The Earl of Dudley’s Railway

The Earl of Dudleya s Railway, also known as The Pensnett Railway, was nearly 40 miles of track stretching in all directions from The Earla s Iron Works (later a steel works) at Round Oak, just outside Brierley Hill. It began life in a spectacular way back in 1829 when a steam locomotive named Agenoria began hauling wagons of coal from pits near Pensnett, out to a basin on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Ashwood. For many years it transported coal from Baggeridge Colliery to the outside world and to Round Oak, and from 1928 until 1939 it carried passengers to the fetes at Himley Park. Now only a small remnant remains at the Round Oak Rail Terminal; the steel works and the pits have gone, some trackbeds have become footpaths, while others have disappeared completely. This book invites you to explore the railway, its locomotives and rolling stock and a little about the men who worked on the line. May it never be forgotten.