Colne Valley Waterworks railway

Colne Valley Waterworks railway

Route in 1939
Overview
Headquarters	Watford
Locale	England
Dates of operation	1931–1967
Successor	Abandoned
Technical
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Length	1 mile (1.6 km)

The Colne Valley Waterworks railway was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge industrial railway connecting the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Watford to Rickmansworth branch line with the Eastbury Pumping Station to deliver coal.

History

The Colne Valley Water Company opened the Eastbury Pumping Station near Watford in 1873. In 1931 the company opened a narrow gauge railway connecting the pumping station with the LMS standard gauge branch line between Watford and Rickmansworth. The line ran southeast from a private siding on the LMS line, crossed the River Colne by a relatively substantial plate girder bridge and ended in a yard at the pumping station. The railway carried coal to power the pumping station and chlorine and salt for the water softening plant.

Decline and closure

The pumping station switched from coal to diesel power in 1956; after this use of the railway declined significantly. Chlorine and salt were still carried by rail. The line closed in 1967. The two locomotives were purchased for preservation.

Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	Ruston & Hornsby	4wDM	1932	166015	Believed scrapped approx 1970
2	Ruston & Hornsby	4wDM	1933	166024	Preserved at the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in 1968

See also

• List of narrow gauge railways at water treatment and sewage works in Great Britain

References

• Neale, Andrew (April 1992). "Coal, Chemicals and Salt. The Colne Valley Waterworks Railway". Narrow Gauge & Industrial Railway Modelling Review. 2 (10). Ram Productions Ltd. ISSN 0958-0808.