Snailbeach District Railways

Snailbeach District Railways
Map of the Snailbeach District Railways
The locomotive shed at Snailbeach
Overview
HeadquartersTonbridge until 1948
LocaleEngland
Dates of operation1877–1959 (rail operation)
Successorabandoned
Technical
Track gauge2 ft 4 in (711 mm) [a]
Length3+12 miles (5.63 km)

Snailbeach District Railways was a British narrow gauge railway in Shropshire. It was built to carry lead ore from mines in the Stiperstones to Pontesbury where the ore was transshipped to the Great Western Railway's Minsterley branch line. Coal from the Pontesford coal mines travelled in the opposite direction. The line ended at Snailbeach, the location of Shropshire's largest and richest lead mine, though there had been a plan to extend it further, which would have brought it closer to more lead mines.