The Camber Railway

by Gareth D Jones

Far from the UK in the South Atlantic Ocean lies a group of

from where I learned much about this little known railway, along with some

islands that were thrust into the limelight in 1982. I am of course talking about the beautiful Falkland Islands where between 1915 and 1927 there existed a 3.5 mile, 2ft narrow gauge railway.

This railway first came to my attention when during a deployment to the Falklands Islands in 2008 I came across some 2ft rails during an adventure training day where we had been hiking in the hills, upon our walk back to the town of Port Stanley I spotted some rails and decided to investigate and research as to why they were there as I hadn’t realised that a railway system had existed there. Upon consulting thy almighty Google it brought up a great website interesting photographs featuring, what was, the most southerly railway in the world. It was known as ‘The Camber (Admiralty) Railway, which operated along the northern shore of Stanley harbour in support of the Admiralty wireless station, aiding the construction and then keeping their generators supplied with coal. The wireless station was equipped with a Marconi radio transmitter built to improve the communications after the difficulties experienced during the naval battles in the South Atlantic and Pacific throughout the later part of 1914 during the First World War. The line’s name came from its operation between the Camber Depot and wireless station along the long

headland of the north shore known as the Camber. The Railways motive power came from two engines shipped to the islands specifically for the railway, both were Kerr Stuart Wren class 0-4-0 locomotives, works numbers 2388/15 & 2392/15 and were ordered by the admiralty. Their design, as delivered, offered little protection to the loco crews, particularly in the brutal Falklands winters. It didn’t take the engine men long before they had modified the cabs with makeshift side panels fabricated from wood in an effort to reduce the effects of the wind. One of the engines received the legend ‘Falkland Islands Express’ painted on the side tank, a testament to the humour of those who worked on the railway. The wagons used on the line were initially of two types and both can be seen in the image on the first page of this article, they comprised tipper wagons and flat wagons. The flat wagons received locally made bodies and these were later further modified with the addition of raised end panels and removable seats that could be fitted for the conveyance of workmen, this also led to the legends 1st class, 2nd class, 3rd class and smoker being applied to the wagon bodies, further attesting to the humour of those who worked on the line. A photo featuring the ‘named’ engine and makeshift carriages can be seen overleaf, this image was later used on an official Falkland Islands stamp, and revived on a special commemorative stamp set issued for 90th anniversary of the

line’s opening in 2005. The railways industrial use came to an end during 1927, however, this was not the complete end of the railways use. The line was not only used for official purposes, it was also used for recreation by the islanders who built their own 4 wheeled wagons with a mast and a sail using the power of the wind to traverse the line. These home made sail powered wagons provided great variety in the ways in which they were made, with several differing arrangements for setting up their sails. The engines themselves were largely forgotten about and their remains were lying derelict at Navy Point around 1943, as can be seen in the photo below, though the saddle tanks had disappeared by that point, assumed to have been utilised elsewhere. After this date the line’s existence had been largely forgotten about, that was until 1982 when BBC TV news broadcasted maps showing the route of the line on them, which raised the existence of the line within the enthusiast community. A few enthusiasts visited the islands after this and found the remains of the engines buried under a pile of scrap and several wagons laying around in the edge of the water along with the remains of a broad gauge steam crane believed to have been delivered around the same time as the two engines. The conflict had led to the lifting of a large part of the railway’s track, with several sections of rail finding new use as cattle grids, shed rafters and use within defensive positions constructed by the Argentinian soldiers, being utilised as roofing materials on bunkers fabricated along Wireless Ridge and elsewhere. The wireless station had for a time been used by the Marines as a barracks, with the Argentinian forces believing this still to be the case upon

their invasion they destroyed the buildings. In the late 2000s a team from the Royal Engineers recovered what remained of the two engines and placed them in a container to protect what remained. There was a plan derived for one of the two engines to be repatriated for restoration, whilst the other was to be cosmetically restored for preservation in the Falklands, sadly this proposal fell through. The engines to this day still remain within their protective container, hopefully one day they will see restoration even if it is just cosmetically, I certainly think it would make a great exhibit in the museum within Port Stanley which already features a fascinating array of artefacts. As for the line itself, traces can still be seen today, where the rotting remains of some of the sleepers still remain and in a couple of places small sections of rail exist also. The trackbed can also be walked, though it is a little boggy in places. If ever you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit the wonderful Falkland Islands in person I can highly recommend taking a walk to discover more of the history of this often forgotten about and little heard of line. If you’d like to learn more about the railways of the South Atlantic I can highly recommend visiting this website; http:// www.railwaysofthefarsouth. co.uk/11acamberrailway.html which also features several photographs of the extant track bed.