The Kerry Tramway was a gauge narrow gauge railway built in 1887 to serve the timber workings and slab quarry to the south of the village of Kerry

Kerry, Powys

Kerry is a small village in Powys, Mid Wales. The area around the village was the Welsh Commote and Lordship of Ceri, part of the region of Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, and it was originally ruled by the Princes of Maelienydd and their descendants....

, near Newtown in mid Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

The railway ran from the Cambrian Railways

Cambrian Railways

Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid-Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904...

 Kerry railway station at Glanmule to the Brynllywarch estate owned by Christopher Naylor. The line served the timber forests on the estate, as well as a slab quarry and general estate traffic. It was worked by the Bagnall locomotive Excelsior. In 1895 Naylor inherited Haggerston Castle

Haggerston Castle

Haggerston Castle was a castle located in the county of Northumberland, England at Haggerston about south of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Only the tower and the rotunda remain...

 and left Bryn Llywarch; the rolling stock of the railway was sold and the track was lifted.

During the First World War there was a great demand for timber. In 1917 the government Timber Supply Department (which later became the Forestry Commission

Forestry Commission

The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....

) relaid much of the tramway to serve the sawmill on the estate. The railway and timber felling operations were mainly manned by German prisoners of war under military control. During the war, the line was worked by the Kerr Stuart locomotive Diana.

After hostilities ceased the tramway continued to operate. In early 1919 a petrol locomotive arrived from Baguely and in 1922 a third locomotive, the Haig class Kashmir arrived.

The line closed again in 1922 and all the tracks lifted except the Lower Rhos to Pentre section. This last remaining section was worked using an unknown 0-4-0 side tank locomotive for several more years.

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Notes
Excelsior	W.G. Bagnall W.G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford...	0-4-2T	970	1888	Small 3½ ton wing tank locomotive; sold in 1895 and used during the construction of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Lynton and Barnstaple Railway The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track narrow gauge railway slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force,... , later scrapped
Diana (named after it left the Kerry Tramway)	Kerr Stuart Kerr Stuart Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer from Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as James Kerr & Company, and became Kerr, Stuart & Company from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a partner...	Sirdar class 0-4-0T	1198	1917	Used on the tramway during the First World War; sold to Oakeley Slate Quarry in 1925. Now privately owned.
Kashmir (named after it left the Kerry Tramway)	Kerr Stuart Kerr Stuart Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer from Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as James Kerr & Company, and became Kerr, Stuart & Company from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a partner...	Haig class 0-6-0T	3118	1918	Sold to the Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway The Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway was an industrial narrow gauge railway that connected the Cliffe Hill granite quarry to the nearby London Midland and Scottish Railway between Leicester and Coalville. The line opened in 1896 and operated until 1948....  in 1925; scrapped in 1957
	Baguley Baguley Baguley is a locality in Wythenshawe, and an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in North West England.Historically within Cheshire, the town is mentioned as Bagelei in the Domesday Book of 1086.-History:...	4wPM	777	1918	Sold to the Oakeley Slate Quarry in 1925, scrapped at Oakeley after an accident.