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Does anyone know anything about the California Tramway? This was an industrial tramway, not a passenger-carrying one, which left the South Eastern Railway line just south of Wokingham and served a brick works and timber yard near California Lodge on Nine Mile Ride. It was standard gauge but had some narrow-gauge extensions to gravel pits at the California Lodge end. Motive power was probably provided by horses. Published works describe it as a siding but, as it is named "California Tramway" on old maps, it may have had an independent existence. It was gone by 1900, so it's beyond living memory, but you may have heard about it from grandparents. If so, please let us know. The California Tramway was not connected with the later, narrow gauge, tramway which served Lawrence's Brickworks in Wokingham. Some information on the latter can be seen in the file [Lawrence.txt] in our filestore.
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Next time you go to Slough, have a look at "Station Jim", the stuffed dog on platform 5. He is pictured above. BBC South Today had an item on railway dogs on 21st February 2006. These dogs carried panniers to collect money for railway orphanages.
Other animals (not at Slough) with a railway or transport connection: Railway Horse ¦ Elephant ¦ Carrier Pigeons ¦ Railway Cats: Crewe ¦ Falmer ¦ Rushden
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Newbury used to be a railway junction where the Didcot Newbury & Southampton Railway, running from north to south, crossed the Great Western Railway, running from east to west. The Lambourn Valley Railway had a junction with the Great Western just west of Newbury Station. Here are some links: Didcot Newbury & Southampton Railway: Text & Map Photos Lambourn Valley Railway: Website
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