German Occupation
On 1 July 1940, German forces occupied Jersey, Hitler declaring that the Channel Islands would become an impregnable fortress.
Work was soon begun building gun emplacements, bunkers, tunnels and sea walls.
To support this work, the occupying German army (Organisation Todt) re-opened almost the entire St. Helier to La Corbière line to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge. This line was used for construction materials and never carried passengers. A branch line was built to serve the large granite quarries at Ronez in the north of the island. This joined the La Corbière line at Pont Marquet. At the St Helier end of the line, the original Weighbridge terminal was bypassed and the rails went direct to the dockside quays and linked with the 60 cm gauge lines in the east of the island (following the route of the old Jersey Eastern Railway which had closed in 1929).
Steam and diesel locomotives worked the line for the duration of the war but it seems to have fallen out of use by 1945 and the line was taken up at the cessation of hostilities by the liberating troops.
Read more about this topic: Jersey Railway
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