Wrightscale loves the Corris Railway

The Wrights and Corris go back a long way. 

In 1976, we went from Machynlleth to the village of Corris, in mountainous north-west Wales ‘There used to be slate trains here’ was all that Malcolm could say for certain; for seventy years, the Corris Railway took slate out of the quarries in the Dulas valley.

North West Wales, 1921. To the left can be seen the Talyllyn running down to Towyn. Over the watershed, the Corris Railway runs down the Dulas river to the Dyfi. Courtesy Times Publishing.

We had heard of Allan Meaden and a small but dedicated band of volunteers who wanted trains to run once more but they were not taken too seriously. Every village near a dismantled railway seems to host a group of enthusiasts who dream of restoration.

‘Tut! tut!’ Malcolm was horrified. We found that the old Corris station had been demolished although the stables survived. Stables, not an engine shed? This is a long story and we’ll get round to explaining this puzzle in a minute. The building, though firmly locked, bore signs of being converted into a museum. We heard a cheery ‘Hello!’ and saw a couple of volunteers at work a short distance away. The centre of their toil was a short section of track, leading towards a gate, ominously closed.

They were really friendly, jolly guys but it seemed that the Council were not keen to have a railway extending out of the yard. Although they had plans to improve communication down the valley, we thought that their work was doomed. At the time we were pessimistic, but have been delighted to be proved wrong.

Ex-Corris Number 4 on loan from the Talyllyn. Just seen to th eright is the name on the Maespoeth Engine Shed. Courtesy Corris Railway Society

In 1977, the existing Corris Society formed the Corris Railway Company Ltd. In 1981, they acquired the Maespoeth Engine Shed, half a mile to the south. After various tussles with the local authority, their first train ran from Maespoeth to Corris on April 20^th 1985.  Since then, the railway has been extended. Allow 50 minutes for the round trip – which includes a tour of the engine shed.

Over the years, we have stayed in touch with Corris history for two reasons.

Firstly, we have always been interested in the part ‘the great little trains of Wales’ played in the design of military narrow gauge. This is a fascinating though sad story.

As mentioned above, stabling for horses was an important part of the original Corris station complex. This is because the first Corris and Machynlleth Tramroad consisted of horse-drawn trains, as used in the local quarries. The Railway Act specified 2’3” gauge, possibly because this was already used in the quarries, but also very likely because engineers of the time firmly believed that  a smaller gauge was not reliable for heavy traffic.

These Welsh engineers may not have realised it, but their work was revolutionary.

In the 1870s, French engineers took an interest in the narrow gauge railways of North Wales. In 1876, M. Sevérie, Works Director of the P-O line, wrote an account of the Festiniog Railway. In 1877, M. Vignes from the Chemins de Fer de l’Etat also went there but this was not his first visit to Wales. In 1874, he reported on the Corris line. These visits were very important to France. The slate trains convinced certain French engineers that 60 centimetre (the French equivalent of 2’) gauge could take serious tonnages of freight.

Although the Corris was carrying unofficial passengers from 1874,steam haulage did not start until 1878.

Corris railway circa 1890. Early wagons and carriages were four-wheelers. The distinctive buildings are made from slate. Collection MD Wright

A young engineer in the French Artillery was convinced by the reports from Wales. His name was Prosper Péchot and he went on to design and champion a system of portable railways capable of taking guns, ammunition - anything needed to wage a modern war - off the beaten track. His invention, later known as the système Péchot was much imitated and made it possible for millions of soldiers to stay in the field for years if necessary. Though it was not anticipated by the good Péchot, this helped to turn the 1914-18 War into a protracted slaughter, especially on the Western Front.

16mm scale Péchot bogie wagon, originally inspired by the trains of Wales. Later, the Welsh imitated the bogie design. Model built by MD Wright

As admirers of Péchot’s problem solving skill, Wrightscale have produced 16mm models of his wagons and accessories. Sarah has written books and articles which you can consult for the full story.  

Secondly, the Corris inspired a Wrightscale model.

The first 16mm scale locomotive Malcolm built was a Kerr Stuart Wren. ‘Why not’ his good angel whispered, ‘build a KS Tattoo? There are strong family resemblances and some parts are interchangeable’

16mm Wrightscale model of a Kerr, Stuart Tattoo locomotive, showing the distinctive saddle tamk and exiguous cab

Once word got out that there were Tattoos on the block, customers started to suggest ‘Corris No 4’ Though a Tattoo, the Corris version was and still is distinctive.

The management ordered the prototype in 1921. They chose Kerr, Stuart and Co of Stoke on Trent. The original Corris suppliers had been the Hughes Engine Works of Loughborough who later traded as Falcon Works and then as Brush Engineering. Brush had passed on the ‘goodwill’ to Kerr Stuart. The makers offered their Tattoo 0-4-2 locomotive. Management had learned through bitter experience that the 0-4-0 configuration was unstable on Corris track. Corris 1, 2 and 3 had all been returned to the makers to have a trailing bogie fitted, and half-cabs.

This detail of a Corris locomotive circa 1890 shows the squat cab design and saddle tank Collection MD Wright

The Tattoo design came with a saddle tank, a feature of the previous locomotives, but the cab was too light. It was therefore from the beginning a modified Tattoo.  At 8 rather than 9 tons, it was lighter than the existing Falcon locos and it returned a relatively impressive 3330 lbs of tractive effort.

The quotation was accepted and the locomotive delivered. In spite of or rather because of its weight and output, it tended to slip in wet conditions but the drivers learned to cope. It helped to assure services until a few months before the railway closed.

The Corris Railway limped through the Second World War, but the slate trade did not pick up afterwards as hoped. In 1948, locomotive inspectors pronounced that Number 4 needed a major overhaul while the Certificate for Number 3 was only dated until August 31^st. Then the Dyfi river flooded, cutting off the railway. The last train ran on 20^th August 1948.

16mm Wrightscale Corris No 4 Tattoo, constructed by MD Wright, lined out by Geoff Munday. Photo courtesy Geoff Munday

 After closure, the locomotives and some wagons were sheeted away behind a rake of standard gauge wagons at Machynlleth.  In 1951, the newly formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society, with encouragement from Machynlleth, managed to buy these remains at a good price. To this day, all-Corris trains occasionally run on the Talyllyn and appear at the born-again Corris.

Ex-Corris No 4 visiting its original home.The stencil on the wagon in the foreground says 'mail wagon!' Picture courtesy Corris Railway Society

The Railway celebrated its centenary some years ago. Let’s hope it will manage a second centenary.

Wrightscale 16mm WD bogie kit

We are pleased to announce that we have restocked with 16mm War Department bogie kits, plus Péchot wagon and crane kits. Thank you to all our friends who have waited for these.

16mm model of a WD D-Class open bogie wagon, used bythe thousand from 1916-18 to carry heavy goods such as ammunition. Model built on Wrightscale  bogies

Our wagon kits are based on originals used in the 1914-18 war. Long before1914, there was tension between France and Germany, especially after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. A young man called Prosper Péchot realised that the next war would involve artillery, heavy artillery and ammunition in huge volumes. The only way that ammunition could be delivered to the battlefield would be by a system of portable railways that was both quick to install yet capable of carrying abundant freight.

Such railways proved to be a war-winner. This is not just my opinion of those of railway enthusiasts. The historian Niall Fergusson recognised as much. These are his words: (Essay - condensing his book “Pity of War” - which appeared in the Sunday Times on November 11^th 2018)

The 370mm mortar took vast shells as can be seen from the one being lifted by a crane in the background. Photo from Illustration magazine courtesy MD Wright

The war ‘was fought mainly by artillery. Shell-fire caused 75% of casualties. The war-winning weapons were not poison gas or tanks so much as improvements in artillery tactics’ He mentions the creeping barrage and aerial reconnaissance but war-winning artillery couldn’t have reached have reached the field without thousands of kilometres of 60cm gauge railways. These had been initially devised by Péchot, then much imitated.

Fergusson mentions other interesting points. ‘It was a war for predominance between the six great European empires – the British, French and Russian against the German, Austrian and Ottoman – that broke out because the leaders miscalculated that the costs of inaction would exceed the costs of war.’

He was correct there. By 1914, the French had thrown away their initial superiority in 60cm gauge, but thought that motorised élan would carry them through. The Germans had their Scheiffen Plan for which they had ready 1000 miles of portable 60cm gauge and rolling stock to match. The British thought that a naval blockade would stop Germany importing guano, then an essential in the production of ammonia and thus of explosives. The Austrians took their cue from the Germans and so on ….

My own grandfather wrote to his wife ‘the war will be over by Christmas’ Yes! he really did!

16mm scale Wrightscale model of the basic Péchot wagon. A lighter version was produced in great numbers from 1915 onwards.

In the event, only 50% of the Schieffen Plan worked. The French did not collapse as they had done in 1870-1. Although more than 520,000 of their servicemen were killed or badly wounded by early 1915, they just kept on fighting. The British were unpleasantly surprised to discover that the German mills kept grinding out explosives. They were not to discover why until the end of the War.

The Germans waged deadly submarine warfare. The British, slowly, found an answer. A convoy system for supply ships was devised in 1916, and anti-submarine measures began in the Channel by late 1917. The submarines turned out to be a bad idea anyway. The USA sold arms to Britain and Wall Street provided finance but was also bankrolling Germany. Here are the words of Niall Fergusson:

‘American investors saw a German victory as possible as late as spring 1918. … Britain had access to Wall Street …. Submarine warfare … made American intervention likely if not inevitable   … (T)hat intervention (eventually) made a German victory impossible’

16mm Wrightscale WD bogie. The prototype, based on the French design above, was revolutionary. The gauge was Continental. Until then, British narrow gauge wagons were rarely mounted on bogies. In addition, the springing and sophisticated braking system owed much to the French.

In a word, the leaders of the Great Powers miscalculated badly. The costs of war greatly exceeded the costs of inaction. Each side deluded itself that it was superior. With every reverse, each nation raised its game, trying to find an answer to new and unwelcome challenges. We have heard about the evolutionary arms race. Well, humans are an excellent example of this theory in action.

In the end, brutal numbers told. The population ratio of the Allies to Central Powers was 5.3 to 1, economies 3.6 to 1, budgets 2.4 to 1. Victory, it must be conceded, doesn’t always go to the big battalions. The Germans were better prepared, better armed, better trained. They soundly defeated Belgium, Russia, Romania and had the other large countries on the back foot. For every 100 dead soldiers from Germany and other central Powers, there were 134 Allied dead.

If the British really had been led by donkeys, they might well have folded. Here is Fergusson again: ‘British officers were generally competent …the average Tommies’ lot was made more bearable by plonk and fags … despite high casualties, the bonds between pals and mates endured.’

General Haig. From Illustration magazine. Photo collection MD Wright

Fergusson is generalising here, but we can take one example. Although the telling phrase ‘lions led by donkeys’ has come to characterise the relationship between the soldiers in the field and their commanders, the truth was more nuanced. Since the 1920s, General Haig has been reviled as just such a donkey. In the area I know about, he showed vital insight. His superior, Kitchener, considered that portable/siege railways would be a distraction to an army which would be moving 100 miles a week. They were actively discouraged. Indeed, during the grim conditions endured by the British Expeditionary Force and early recruits to the Army of Volunteers, trench railways had to be produced by stealth. Improvised petrol motors were driven over scavenged track – when Top Brass wasn’t looking.

For both French and German soldiers, it was different. From early in the War, the French had re-learned the value of portable railways. They did not have time to make the beautifully engineered Péchot rolling stock, so they made wagons to a lighter ‘Decauville 15’ pattern. Throughout the war, the Germans built on existing good practice, producing many thousands of locomotives and wagons.

In November 1915, the British took over a small section of French 60cm railways supplying the Front east of Albert. There was grudging permission for a 1000 yard extension. This all happened in the area where the battle of the Somme took place.

Photo taken many years after 1918 showing the WD wagon still at work. It could carry ten tonnes of ballast. Photo courtesy DJ Bailey

On July 1^st, the battle began. Things did not go to plan though it was conceded that they had gone best in the Albert area, supplied by largely French trench railways. The mule-powered GS wagons and petrol-powered lorries provided by the British utterly failed to supply the Front.

Haig could have blamed the soldiers, the weather or the folk back home for his failures but he accepted that British doctrine had been wrong. The French and Germans were right! It must have been painful for a good patriotic Brit.

After a couple of painful years, the War Department Light Railways were born.

The WDLR had to follow Continental practice and was gauged at 60cm rather than good old Imperial. Even more painfully, Haig and Staff got in a civilian, Eric Geddes, and listened respectfully to his suggestions. To salve military pride, Geddes was made a general so that at least the Army were taking orders from someone with rank.

Two of the thousands of WD D-class wagons which were ordered 1916-18. Detail from photo collection DJ Bailey

By late August 1916, 600 miles of 60cm railway track, 1,600 wagons and 120 locomotives of various sorts were on order. An unfortunate fact was revealed. Many British manufacturers were busy with military orders from the French. The British Army had to go to the USA.

Although there were difficulties and a lot of hurt pride, the British showed that they could learn from friend and foe. Spoiler alert here! The Allies eventually won.

Only when the War was at an end did the British discover how the Germans could continue to make explosives despite the embargo. Nitric acid was the precursor for explosives ranging from gunpowder, TNT and nitro-glycerine. For centuries, the only industrial source of this family of nitrogen compounds had been human and animal manure. Guano (seabird manure) from Chile was the most practical source of nitric acid in large quantities. If the supply of guano could be interrupted, the British reasoned, then the Germans could no longer make explosives. Their reasoning was flawed.

In 1909, a German, Fritz Haber, successfully synthesized ammonia from nitrogen in the atmosphere. Ammonia could be used to make nitric acid. In 1913, unknown to the rest of the world, a research team led by Carl Bosch developed an industrial process based on these early laboratory experiments. Germany could now produce almost limitless nitric acid from thin air. At the end of the War, an unusually alert British officer noticed a puzzling factory, particularly puzzling because there seemed to be no raw materials. He called in a knowledgeable acquaintance who worked out what was going on and the secret of the Haber-Bosch process was out. With the right pressure, temperature and catalyst, anyone could produce ammonia and thus nitric acid. Well, almost anyone. To this day, processes based on the original Haber-Bosch are used all over the world.

After 1918, items developed during the War were put to for civilian use. The Haber-Bosch factory was one example. 60cm gauge wagons and locomotives were also sold and used as here in a quarry. Photo courtesy DJ Bailey

The British also had a top-secret chemist of genius, but that’s another story.