 E Fletcher, the local traffic superintendent, stated in 1869 that about 1,500 tons passed down the branch daily, beginning early in the morning, but work ceased early in the afternoon "for want of sufficient traffic".He also mentioned that some of the collieries served—Churchway, Quidchurch, Spero, Bilson, Prospect, Winnings, Cinderford Bridge, Woodside and Paragon—had ceased work after the broad gauge line had been completed.The Great Western Railway, as successor to the South Wales Railway from 1863, converted the gauge of the South Wales Railway line during the weekend of 11 and 12 May 1872.