Easton and Church Hope Railway
The Easton and Church Hope Railway was a railway running from Victoria Square to Easton. As a continuation of the Weymouth and Portland Railway line, it opened in 1900 and operated until 1965. It went via the Admiralty's Breakwater Branch Railway and along the east side of the island before turning inland to reach Easton.
The majority of the route on the island's east side is now a public footpath. The section which ran behind Castletown and the back of Portland Dockyard/HM Naval Base, now Portland Port, is not open to the public.
History
Original proposal of the Easton and Church Hope Railway
In November 1866, a new line named the Easton and Church Hope Railway was proposed for Portland to link Portland's stone industry to a new shipping pier on the east side of the island. It envisioned a broad gauge line running from Sheepcroft, north of Easton, to Church Ope Cove, from where an incline plane would terminate at the proposed pier. The Easton & Church Hope Railway Act was granted on 25 July 1867 with an authorised share capital of £30,000 (made up of 1,500 shares), along with borrowing powers of £10,000. Despite expenditure of £20,250, the line failed to come to fruition, with only 1,320 yards of it having been constructed when the act lapsed in 1872.
New proposal of the Easton and Church Hope Railway
In 1883, the Easton and Church Hope Railway was resurrected by a new board with proposals whereby a line would reach Easton from the existing Weymouth and Portland Railway via the Admiralty's Breakwater Branch Railway. The Weymouth and Portland Railway line had opened in 1865 and the Breakwater Branch Railway followed in 1878 as an extension, allowing supplies of coal and other stores to be received for the Royal Navy ships using Portland's newly-created harbour of refuge.
Terms were agreed with the Admiralty, allowing the Easton and Church Hope Railway Company to gain running powers over their line. An Act of Parliament was granted on 14 August 1884 with authorised share capital of £50,000 and borrowing powers of £16,600. As construction work was initially slow and various revisions to the plans made, work on the railway line would take twelve years to complete. A revised Act of Parliament was granted in August 1887, allowing the company a further £40,000 of share capital, and this was followed by a further three parliamentary extensions in 1890, 1894 and 1896. By the end of 1894, £80,000 had been spent on purchasing land, engineering costs, legal costs and other expenses.
Construction of the line
Various engineers and contractors were involved over the course of the line's construction. In 1885, Thomas Fothergill McNay was hired as the company's engineer and Mr. W. J. Alt was hired as the main contractor. Messrs. Perry, Cutbull & De Lungo were brought in as a sub-contractor around the same time and they were involved in the construction until 1895. McNay was replaced as engineer by Messrs. Packman, Popkiss & Heasman of London in 1897. The following year saw H. M. Keone of Westminster hired as a sub-contractor and their involvement in the work was taken over by the resident engineer of the E&CHR Company, Frank Chauntler, in 1899. Finally, in 1901, Livesey, Son & Henderson of London became the company's new engineers.
The new line ran over the Breakwater Branch Railway at the back of both Castletown and the dockyard then proceeded along the east side of the island before curving inland to reach Easton. In order to bring the line inland to the village, a deep cutting was excavated by cutting and blasting through solid rock. The construction of Easton Station began in 1898, and the same period saw GWR and LSWR demand that the E&CHR Company erect a new station at Victoria Square. The three companies came to an agreement on 5 August 1897, which also determined that the new line would be jointly operated by GWR and LSWR.
Construction of the new track from Easton reached the Admiralty line by 1899 and the road bridges at Reforne and Wakeham were completed during the same year. Easton Station was completed in 1900. It was anticipated that the railway would open that year, but further delays arose when a Board of Trade inspection of 3 July 1900 by Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke failed the line for passenger use. The primary concerns revolved around the Admiralty section of the line, which was considered inadequate as it had not been built with public use in mind.
Opening of the Easton and Church Hope Railway
As the Board of Trade inspection was concerned only with passenger use, the E&CHR Company were able to begin generating much needed revenue by opening the line to goods and mineral traffic on 1 October 1900. The company hoped to attract Portland's stone industry, but the line was met with limited interest as the rates were deemed too high and the distance between the quarries and the line's loading depots generally inconvenient. Ultimately, the new line was unable to compete with the well-established methods of transporting stone off the island, namely the Merchants' Railway, while traction engines were easily able to transport stone to F. J. Barnes' sawmill, conveniently situated next to the station at Victoria Square. Regardless, a number of sidings were attached to the new line, including south of Church Ope (known as Quarry Tip Sidings), and sidings at Sheepcroft, north of Easton station.
The E&CHR Company soon declared bankruptcy and two company directors were appointed as receivers. Opening the line to passengers as quickly as possible became the priority and the Admiralty section of the line was relaid, among other necessary works, in 1901-02. An inspection on 19 March 1902 saw Lt-Col Yorke fail the line again over a variety of issues. As work had yet to begin on constructing a new station at Victoria Square, a short-term solution in the form of a timber platform was built for passenger use and once completed, Lt-Col Yorke returned on 14 August 1902. He was prepared to accept the platform as temporary and authorised the opening of the line to passenger traffic, which commenced on 1 September 1902.
On the opening day, 351 tickets were sold at Easton Station and 200 tickets from Portland Station. As through traffic was not allowed between the Weymouth to Portland line and the new one to Easton, passengers had to alight at the original Portland station and then catch the train to Easton from the temporary platform. Ticket bookings dropped significantly on the second day and would remain disappointing thereafter, leaving the E&CHR Company in receivership up until the nationalisation of the railways in 1948.
Construction of the new Portland station began in 1903, with the work first being carried out by Messrs J. H. Vickers of Nottingham and then taken over directly by Mr J. M. Vicker in 1904. Mr. Hayes of the Great Western Company was clerk of the works. Meanwhile, a fire reduced the station building at Easton to its stone walls and two surviving verandas on the morning of 28 November 1903. Its rebuilding was carried out by Messrs Jesty and Baker between May and September 1904. The new station at Victoria Square began receiving passengers on 2 January 1905 but did not fully open until 7 May, thus completing the connection of the Weymouth to Portland line to the Easton extension. The original Portland Station became a goods depot.
Early 20th century operations
Owing to the general instability of East Weare, landslides of different scales were not uncommon on the line to Easton. One major landslip occurred near Grove Point in November 1907, leaving the line closed for over a month. Later in November 1925, a group of workmen attempted to stablise a section of cliff above the line at East Weare when 100 tons of rock collapsed. There were no casualities, although the line suffered damage, with the Western Gazette reporting: "With a roar that could be heard half-a-mile away, a large quantity of stone rushed down the steep slope to the railway line, carrying away the telephone wire and snapping the poles as if they had been matches."
After World War I, the entire Weymouth to Easton line faced increasing operational costs and competition, and passenger numbers continued to remain inadequate. The most significant competition came from buses, which were able to run more frequently and stop at more convenient locations, as well as the use of goods lorries for the stone trade. Buses began operating between Weymouth and Victoria Square in 1921 and the service had extended to Tophill by 1927. A survey of the Portland to Easton line was carried out in March 1927 and found only 800 passengers using the line each week. The majority of these were commuters, including Admiralty workers, quarrymen and pupils of Weymouth Grammar School. Goods trains continued to contribute greatly to the Easton line's income as its short distance meant passenger revenue counted for little against the operating costs.
Under the Railways Act 1921, the LSWR was acquired by Southern Railway in 1922, but this did not change the joint running of the line until 1931 when Southern Railway became the sole operator of the line.
The line's use in World War II
On 24 August 1939, a week prior to the outbreak of World War II, the British Government passed the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act to enable them to prosecute the war effectively, which included bringing all British railways under government control, like during World War I. While goods trains continued to use the Easton line during World War II, passenger services were stopped entirely from 11 November 1940 and only operated in the summer months between 1941-44.
Closure of the line to passengers
On 6 August 1947, all of Britain's railways were nationalised under the Transport Act 1947 and ownership of the entire line was handed over to British Railways from 1 January 1948. In 1950, the new owner recorded a loss of over £14,000 from the passenger services of the Weymouth to Easton line. As buses retained their advantage as a more convenient form of travel, the closure of the line to passengers soon became a serious consideration. Despite objections from Portland Urban District Council and Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Borough Council, the entire line closed to passengers on 3 March 1952, except for the Weymouth Quay tramway extension. In its final week, passenger numbers soared to 2,884 as local residents and railway enthusiasts travelled the line for the last time.
While goods trains continued to operate as before, the line was still used by special passenger trains from 1952, including those as part of works excursions and railtours. The platforms of the 1905 Portland Station were retained only for the special passenger trains and over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, its buildings, canopies and footbridge were all demolished.
Closure of the line to goods traffic
Despite enjoying a boom in the late 1950s, the line's goods traffic began to decline during the early 1960s. Portland's recorded goods in 1962 amounted to 11,445 tons of outward goods, namely Portland stone, and 8,721 tons of inward goods, including coal and supplies for the naval base. In 1963, the line's revenue of £6,300 failed to match operating expenses of £12,500. Furthermore, major maintenance work, including the replacement of the Small Mouth viaduct, was considered essential over the next five years with an estimated cost of £92,450. Faced with these difficulties, the line's closure to goods traffic was announced in November 1964 and set for 1 February 1965 to coincide with the introduction of a new freight concentration scheme for Weymouth. The date was later postponed until work on the Weymouth Goods Depot was completed.
As the line's final week approached, the South & West Railway Society of Weymouth arranged three special passenger trains to run the entire route between Weymouth and Easton. The trains ran on 27 March, with all three filled to maximum capacity and a total 1,056 tickets sold. The line officially closed on 5 April 1965, although the following few days saw various trains and engines use the line to collect wagons, tools and other equipment. On 26 February, a stop block was installed on the line, at the Weymouth Goods Yard end, thereby completing the line's closure.
Demolition and removal of the line
Contractors began removing the track from Easton Station in the summer of 1966 and by early 1967, the track from Easton to the naval base had been removed, including sidings. Kingston Minerals Ltd, one of the main divisions of Bath & Portland Group, purchased the route between Easton and towards the naval base in 1971. In August of that year, they began infilling the cutting between the road bridge at the bottom of Wakeham and Yeolands Bridge to create an off-road link between their Broadcroft, Yeolands and Perryfield Quarries. Yeolands Bridge, which carried a footpath over the cutting above Penn's Weare, was demolished during the same period.
Easton Station and its surrounding land was purchased by Portland Urban District Council in May 1972, and both the station and footbridge were demolished that November to make way for the retirement housing complex Ladymead Hall. In c. 1975, the girder bridge within the naval base, which carried the line over Incline Road, was removed, and the platforms of the 1905 Portland Station demolished owing to the expansion of RNAS Portland.
The route today
From Victoria Square and into the former naval base/dockyard, little evidence of the railway remains except for the bridge carrying Castle Road over the former line. The section of the railway passing at the back of the dockyard, now Portland Port, is closed to the public, but the line then re-emerges on the other side at East Weare as a public footpath, near King's Pier. Surviving features within the port area includes a viaduct, close to Incline Road, along with the walls of the other which carried the line over Incline Road. The cutting on the east side of the island has been completely or partially infilled in places, but some evidence of the cutting remains in others. One notable section is towards Park Road where there is the remains of some of the cutting's walling. Road bridges survive at the bottom of Wakeham and the eastern end of Reforne. An area of the former Wakeham Quarries also contains a bridge spanning across the former line.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Disused Stations - Easton Station - Nick Catford - website page
2) Disused Stations - Portland Station (2nd site) - Nick Catford - website page
3) Isle of Portland Railways - Volume Two - The Weymouth & Portland Railway/The Easton & Church Hope Railway - B. L. Jackson - The Oakwood Press - 2000 - ISBN: 978-0853615514 - book
4) Ordnance Survey - various maps, including 1902, 1929, 1960 and 1975
5) Railways on the Isle of Portland - Martin Smith - Irwell Press - 1997 - ISBN: 978-1871608823 - book
6) The Branch Lines of Dorset - Colin G. Maggs - Amberley Publishing - 2012 - ISBN: 978-1848683525 - book
7) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles including the Southern Times, Weymouth Telegram and Western Gazette - website page
8) Wikipedia - Portland Branch Railway - website page
The majority of the route on the island's east side is now a public footpath. The section which ran behind Castletown and the back of Portland Dockyard/HM Naval Base, now Portland Port, is not open to the public.
History
Original proposal of the Easton and Church Hope Railway
In November 1866, a new line named the Easton and Church Hope Railway was proposed for Portland to link Portland's stone industry to a new shipping pier on the east side of the island. It envisioned a broad gauge line running from Sheepcroft, north of Easton, to Church Ope Cove, from where an incline plane would terminate at the proposed pier. The Easton & Church Hope Railway Act was granted on 25 July 1867 with an authorised share capital of £30,000 (made up of 1,500 shares), along with borrowing powers of £10,000. Despite expenditure of £20,250, the line failed to come to fruition, with only 1,320 yards of it having been constructed when the act lapsed in 1872.
New proposal of the Easton and Church Hope Railway
In 1883, the Easton and Church Hope Railway was resurrected by a new board with proposals whereby a line would reach Easton from the existing Weymouth and Portland Railway via the Admiralty's Breakwater Branch Railway. The Weymouth and Portland Railway line had opened in 1865 and the Breakwater Branch Railway followed in 1878 as an extension, allowing supplies of coal and other stores to be received for the Royal Navy ships using Portland's newly-created harbour of refuge.
Terms were agreed with the Admiralty, allowing the Easton and Church Hope Railway Company to gain running powers over their line. An Act of Parliament was granted on 14 August 1884 with authorised share capital of £50,000 and borrowing powers of £16,600. As construction work was initially slow and various revisions to the plans made, work on the railway line would take twelve years to complete. A revised Act of Parliament was granted in August 1887, allowing the company a further £40,000 of share capital, and this was followed by a further three parliamentary extensions in 1890, 1894 and 1896. By the end of 1894, £80,000 had been spent on purchasing land, engineering costs, legal costs and other expenses.
Construction of the line
Various engineers and contractors were involved over the course of the line's construction. In 1885, Thomas Fothergill McNay was hired as the company's engineer and Mr. W. J. Alt was hired as the main contractor. Messrs. Perry, Cutbull & De Lungo were brought in as a sub-contractor around the same time and they were involved in the construction until 1895. McNay was replaced as engineer by Messrs. Packman, Popkiss & Heasman of London in 1897. The following year saw H. M. Keone of Westminster hired as a sub-contractor and their involvement in the work was taken over by the resident engineer of the E&CHR Company, Frank Chauntler, in 1899. Finally, in 1901, Livesey, Son & Henderson of London became the company's new engineers.
The new line ran over the Breakwater Branch Railway at the back of both Castletown and the dockyard then proceeded along the east side of the island before curving inland to reach Easton. In order to bring the line inland to the village, a deep cutting was excavated by cutting and blasting through solid rock. The construction of Easton Station began in 1898, and the same period saw GWR and LSWR demand that the E&CHR Company erect a new station at Victoria Square. The three companies came to an agreement on 5 August 1897, which also determined that the new line would be jointly operated by GWR and LSWR.
Construction of the new track from Easton reached the Admiralty line by 1899 and the road bridges at Reforne and Wakeham were completed during the same year. Easton Station was completed in 1900. It was anticipated that the railway would open that year, but further delays arose when a Board of Trade inspection of 3 July 1900 by Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke failed the line for passenger use. The primary concerns revolved around the Admiralty section of the line, which was considered inadequate as it had not been built with public use in mind.
Opening of the Easton and Church Hope Railway
As the Board of Trade inspection was concerned only with passenger use, the E&CHR Company were able to begin generating much needed revenue by opening the line to goods and mineral traffic on 1 October 1900. The company hoped to attract Portland's stone industry, but the line was met with limited interest as the rates were deemed too high and the distance between the quarries and the line's loading depots generally inconvenient. Ultimately, the new line was unable to compete with the well-established methods of transporting stone off the island, namely the Merchants' Railway, while traction engines were easily able to transport stone to F. J. Barnes' sawmill, conveniently situated next to the station at Victoria Square. Regardless, a number of sidings were attached to the new line, including south of Church Ope (known as Quarry Tip Sidings), and sidings at Sheepcroft, north of Easton station.
The E&CHR Company soon declared bankruptcy and two company directors were appointed as receivers. Opening the line to passengers as quickly as possible became the priority and the Admiralty section of the line was relaid, among other necessary works, in 1901-02. An inspection on 19 March 1902 saw Lt-Col Yorke fail the line again over a variety of issues. As work had yet to begin on constructing a new station at Victoria Square, a short-term solution in the form of a timber platform was built for passenger use and once completed, Lt-Col Yorke returned on 14 August 1902. He was prepared to accept the platform as temporary and authorised the opening of the line to passenger traffic, which commenced on 1 September 1902.
On the opening day, 351 tickets were sold at Easton Station and 200 tickets from Portland Station. As through traffic was not allowed between the Weymouth to Portland line and the new one to Easton, passengers had to alight at the original Portland station and then catch the train to Easton from the temporary platform. Ticket bookings dropped significantly on the second day and would remain disappointing thereafter, leaving the E&CHR Company in receivership up until the nationalisation of the railways in 1948.
Construction of the new Portland station began in 1903, with the work first being carried out by Messrs J. H. Vickers of Nottingham and then taken over directly by Mr J. M. Vicker in 1904. Mr. Hayes of the Great Western Company was clerk of the works. Meanwhile, a fire reduced the station building at Easton to its stone walls and two surviving verandas on the morning of 28 November 1903. Its rebuilding was carried out by Messrs Jesty and Baker between May and September 1904. The new station at Victoria Square began receiving passengers on 2 January 1905 but did not fully open until 7 May, thus completing the connection of the Weymouth to Portland line to the Easton extension. The original Portland Station became a goods depot.
Early 20th century operations
Owing to the general instability of East Weare, landslides of different scales were not uncommon on the line to Easton. One major landslip occurred near Grove Point in November 1907, leaving the line closed for over a month. Later in November 1925, a group of workmen attempted to stablise a section of cliff above the line at East Weare when 100 tons of rock collapsed. There were no casualities, although the line suffered damage, with the Western Gazette reporting: "With a roar that could be heard half-a-mile away, a large quantity of stone rushed down the steep slope to the railway line, carrying away the telephone wire and snapping the poles as if they had been matches."
After World War I, the entire Weymouth to Easton line faced increasing operational costs and competition, and passenger numbers continued to remain inadequate. The most significant competition came from buses, which were able to run more frequently and stop at more convenient locations, as well as the use of goods lorries for the stone trade. Buses began operating between Weymouth and Victoria Square in 1921 and the service had extended to Tophill by 1927. A survey of the Portland to Easton line was carried out in March 1927 and found only 800 passengers using the line each week. The majority of these were commuters, including Admiralty workers, quarrymen and pupils of Weymouth Grammar School. Goods trains continued to contribute greatly to the Easton line's income as its short distance meant passenger revenue counted for little against the operating costs.
Under the Railways Act 1921, the LSWR was acquired by Southern Railway in 1922, but this did not change the joint running of the line until 1931 when Southern Railway became the sole operator of the line.
The line's use in World War II
On 24 August 1939, a week prior to the outbreak of World War II, the British Government passed the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act to enable them to prosecute the war effectively, which included bringing all British railways under government control, like during World War I. While goods trains continued to use the Easton line during World War II, passenger services were stopped entirely from 11 November 1940 and only operated in the summer months between 1941-44.
Closure of the line to passengers
On 6 August 1947, all of Britain's railways were nationalised under the Transport Act 1947 and ownership of the entire line was handed over to British Railways from 1 January 1948. In 1950, the new owner recorded a loss of over £14,000 from the passenger services of the Weymouth to Easton line. As buses retained their advantage as a more convenient form of travel, the closure of the line to passengers soon became a serious consideration. Despite objections from Portland Urban District Council and Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Borough Council, the entire line closed to passengers on 3 March 1952, except for the Weymouth Quay tramway extension. In its final week, passenger numbers soared to 2,884 as local residents and railway enthusiasts travelled the line for the last time.
While goods trains continued to operate as before, the line was still used by special passenger trains from 1952, including those as part of works excursions and railtours. The platforms of the 1905 Portland Station were retained only for the special passenger trains and over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, its buildings, canopies and footbridge were all demolished.
Closure of the line to goods traffic
Despite enjoying a boom in the late 1950s, the line's goods traffic began to decline during the early 1960s. Portland's recorded goods in 1962 amounted to 11,445 tons of outward goods, namely Portland stone, and 8,721 tons of inward goods, including coal and supplies for the naval base. In 1963, the line's revenue of £6,300 failed to match operating expenses of £12,500. Furthermore, major maintenance work, including the replacement of the Small Mouth viaduct, was considered essential over the next five years with an estimated cost of £92,450. Faced with these difficulties, the line's closure to goods traffic was announced in November 1964 and set for 1 February 1965 to coincide with the introduction of a new freight concentration scheme for Weymouth. The date was later postponed until work on the Weymouth Goods Depot was completed.
As the line's final week approached, the South & West Railway Society of Weymouth arranged three special passenger trains to run the entire route between Weymouth and Easton. The trains ran on 27 March, with all three filled to maximum capacity and a total 1,056 tickets sold. The line officially closed on 5 April 1965, although the following few days saw various trains and engines use the line to collect wagons, tools and other equipment. On 26 February, a stop block was installed on the line, at the Weymouth Goods Yard end, thereby completing the line's closure.
Demolition and removal of the line
Contractors began removing the track from Easton Station in the summer of 1966 and by early 1967, the track from Easton to the naval base had been removed, including sidings. Kingston Minerals Ltd, one of the main divisions of Bath & Portland Group, purchased the route between Easton and towards the naval base in 1971. In August of that year, they began infilling the cutting between the road bridge at the bottom of Wakeham and Yeolands Bridge to create an off-road link between their Broadcroft, Yeolands and Perryfield Quarries. Yeolands Bridge, which carried a footpath over the cutting above Penn's Weare, was demolished during the same period.
Easton Station and its surrounding land was purchased by Portland Urban District Council in May 1972, and both the station and footbridge were demolished that November to make way for the retirement housing complex Ladymead Hall. In c. 1975, the girder bridge within the naval base, which carried the line over Incline Road, was removed, and the platforms of the 1905 Portland Station demolished owing to the expansion of RNAS Portland.
The route today
From Victoria Square and into the former naval base/dockyard, little evidence of the railway remains except for the bridge carrying Castle Road over the former line. The section of the railway passing at the back of the dockyard, now Portland Port, is closed to the public, but the line then re-emerges on the other side at East Weare as a public footpath, near King's Pier. Surviving features within the port area includes a viaduct, close to Incline Road, along with the walls of the other which carried the line over Incline Road. The cutting on the east side of the island has been completely or partially infilled in places, but some evidence of the cutting remains in others. One notable section is towards Park Road where there is the remains of some of the cutting's walling. Road bridges survive at the bottom of Wakeham and the eastern end of Reforne. An area of the former Wakeham Quarries also contains a bridge spanning across the former line.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Disused Stations - Easton Station - Nick Catford - website page
2) Disused Stations - Portland Station (2nd site) - Nick Catford - website page
3) Isle of Portland Railways - Volume Two - The Weymouth & Portland Railway/The Easton & Church Hope Railway - B. L. Jackson - The Oakwood Press - 2000 - ISBN: 978-0853615514 - book
4) Ordnance Survey - various maps, including 1902, 1929, 1960 and 1975
5) Railways on the Isle of Portland - Martin Smith - Irwell Press - 1997 - ISBN: 978-1871608823 - book
6) The Branch Lines of Dorset - Colin G. Maggs - Amberley Publishing - 2012 - ISBN: 978-1848683525 - book
7) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles including the Southern Times, Weymouth Telegram and Western Gazette - website page
8) Wikipedia - Portland Branch Railway - website page
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