While I was in the west the other weekend (or extremely far in the east depending on how u look at it) I made the most of the day with 4 explores.
This place was No 2 on my list & I wasnt sure if it was worth looking at.
Iv done a lot of railway tunnels & this was by far the shortest & quite honestly one of the best.
The line served Tyrington quarry only & the first thing you notice is the incredible 1:56 incline as you walk through the rocky gully. I found myself looking for a rack & pinion system that didnt exist, there is noticeable kinks in the rails that I cant believe any conventional engine could deal with!
Once the line has levelled out you reach the tunnel itself which is a short affair appearing to of been mads specifically to cut under the M5, of course the reality is the small hill was tunnelled long before the motorway was built. Its quite surreal though being so close to the motorway but its relatively quiet bar the blackcaps singing in the tree lined banks.
The brick portals give a deception of things to come as these are merely 30ft long & the rest of the tunnel looks like it has been clawed through the rock by Gods hand himself!
There was a lot of water ingress which has created some lovely flowstone & small stalactites have begun to form. With the natural feel to the tunnel & the track still being present this was an enjoyable explore.
The tunnel was completed in 1872 & was in use till 2012. Strangely this was said to of been reopened in 2017 when Hanson took over but there was no evidence that anything had been on the tracks for quite some time.
Anyway here's the pics!
The Kinky track incline!
West Portal
U would assume this means half way ... but they were all the way through lol
Flowstone!
Portal bricked in when M5 was built although I cant figure why it was needed in such a short tunnel?
Lovely patterns in ceiling
This place was No 2 on my list & I wasnt sure if it was worth looking at.
Iv done a lot of railway tunnels & this was by far the shortest & quite honestly one of the best.
The line served Tyrington quarry only & the first thing you notice is the incredible 1:56 incline as you walk through the rocky gully. I found myself looking for a rack & pinion system that didnt exist, there is noticeable kinks in the rails that I cant believe any conventional engine could deal with!
Once the line has levelled out you reach the tunnel itself which is a short affair appearing to of been mads specifically to cut under the M5, of course the reality is the small hill was tunnelled long before the motorway was built. Its quite surreal though being so close to the motorway but its relatively quiet bar the blackcaps singing in the tree lined banks.
The brick portals give a deception of things to come as these are merely 30ft long & the rest of the tunnel looks like it has been clawed through the rock by Gods hand himself!
There was a lot of water ingress which has created some lovely flowstone & small stalactites have begun to form. With the natural feel to the tunnel & the track still being present this was an enjoyable explore.
The tunnel was completed in 1872 & was in use till 2012. Strangely this was said to of been reopened in 2017 when Hanson took over but there was no evidence that anything had been on the tracks for quite some time.
Anyway here's the pics!
The Kinky track incline!
West Portal
U would assume this means half way ... but they were all the way through lol
Flowstone!
Portal bricked in when M5 was built although I cant figure why it was needed in such a short tunnel?
Lovely patterns in ceiling
