£12.50
Bob Richards (Signed)
Published: 2024
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 120
Genre: Mining & Industrial Heritage
Status: In Stock – limited print run
Synopsis
Four Foot Gauge: The Story of the Redruth and Chasewater Railway by Bob Richards.
Comprehensively researched and featuring significant new information on the line from contemporary sources and the company’s minute books, this highly recommended book is by local historian Bob Richards.
Planned and built by mining entrepreneur John Taylor, this pioneering line served the mines of Gwennap, linking them to the port of Devoran. Started in 1824, the line opened officially in 1826 when the first train to come down to the port of Devoran carried the banner ‘May the Harvest be Abundant’. It was indeed abundant for all of thirty years. During this period the working horses were replaced with two tank engines, Miner and Smelter.
However, Cornwall’s copper mining began to decline, and the fact that the railway built to service that industry continued to run for a further half century is quite amazing. Just over nine miles in length, the railway operated for some ninety years, closing in 1915 with the end of the industries it served.
Chapters
In the Beginning
The Coming of the Railway
Boom to Bust?…Almost
Into the Steam Age
Slow Decline
The End of the Line
Epilogue