Light Railways Act 1896
Encyclopedia
The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act
of the Parliament
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
(as it then was). Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be obtained by the company that wished to construct it, which greatly added to the cost and time it took to construct new railways. The economic downturn
of the 1880s had hit agriculture and rural communities in the United Kingdom especially hard and the government wished to facilitate the construction of railways in rural areas, especially to facilitate the transport of goods. The 1896 Act defined a class of railways which did not require specific legislation to construct – companies could simply plan a line under the auspices of the new Act, and, having obtained a Light Railway Order, build and operate it. By reducing the legal costs and allowing new railways to be built quickly the government hoped to encourage companies to build the new 'light railways' in areas of low population and industry that were previously of little interest to them.
A light railway is not a tramway but a separate class of railway. The creation of the act was triggered by a combination of problems with the complexity of creating low cost railways that were needed at the time for rural areas, and the successful use of tramway rules to create the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway
in 1882 which was in fact a light railway in all but name.
The act limited weight
s to a maximum of 12 ton
s on each axle
and speed
s to a maximum of 25 miles per hour (mph), and 8 mph on bends. These limits enforced the use of lightly laid track and relatively modest bridges in order to keep costs down. The act also exempted Light Railways from some of the requirements of a normal railway – level crossing
s did not have to be protected by gates, but only by cattle grid
s, saving the cost of both the gates and a keeper to operate them. It did not exclude standard-gauge track
, but narrow gauge tracks were used for many railways built under its provisions. Many of the railways built under the auspices of the act were very basic, with little or no signalling
(many ran under the 'One Engine In Steam' principle).
A number of municipal and company-owned street tramways were built or extended by the Act, in preference to the Tramways Act 1870
. The procedure of the 1896 Act was simpler, permission easier to obtain (local authorities had the right to veto lines under the 1870 legislation), and there was a 75% savings on rates payable as compared to a tramway.
The light railway act was never a great success. By the 1920s the use of road transport killed the majority of these little railways although some survived thanks to clever management and tight financial control.
Until new rules introduced Transport Works Orders, preserved railways in the UK were operated under Light Railway Orders.
A number of railways have, over the years, been built on private land and called names that end in Light Railway. These have not needed parliamentary powers or a light railway order. The name has only reflected light nature of the railway. Many miniature railways are named in this way.
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
(as it then was). Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be obtained by the company that wished to construct it, which greatly added to the cost and time it took to construct new railways. The economic downturn
Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...
of the 1880s had hit agriculture and rural communities in the United Kingdom especially hard and the government wished to facilitate the construction of railways in rural areas, especially to facilitate the transport of goods. The 1896 Act defined a class of railways which did not require specific legislation to construct – companies could simply plan a line under the auspices of the new Act, and, having obtained a Light Railway Order, build and operate it. By reducing the legal costs and allowing new railways to be built quickly the government hoped to encourage companies to build the new 'light railways' in areas of low population and industry that were previously of little interest to them.
A light railway is not a tramway but a separate class of railway. The creation of the act was triggered by a combination of problems with the complexity of creating low cost railways that were needed at the time for rural areas, and the successful use of tramway rules to create the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway
Wisbech and Upwell Tramway
The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway was a rural standard gauge tramway in East Anglia. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway between Wisbech, Cambridgeshire and Upwell, Norfolk to carry agricultural produce. Although called a tram, in many ways it more closely resembled a conventional railway...
in 1882 which was in fact a light railway in all but name.
The act limited weight
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
s to a maximum of 12 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s on each axle
Axle
An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...
and speed
Speed
In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...
s to a maximum of 25 miles per hour (mph), and 8 mph on bends. These limits enforced the use of lightly laid track and relatively modest bridges in order to keep costs down. The act also exempted Light Railways from some of the requirements of a normal railway – level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
s did not have to be protected by gates, but only by cattle grid
Cattle grid
A cattle grid or cattle guard – also known as a vehicle pass, Texas gate, stock gap A cattle grid (or stock grid)(British English) or cattle guard (American English) – also known as a vehicle pass, Texas gate, stock gap A cattle grid (or stock grid)(British English) or cattle guard (American...
s, saving the cost of both the gates and a keeper to operate them. It did not exclude standard-gauge track
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
, but narrow gauge tracks were used for many railways built under its provisions. Many of the railways built under the auspices of the act were very basic, with little or no signalling
Railway signalling
Railway signalling is a system used to control railway traffic safely, essentially to prevent trains from colliding. Being guided by fixed rails, trains are uniquely susceptible to collision; furthermore, trains cannot stop quickly, and frequently operate at speeds that do not enable them to stop...
(many ran under the 'One Engine In Steam' principle).
A number of municipal and company-owned street tramways were built or extended by the Act, in preference to the Tramways Act 1870
Tramways Act 1870
The Tramways Act 1870 was an important step in the development of urban transport in Britain. Street tramways had originated in the United States, and were introduced to Britain by George Francis Train in the 1860s, the first recorded installation being a short line from Woodside Ferry to...
. The procedure of the 1896 Act was simpler, permission easier to obtain (local authorities had the right to veto lines under the 1870 legislation), and there was a 75% savings on rates payable as compared to a tramway.
The light railway act was never a great success. By the 1920s the use of road transport killed the majority of these little railways although some survived thanks to clever management and tight financial control.
Until new rules introduced Transport Works Orders, preserved railways in the UK were operated under Light Railway Orders.
Railways built under the act
- Teifi Valley RailwayTeifi Valley RailwayThe Teifi Valley Railway is a gauge railway operating between Llandysul and Newcastle Emlyn along the River Teifi, South Wales. It is a narrow-gauge tourist railway built on the GWR part of the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway and currently operating on about two miles of track...
Opened by preservationists on the old GWR standard gauge trackbed between Pencader Junction and Newcastle Emlyn (currently only runs Henllan - Pontprenshitw - Llandyfriog) - Lee-on-Solent Light Railway, opened in 1894 (re-authorized under the act, 1897)
- Bankfoot Light Railway, opened in 1898
- Forsinard, Melvich and Port Skerry Light Railway, opened in 1898
- Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Light Railway, opened 1885 but reincorporated under the act in 1899
- Lauder Light Railway, opened on July 2, 1901
- Wick and Lybster Light Railway, opened in 1899
- Kent and East Sussex RailwayKent and East Sussex RailwayThe Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:...
, opened in 1900 - Sheppey Light RailwaySheppey Light RailwayThe Sheppey Light Railway was a railway on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England which ran from Leysdown to Queenborough, where it connected with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway's Sheerness Line. It was engineered by Holman Fred Stephens and opened in 1901 and closed on December 4, 1950...
, opened in 1901 - Basingstoke and Alton Light RailwayBasingstoke and Alton Light RailwayThe Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway was a railway in Hampshire, UK, opened on Saturday, 1 June 1901, with no formal ceremony.It was the first railway to be enabled by an Order of the Light Railway Commission under the Light Railways Act of 1896...
, opened in 1901 - Poole and District Light Railway, opened in 1901
- Bentley and Bordon Light Railway, opened in 1905
- Cromarty and Dingwall Light RailwayCromarty and Dingwall Light RailwayThe Cromarty and Dingwall Light Railway was a never-completed light railway linking Cromarty in the Black Isle, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland to the Highland Railway system at Conon.-History:...
, authorised in 1902, but never finished, track lifted in World War I. - Vale of Rheidol Light RailwayVale of Rheidol RailwayThe Vale of Rheidol Railway is a narrow-gauge gauge heritage railway that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales...
, opened in 1902 - Welshpool and Llanfair Light RailwayWelshpool and Llanfair Light RailwayThe Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around long and runs westwards from the town of Welshpool via Castle Caereinion to the village of Llanfair Caereinion. The track gauge is ....
, opened in 1903 - Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light RailwayKelvedon and Tollesbury Light RailwayThe Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway, authorised under the Light Railways Act 1896 operated between the two villages of Kelvedon and Tollesbury to the south of Colchester in Essex, England...
, opened in 1904 - Leek and Manifold Valley Light RailwayLeek and Manifold Valley Light RailwayThe Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, Great Britain that operated between 1904 and 1934. When in operation, the line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the standard gauge system. It also provided passenger...
, opened in 1904 - Tanat Valley Light RailwayTanat Valley Light RailwayThe Tanat Valley Light Railway was a long standard gauge light railway connecting Llangynog with Blodwel in Wales. It opened in 1903 and closed in January 1964.-History:...
, opened in 1904 - Cairn Valley Light RailwayCairn Valley Light RailwayThe Cairn Valley Light Railway was built under the regulations of the Light Railways Act 1896 and was opened on 1 March 1905. It connected the market town of Dumfries in south-west Scotland to the village of Moniaive in Dumfriesshire at the end of the Cairn Valley.- History :The line was long and...
, opened in 1905 - Horton Light RailwayHorton Light RailwayThe Horton Light Railway was built in 1905 to transport materials for building the Long Grove Asylum that was needed in addition to the previously built Manor Hospital. It was later used to serve other London County Council psychiatric hospitals built in the Horton area to the west of the English...
, opened in 1905 - Mid-Suffolk Light RailwayMid-Suffolk Light RailwayThe Mid-Suffolk Light Railway is a heritage railway in Suffolk, which in its heyday it was a branch line which ran for just from Haughley to Laxfield, Suffolk. The line became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1924 and the last trains ran on 26 July 1952...
, opened in 1905 - Falkland Light Railway, opened in 1906
- Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light RailwayCampbeltown and Machrihanish Light RailwayThe Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in Kintyre, Scotland, between the towns of Campbeltown and Machrihanish...
, opened in 1906 - North Lindsey Light RailwayNorth Lindsey Light RailwayThe North Lindsey Light Railway was a light railway in North Lincolnshire. It was later absorbed by the Great Central Railway and later, on grouping, it passed to the London and North Eastern Railway...
, opened in stages from 1906 - Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway, opened in 1911
- Derwent Valley Light RailwayDerwent Valley Light RailwayThe Derwent Valley Light Railway was a privately-owned standard-gauge railway running from Layerthorpe on the outskirts of York to Cliffe Common near Selby in North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1913, and closed in sections between 1965 and 1981...
, opened in 1913 - Elsenham and Thaxted Light RailwayElsenham & Thaxted Light RailwayThe Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway was a long light railway in Essex, England. The line was sanctioned in 1906, although did not finally open to traffic until 1 April 1913. It was the last rail line building in Essex until the construction of Stansted Airport railway station.The railway left the...
, opened in 1913 - Sand Hutton Light Railway, opened in 1922
- Ashover Light Railway, opened in 1925
A number of railways have, over the years, been built on private land and called names that end in Light Railway. These have not needed parliamentary powers or a light railway order. The name has only reflected light nature of the railway. Many miniature railways are named in this way.