Bog Walk to Port Antonio railway

Bog Walk to Port Antonio
0.0 Bog Walk
0.2 Rio Cobre Bridge~40m
0.5
Bog Walk Junction
Mainline from Spanish Town continues to Ewarton
0.6 250' contour
8.1 500' contour
8.5 Crawle Halt
10.3 Riversdale
11.9 Riversdale Tunnel~130m
13.1 Harewood Halt
14.4 Harewood Tunnel~200m
14.6 Darling Spring Tunnel~160m
14.8 Darling Spring Halt
15.7 B2 & River Doro Bridge~30m
17.3 Troja Station
17.6 750' contour
18.6 Cromwell Mountain #1 Tunnel~70m
18.8 Cromwell Mountain #2 Tunnel~90m
19.1 Cromwell Mountain #3 Tunnel~160m
19.4 Cromwell Mountain #4 Tunnel~145m
19.6 Cromwell Mountain #5 Tunnel~180m
20.0 Cromwell Mountain #6 Tunnel~285m
20.4 750' contour
20.6 Cromwell Mountain #7 Tunnel~215m
21.3 Taja Halt
21.5 750' contour
21.6 Taja Tunnel~245m
22.1 750' contour
22.8 Flint River Tunnel~90m
23.5 500' contour
24.2 Flint River Bridge #1~20m
24.? Flint River Bridge #2~?m
24.? Flint River Bridge #3~?m
24.7 500' contour
25.0 Richmond Tunnel~270m
25.4 500' contour
25.8 Richmond Station
26.0 Orange River Bridge~25m
26.6 500' contour
28.6 750' contour
29.1 Highgate Station
29.4 Highgate Junction
30.2 750' contour
31.3 500' contour
34.2 Baughs Halt
35.4 Esher Station
36.1 Albany Station
37.5 250' contour
39.1 100' contour
41.6 50' contour
44.5 Belfield Halt
43.6 Wagwater BridgeCombined road and rail
Grays Inn Halt
Fort George Halt
Pencar River BridgeCombined road and rail
Annotto Bay Station
Dry River BridgeCombined road and rail
Fort Stewart Halt
Windsor Castle Halt
White River BridgeCombined road and rail
Buff Bay River BridgeCombined road and rail
Buff Bay Station
Spring Garden Halt
Spanish River BridgeCombined road and rail
Orange Bay Station
Rock Hill Tunnel~150m
Hope Bay #1 Tunnel~225m
Hope Bay #2 Tunnel~50m
Hope Bay #3 Tunnel~100m
Swift River BridgeCombined road and rail
Hope Bay Station
Robertson's Halt
Saint Margaret's Bay Station
Rio Grande BridgeCombined road and rail
Snow Hill Halt
Passley Gardens Halt
Norwich Halt
87 Port Antonio

The Bog Walk to Port Antonio railway was a railway in Jamaica built to serve the banana, cacao, citrus and coconut districts of St Catherine, St Mary and Portland.[1]

Construction, operation and closure

The railway operated from 1896 to 1978. It was temporarily closed from 1975 to 1977.[2] The line was 54 miles (87 km) long.[3]

Gradients

The ruling gradient was 1 in 63 with the line climbing approximately 550 feet (170 m) in 18 miles (29 km) (average gradient 1 in 173) from Bog Walk (approximately 250 feet (76 m)) to its summit at Highgate (approximately 800 feet (240 m)) then descending approximately 750 feet (230 m) in just 9 miles (14 km) (average gradient 1 in 63) to the Wag Water Bridge (just above sea level) and continuing for another 27 miles (43 km) more or less on the level and along the coast to Port Antonio.[4]

Stations and Halts

There were 13 stations and 15 halts:[4]

Buff Bay Station in 1960.

Tunnels

Rear of a train entering a tunnel near Troja c1896.

There were 17 tunnels:[4]

TunnelApproximate length
Riversdale150 metres (160 yards)
Harewood150 metres (160 yards)
Darling Spring200 metres (220 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #175 metres (82 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #2270 metres (300 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #3150 metres (160 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #4100 metres (110 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #5150 metres (160 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #6200 metres (220 yards)
Cromwell Mountain #7175 metres (191 yards)
Taja250 metres (270 yards)
Flint River250 metres (270 yards)
Richmond150 metres (160 yards)
Rock Hill150 metres (160 yards)
Hope Bay #1225 metres (246 yards)
Hope Bay #250 metres (55 yards)
Hope Bay #3100 metres (110 yards)

Bridges

There were ten significant bridges.[4] Approximate bridge lengths[6] are shown in the route diagram to the right.

Bibliography

  • Satchell, Veront M & Sampson, Cezley (2003), The rise and fall of railways in Jamaica 1845-1975, The Journal of Transport History

See also

Notes and references

  1. Satchell & Sampson 2003, p. 6
  2. Satchell & Sampson 2003, p. 7
  3. Table 3.5 Mileage for JRC Stations, Halts & Sidings in relation to the Kingston Railway Terminus Archived March 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine., Annual Transport Statistics Report: Jamaica in Figures 2003-2004, Ministry of Transport and Works, July 2005.
  4. 1 2 3 4 UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 map of Jamaica Sheets K, L & M c1970.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Google satellite image resolution is at present insufficient to show this station/bridge.
  6. Bridge lengths were obtained using Wikimapia's GeoTools.

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