The GWR Comes to Stroud

Title

The GWR Comes to Stroud

Subject

Photographs L - R
  1. GWR engine Number 1493 in 1897. In 1845 the Swindon to Gloucester line opened and the trade on the canal rapidly declined
  2. Ted Long worked on the railway with responsibility for a length of railway line which he walked every day
  3. Gangers at the western entrance to Sapperton Tunnel

Description

Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
TheCheltenham and Great Western Union Railway was a 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge railway that linked the Great Western Railway at Swindon, Wiltshire, with Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Much of the route is still in regular use today as the Golden Valley Line.

The line between Cheltenham and Gloucester was worked jointly with the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, necessitating mixed gauge track and shared maintenance. The line between Gloucester and Standish Junction was owned by the C&GWUR, but the Bristol and Gloucester Railway had running rights over it. The Bristol and Gloucester Railway and 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Birmingham and Gloucester Railway then merged, and were then quickly taken over by the Midland Railway. The Bristol & Gloucester line was soon converted to standard gauge to allow through trains from Bristol to Birmingham, thus extending the mixed gauge as far south as Standish. Despite this joint working, the stations were generally independent with the individual railways providing duplicate facilities at Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stonehouse.

Chronology

  • 1836 Authorised by Act of Parliament
  • 1840 Railway opened from Cheltenham to Gloucester (only for Birmingham & Gloucester Railway trains)
  • 1841 Railway opened from Swindon to Cirencester
  • 1843 Railway company sold to Great Western Railway
  • 1845 Railway opened from Kemble to Gloucester leaving Cirencester on a short branch
  • 1847 Independent station opened at Cheltenham
  • 1872 Line converted from broad gauge to standard gauge, and mixed gauge lines around Gloucester removed
  • 1882 Kemble station opens at Kemble Junction after local landowner finally gives permission for a station
  • 1903 Introduction of steam railmotor local passenger services in the Stroud Valley, resulting in the opening of 7 small halts to boost traffic
  • 1964 Stroud Valley local services withdrawn and all the halts and some of the intermediate stations closed. Only Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse remain.
  • 1965 Line from Kemble to Cirencester closed
  • 1966 Cheltenham St James closed as London services transferred back to Cheltenham Lansdown (now Cheltenham Spa).

Source

Oakridge History Group

Rights

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheltenham_and_Great_Western_Union_Railway which is released under the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/  Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

Files

GWR engine Number 1493 in 1897. In 1845 the Swindon to Gloucester line opened and the trade on the canal rapidly declined
Ted Long worked on the railway with responsibility for a length of railway line which he walked every day
Gangers at the western entrance to Sapperton Tunnel

Citation

“The GWR Comes to Stroud,” Oakridge Archives, accessed April 19, 2024, https://oakridgearchives.omeka.net/items/show/265.

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