Cement Works
Many of the cement works and their associated chalk pits had narrow gauge railways, particularly those in the South East of England. The Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd. (APCM, (Blue Circle Industries), now part of Lafarge) was the major producer of cement in the United Kingdom in the second half of the twentieth century and many of their plants used railways.
| Name | Opened | Closed | Gauge | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APCM Cliffe Works | 1934 ? | 1959 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Cliffe-at-Hoo, England | Extensive diesel-hauled chalk pit railway. |
| APCM Bevans Works | ? | after 1962 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Northfleet, England | Short line operating on a riverside wharf |
| APCM Harbury Works | ? | after 1961 | 3 ft (914 mm) | Harbury, England | Quarry line worked with a rare Fowler 2-4-0 diesel locomotive |
| APCM Holborough Works | 1923 | 1969 | 3 ft (914 mm) | Snodland, England | Steam- and diesel- hauled railway at the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd's cement plant at Holborough. |
| APCM Sittingbourne Brickworks | before 1898 | after 1963 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Sittingbourne, England | Internal brickworks railway |
| APCM Rodmell Works | before 1910 | 1975 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Beddingham, England | Short line serving a cement works |
| APCM Sittingbourne Works | ? | 1971 | 4 ft 3 in (1,295 mm) | Sittingbourne, England | Cement works line with the last narrow gauge steam locomotive in that industry. |
| APCM Kent Works | 1877 | 1927 | 3 ft 9 1⁄2 in (1,156 mm) | Greenhithe, England | Steam-hauled railway at the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd's cement plant at Greenhithe. |
| APCM Sundon Works | ? | 1974 | 3 ft (914 mm) | Luton, England | Cement works line. |
| British Standard Cement Works | 1912 | 1932 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Rainham, England | Notable as the only industrial line in Britain to use an ex-WDLR Baldwin locomotive. |
| Broom Bank | 1933 | 1962 | 4 ft 3 in (1,295 mm) | Lower Twydall, England | Steam hauled cement works and clay pit line |
| Chinnor Cement & Lime | 1962 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Chinnor, England | Locomotive and cable worked lines serving the chalk quarry and washmills. | |
| Smeed Dean & Co. | 1900 | 1949 | 3 ft 7 1⁄2 in (1,106 mm) | Lower Twydall, England | Chalk pit line |
| Francis & Co. | 1871 | 1920 | 3 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,130 mm) | Cliffe, England | Steam-worked chalk quarry railway |
| Gillingham Portland Cement Co. | 1870s? | 1910 | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | Gillingham, England | Early cement works line |
| I. C. Johnson & Co. | before 1872 | 1928 | 3 ft 9 1⁄2 in (1,156 mm) | Greenhithe, England | Internal steam hauled railway, replaced by a standard gauge line. |
| J. B. White & Bros - Swanscombe Works | 1825 | 1929 | 3 ft 5 1⁄2 in (1,055 mm) | Swanscombe, England | Steam locomotive worked from 1875 onwards. Internal works line with rare outside flanged rolling stock |
| Knight, Bevan & Sturge | 1873 ? | 1928 | 2 ft 8 1⁄2 in (825 mm) | Northfleet, England | Extensive chalk quarry system, eventually superseded by a standard gauge line |
| Queensborough Cement Works | 1896 | 1930? | unknown | Queensborough, England | Line worked by two Aveling and Porter steam locomotives |
| RPCM Barrington Cement Works | by 1979 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Barrington, England | Short locomotive-worked line | |
| RPCM Rochester Works | ? | 1952 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Halling, England | Extensive cement works railway |
| RPCM Southam Works | ? | 1956 | 2 ft (610 mm) | Southam, England | Steam locomotive worked railway |
| Tolhurst & Sons | 1860s | before 1948 | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | Gravesend, England | Large internal chalk quarry system |
Read more about this topic: British Quarrying And Mining Narrow Gauge Railways
Famous quotes containing the words cement and/or works:
“Between married persons, the cement of friendship is by the laws supposed so strong as to abolish all division of possessions: and has often, in reality, the force ascribed to it.
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—David Hume (1711–1776)
“Again we mistook a little rocky islet seen through the “drisk,” with some taller bare trunks or stumps on it, for the steamer with its smoke-pipes, but as it had not changed its position after half an hour, we were undeceived. So much do the works of man resemble the works of nature. A moose might mistake a steamer for a floating isle, and not be scared till he heard its puffing or its whistle.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)