Post 1939 Welsh Military Railways
Wales was home to some of the largest War Department railway systems and Royal Ordnance factories in the UK. The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway, ROF Bridgend, and ROF Wrexham.
My research is on going, but I have been fortunate in recent years to have visited the Royal Ordnance Factory in Glascoed, Royal Armament Depot in Trecwn and the former Royal Navel Propellant Factory in Caerwent.
Reference information on locos can be found in the The Industrial Railway Society,s publications. Some railway layouts can be found in Tony Cooke's Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR (WR) (being reprinted by Lightmoor Press).
US Army Transport Corps S160 2-8-0 Locomotives Stored In South Wales 1943-1944
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This is a copy of perhaps the only photo confirmed to date of the Treforest site. It shows the long line of stored S160s on the up line stretching away into the distance and originally appeared in the Daily Mirror and probably elsewhere, The date us not known but the state of the trees suggests winter or the start of spring. Note how the down line has been left unobstructed for GWR coal traffic from the Rhondda Valleys. At the lower level the former Taff Vale Railway main line can be seen in the Cardiff direction with Pontypridd being behind the photographer. Note the proximity of the public road. (SLS Library, courtesy Gerry Nicholas) |
This shows the Penrhos site which, it was an official US Army photo taken, according to the stereotypical ‘caption somewhere in Britain’. If not almost full at the with the probable total of 152 S160’s stored there. Note also the poor quality of the coal in the tender partially visible at the lower right. It may have been left over after running trials in traffic and/or provided a ‘starter’; for initial steaming after arrival in France. (SLS Library, courtesy Gerry Nichilas) |
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Although the exact date of this image at Penrhos is not known, the state of the trees and bushes suggest winter or very early spring whist there is also evidence of an overnight frost. The site also appears to be fairly, if not entirely, full. It is known that a series of official US Army photographs were taken at the Ebbw Junction, Newport shops on 15 March 1944 so this photo may date from the same period or even the same day. USATC No 2564 in the foreground was unusual in being fitted with automatic couplers. Its exact arrival date at the Penrhos site is not known but it was there by 7 March 1944 at the latest. No 2564 arrived on the Continent in September 1944 through Cherbourg.(US Army photo, courtesy US National Archives) |
This photo of the Penrhos site was probably taken on the same occasion as Image 3 and looks west. The sentry will probably have belonged to USATC 756 Railway Shop Battalion’s detachment based at Ebbw Junction, Newport. (US Army photo, courtesy US National Archives) |
This image, taken in March 1944 shows the workshops facility at the GWR/s Newport Ebbw Junction motive power depot. At that time, most of the adjacent shops facility was occupied by the 756 Railway Shop Battalion, US Army who were preparing USATC S160 2-8-0s for storage. Those with the tender top covered have recently arrived in Britain whilst those with it uncovered are undergoing, or have recently undergone, steam tests and running trials prior to being taken to one of the storage sites. Note the S100 0-6-0T which is being used as the shops pilot/shunter. (US Army photo, courtesy US National Archives)
Further reading on the >> US Army Transport Corps S160 2-8-0 Locomotives In South Wales, by John Bushby.
Selected Reading
- The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway Under Military Control 1940 – 1960. - Mike Christensen, Lightmoor Press, 2011, ISBN 9781899889549
- Damage And Disruption on the Railways Of Great Britain during World War 2. B.W.L. Brooksbank. Privately published,
- History of the Second World War United Kingdom Civil Seriess: Inland Transport. C.I. Savage, HMSO/Longmans, Green & Co, 1957.
- History of the British Railways During the War 1939-1945. R Bell, (Railway Gazette, 1946)
- Allied Military Locomotives Of The Second World War. R. Tourret, Tourett Publishing, 1995, ISBN 0-905878-06-X
- Beachley And The First World War, The Story Of A Shipyard, A Railway And The Transformation Of A Rural Parish. Carol & Richard Clammer, Lightmoor Press, 2018, ISBN 978 1911038 26 9
- Continent, Coalfield and Conservation The biographical history of the British Army Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tank. A.P. Lambert & J.C. Woods, IRS, 1991, ISBN 0 901096 63 6
- Locomotives In Profile Volume 2. edited Brian Reed, Profile Publications, 1972, ISBN 0 85383 051 7
- Locomotives Of The Ministry Of Defence. (including predecessors e.g. War Department, Air Ministry etc) R. K. Hartley, IRS, 1992, ISBN 0 901096 71 7
- Over Here The Story of the United States Army Transportation Corps Class S160 locomotives. R.N. Higgins, Big Jim Publishing, 1980, ISBN 0 907234 00 8
- The USA 756TH RSB (Railway Shop Battalion) At Newport (Ebbw Junction). E.R. Mountford, Oakwood, 1989, ISBN 0 85361 380 X
- Heavy Goods Engines Of The War Department Vols 1 to 3. J.W.P. Rowledge, Springmead Railway Books, 1972,
- Railways At War: Cumbria and its Adjacent Counties. John M Hammond, Cumbrian Railways Association, 2019, ISBN 14666812. (covers WW1 Admiralty coal trains in detail including South Wales aspects)
- WRRC Journal Volume 5 Supplement. Trains to Tremains.
- Railway Archive, 19(2008) 3-32. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 20(2008) 21-45. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 21(2008) 26-27. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 22(2009) 66. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 23(2009) 41-57. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 24(2009) 67. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 25(2009) 67. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive, 26(2010) 68. Keith Turton, Admiralty Coal Traffic During The First World War.
- Railway Archive 23, 2009. Edward Talbot, The Jellicoe Trains.
- BackTrack August 2006. Martin Bodman, Coals To Newcastle? The Jellicoe Specials.