Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway 0-6-2 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class Argyll (Locobase 10562)

Data from "Six-Coupled Tank Locomotive, Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway", The Locomotive Magazine, (15 June 1906), p.100 and "The Campbeltown & Macrihanish Light Ry," Op cit, 15 October 1906, pp. 173-175. See also Evan Crawford's [], last accessed 24 June 2009

This light railway was at the time of the LM report's 1906 publication the only narrow-gauge railway in Scotland. It was located in the Mull of Kintyre and connected the collieries in Machrihanish with the coal pier in Campeltown.

The line didn't reach Machrihanish proper until an extension was completed in 1906. At that time, the railway became a destination for day-trippers, says Evan Crawford, who could board a turbine steamer in Glasgow, debouch in Campbeltown, travel up to Machrihanish for the day and return.

Relatively powerful for the gauge, Argyll and Atlantic were the mainstays of the small stud. They somewhat unusually sported outside Walschaert gear that looked quite out of scale with the rest of the locomotive. They were far from the largest locomotives to operate on such a small gauge, but were nonetheless capable of handling the luxurious bogie carriages in passenger service on this short railway.

Apparently this skinny-rail, 6-mile line attracted a relatively upscale clientele because its passenger coaches were known to be opulent and comfortable and its points of interest included several well-regarded golf courses. Alas for the C & M L R, the collieries that supplied most of the revenue traffic tapped out in 1929 and the line quietly closed in 1932.