Railways of Jamaica: Bog Walk to Port Antonio

v · d · e Bog Walk to Port Antonio

Legend 0.0 Bog Walk 0.2 Rio Cobre Bridge ~40m 0.5 Bog Walk Junction Mainline from Spanish Town continues to Ewarton 0.6 250' contour 8.1 500' contour 8.5 Crawle Halt 10.3 Riversdale 11.9 Riversdale Tunnel ~130m 13.1 Harewood Halt 14.4 Harewood Tunnel ~200m 14.6 Darling Spring Tunnel ~160m 14.8 Darling Spring Halt 15.7 B2 & River Doro Bridge ~30m 17.3 Troja Station 17.6 750' contour 18.6 Cromwell Mountain #1 Tunnel ~70m 18.8 Cromwell Mountain #2 Tunnel ~90m 19.1 Cromwell Mountain #3 Tunnel ~160m 19.4 Cromwell Mountain #4 Tunnel ~145m 19.6 Cromwell Mountain #5 Tunnel ~180m 20.0 Cromwell Mountain #6 Tunnel ~285m 20.4 750' contour 20.6 Cromwell Mountain #7 Tunnel ~215m 21.3 Taja Halt 21.5 750' contour 21.6 Taja Tunnel ~245m 22.1 750' contour 22.8 Flint River Tunnel ~90m 23.5 500' contour 24.2 Flint River Bridge #1 ~20m 24.? Flint River Bridge #2 ~?m 24.? Flint River Bridge #3 ~?m 24.7 500' contour 25.0 Richmond Tunnel ~270m 25.4 500' contour 25.8 Richmond Station 26.0 Orange River Bridge ~25m 26.6 500' contour 28.6 750' contour 29.1 Highgate Station 29.4 Highgate Junction 30.2 750' contour 31.3 500' contour 34.2 Baughs Halt 35.4 Esher Station 36.1 Albany Station 37.5 250' contour 39.1 100' contour 41.6 50' contour 44.5 Belfield Halt 43.6 Wagwater Bridge Combined road and rail Grays Inn Halt Fort George Halt Pencar River Bridge Combined road and rail Annotto Bay Station Dry River Bridge Combined road and rail Fort Stewart Halt Windsor Castle Halt White River Bridge Combined road and rail Buff Bay River Bridge Combined road and rail Buff Bay Station Spring Garden Halt Spanish River Bridge Combined road and rail Orange Bay Station Rock Hill Tunnel ~150m Hope Bay #1 Tunnel ~225m Hope Bay #2 Tunnel ~50m Hope Bay #3 Tunnel ~100m Swift River Bridge Combined road and rail Hope Bay Station Robertson's Halt Saint Margaret's Bay Station Rio Grande Bridge Combined road and rail Snow Hill Halt Passley Gardens Halt Norwich Halt 87 Port Antonio

The Bog Walk to Port Antonio was built to serve the banana, cacao, citrus and coconut districts of St Catherine, St Mary and Portland.^[1]

All external links below are to WikiMapia.

Construction, operation and closure

The line operated from 1896 to 1975 and 1977 to 1978.^[2] It was 54 miles (87 km) long.^[3]

Gradients

The ruling gradient was 1 in 63 with the line climbing approximately 550 feet (170 m) in 18 miles (average gradient 1 in 173) from Bog Walk (approximately 250 feet) to its summit at Highgate (approximately 800 feet) then descending ~750 feet in just 9 miles (average gradient 1 in 63) to the Wag Water Bridge (just above sea level) and continuing for another 27 miles (43 km) more or less on the level and along the coast to Port Antonio.^[4]

Stations and Halts

There were 13 stations and 15 halts:^[4]

Bog Walk Station - Terminus Crawle Halt Riversdale Station Harewood Halt Darling Spring Halt Troja railway station Taja Halt Richmond Station Highgate Station Baughs Halt Esher Station Albany railway station Belfield Halt Grays Inn Halt Fort George Halt[5] Annotto Bay Station[5] Fort Stewart Halt[5] Windsor Castle Halt[5] Buff Bay Station[5] Spring Garden Halt Orange Bay Station Hope Bay Station Robertson's Halt Saint Margaret's Bay Station Snow Hill Halt Passley Gardens Halt Norwich Halt Port Antonio Terminus

Troja railway station c1896.

Tunnels

There were 17 tunnels:^[4]

Riversdale ~150m Harewood ~150m Darling Spring ~200m Cromwell Mountain #1 ~75m Cromwell Mountain #2 ~270m Cromwell Mountain #3 ~150m Cromwell Mountain #4 ~100m Cromwell Mountain #5 ~150m Cromwell Mountain #6 ~200m Cromwell Mountain #7 ~175m Taja ~250m Flint River ~250m Richmond ~150m Rock Hill ~150m Hope Bay #1 ~225m Hope Bay #2 ~50m Hope Bay #3 ~100m

Rear of a train entering a tunnel near Troja c1896.

Bridges

There were 10 significant bridges.^[4] Approximate bridge lengths^[6] are shown in the route diagram (right):

Bibliography

• Satchell, Veront M & Sampson, Cezley (2003), The rise and fall of railways in Jamaica 1845-1975, The Journal of Transport History, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3884/is_200303/ai_n9209497/ 

See also

• Railways of Jamaica

Notes and references

1. ^ Satchell & Sampson 2003, p. 6
2. ^ Satchell & Sampson 2003, p. 7
3. ^ Table 3.5 Mileage for JRC Stations, Halts & Sidings in relation to the Kingston Railway Terminus, Annual Transport Statistics Report: Jamaica in Figures 2003-2004, Ministry of Transport and Works, July 2005.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1:50,000 map of Jamaica Sheets K, L & M c1970.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Google satellite image resolution is at present insufficient to show this station/bridge.
6. ^ Bridge lengths were obtained using Wikimapia's GeoTools.

v · d · e Railways of Jamaica Passenger lines Kingston to Montego Bay • Spanish Town to Ewarton • Bog Walk to Port Antonio • Linstead to New Works • May Pen to Frankfield Stations List of railway stations in Jamaica • Ailford’s halt • Albany • Anchovy • Angels halt • Annotto Bay • Appleton • Appleton Tourist halt • Balaclava • Baughs halt • Belfield halt • Bog Walk • Breadnut Walk halt • Bryan's Hill • Buff Bay • Bushy Park halt • Cambridge • Catadupa • Chapelton • Clarendon Park • Comfort Hall halt • Crawle halt • Crescent halt • Crooked River • Cross Roads/Ivy Store • Darling Spring halt • Duck Pond halt • Esher • Ewarton • Fort George halt • Fort Stewart halt • Four Paths • Frankfield • Gordon’s halt • Grange Lane • Grays Inn halt • Greenvale • Greenwich Town halt • Gregory Park • Grove Place halt • Harewood halt • Hartlands halt • Highgate • Hope Bay • Horizon Park halt • Hunts Bay halt • Ipswich • Jacob’s Hut • Kendal • Kingston • Linstead • Longville halt • Maggotty • Marcus Garvey Drive halt • May Pen • Michleton halt • Montego Bay • Montpelier • Morgans • New Works • Norwich halt • Old Harbour • Orange Bay • Oxford halt • Passley Gardens halt • Port Antonio • Porus • Richmond • Riversdale • Robertson's halt • Rock halt • Saint Margaret's Bay • Scott’s Pass halt • Siloah halt • Snow Hill halt • Spanish Town • Spring Garden halt • St. John’s Road halt • Sterling Castle halt • Stonehenge • Suttons • Taja halt • Troja • Trout Hall • Williamsfield • Windsor Castle halt Bauxite lines Alcan Bodies to Port Esquiville (Alcan) • Woodside mines to Rocky Point Port (Alcoa) • Nain to Port Kaiser (Alpart) • Upper Saint Ann to Discovery Bay (Kaiser) • (Reynolds) Estate lines Appleton (sugar) • Bowden (bananas) Military lines Logans Junction to Fort Simmonds Notable personnel H R Fox • David Smith (railway promoter) • William Smith (railway promoter) Notable incidents Balaclava rail disaster • Kendal rail disaster Locomotives Rolling stock