HISTORY

Horsehay and Dawley station lost its passenger services on Monday 23rd July 1962.  As there was no Sunday service, the last passenger trains ran on Saturday 21st July 1962. Freight services were withdrawn from Monday 6th July 1964 with the majority of the Wellington to Much Wenlock line being lifted. The line from Heath Hill tunnel to Lightmoor Junction remained in place under a special agreement between British Railways and A B Cranes, for the occasional departures of very large and heavy constructruction items from their Horsehay Works. This agreement ended in 1979 and the line was finally closed.

In its final years, it had become a quiet rural little branch line backwater, giving little clue to its long and productive service extending back to 1859 and the opening of the first section of the Severn Junction Railway from Ketley to Horsehay.

KETLEY AND HORSEHAY

Horsehay had, in fact, a much earlier history, with the first Horsehay blast furnace in use by 1755 as part of the Coalbrookdale Company, and by 1769, the first cast iron plateway (replacing earlier wooden wagon-ways), had been introduced to serve the various Coalbrookdale works and the interconnecting mines and other sources of raw materials essential to the operation of the largest ironworks in the world. In 1861 the Severn Junction Railway was leased for operation by the Great Western Railway, and within six years, the line had extended from Wellington to Craven Arms, giving an overall running length of 28 miles. By the late 19th century the Coalbrookdale Company was contracting, and with the Horsehay furnaces blown-out, the site was taken over by a new company, The Horsehay Company Limited. Established in 1886 the new company levelled the existing site and proceeded to fabricate bridges which were assembled, on-site before disassembly for transport to the furthermost corners of the British Empire. For the next 40 years, the yard at Horsehay (now our Spring Village station), was a scene of intense activity with 10 sidings and works access lines with a capacity of over 200 wagons. As many of the products leaving the works were classified as ‘exceptional loads’, the yards would have hosted some of the more ‘exotic’ transporter wagons, making a mouth-watering site no doubt for contemporary train spotters!

THE 1920'S AND ONWARDS

By the late 1920’s, production was declining in the period of recession following the First World War, but once again the branch had a revival of fortune with the resumption of hostilities in 1939. Munitions and armaments trains would pass through en-route to one of the many undisclosed ‘somewhere in England’ destinations referred to in the War-time Pathe News broadcasts in the build up to D-Day. Branch lines such as ours were important arteries in those black days of the early 1940’s, enabling crucial supplies to snake their way around the country, bypassing the main lines that would have been targeted for attention by enemy bombers. Post-war, with the expansion in road building, bus transport and changes in population and employment patterns, our branch, in company with countless others around the country, succumbed to the new climate of economic rationalisation. 

FINAL YEARS AND CLOSURE

Our very grateful thanks to our friend Nick Dodson at RAILFILMS LIMITED, for creating and allowing us to publish this video extract showing the line in its later years, including shots of Horsehay and Dawley station, and the final train on 21st July 1962.

RAILFILMS LIMITED have a fantastic collection of railway DVDs for sale covering steam, diesel, historical and current railway operations. See ​https://www.telerail.co.uk/railfilms-titles/ for more details

Our very grateful thanks also go to our friend Karl Jauncey at PSOV, for allowing us to publish this video extract showing the line again in its later years, with three trips along the line including shots of Horsehay and Dawley station, Heath Hill tunnel and the final train again on 21st July 1962.

PSOV also have a fantastic collection of railway DVDs and CDs for sale covering historical and current steam railway operations. See ​https://www.mainlinesteam.net for more details

THE TELFORD HORSEHAY STEAM TRUST

The origins of the Telford Horsehay Steam Trust (THST) can be traced back to mid-1972 when as part of the Spring Village landscaping scheme, Telford Development Corporation (TDC) formulated the idea of purchasing and restoring a steam locomotive for display in the former Horsehay Companies loco shed.

It took until 1976 for the chain of events to take place that led to the formation of Telford Horsehay Steam Trust. The aims of THST were somewhat different from that of the original TDC idea.
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Work soon started on restoring 5619 to working order. 5619 was first steamed in 1981 making the THST the smallest railway to restore an ex-Barry locomotive. 5619 was steamed at several open days held at the loco shed. When BR closed its rail link to the adjoining AB Cranes factory, TDC purchased the line from Lightmoor to Horsehay leasing half the half-mile Horsehay to Heath Hill section to THST. The steam railway was opened to the public in 1984. Since then THST has changed its name to Telford Steam Railway and consolidated its site adding more rolling stock, a narrow gauge tramway, model railway and many site improvements.

​VOLUNTEERING

You don’t need to have any experience to volunteer with us at Telford Steam Railway. All we ask is that you’re positive and enthusiastic, take pride in your work and can work as part of a team. Whatever your skills or interests, and are always in need of more help; from operating services, maintenance staff, through to support activities such as marketing, assisting in shops and gardening. We’ll find you a brilliant role that you’ll absolutely love. Our volunteers are of all ages and backgrounds. Some are in Education, some have retired, others take their holidays working on the railway. Certain roles however such as steam/diesel footplate crew have a minimum age of 18 due to the safety critical nature of the roles. We’ve got lots of volunteering opportunities for young people, those who’ve retired and even lots of part time options for those who can only spare a few hours each week. Volunteering on a heritage railway can use every skill known to the human hand. All railways use skills in every department that you will find in the common workplace, but don’t worry if you’re not sure about the idea of doing your day job as a volunteer, there are plenty of other roles that you could participate in.  If you’d like to volunteer with Telford Steam Railway, the first step is to join the Telford Horsehay Steam Trust as a Member. We’ll then share more details about the departments you’re interested in, to help you understand the duties and responsibilities, and remember, you donate as much or a little time as you want. ​

LEARN MORE

Photographs & Documents from the Past

We are slowly collating together a large quantity of images and documents that show the Telford Steam Railways past in a different light. If you click the link below, it will take you to the beginning of our library.

​If you have any pictures or documents you think should be added, send them across the [email protected].

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