West Baldwin Railway
From ManxWiki
The West Baldwin Railway was a temporary railway that connected West Baldwin Reservoir at Injebreck with a clay pit near Cronkbourne village and a quarry near Cronk ny Mona.
Contents |
History
Drinking water for Douglas was fed from a reservoir located at Summerhill Glen in the late 1800s. Douglas Corporation commisioned the building of a new larger reservoir at West Baldwin in 1900.
Due to the need to import materials, a 3 mile long 3 foot gauge railway was laid from St. George's Bridge near The Strang that wound its way alongside and over the River Glass by means of several bridges.
Motive power and 40 mineral wagons for the railway came from the Isle of Man Tramway and Electric Power Company who had just completed building the track to Ramsey. Tne engine was dutifully named "Injebreck".
In October 1901 the railway was damaged by a storm which moved track and caused some of the wooden bridges to be washed away. It was about this time that a second engine was purchased which was named "Ardwhallin".
By 1904 the line was extended to 5 miles, "Hannah" and "West Baldwin" brought the number of locomotives working on the line to four. Due to the incline of the land being too steep to route directly, the line from Hillberry ran in an anti-clockwise circle towards Cronkbourne, then trains were reversed to run up the valley.
The line was dismantled following completion of the reservoir in 1905. Most of the former route is unrecognisable (even in places where roads were crossed) and runs through privately owned land.
An account of the railway's role is included in the Thomas C Cowell book Baldwin, My Valley.
Gallery
 Postcard image of steam locomotive "Injebreck" |
 Former route heading north from alongside the former Baldwin Methodist chapel |
