Blackwood Branch Line

**The Blackwood Branch Line**, better known as the **"Sawmill" branch**, is the oldest branch line in Rhendowhen, making up most of the original Blackwood, Rupert & Bartlett Railway. It starts at Rupert and ends at Blackwood. The line serves a sawmill just yards beyond the station, hence its famous nickname. Wilson runs the branch line, though he is sometimes assisted by Colin, Carly, Cobi or Warren during busier periods.

## Operations

### Managed by

Valleyfields Central RailwayBlackwood, Rupert & Bartlett Railway (formerly)

### Traffic

PassengersBeech timber

Corn

Coke (formerly)

## History

The line was constructed in 1853, using timber from Blackwood Forest’s beech trees for the tracks’ sleepers. At the time, it ran to Bartlett from Rupert, winding alongside the mountain rather than climbing it. It would then head south for a short way until it reached the coke mines between where Ahnis and Bartlett Hill had yet to be established. Up until the flood, the mine’s coke was a primary export for the railway along with corn and timber. But the railway’s claim to fame was its fleet of long-boiler engines, its most famous engines being Kenneth and Nero; they worked on the line long after it was absorbed into the Valleyfields Central.

Plans were made to extend the railway beyond Bartlett and connect it to the Ravenville, Rockport & Liberty Railway. However, they were put on hold when the town of Bartlett flooded and the railway was re-routed up the mountain. This also affected operations at the coke mines. Their shafts were flooded to the point that they were rendered unusable, leading the mines to close. Despite losing its important coke traffic, the railway managed to survive, as they still had corn, timber and passengers to carry; having two new stops on the line as tourist attractions also helped.

A small harbour was built north of Blackwood so goods could be exported abroad, and to allow visitors from far and wide to travel to the island by ferry. It served the railway well until the harbour at San Dowhen became successful. Since then, more ships began docking at the new harbour than at the old, and more visitors were using the line to the North Rhendowhen Railway to reach the island than the ferry. The railway would eventually see a major decrease in both passenger and goods traffic, for it relied on the harbour for both; it fell into a financial rut as a result. The board of directors could see that having the old harbour open was pointless, but they knew that closing it down would mean the end of the railway’s working life. Instead of shutting them both down, they set plans to extend the other two railways in motion; the old harbour, however, was closed permanently.

With all three railways connected to officially form the VCR, the BR&B route became a branch line. The old harbour was shut down, and the section from there to Blackwood was torn up. Happily though, the corn, timber and passenger traffic have since remained. Some of the long-boiler engines were transferred to the main line, but Kenneth and Nero continued to run the branch until 1933; both engines were withdrawn from service and sold to the Railway Museum to make way for new engines. It was also around the time when Wilson had been taken off Express passenger services; he was sent to run the line in the two engines’ place, and has worked there ever since.

## Route

The Sawmill branch starts at Rupert Junction on the Main line from Ravenville, and travels west towards a large corn farm; a goods platform was built so that the freshly-harvested corn could be loaded into the engine’s wagons and shipped across the island by rail. The line then starts to make its way through the wilderness, and calls at East Rock after crossing a stream. From there, it runs through the tunnel and into the forest on the other side before terminating at Blackwood.

## Operations

The "Sawmill" Branch is mostly responsible for providing beech logs for railway sleepers and furniture, but it also exports corn from the nearby farm. The line is an especially popular tourist attraction, as visitors flock to the line to visit the Blackwood National Park, as well as to camp, hike or picnic in East Rock's wilderness.