Talk:Solway Junction Railway

Closure date
Previous editors had this on the viaduct closure date. I give it below, partly because some of it might be right, partly because it can't all be right, and therefore indicates the problems lurking in the use of 'railway histories' as sources:

"A miners' strike took place in May 1921, by which time the daily train service had reduced to one mixed train each way, and on 30 May the service was amended to two return trips per week. In August 1921 a new review of the maintenance needs on the viaduct showed that £70,000 needed to be spent: this sum was beyond what was justified and after the last train on 31 August 1921 the viaduct line was closed. The sections between Kirtlebridge and Annan, and between Brayton and Abbey Junction continued in operation for the time being." .... "There are contradictory references to the date of final closure of the viaduct, but this was probably 1 September 1921. Clinker states that the entire line closed from 1917 to 1919, and Stansfield states that 'the service ... was suspended from January 1917 to March 1924', but this is refuted by Quick, who states that Bradshaw's Timetables for the period continued to show a passenger train service, and that no Railway Clearing House documentation for the closure was found. Clinker also states that the viaduct and lines in England closed from 20 May 1921, and Ross says (on page 185) that the 'viaduct was officially declared closed from 20 May 1921', but this probably refers to a temporary suspension during the coal emergency."

Two bits of information in local newspapers not in the current article are Given the accuracy of the Minister of Transport's information on other points, it looks fairly certain the final closure was no later than July 1921, which would fit with the 'six months' of the Annan Merchants' Association. 01:13, 9 May 2016 (UTC)Rjccumbria (talk)
 * temporary station closures took place in May 1917 (on the 2 days before the Royal Train used the line) - so clearly the 'closed from 1 Feb 1917' decision hadn't stuck
 * indignation meetings in late 1921 generally talked about the viaduct having been closed 'some time ago', but the Southern Reporter of 22 December 1921 reports the Annan Merchants' Association complaining that the viaduct had been shut for six months

Nationality of the Company
On at least one occasion, an English judge asked why he was expected to hear a case between two Scottish companies. The answer to that is that the SJR was an English company. A few of the categories are wrong therefore. Rjccumbria (talk) 01:20, 9 May 2016 (UTC)