- Services
- Abandonment
- Afterlife
- References Sources
- Further reading
- External links
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}{{Infobox UK disused station
|name = Clitsome
|image_name =
|caption =
|locale = Roadwater
|borough = Somerset
|coordinates = {{coord|51.1432|-3.3765|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|gridref = ST038391
|platforms = 0{{sfn|Sellick|1970|p=96}}{{sfn|Jones|2011|p=233}}
|original = West Somerset Mineral Railway
|pregroup =
|postgroup =
|years1 = 4 September 1865
|events1 = Opened for passengers
|years2 = 7 November 1898
|events2 = Closed{{sfn|Quick|2009|p=459}}
|}}{{West Somerset Mineral Railway|collapse=yes}}Clitsome was a recognised stopping place, not a formal station, on the West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR). The railway's prime purpose was to carry iron ore from mines to Watchet harbour in Somerset, England. It was "general practice to pick up or set down passengers .. at Clitsome."{{sfn|Sellick|1970|p=96}} The line was unconnected to any other, though it passed under what is now the West Somerset Railway south of the village of Watchet. The stopping place was next to a level crossing.{{sfn|Jones|2011|p=233}}{{sfn|Sellick|1981|p=54}} ServicesThe line opened for goods traffic in 1857. A passenger service began in September 1865, connecting Watchet with the village of Washford and the hamlets of Roadwater and Comberow.{{sfn|Carpenter|1988|p=44}} Passengers were carried from Comberow up a rope-hauled incline to {{rws|Brendon Hill}} and on to {{rws|Gupworthy}} on a wagon, free of charge, but at their own risk.{{sfn|Sellick|1981|p=6}} The initial passenger service consisted of four trains a day out and back.{{sfn|Sellick|1970|pp=104-5}} Like other railways built to serve one industry, such as iron ore carrying lines in Cumbria, the WSMR's fortunes were at the mercy of that industry. Iron and steel making was given to boom and bust and suffered a significant downturn in the 1870s, exacerbated by imports of cheaper and better ore from abroad. The iron mines which provided the WSMR's staple traffic stuttered to complete closure between 1879 and 1883. The line did not close immediately, two mixed trains a day continued to run until 1898, when all traffic ceased.{{sfn|Jones|2011|p=399}} In 1907 the Somerset Mineral Syndicate made an attempt to revive the line, reopening Colton mine and starting a new bore at Timwood. Apart from a reopening day special on 4 July 1907{{sfn|Scott-Morgan|1980|p=10}} no passenger service was provided. The venture collapsed in March 1910.{{sfn|Jones|2011|p=327}} After closure in 1910 the line through Clitsome was subject to minimal maintenance.{{sfn|Sellick|1981|p=35}}{{sfn|Jones|2011|pp=349 & 360}} The line's tracks were lifted in 1917 as a contribution to the war effort.{{sfn|Sellick|1981|p=35}} AbandonmentWith neither track, rolling stock nor prospects an Act of Parliament was sought and passed to abandon the railway. Its assets were auctioned on 8 August 1924 and the company was wound up in 1925.{{sfn|Jones|2011|p=352}} Evocative contemporary descriptions of the line in its later years have been preserved.{{sfn|Sellick|1970|pp.66-67 & 76-77}} AfterlifeBy 2016 much of the route could still be traced on the ground, on maps and on satellite images. The incline from Comberow to Brendon Hill is a Listed structure. {{Disused Rail Start}}{{Rail line
|previous=Torre
Line and station closed
|next={{rws|Roadwater}}
Line and station closed
|route=West Somerset Mineral Railway
|col={{NBR colour}} }}{{rail end}}ReferencesSources{{refbegin}}- {{cite journal |last=Carpenter |first=Roger |editor1-first=Paul |editor1-last=Karau |editor2-first=Gerry |editor2-last=Beale |date=Winter 1988 |title=Comberow Incline - West Somerset Mineral Railway |journal=British Railway Journal |volume= |issue=20 |publisher=Wild Swan Publications Ltd |location=Didcot |issn=0265-4105 |ref=harv }}
- {{Cite book |title=The Brendon Hills Iron Mines and the West Somerset Mineral Railway |first=Michael H. |last=Jones |publisher=Lightmoor Press |year=2011 |location=Lydney |isbn=978-1-899889-53-2 |oclc=795179029|ref=harv }}
- {{Quick-Stations}}
- {{cite book |last=Scott-Morgan |first=John |title=British Independent Light Railways |year=1980 |publisher=David and Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=978-0-7153-7933-2 }}
- {{cite book |last= Sellick |first= Roger J. |title= The Old Mineral Line |origyear= 1976 |year= 1981 |publisher=Exmoor Press |location=Dulverton |isbn=978-1-84114-692-8 |ref=harv }}
- {{cite book |last=Sellick |first=Roger J. |title=The West Somerset Mineral Railway and the story of the Brendon Hills Iron Mines |year=1970 |edition=2nd |origyear=1962 |publisher=David and Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=978-0-7153-4961-8 |ref=harv }}
{{refend}}Further reading{{refbegin}}- {{cite book|last=Dale |first=Peter | title = Somerset's Lost Railways|date =2001|publisher=Stenlake Publishing |location=Catrine |isbn=978-1-84033-171-4 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Vic |last2=Smith |first2=Keith |title=Branch Line to Minehead: Preservation Perfection |date=1990|publisher=Middleton Press |location=Midhurst |isbn=978-0-906520-80-2 |ref=harv}}
- {{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=David St John |title=Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The West Country v. 1 |date=1966 |publisher=David and Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=978-0-946537-17-4 |ref=harv}}
{{refend}}External links- {{cite web |url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=51.1432&lon=-3.3768&layers=168&b=1 |title=The stopping place on a 1902 OS map with overlays |website=National Library of Scotland }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.RailMapOnline.com/UKIEMap.php?lat=51.14315&lng=-3.37653 |title=The stopping place and features overlain on OS maps |website=Rail Map Online }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/roadwater/index.shtml |title=The line and its history |website=Disused Stations }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.fowsr.org.uk/flyers/173-a-walk-on-the-west-somerset-mineral-railway |title=A walk on the West Somerset Mineral Railway |website=Friends of the West Somerset Railway |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624014219/http://www.fowsr.org.uk/flyers/173-a-walk-on-the-west-somerset-mineral-railway |archivedate=24 June 2016 |df=dmy-all }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/incline/bhi.htm |title=West Somerset Mineral line inclines |website=Dr. Mark Hows }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/26/WSMR.htm |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway |website=Industrial Railway Record }}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.exmoorher.co.uk/hbsmr-web/record.aspx?UID=MSO9229-West-Somerset-Mineral-Railway-(Monument) |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway |website=Exmoor National Park }}
- {{cite web |url=http://transportheritage.com/find-heritage-locations.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=99 |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway |website=Transport Trust }}
- {{cite web |url=http://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/OtherRailways/WSMR.html |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway |website=John Speller }}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.exmoorher.co.uk/hbsmr-web/record.aspx?UID=TEM12-The-West-Somerset-Mineral-Railway-Project-(Thematic-Essay) |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway Project |website=Exmoor National Park }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway Project |website= The Project itself }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/minor/wsmr.html |title=West Somerset Mineral Railway |website=The Train Web }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.wsmla.org.uk/ |title=West Somerset Mineral Line Association |website=The Association itself }}
3 : Railway stations opened in 1865|Railway stations closed in 1898|Disused railway stations in Somerset |