A History of the Pensnett Railway
The Pensnett Railway was a by-product of the fast-developing coal and iron industries of the Black Country in the 19th century. Opened in a very small way in 1829 as one of the many enterprises of the Lords Dudley, it was extended from time to time until it it had had nearly 40 miles (64 km) of track and served a large number of collieries, quarries, sand pits, ironworks and other industrial concerns, not all of which were in Dudley estate ownership. For if it was not a common carrier in the proper railway sense, it was at least a transport contractor where opportunities presented themselves.
Its motive power ranged from horses and stationary engines to a variety of steam locomotives; over the years it has had fifty-two, including the famous Agenoria, which still exists.
It gave good and faithful if at times a trifle eccentric service to those industries which called it into being and made a very useful contribution to the industrial development of the Black Country. Today, in modified and modernised form, with its motive power entirely dieselised as would be expected, it continues to serve a large steelworks, the lineal descendant of the Dudley estate ironworks it helped to develop.
But if the Pensnett Railway was a faithful servant it was never a non-entity or a mere appendage of the estates. It was a real railway, a line which had a character all its own and it inspired in its staff a loyalty which was so characteristic of many of the public main lines.
The men and machines of the Pensnett Railway worked hard and long hours. Their function, as they saw it, was to move minerals and finished goods and this they did. If, as sometimes happened, rules and regulations especially other people's rules and regulations got in the way, then they were either bent to suit the situation or quietly ignored altogether.
In all these respects the Pensnett Railway had much in common with other mineral lines but it had one feature which renders it unusual. It is very well documented. Management of the very large Dudley estates and industrial enterprises, of which the PR was a part, was to a high standard for its time, and the central estate office at Dudley contained a mass of carefully indexed material on every aspect of the business.
Hardback with dust jacket, 14x22cm, 112 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good/Very Good
ISBN: 9780900404283
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Updated: 2 April 2024