Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway

The Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway (the O.I.R.) was a standard gauge railway that served an ironstone quarry near the village of Wroxton in Oxfordshire. It linked to the Great Western Railway about  to the east, just north of the town of Banbury. Both the quarry and line opened in 1917 and closed in 1967, when the Ironstone ran out. It never became part of British Rail and was run by the quarry's owners.

The quarry was heavily worked in the Second World War, due to extra war needs. A newer quarry close by is now served by trucks only.

The OIR operated its own fleet of steam locomotives: 0-6-0T, 0-6-0ST and 0-4-0ST's.

Heavy clay and Ironstone deposits surround Banbury.http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:sppuMpvgMg8J:www.oum.ox.ac.uk/learning/pdfs/oxmin.pdf+clay+pits+in+banbury&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgn-Yi-g1qgnV32eBJ5Bi24KzjITDU7kcw_uL-KWGxPnzzgLbT8n9stdyOyB9bxEnAdJs1yyzKFGNwmj0NWApex23PAad6KTYb4lJdKEqLBNLnqifn3yk8Xc8Fp-ya8DY20dPo5&sig=AHIEtbREJLbdRHQ5aetZoqTAk3mdY2Gy0w

Related pages
 Welsh Highland Railway
Quarry
Slate pit
Clay pit
Coal mine
Mineral railway

Historic imagery of the site

References

Other websites
Photo gallery of the disused railway#
#
#
#
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/199174 
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/199177 
http://apollopark.uk/
http://www.deddingtonhistory.uk/ironstone/ironstonepics.html
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/199174 
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/199177
http://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/202-banbury-yards-and-freight 
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/199179
http://www.wow.com/wiki/Oxfordshire_Ironstone_Railway
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/OX16/Pinhill-Road.html
Photo gallery of the disused railway

Category:Oxfordshire
Category:Defunct railway companies of the United Kingdom
Category:1917 establishments in Europe
Category:1910s establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:1967 disestablishments in the United Kingdom