quarry. Now preserved at the Bala Lake Railway.10Hunslet19402025ex-Forestry Commission; withdrawn by 196111Hunslet1940Sold12Ruston & Hornsby1940200480Scrapped c. 1960
See also British industrial narrow gauge railways
References