These pages (1998) are a supplement to the work I did in 1996-97, tracing the line of the old canal system through Telford. The mail line railways represent a much easier project, since most of them were in service until the Beeching axe fell in the 1960s or later, and of course some still are.
The origins of my interest in the canal system have already been explained. So many of the railways, locally and nationally, superseded the canals, in several cases being built over the same routes, that some interest in them became inevitable. I confess, though, that they do not excite me as much as the canals did.
It is fun, and satisfying, too, to get mail from local people and people of local origin worldwide whose memories are stirred by my descriptions. If you can add anything to what I have found out, please mail me.
My earlier disclaimer still stands: "I have not researched this exploration as a historian should, nor cited my sources properly." However, for those interested, I have used for my assistance, in addition to sources used previously:
There were many private railways and trackways in the area over a period of two hundred years or more, varying from a few hundred yards of narrow-gauge horse-drawn plateway to the extensive standard-guage colliery network run by the Lilleshall Company, which ranged from Snedshill to Trench and Muxton. This section of Exploring Telford describes those lines which formed part of the passenger-carrying public network. It is a description of where the railways ran, and a description of where remains of disused sections can still be seen - and no more. As before, "Those interested in the history of their construction, use and decline will not find answers here, but they are not hard to come by in the local libraries and museums".
Please see Accuracy for an explanation of the limits of accuracy of my work.
All street names and other references will be found on the Telford Street Map published by Wrekin District Council, unless otherwise stated. Many, of course, will be newer than the railway, so for example, "it crossed Queen Street" should be read as "it crossed where Queen Street is now".