Longmoor Military Railway
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The Longmoor Military Railway (LMR) was a British military railway in Hampshire, built by the Royal Engineers from 1903 in order to train soldiers on railway construction and operations.
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[edit] Route
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Authorised for construction from 1902, activities date from 1903 when a 18 in (457 mm) gauge tramway was laid to assist in removing seventy corrugated iron huts from Longmoor Military Camp to Bordon.
The railway was relaid to standard gauge in 1905-1907 and was initially known as the Woolmer Instructional Military Railway. It was renamed the Longmoor Military Railway in 1935. The Liss extension was opened in 1933. The stations and junctions included:
- Bordon - the northern terminal, adjacent to Bordon station and with access to British Railways via the LSWR owned Bentley and Bordon Light Railway
- Bordon Camp
- Whitehill Junction
- Two Range halt
- Longmoor Camp - the original terminus, and largest station on the line
- Weaversdown Halt - originally a passing place, a station was constructed which served the eastern side of Longmoor Military Camp
- Liss Forest
- Liss Junction - with access to the exchange sidings, and onwards into Liss British Railways goods yard
- Liss - the southern terminus, with a platform adjacent to Liss railway station
An additional loop ran eastwards from Longmoor camp via a station at Hopkins Bridge to Whitehill Junction, completed in 1942. This provided circular running to the line, allowing for improved training without the need to turn trains at the terminals.
As a training railway, it was often being constructed/deconstructed. The layout would often change, and at one time housed a machine which could lay 1,500 yards of track a day. At its peak, the railway ran to over 70 miles of operational laid track and sidings.
[edit] Operations
The vehicles and stock on the LMR were very much an assortment to give the maximum learning opportunity. Well over a thousand locomotives had associations with the railway, although many only through the need for storage. The same was true of the signalling at the various locations on the line, including an Army version of flag signalling. After the end of World War II, the collection also included captured enemy equipment, including a German trailer which dragged behind it a huge hook, used to destroy sleepers and so render railway lines unusable to advancing enemy troops.
In addition to the various military items, there were old versions of standard passenger carriages. A passenger service was operated over the line at various times, nominally for personnel required on the railway, and others from the War Department/Ministry of Defence and their families.
With a declining role for railways both in Britain and the rest of the world, it was inevitable that the significance of the facilities offered by the LMR would be reduced in later years. Even so, the LMR was still important enough for the tracks of the Bentley to Bordon branch to be left in place when passenger services were withdrawn on 16 September 1957. This line remained in place as, although there was a British Railways connection at Liss, the Bordon branch made it easier to accommodate the movements of military traffic at short notice. In 1966, the movement of goods over the Bordon branch was suspended, and the line was taken up in 1967.
[edit] Railway Inspectorate
Among those who were learned the workings of railways on the LMR, there were a select band who continued in railway-related work after leaving the services. These were the members of the Railway Inspectorate, whose remit is to enquire into the circumstances surrounding British railway accidents. The first Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways not to have been trained in the army was R. J. Seymour, appointed in 1988.
[edit] Locomotives
The following standard gauge locomotives were in use in 1914:[1]
| Name | Number | Type | Builder | Works No. | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramus | 0-6-2T | Hawthorn Leslie | 2879 | 1911 | ex-Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. Transferred to the Kinmel Camp Railway in 1916. Sold in 1921. Later converted to 0-6-0T and by 1953 was working at NCB Nunnery Colliery. Scrapped 1962. | |
| Thisbe | 0-6-2T | Hawthorn Leslie | 2878 | 1911 | ex-Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. Transferred to the Kinmel Camp Railway in 1916. Returned to Longmoor around 1917. | |
| Sir John French | 0-6-2T | Hawthorn Leslie | 3088 | 1914 | Supplied new. Transferred to the Kinmel Camp Railway in 1916. Returned to Longmoor after 1917. |
The following standard gauge locomotives were present in 1947 [2]:
| Name | Number | Type | Builder | Works No. | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selbourne | 70204 | 0-6-0T | Hawthorne Leslie | 3531 | 1922 | Out of use, 1947. Left Longmoor by 1948 |
| Gordon | 70205 | 0-6-2T | ex Taff Vale Railway No. 25. Disposed of in 1947. | |||
| Marlborough | 70207 | 0-6-2T | North Staffordshire Railway Stoke Works | 2253 | 1909 | Out of use, 1947. ex LMSR, purchased by the War Department in 1936 |
| Kitchener | 70208 | 0-6-2T | Bagnall | 2587 | Out of use, 1947. | |
| Daisy | 70228 | 0-6-0ST | Peckett | 1204 | 1910 | Out of use, 1947. |
| Earl Roberts | 72400 | 4-4-2T | Out of use, 1947. LB&SCR I2 class. ex-SR No. 2013 | |||
| 72401 | 4-4-2T | Out of use, 1947. LB&SCR I2 class. ex-SR No. 2019 | ||||
| 70177 | 0-6-0 | Out of use, 1947. ex-GWR 2301 Class. Fitted for oil burning. | ||||
| 70179 | 0-6-0 | Out of use, 1947. ex-GWR "2301" class. | ||||
| 70195 | 0-6-0 | Out of use, 1947. ex-GWR "2301" class. | ||||
| 70198 | 0-6-0 | Out of use, 1947. ex-GWR "2301" class. | ||||
| 71433 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 71505 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75028 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75041 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75042 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75079 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75275 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75277 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| 75282 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. War Department brown livery. | ||||
| Sir John French | 75290 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class. Dark blue livery, lined with red and gold. |
The following standard gauge locomotives were present in August 1963 [3]:
| Name | Number | Type | Builder | Works No. | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caen | 106 | 0-6-0ST | Hunslet | Austerity class | ||
| Brussels | 118 | 0-6-0ST | Hudswell Clarke | 1782 | 1945 | Oil-fired Austerity class |
| Tobruk | 156 | 0-6-0ST | Oil fired Austerity class | |||
| 157 | 0-6-0ST | Austerity class, stored in Fitter's School in 1963 | ||||
| Sir Guy Williams | 400 | 2-8-0 | North British | 25205 | 1943 | Main passenger locomotive in 1963 |
| Gordon | 600 | 2-10-0 | Now preserved on the Severn Valley Railway | |||
| Kitchener | 601 | 2-10-0 | Under repair at Eastleigh Works in 1963 | |||
| Bari | 876 | 350 h.p. shunter | Under repair in Fitter's shop, 1963 | |||
| Basra | 876 | 350 h.p. shunter | Handled daily freight train in 1963 | |||
| Hassan | 8227 | 0-6-0 400 h.p. shunter | Ruston & Hornsby | Worked the early morning passenger service, 1963 | ||
| 9033 | Railcar | |||||
| 9034 | Railcar | Under repair in Fitter's shop, 1963 | ||||
| 17 | John Fowler & Co. | ex-Swynnerton Royal Ordnance Factory | ||||
| 25 DM 25 | Land Rover | Converted Land Rover Mark 8 road vehicle |
[edit] Closure
In light of the reducing role of the military and the severely reduced British Empire, it was decided by the Ministry of Defence to close the railway. On hearing of its impending closure local locomotive preservation groups became interested in acquiring the small but complete rail system, and a bid was placed to purchase LMR along with the airstrip at Gypsy Hollow which would have enabled the production of a unique transport museum. The MOD rejected this proposal, which had been backed by the Association of Railway Preservation Societies and The Transport Trust. However the Army did offer the last 1½ miles of line from Liss Forest Road to Liss. The offer was accepted, a provisional lease was drawn up and planning permission was sought for developments at Liss [4]
Unfortunately the people of Liss did not share this enthusiasm and opposed the planning permission. Several residents raised £9,100 in a successful bid to buy this last piece of line. Longmoor Military Railway closed down on 31 October 1969, though for another two years some locomotives and stock remained on site, and there were occasional movements.
[edit] Preservation
Some of the stock of the LMR did pass into the hands of preservationists, and some was also bequeathed to the Museum of Army Transport at Beverley, Yorkshire, including:
- WD Austerity 2-10-0 - LMR 600 Gordon
- Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST - No.118 Brussels
(Note that the Museum of Army Transport itself has since closed, and the vehicles in its care have transferred to the National Army Museum, although it is thought that most are held in storage).
Locomotive 600 Gordon has been resident on the Severn Valley Railway which, according to one of the SVR's directors, has been donated to the SVR by the Transport Trust. [5]
[edit] In popular culture
The railway was used as the location for a number of films including The Lady Vanishes (1938) and The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966).
[edit] Gallery
 Montage on display at Liss railway station |
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[edit] References
- ^ Hindley, Philip G. (September 1985). "The Kinmel Camp Railway". The Industrial Railway Record 102: pp.309-322. The Industrial Railway Society.
- ^ Whebell, Brian (December 1966). "Postscripts to Longmoor". Industrial Railway Record 12: 303-307.
- ^ Farmer, Keith (March 1966). "Longmoor Military Railway". Industrial Railway Record 9: 199-205/220.
- ^ Liss, Hants
- ^ SVRA forum - Locomotive 600
[edit] Further reading
- Ronald, D.W and Carter, R.J, (1974) The Longmoor Military Railway, Newton Abbot: David & Charles, ISBN 0-7153-6357-3.
- Mitchell, V. and Smith, K., (1987), Branch Lines to Longmoor, Midhurst: Middleton Press, ISBN 0-906520-41-X.
[edit] External links
- History at HantsWeb
- Industrial Railway Society article from 1966 also includes a map of the system
- Recollections of LMR operations
- History at Military Railways in Hampshire
- Army historical article on the LMR.
- "Longmoor Military Railway". Platform 14 Ltd. Along These Lines. ITV Meridian. 2008-04-20. No. 2, season 1.
