The Ballaswein Tramway was a short tram line that ran from Harwick to Ballaswein. It appears on four Island of Sodor maps: The 1950 map, the 1958 Edmund Ward map, the map in Awdry's typed book "Sodor History", and a map from the 1960s, which he painted as a wall hanging. Nothing is known about this line apart from how it appears on the map.
Trivia[]
- It has long been speculated the Ballaswein line was actually a branch of the Cronk and Harwick Railway. However, on all official maps the C&HR has appeared in, not one shows the line to Ballaswein.
- Given it appears to run right alongside a public road between Harwick and Ballaswein, it is safe to assume that this line was indeed a tramway. It is unknown what kind of motive power it would have had.
- A map of the northwest corner of Sodor dated 1896, written by the Rev. W. Awdry[1], does not show the Ballaswein Tramway alongside other routes such as the Mid Sodor Railway, Cronk and Harwick Railway, and the Knapford and Elsbridge Tramway. It's probable the tramway was not built until some point after 1896.
- The tramway stops appearing on maps after the aforementioned 1896 map, on the same map the Cronk and Harwick Railway starts appearing. So It's possible that the tramway is just an earlier version of the C&HR which was retconned.
- P.R. Wickham's "Island of Sodor" map seems to show a distinct cut in the rock around Ballaswein where the line terminates. It's possible the tramway serves a quarry or mine of some sort here. See this photograph for reference.
Gallery[]
1950 map
1958 map
"Sodor History" map
1960s map
References[]
- ↑ Map of NW Sodor circa 1896 , page 84 on TRLOTTTE’s RWS Database V.2