The 60 cm Railways on Steepholm

Steepholm, owing to its limited accessibility, is something of a time capsule. The high cost of transporting tons of steel back to the mainland meant that the island escaped the attentions of the scrap dealers. As a result many of the military artefacts from World War 2 and Victorian times which have long since vanished from the mainland, are still in situ.

The 60 cm gauge railway which zig-zags up from the jetty to the top of the island was installed in 1941 when it became apparent that the tons of sand, cement and steel necessary to construct the gun batteries could not be carried up on the backs of mules which had been the method to date! These mules were apparently imported from India complete with handlers, who must have found the rain and wind of the Bristol Channel rather a change from the heat and dust of the subcontinent. There were no curry houses in Cardiff or Bristol at the time but arrangements were made by the war office to accommodate the dietary requirements of both the Hindu troops and their four legged charges.

The railway was constructed using ex WW1 German feldbahn prefabricated track which had been held in stock at Longmoor in Hampshire and was cable operated using diesel powered winches at the top of each of the three inclines.

Originally, it ran across the plateau at the top of the island to serve the gun batteries, but once construction had finished and the 6 inch ex-naval guns had been installed, this temporary track was lifted. The main incline, however, was left together with a second incline which led from the plateau down to a searchlight post and landing stage.

The landing stage itself was constructed from prefabricated girders and was demolished at the end of the war.