What was the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway?
Q: What was the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway?
A: 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.
Q: What did the O.I.R. link to?
A: The O.I.R. linked to the Great Western Railway about 6 kilometres to the east, just north of the town of Banbury.
Q: When did the quarry and the O.I.R. open and close?
A: Both the quarry and the O.I.R. opened in 1917 and closed in 1967, when the Ironstone ran out.
Q: Who ran the O.I.R.?
A: The O.I.R. was run by the quarry's owners and never became part of British Rail.
Q: Why was the quarry heavily worked during the Second World War?
A: The quarry was heavily worked in the Second World War, due to extra war needs.
Q: What type of deposits surrounded Banbury?
A: Heavy clay and ironstone deposits surrounded Banbury.
Q: What was the O.I.R.'s fleet of locomotives?
A: The O.I.R. operated its own fleet of steam locomotives: 0-6-0T, 0-6-0ST, and 0-4-0ST's.
