Black Craig - New Quarry
00, British Railways, Scottish Region
Limestone is normally sized
before sale. So is quarried & given its primarily crushing off scene, then moved
by conveyor to the secondary crusher, conveyed to the screen, screened to size &
dumped into the surge bunkers. From the surge bunkers sized limestone is moved
by conveyor to the loader, if required limestone of various sizes can be mixed
between the surge bunkers and loader.
History
Opening in 1905 and its relative success
lead to a proposal to extend the Cairn Valley Light Railway [Dumfries - Moniaive]
26 miles to Dalmellington via Carsphairn and Black Craig creating a shorter
route from England to Ayr, the south of the Ayrshire coal field, and
Dalmellington [an important coal & steel town]. The line would have been
expensive to build [a Bridge over the Waters of Ken and minimising grades] and
operate [long climbs of over 1:50]. It would have served an area of sheep
farming [Carsphairn sheep show is in early June], quarrying and mining
[lead/zinc/silver at Woodhead & haematite/limestone at Black Craig]. History has
been twisted with the line coming to fruition, becoming part of the London
Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923 and British Railways Scottish Region in
1948. The layout is set in the 1950’s with Scottish Region stock including
Pannier tanks that surprisingly made their way to Scotland. The quarries at
Black Craig supply limestone to the iron works at Dalmellington.