I am not sure if Abercwmmeiddaw and Abercorris were still working on any
significant scale in the 1930s - I can't put my hand on my copy of Slate
Quarrying at Corris to check - but if so, they were not sending material out on
the Corris. I think ABC's De Winton had probably gone well before that period as
otherwise some intrepid photographer would have recorded it. Last time I looked
there were buildings that could well have housed it on one or two of the levels.

Richard

--- In corris-discuss@..., Dan Crow <gwernol@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks Richard, for the very detailed and informative reply. Sir
> Haydn Jones' impact on the district was indeed significant. The
> replacement
> of the UCT with road transportation is interesting and as you say,
> says a lot about the relative proximity of the Corris Uchaf quarries
> to the road. Presumably Abercwmmeiddaw had a similar arrangement - I
> believe they had a de Winton vertical boilered locomotive that
> worked the internal quarry lines for at least a while.
>
> As you say, the remoteness of the Aberllefenni and Ratgoed quarries
> was a blessing for the railway.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 3:55 PM, rgcorris <RSG_Corris@...> wrote:
> > In the nineteenth century the UCT almost certainly carried a larger quantity
> > of slate than the line from Aberllefenni, and was a highly successful
> > transportation link at a time when there was no real alternative. It is
> > under-documented in that it was built, it did its job, and it closed when
> > there was no longer a need for it. More pertinently, by the time the first
> > enthusiasts and cameras started visiting Corris, it was coming to the end of
> > its life so it rarely features in reports and photographs - and of course
> > photographers found steam locos and carriages more interesting than goods
> > vehicles anyway; there are few shots of the main line featuring waggons
> > before 1930, when they were all there was left to photograph in trains.
> >
> > Braichgoch quarry stopped sending slate on the Corris as a protest against
> > the management's increase in shipping rates; the quarry bought a steam lorry
> > and carried its products by road to Machynlleth for transshipping onto the
> > main line direct, and saved a significant sum in doing so. The GWR tried to
> > attract this trade back to the Corris but eventually gave up when it was
> > pointed out that they still took most of the traffic on the main line
> > anyway. So essentially the UCT was replaced by road transport as, unlike
> > more remote quarries, the road links from Corris Uchaf were of good quality
> > and provided relatively easy routes. Indeed, the improvement to what is now
> > the A487 pre-dated the construction of the railway and its branches, and it
> > was only while rail was able to carry material more efficiently than road
> > that it remained the best method of transport.
> >
> > The same fate might have overtaken the main line if Sir Haydn Jones' time
> > running Aberllefenni Quarry had not been marked by his instructing the
> > quarry to use the Corris whenever possible; if he had not been concerned to
> > keep the line going he might also have bought a lorry and there would have
> > been an end to the Corris fifteen years earlier than actually happened;
> > there is little doubt that in that case the locos would have been scrapped.
> > And what might have happened to the Talyllyn if that had been the case.....
> >
> > Richard
> >
> > --- In corris-discuss@..., Dan Crow <gwernol@> wrote:
> >>
> >> I'm intrigued by the sadly under-documented UCT. It always seemed a
> >> weak link to the quarries in and around Corris Uchaf. How did
> >> Braichgoch and others ship slate over the railway after 1926? Were
> >> direct inclines ever considered, particularly from Braichgoch? While
> >> the tramway would have been very difficult to convert to locomotive
> >> working, its early demise suggests that it wasn't that successful as a
> >> transportation link.
> >>
> >> Sorry for all the questions, and many thanks for any answers that
> >> might be available.
> >>
> >> Dan
> >>
> >
> >
>