Railways of Jamaica: Spanish Town to Ewarton

Spanish Town to Ewarton

Legend

0.0

Spanish Town Station

Parochial motorable road (gated)

Junction
Mainline from Kingston continues to Montego Bay

A2 road (gated)

100' contour

Unclassified road (gated)

1.2

St. John’s Road Halt

Irrigation Canal~? m

4.8

Angels Halt

Parochial motorable road (gated)Angels

1~100 m

9.5

Crescent Halt

Viaduct~70 m

2~160 m

3~110 m

4~665 m

Thomas River~15 m

Unclassified road (gated)

14.1

Bog Walk Station

Rio Cobre~40 m

14.5

JunctionPort Antonio branch

250' contour

Parochial motorable road (ungated)

A1 road (gated)

16.5

Michleton Halt

Viaduct over Parochial motorable road

Parochial motorable road (ungated)

19.3

Linstead Station

Rio Magno Gully~85 m

JunctionNew Works branch

B13 road

A1 road

Byndloss Gully~20 m

22.1

Sterling Castle Halt

Parochial motorable road

Unnamed Gully~40 m

500' contour

23.7

JunctionEwarton Works branch

750' contour

27.8

Ewarton Terminus

The Spanish Town to Ewarton line was built to serve the citrus growing regions in the interior of Saint Catherine, particularly those around the towns of Bog Walk, Linstead and Ewarton.^[1]

History

The 14 miles (23 km) of 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) track from Spanish Town to Ewarton were completed in 1885 at a cost of approximately £93,000.^[1]

The section from Linstead to Ewarton was closed in 1947.^[2] It was later reopened as far as the Bauxite processing plant just east of Ewarton.

The rest of the line closed to passengers in 1992 but it remains open for Bauxite traffic.^[3]

The Spanish Town to Bog Walk section reopened briefly for passenger traffic in 2009/10 while the A1 road through Bog Walk Gorge was closed for major repair work.^[4]

Gradients

The line climbs 700 feet (213.4 m) in 14 miles (23 km) (average gradient 1 in 106 or 0.0094%) from Spanish Town station (just under 100 feet or 30.5 metres^[5]) to its summit at Ewarton (800 feet^[6]).

Stations and Halts

There were 4 stations and 5 halts on the line:^[3]^[5]

Spanish Town Station (Branch Terminus)
St. John’s Road Halt
Angels Halt
Crescent Halt
Bog Walk Station
Michleton Halt
Linstead Station
Sterling Castle Halt
Ewarton Station] (Terminus)

Tunnels

There are 4 tunnels,^[5] from south to north:

Number 1 ~100 m
Number 2 ~160 m
Number 3 ~110 m
Number 4 ~665 m

Bridges

There are 7 significant bridges on the line:

Viaduct ~70 m
Thomas River ~15 m
Rio Cobre ~40 m
Viaduct (not visible in satellite imagery)
Rio Magno Gully ~85 m
Byndloss Gully ~20 m
Unnamed Gully ~40 m

Notes and references

1 2 The Jamaica Railway 1845-1945 by H R Fox, General Manager, Jamaica Government Railway in The Railway Magazine of November & December 1945.
↑ The rise and fall of railways in Jamaica, 1845-1975 - Pg11 Journal of Transport History - March 2003
1 2 Annual Transport Statistics Report: Jamaica in Figures 2003-2004, Ministry of Transport and Works, July 2005, Table 3.5 - Mileage for JRC Stations, Halts & Sidings in relation to the Kingston Railway Terminus 2003-2004.
↑ "Jamaica Train Ride - Linstead to Spanish Town (09 AUG 2011) Pt # 2". YouTube. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
1 2 3 UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 map of Jamaica Sheet L (1966).
↑ UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 map of Jamaica Sheet G (1973).

External links

Railways of Jamaica

Passenger lines	Kingston to Montego Bay Spanish Town to Ewarton Bog Walk to Port Antonio Linstead to New Works May Pen to Frankfield

Stations	List of railway stations in Jamaica Ailford's halt Albany Anchovy Angels halt Annotto Bay Appleton Appleton Tourist halt Balaclava Baughs halt Belfield halt Bog Walk Breadnut Walk halt Bryan's Hill Buff Bay Bushy Park halt Cambridge Catadupa Chapelton Clarendon Park Comfort Hall halt Crawle halt Crescent halt Crooked River Cross Roads/Ivy Store Darling Spring halt Duck Pond halt Esher Ewarton Fort George halt Fort Stewart halt Four Paths Frankfield Gordon’s halt Grange Lane Grays Inn halt Greenvale Greenwich Town halt Gregory Park Grove Place halt Harewood halt Hartlands halt Highgate Hope Bay Horizon Park halt Hunts Bay halt Ipswich Jacob’s Hut Kendal Kingston Linstead Longville halt Maggotty Marcus Garvey Drive halt May Pen Michleton halt Montego Bay Montpelier Morgans New Works Norwich halt Old Harbour Orange Bay Oxford halt Passley Gardens halt Port Antonio Porus Richmond Riversdale Robertson's halt Rock halt Saint Margaret's Bay Scott’s Pass halt Siloah halt Snow Hill halt Spanish Town Spring Garden halt St. John’s Road halt Sterling Castle halt Stonehenge Suttons Taja halt Troja Trout Hall Williamsfield Windsor Castle halt

Other infrastructure	List of railway tunnels in Jamaica

Bauxite lines	Alcan Bodies to Port Esquiville (Alcan) Woodside mines to Rocky Point Port (Alcoa) Nain to Port Kaiser (Alpart) Upper Saint Ann to Discovery Bay (Kaiser) (Reynolds)

Estate lines	Appleton (sugar) Bowden (bananas)

Military lines	Logans Junction to Fort Simmonds

Notable personnel	H R Fox David Smith (railway promoter) William Smith (railway promoter)

Notable incidents	Balaclava rail disaster Kendal rail disaster

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, October 18, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.