Codford railway station

Codford railway station was an intermediate station on the Salisbury branch line of the Great Western Railway built along the Wylye valley to connect and to serve the surrounding villages, and situated along the lane from Codford St Peter to Boyton.
History.
Opened on 30 June 1856, this station lost its passenger service on 19 September 1955 and its goods yard was closed on 10 June 1963. The signal box remained in use until June 1982. The original single platform was built on the north side of the line next to a level crossing. A passing loop was installed here in 1897 which necessitated the construction of a second platform to serve trains towards Westbury. The line was doubled from Heytesbury in 1899 and on to Wylye in 1900.
When an army camp was built at Codford in 1914 a branch line was built connecting it to the station. The branch was taken over at the end of the First World War by the Great Western Railway but closed in 1922.
Services.
The station was served by stopping trains on the to line. Trains still run between Warminster and Salisbury, but no longer stop at anywhere in between.


Newark flat crossing

Newark flat crossing is the last remaining flat railway crossing on the Network Rail network in the United Kingdom where two standard gauge lines intersect. It is located to the north of Newark North Gate station. It is the point where the Nottingham to Lincoln Line intersects with the East Coast Main Line.
There have been numerous proposals to replace it with a grade separation, none of which have been implemented. A geographical constraint is the proximity of the site to the River Trent which is crossed by a bridge immediately to the north of the junction.
It is renewed about every 16 years, most recently in May 1986, August 2003 and August 2019. During the August 2019 renewal the wooden bearers were replaced with Fiber Form Urethane (FFU) which is expected to have a 30-40 year working life.


Dove Holes Tunnel

Dove Holes Tunnel is a tunnel built by the Midland Railway between Peak Forest Signal Box and Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire in 1860–64, now carrying the Great Rocks Line.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway was jointly leased by the LNWR and Midland Railway, and ran as far as Rowsley. The Midland wished to extend to Manchester to give it a service to London but the LNWR, having its own London line, declined. It then supported the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway in building a line from Whaley Bridge to Buxton, one which the Midland considered unsuitable as a main line, due to its steep gradients over Cow Low.
In the end, however, the Midland came to an agreement with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway that was formalised as the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee. The Midland would extend its line to New Mills to meet a line the MS&LR was building from its main line out of Manchester.
The Midland constructed a junction on its Buxton line at Peak Forest Signal Box which ran under Dove Holes in a tunnel long, some beneath the LNWR line. The entrance was at the summit of the line, nearly above sea level, and descended nearly a hundred feet at a gradient of 1 in 90.
Construction.
Begun in 1860, it took five years to build. The navvies lived where they could, in huts or crevices in the rock. Six pumping stations were needed to keep the workings clear of water, an underground river being encountered at one stage. This was diverted but burst through again. On being diverted a second time, a local curiosity, the Barmoor Clough "Ebbing and Flowing Well", partially dried up.
Being on the edge of the Derbyshire White Peak the tunnel was partly though gritstone and partly through limestone, which gave considerable problems. In 1872 it partially collapsed and again in 1940.
Problems.
Beside the frequent expresses, it was heavily used by goods trains. As has been mentioned, there was a considerable uphill gradient in the southbound direction. Moreover, several trains may have been held in the loop before it, to allow an express to pass. By the time two or three had gone through, all accelerating hard, one could cut the smoke with a knife. The crew of a following goods train at around , would have to crouch down with handkerchiefs over their faces. Meanwhile, they had to hold the speed steady enough not to cause wheelslip, and not to snatch the train, causing a coupling to break, which would strand them in the fume-laden darkness.
Apart from damp rails, it was extremely hot in summer, while, in winter, long icicles would form from the roof. The first engine through in the morning would break them off (the crews staying well inside the cab), but when diesels came into use there were a number of broken windscreens. After one driver suffered serious injury the Buxton snowplough was fitted with ice clearing equipment. The heavy traffic took its toll on the tunnel lining. On one occasion a locomotive emerged with a pile of bricks on top of its firebox.
Present day.
Since the line to Rowsley closed in 1967 the tunnel has remained in use for stone freight trains serving the Buxton lime industry as the Great Rocks Line.
In 2004 the Derbyshire County Council carried out a feasibility study into reopening the line from Rowsley, in which its recommendations were split between running directly to New Mills, reinstating the tunnel as a passenger line, or running into Buxton and using the ex-LNWR line, which would mean reversing the train.
At the end of 2011, major work was undertaken to correct the structural clearances that had been disrupted over the years. The track renewed, the drainage cleared and the gauge works were undertaken.


Sidmouth Harbour Railway

The Sidmouth Harbour Railway was a short-lived attempt in the 1830s to create a harbour in the bay at Sidmouth, Devon on the south coast of England. To enable its construction a railway was built along the seafront and then via a tunnel in the cliff east of the town towards natural deposits at Hook Ebb. Only a few traces of the railway and tunnel remain today.
In the early years of the nineteenth century Sidmouth had been a popular seaside resort, but its popularity was declining; at the same time the small, exposed harbour was shoaling badly, and local promoters considered building a properly protected harbour, by the construction of two stone piers at the Chit Rocks, at the western end of Sidmouth sea front. Plentiful supplies of suitable stone were available at Hook Ebb, a location on the coast to the east beneath Salcombe Hill.
An Act of Parliament for the work was obtained in 1836, and the railway was duly laid. Foundation stones for each of the two piers were formally laid amid considerable ceremony, befitting the intended dedication of the piers to, respectively, Her Imperial Highness The Grand Duchess Helena of Russia, and Princess Victoria (later to become Queen Victoria).
The railway ran parallel to the sea front, and along the esplanade at Sidmouth itself. It crossed the shingle beach at the River Sid outfall on a small viaduct then went through a tunnel about a long through Salcombe Hill behind the cliff face.
The railway seems to have been of , with track consisting of longitudinal wooden beams 6.5 by 4 inches with a 3/8 inch plate on the top. In the shingle the railway was fixed in place by vertical timber piles.
A local blacksmith constructed a machine to pull the wagons loaded with the stone; the machine relied on human muscle power and was found to be inadequate. Apparently a locomotive was now ordered, and brought by coastal ship to the shore at Sidmouth; however there was no craneage available to unload it, so the ship was taken to Exmouth, where the locomotive was unloaded and brought to Sidmouth by horse and cart.
On placing the locomotive on the track at Sidmouth, it was discovered that it was too large to pass through the tunnel, and the scheme to use it was abandoned. Afterwards, it seems to have been used to give novelty pleasure rides for a period.
By 1838 the locomotive was removed, as was also the viaduct at Sidmouth. By this time £12,000 of the £15,000 projected cost of building the harbour had been expended, and nothing further was done, the subscribers having nothing to show for their investment. The tunnel remains in place, and during 1966-1967 storm action exposed a considerable length of the piles of the railway.


East Norfolk Railway

The East Norfolk Railway was a pre-grouping railway company operating a standard gauge 25 mile, mostly single track, railway running between Norwich Thorpe railway station and Cromer in the English county of Norfolk. It opened in 1874, reaching Cromer three years later, and remains mostly operational. The company also operated a branch between Wroxham and County School, which closed to passengers in 1952, and had proposed a branch to Blakeney in 1878, which was never constructed.
History.
The plans for the East Norfolk Railway's Aylsham, Cromer and North Walsham lines were first deposited in 1859. The line opened as far as North Walsham in 1874, but was in an incomplete state - with neither crossing keeper's cottages or goods sheds being finished. This contributed to a lack of early cash flow, and liquidity, delayed the extension to Cromer. A temporary railhead was opened at Gunton on 29 July 1876. Gunton station, and the crossing keeper's cottages to the south, were built by Lord Suffield to blend into the estate. The single track railway between Norwich and Cromer being finally opened for the summer of 1877 - although the lightly constructed sand embankments were noted as a concern by the line's inspector. At this time, North Walsham contributed 68.5% of the line's receipts.
The 1864 Act included plans for a line to Aylsham, diverging south of Wroxham station. In 1876 this plan was revived, and modified, to leave the main line north of Wroxham station. The branch line diverged on a tight 10 chain curve at Wroxham Junction. A large granary was provided at Aylsham, stables were provided at Coltishall for the malt trade and a local man paid for a large shed at Buxton. The Great Eastern Railway had taken control of the East Norfolk Railway in 1881, before this line was completed. The branch joined the Great Eastern Railway's line from Dereham to Fakenham at Broom Green, where there was a 20 chain curve. The complete line opened in 1882.
Although nominally independent, the East Norfolk Railway was operated by the Great Eastern Railway from the start of services, and soon passed into ownership of the latter company. Fares on the line, along with goods rates, were harmonized with, and set by, the Great Eastern Railway.
Routes.
Norwich to Cromer.
Leaving Norwich Thorpe station, the line followed the Norfolk and Yarmouth Railway until it reached a small halt at Whitlingham railway station. This station has been closed, and the platforms removed. The East Norfolk line leaves the Norfolk and Yarmouth; climbing a 1 in 80 bank for about a mile northwards from Whitlingham Junction.
Leaving the Yare valley, trains arrive at Salhouse station, 6 miles from Norwich, which retains two operational platforms, although the goods yard closed on 18 April 1966. The original ENR timber building on the down platform has been demolished, although the later GER building on the up platform survives.
The next station was reached after passing over the longest viaduct on the route, a 55 foot structure originally built using timber but rebuilt in the 1890s, over the River Bure. Wroxham was 8½ miles from Norwich. This was formerly the junction for the ENR branch line to Aylsham and County School, and also marks the limit of the double track section. The branch line formerly diverged from the Cromer line a short distance north of the station, but closed to all traffic in 1982 and was subsequently dismantled, replaced by the Bure Valley Railway. The station had coal and grain handling facilities in the yard north east of the station and, although this yard is no longer in use, the isolated tracks remain.
Worstead railway station, 13 miles from Norwich, is the next halt. Although originally equipped with two platforms, only one remains in use. The goods yard was closed on 13 July 1964, but the abolished signal box remains in situ as a shed and garage.
The next station, located 16 miles from Norwich, was formerly known as North Walsham Main railway station to distinguish it from North Walsham Town railway station on the rival Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, but is now simply referred to as North Walsham. The station was also formerly used to serve trains working on the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway route to Mundesley. The station is equipped with a passing loop, although the original station buildings and signal box have been demolished.
Leaving North Walsham, trains soon pass over the former Midland and Great Northern line to Melton Constable, now in use as part of the Weavers' Way long distance footpath. Part of the Norfolk and Suffolk line to Mundesley has been used, along with part of the Midland and Great Northern line to Yarmouth, as the North Walsham bypass, which can be seen paralleling the route through the town.
The next station, 19 miles from Norwich, is at Gunton railway station. There is no village of this name, and the station is actually situated in the parish of Thorpe Market. Gunton Station was built primarily for the convenience of Lord Suffield (a major investor in the original East Norfolk Railway Company). Gunton’s original station buildings are preserved but are no longer in the ownership of the railway.
The line climbs steeply away from Gunton station, with the original route into Cromer being abandoned by the modern railway approximately half a mile from the original terminus - at the site of the former Cromer Junction with the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway.
The terminus of the line was Cromer High railway station, the first station opened in Cromer, situated to the south on the outskirts of the town on a steep escarpment. The station (along with the East Norfolk line) was incorporated into the Great Eastern Railway, who had operated the services from the beginning. It served as the terminus of Great Eastern Railway services from London and Norwich. Initially named "Cromer" on opening, it was renamed "Cromer High" in 1948.
The station opened on 26 March 1877. Because of steep gradients near the town, the station was built in open fields some distance from the town itself.
On 20 September 1954 passenger services ceased at Cromer High, with all traffic diverted to Cromer Beach (now renamed "Cromer"). The station remained open as a freight terminus until 7 March 1960, but was then closed completely and the station demolished.
Wroxham to County School.
The ENR branch line to Aylsham and County School diverged westwards from the Cromer line just north of Wroxham station on a 10 chain radius curve. The "Western Extension" opened as far as Aylsham in 1 January 1880, with service reaching Cawston on 1 September. The line to Reepham was opened in 1881, at the same time as the East Norfolk Railway was amalgamated with the Great Eastern Railway. County School was opened as the junction with the former Norfolk Railway line from Norwich to Fakenham in 1882.
Passenger services over the line ended on 15 September 1952, with the line between Reepham and Foulsham also being closed to goods. This section was then partially relaid in 1960, with the Themelthorpe Curve goods link with the former Norwich line of the M&GN being opened 12 September. The remaining section of line between Foulsham and County School was closed on 31 October 1964. Buxton Lamas and Coltishall closed to goods in 18 April 1966. The line between Themelthorpe and Wroxham remained in use as a goods line until the 1980s.
The first station after Wroxham was at Coltishall, followed by Buxton railway station and Aylsham. This section is still in use as the Bure Valley Railway. Although the passenger service ended in 1952, freight traffic continued until 1981 and the line through Aylsham was formally closed on 6 January 1982. A weed-killing train ran in 1983 and track-lifting trains ran the following year.. In 1990, the station buildings at Aylsham, then one of the most complete remaining Great Eastern stations in Norfolk, were obliterated to make way for the Bure Valley Railway whose headquarters now occupy the site.
Beyond Aylsham the route survives as part of the Marriott's Way long distance footpath and cycleway. The next station was at Cawston, where the building survives as a private residence, although the formation and platforms have been buried. Cawston was the planned location of the junction for the proposed, but never built, branch line to the coast at Blakeney, with a triangle on the Aylsham side of the village being shown on plans.
The next station, Reepham also remains, along with its large goods shed and former yard, although a road improvement scheme in the town has partially blocked a section of the line. Although the tracks have been removed, the Whitwell and Reepham railway intend to restore railway services to this station.
Just west of Reepham is the Themelthorpe Curve, connecting the ENR to the Midland and Great Northern line to Norwich City railway station - one of the last sections of railway line to have been built in Norfolk. This also marks the point where the Marriott's Way leaves the formation.
West of Themelthorpe the ENR originally passed under the Midland and Great Northern, and the abutments of the bridge can still be seen. The line then continues to Foulsham. The section between Themelthorpe and Foulsham is the longest-closed section of the route, having been totally abolished in 1952. Although closed to passengers at this time, goods traffic on the section between Foulsham and County School until 31 October 1964.
The final section of embankment before Broom Green has been ploughed in, and few traces remain of the southern cord of the ENR triangle connecting with the MNR. The cutting forming the northern cord of the triangle, which was never laid with track, survives. From Broom Green shares the formation of former Wymondham, Dereham, Fakenham and Wells-next-the-Sea for the final mile to County School.
Cawston to Blakeney (proposed, but not built).
The East Norfolk Railway proposed a line from Cawston to Cley and Blakeney in 1879, with an intermediate station planned for Holt. It was estimated that this line would cost £300,000, but generate only £7 per mile per week - but the main intention of the line was block access by rival companies. The proposed line had very little local support, especially in Holt - where the station was in fact going to be located in Letheringsett rather than the named town.
Present day operations.
The main line remains in regular operation between Norwich and Cromer, with the exception of Cromer High railway station. Trains approaching Cromer use part of the formation of the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway, before joining the former Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GN) at Cromer Beach railway station. It is presently marketed as the Bittern Line, and formed part of Network Rail Network Rail Route 7, as "SRS 07.11 - East Suffolk line and Norfolk branches". Since 2010 it is a part of "Strategic Route D: East Anglia".
The first 9 miles (14.5 kilometres) of the branch line, between Wroxham railway station and Aylsham railway station, operates as the Bure Valley Railway minimum gauge heritage railway.


Hawk Bridge

Hawk Bridge, Ely, is a railway bridge carrying the Ipswich to Ely line across the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire, England. The bridge is located half-a-mile east of Ely Dock Junction. Hawk Bridge was rebuilt in 2007 following the derailment of a freight train.


North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group

The North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG) was formed in 1966 with the intention of preserving some of the steam locomotives then still working on regular goods or passenger trains in North East England. At the time of its formation, its first president was Wilbert Awdry, the author of The Railway Series books and the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine.
Now the group owns four unique North Eastern steam locomotives, its aim is to have as many of its steam locomotives running on the main line or preserved lines as possible. In 2014, the LNER K1 (62005) ran on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and on the Jacobite service in Scotland. The LNER Q6 (NER T2, 63395) was undergoing boiler repairs at the start of the season but finished the season on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the LNER J72 (NER E1, 69023) ran on the Wensleydale Railway.
The group have two workshops, one at Hopetown Carriage Works, Darlington and another workshop and base at Grosmont, the northernmost station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The shed at Grosmont is called deviation shed. Members of the group hold regular evening meetings to discuss railway subjects, have a membership newsletter, and have produced various publications.
The group now also has a junior volunteers section, training young recruits at, mainly, the NYMR and Deviation Shed. These JVs will help with mainly the locomotives, although a small amount has been done on the carriages (K1 support coach).
Locomotives.
Other.
The group does not own the following locomotives but has looked after them in the past:
External links.
The NELPG website: http://www.nelpg.org.uk/


Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway

The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It linked the quays at Wadebridge with the town of Bodmin and also to quarries at Wenfordbridge. Its intended traffic was minerals to the port at Wadebridge and sea sand, used to improve agricultural land, inwards. Passengers were also carried on part of the line.
It was the first steam-powered railway line in the county and predated the main line to London by 25 years.
It was always desperately short of money, both for initial construction and for actual operation. In 1847 it was purchased by the London and South Western Railway, when that company hoped to gain early access to Cornwall for its network, but in fact those intentions were much delayed, and the little line was long isolated.
China clay extraction was developed at Wenfordbridge and sustained mineral traffic on the line for many years, but passenger use declined and the line closed to passengers in 1967, the china clay traffic continuing until 1978.
Much of the route now forms part of the Camel Trail, a cycle and footpath from Wenfordbridge to Padstow
Origins.
Local interests obtained parliamentary authority to construct the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway from metal ore mines near Wenford to the port at Wadebridge for onward transport by coastal shipping. Sea sand, then used for improving agricultural land, was also to be brought up from Wadebridge. The line was also to have a branch to Bodmin and also a one-mile branch to Ruthern Bridge.
The line was formally opened on 30 September 1834 although trial operation, conveying revenue passengers and minerals had taken place in July. The permanent way consisted of 15 foot parallel rails 42 lbs per yard on stone blocks 20 inches square. The track gauge was the standard gauge.
At first there was only one locomotive, called "Camel", a single passenger coach, and desperately few wagons, but a second engine, called "Elephant" was obtained from June 1836.
The passenger service only ever operated between Bodmin and Wadebridge, and never on the branches; there were no intermediate stations, but boarding at any intermediate place was semi-officially permitted and passengers were carried in the tool van on both the Ruthernbridge and Wenfordbridge branches.
The train service seems to have been very irregular, probably because of mechanical problems with the locomotives, and for many years (probably from 1841) the passenger service consisted of a train from Wadebridge on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, returning on the other weekdays.
Minerals and goods were the dominant traffic, and there were numerous wharves—the company used the term borrowed from canal operation, and the person in charge of each wharf was a wharfinger.
Wharves and siding connections were at:
Although export of granite and the carriage of sea sand grew in volume, passenger traffic remained insignificant, and the line remained hopelessly weak financially, and a series of disasters including serious floods which damaged bridges and culverts, wiped out any small operating profit.
Takeover.
In the period from 1835, business interests in the Falmouth area were concerned to regenerate that town's waning importance, and railway connection to London was in their thoughts. Several proposals came forward and failed, but a scheme called the Cornwall & Devon Central Railway gained support for a standard gauge line following an inland route, forming an alliance with other lines to get access to London over the London & South Western Railway. The Cornwall & Devon Central company had yet to get parliamentary approval for construction, but it purchased the Bodmin & Wadebridge line for £35,000.
In fact the C&DC lost out in its bid for approval for its line, and the London & South Western company itself purchased the Bodmin & Wadebridge line for the same £35,000 from the C&DC company in 1847. The LSWR now owned a heavily loss-making little line more than a hundred miles from its own network. The purchase did not have parliamentary authority, and the purchase is often described as illegal. In fact the activities of companies incorporated by Act of Parliament were limited by the terms of the Act, and the LSWR did not have the power to acquire another railway company; their action in doing so would better be described as ultra vires.
Notwithstanding the remoteness of the new owner, the LSWR brought financial resources to bear and the local line continued its operations with a little more certainty than previously, while still making considerable losses. However the Bodmin & Wadebridge continued to play a role in the battle between the LSWR and its allies, and the GWR and its satellites.
Several nominally independent companies sought support and parliamentary powers for lines connecting with the Bodmin & Wadebridge; among these was the Launceston, Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, which obtained its powers in 1864 but never succeeded in using them.
In 1873 the Devon & Cornwall Railway, a narrow gauge company, tried to obtain parliamentary authority to make extensions in the two counties in its name, including a railway from near Okehampton to Wenfordbridge, so as to gain access to Wadebridge; but this was rejected in Parliament.
A new halt, called Shooting Range Platform, was opened about 1880. It was long enough for a single coach, located on the south-west side of the line; the shooting range was in the otherwise inaccessible land between the railway and the loop of the River Camel, opposite Derry's Wood. Trains stopped there only with written authority from the Army.
In 1882 an Act was passed for a railway called the North Cornwall Railway to build a line from Padstow via Wadebridge to Halwill, where the LSWR now had its line; running arrangements for the North Cornwall trains as far as Okehampton were agreed. The North Cornwall Company had wanted running rights as far as Exeter, but by now the LSWR sought friendlier terms with its rival, the GWR, and to avoid offending them, the powers were stopped short at Okehampton. There was to be a triangular junction at Pendevy Bridge, the point where the new Halwill line met the Bodmin & Wadebridge, a little east of Wadebridge, and the Act included powers to improve the Bodmin & Wadebridge line, including the making of seven deviations to eliminate the very sharp curves on the line.
In fact by an Act in 1883 the LSWR took over the role of making those improvements, and on 1 July 1886 the LSWR formally absorbed the Bodmin & Wadebridge line, the previous semi-legal purchase now being authorised by Act of Parliament of 25 June 1886.
The GWR arrives in Bodmin.
The Great Western Railway had formed an alliance with other broad gauge railway companies in the West of England: the grouping was called the Associated Companies. In 1876 they amalgamated under the banner of the Great Western Railway, and that company pursued an active interest in developing railways in Cornwall. In earlier years the Associated Companies and the so-called narrow gauge companies—the LSWR and its allies—were hostile to one another, but now the enmity was abating.
An earlier proposal had been made to make a broad gauge line from the Cornwall Railway near Bodmin Road station to the Bodmin & Wadebridge station at Bodmin, with interchange platforms for the necessary transshipment from broad to standard gauge wagons there. This had been authorised by Act of Parliament in 1864, but was dropped in 1876.
By 1882 relations between the GWR and the LSWR had improved enough for constructive discussions to take place about connecting the GWR to Wadebridge, and to improve the Bodmin & Wadebridge line itself. (The line had been constructed with very sharp curves and lightly constructed track.) The Great Western Company got powers to make a standard gauge connection, and on 27 May 1887 the GWR opened a line from Bodmin Road to its own Bodmin station in the town. The station later became known as Bodmin General.
In the following year, on 3 September 1888 the GWR built an extension from their Bodmin station to join the Bodmin & Wadebridge line, at Boscarne Junction.
The LSWR now suspended its own passenger trains on the Bodmin & Wadebridge line from 1 November 1886 for the improvements to the line to be undertaken; goods trains were also suspended, and Great Western Railway trains were the only ones on the line, running from their own Bodmin station. In 1891 yet another Parliamentary Act was required to permit extension of time for these works, which still included the substantial easing of the sharp curves at Grogley and Dunmere, and substantial improvement of the whole of the section from Boscarne Junction to Bodmin (B&WR station), and extension of Wadebridge station.
Integration with the LSWR lines.
Construction of the North Cornwall line from Halwill was much delayed due to difficulty in raising the necessary capital, and after several extensions of time it opened to a special goods train on 31 May 1895 and fully on 1 June 1895. The planned eastern arm of the triangular junction with the Bodmin & Wadebridge having been long forgotten. The North Cornwall converged with the Bodmin & Wadebridge line at Wadebridge Junction, about a mile east of Wadebridge itself.
Padstow had to wait still further, and after yet another Act of variation the Wadebridge to Padstow section was opened to the public on 27 March 1899.
On 1 November 1895 the LSWR resumed running trains on the Bodmin & Wadebridge section, and therefore journeys from Waterloo to Bodmin, changing at Wadebridge, became feasible, taking from 7 hours 18 minutes to about 9 hours. The GWR continued its service of seven trains a day.
The twentieth century.
Traffic on the line remained very light, and the LSWR installed class H13 steam railcars on the passenger trains; they seated 40 passengers. At the same time, intermediate halts were opened at Grogley Halt, Nanstallon Halt and Dunmere Halt on 2 July 1906. Mitchell and Smith also refer to a St Lawrence Hospital Platform, near the road to Nanstallon, opened in 1906 and closed in 1917. St Lawrence's Hospital is shown as "County Lunatic Asylum" on the 1908 Ordnance Survey map, but the Platform is not shown. The location must have been on St Lawrence Road.
A second line was provided from Wadebridge Junction to Wadebridge, one line leading from the North Cornwall line and the other from the Bodmin line. The junction signalbox was abolished, and the two lines to Wadebridge were operated as two single lines. This arrangement applied from 4 February 1907.
Ruthern Bridge had originally been provided for several small mineral mines in the immediate area; but these declined in the twentieth century, and the last train ran on 29 November 1933, the ground frame connection to the main line being closed on 1 January 1934.
During World War II an armoured train was based at Wadebridge powered by an LNER Class F4 tank engine to patrol the "Bodmin Stop Line" which covered the whole of the B&W from Padstow to Bodmin, and also the line from Bodmin to Fowey. Until 1941 the engine was constantly "in steam" and was variously crewed by the Royal Tank Regiment, the Royal Engineers and Polish soldiers. Although not considered a high value target, the railway did not totally escape the war unscathed as an attack on 7 August 1941 resulted in bomb damage to Bodmin North station and an ammunition train was strafed while climbing from Boscarne Junction towards Bodmin General.
The Bodmin station was renamed Bodmin North on 26 September 1949; the GWR station was renamed Bodmin General. The B&W station was destaffed on 3 January 1966 and became a Halt on 18 April 1966—an unusual case of a terminal station being a halt.
A modern clay drying works was built alongside the Wenfordbridge line just north of Poley's Bridge Road some time before 1962; china clay was piped as a slurry from Stannon Moor, over four miles away, and the dried product was conveyed away by train.
From 1964 strict economies were to be made on the line, which after all had two train services from two different Bodmin stations. A new platform was opened on 15 June called Boscarne Exchange Platform; trains from Bodmin General to Wadebridge stopped here, and a diesel railbus operated a shuttle connection between there and the original Bodmin & Wadebridge station. The railbuses had steps to enable passengers to join and alight, so the "platform" on the B&W line was at ground level. There was no public access to and from the station, which was only for immediate transfer between the two trains. Oil lamps were provided—in 1964!
In 1966 the North Cornwall line between Halwill and Wadebridge was closed, and for a short period the Bodmin and Wadebridge trains were the only connection to Padstow.
In fact passenger services finished on 30 January 1967. Public goods facilities at Wenfordbridge were withdrawn on 1 May 1967, and the line became a dedicated branch for the china clay private sidings, gaining access to the railway network via Bodmin General (reverse) and Bodmin Road. The line closed in 1983.
In 1974 a preservation society was formed, which became the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. They have established a successful railway museum at Bodmin General, and run steam hauled passenger trains to Bodmin Parkway and to Boscarne. It is their aim to extend from Boscarne Junction to Wadebridge alongside the trail, on the route of the Bodmin and Wadebridge line.
Rolling stock.
The National Railway Museum includes three carriages built for the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway when it opened in 1834. The open Third Class carriage resembles an open goods wagon with planks for seats and opening doors, the second class carriage is enclosed with two compartments, and the first class carriage (now mixed first/second) was built to look like the contemporary horse-drawn carriages and has upholstered seats. All three have dumb buffers and cast iron wheels. The carriages were discovered in a shed on the railway and were put on display at London Waterloo station in 1915 before becoming part of the national collection in 1975.
When the rolling stock came to be standardised with the rest of the network, the age of the route gave some difficulties. There was a trial of SECR P Class 0-6-0 on the line, which was a failure because of the lightly laid track and sharp curves, which made running difficult for locomotives not designed to accommodate it. As a result, three of the LSWR 0298 Class, Victorian locomotives designed for urban passenger duties, were retained on the line significantly past their life-expiry, and became an attraction in the far west for locomotive enthusiasts, being recorded as prodigious survivors as early as 1949 by C. Hamilton Ellis. They were eventually replaced by GWR 1366 Class dock tanks in 1962 after the line had been transferred to the Western Region of British Railways.


Cumbrian Coast line

The Cumbrian Coast line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues (as the Furness line) via Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands to Carnforth, where it connects with the West Coast Main Line.
History.
George Stephenson favoured, and carried out preliminary surveys for, a scheme to link England and Scotland by a railway running along the coast between Lancaster and Carlisle, but this 'Grand Caledonian Junction Railway' was never built, the direct route over Shap being preferred. Consequently, the line along the Cumbrian coast is the result of piecemeal railway building (largely to serve local needs) by a number of different companies:
Maryport and Carlisle Railway.
Carlisle to Maryport
Promoted to link with Newcastle and Carlisle Railway to give "one complete and continuous line of communication from the German Ocean to the Irish Sea" and to open up the northern (inland) portion of West Cumbrian coalfield. Act of Parliament obtained 1837; first section – Maryport to Arkleby (just short of Aspatria) – opened 1840: line Maryport–Carlisle fully opened 1845. Originally laid single; doubled throughout (to accommodate heavy and profitable mineral traffic) by 1861. Remained independent (and highly profitable) until grouping.
Whitehaven Junction Railway.
Maryport to Whitehaven (Bransty) (leased by London and North Western Railway 1865; amalgamated with LNWR 1866).
Whitehaven at this time was dominated by the Lowther family, and its head the Earl of Lonsdale. Attempts supported by William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale to promote a 'Whitehaven, Maryport and Carlisle Railway' in 1835, had lost out to the Maryport and Carlisle Railway. In 1844 a more limited project for a railway between Whitehaven and Maryport (supported by Lord Lonsdale and both MPs for West Cumberland) got its parliamentary Act. The first Earl had died earlier in 1844, and it was his son, the second Earl, who became chairman of the company and remained so throughout its existence. The line was opened from Maryport to Workington at the end of November 1845, and to Harrington mid-May 1846 Between Whitehaven and Harrington the line ran between cliffs and the sea and landslips, rockfalls, and high tides made construction problematical. A train ran all the way from Maryport to Whitehaven on 19 February 1847, but the passengers left it at Harrington; the line opened for passenger traffic 18 March 1847.
In 1848 two Acts were obtained; one to authorise the raising of further capital to cover overspend on the construction of the existing line, one to make the link with the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway (W&FJR) by an elevated railway running to the harbour and then along the harbour front. The harbour link was never built (the W&FJR deciding to proceed with their original intention of a tunnel) but lines were laid down to serve the North Pier. There were continuing difficulties with the sea walls on the Whitehaven-Harrington section, which were now described as of bad and inefficient design and executed in a worse and more objectionable manner; in 1851 the seawall was rebuilt at Harrington and Lowca at a cost of £6000. However, when in January 1852 a storm badly damaged the seawall immediately north of Whitehaven station (the wall, the embankment behind it, and the railway track being completely destroyed for a length of about fifty yards,) the damaged section pre-dated the railway. A further storm in December 1852 caused more extensive damage, the repaired section being lost again as a consequence of failure of the old wall immediately north of it (there were further wash-outs at Lowca and Risehow), but services were resumed within a fortnight. The link to the WJR from the W&FJR was made (as originally intended) by a tunnel, completed at the end of September 1852; a joint working agreement with the W&FJR took effect at the start of 1854. In December 1855, Bransty station shut for goods business and the Preston Street station of the W&FJR became the WJR's goods station for Whitehaven.
In 1856, the company secretary was replaced after an audit suggested about £3,000 had gone missing (the loss was made good by 'the directors' -in fact Lord Lonsdale alone – from his own pocket), and the company engineer resigned because of the defective state of the engines and the inefficiency of previous repairs but the WJR was entering an era of prosperity (by 1864 it was declaring a dividend of 15%) largely because of a boom in haematite mining. It was reported that in 1856, the quantity of iron ore raised in the neighbourhood of Whitehaven was 259,167 tons. Of this 152,875 was shipped at Whitehaven, 65,675 sent away by rail, and 39,617 tons used at the iron works in the district. The destinations of the ore were as follows: – Wales, 124,630 tons; Staffordshire 26,768 tons; Scotland 15,865 tons, Newcastle, Middlesbro &c, 51470 tons; and to France 817 tons.
A branch to the wet dock at Maryport opened September 1859 and carried considerable traffic from collieries at Flimby; the line (hitherto single throughout) was widened from Maryport to Flimby and doubled throughout by 1861. The original Railway Hotel at Bransty was bought for use as station buildings and offices for the two Whitehaven companies, the Cockermouth and Workington Railway's half-share of Workington station was bought out, and timber viaducts at Workington and Harrington were replaced, the Board of Trade objecting to the use of timber in the Harrington replacement, especially given the WJR's prosperity: "The continued use of this material in the present instance by the directors of a company ... whose receipts are ... £53 per mile per week is quite inexcusable." The WJR reached an agreement (1864) with the Cockermouth and Workington to lease the C&WR, guaranteeing a 10% dividend to C&WR shareholders, but did not get parliamentary approval for the necessary Bill, the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway objecting that the lease would obstruct any movement of ore northwards except over the WJR The WJR then (June 1865) reached agreement with the London and North Western Railway for the LNWR to lease the WJR in perpetuity, paying 10% a year. (The LNWR reached a similar agreement with the Cockermouth and Workington, and the Furness Railway with the W&FJR); the Bill making the amalgamation permanent received its royal assent in July 1886. In the first six months of operation by the LNWR, the profit on the line was said to be 27% a year.
When the Whitehaven – Harrington section was first opened the Carlisle Journal – politically opposed to the Lowther interest – had criticised it : "Zig-zag, zig-zag, zig-zag, perpetually. No serpent wriggles in more contortions than the Whitehaven Junction Railway" and pointed out the horrors of an accident on such a corniche "The poor wretches who fill the train must either have their brains dashed out against the rocks at one side or be pitched head-foremost into the sea on the other" Train crew could never see far ahead, and there was always the possibility of a rockfall onto the track: even after the doubling of the line, the Board of Trade required a speed limit of 15 mph on the section. In 1860, whilst the section was still single-track, a heavy iron-ore train broke down on this section and a mistake by the station-master at Whitehaven led to a low-speed collision between a portion of the train being returned to Whitehaven and a passenger train advancing to push the failed train to Harrington. Sixteen passengers were injured, two seriously; the accident (together with another low-speed collision in 1862) was said to have cost the WJR about £20,000 in compensation alone, and the vulnerability of the WJR dividend to any further accident was one of the arguments adduced in support of the lease to the LNWR.
Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway.
Whitehaven to Foxfield (leased by Furness Railway 1865, amalgamated 1866).
The first Earl of Lonsdale had supported the idea of a railway linking Whitehaven to Maryport, but had had no interest in building a railway south of Whitehaven, let alone one linking to the West Coast Main Line : however he died in 1844 and was succeeded by his son William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale who supported the scheme and under his chairmanship the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway obtained its Act in the next session of Parliament. and in 1846 a further Act for extension of the W&FJR to a junction with the WJR near the latter's Whitehaven station. There was little potential local traffic, and the hope was for the through traffic which would flow once the W&FJR was extended to a junction with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway south of Carnforth. However a Bill for that extension was rejected because of inconsistencies in its documentation and it was left to others to provide a link between Lancaster and Furness, and to Lord Lonsdale to nurse the company until better times arrived.
By 1847, the company was becoming concerned that remaining funds would be insufficient to tackle the remaining expensive engineering (the tunnel to reach the Whitehaven station of the WJR and a 2-km long viaduct across the Duddon estuary to join the Furness Railway near Kirby Ireleth). In 1848 Bills were brought forward to make the link with the WJR by an elevated railway running to the harbour and then along the harbour front and for abandoning the Duddon crossing to Kirkby Ireleth, the line instead turning back on itself to follow the west bank of the Duddon estuary upstream to a much shorter crossing to a junction with the Broughton-in-Furness branch of the Furness Railway at Foxfield.
The 16 km section of line from Mirehouse (2 km south of Whitehaven) to the River Calder, already used for construction traffic, was used to move coal to depots at Braystones and Sellafield in February 1849, marking its opening for goods traffic. The first passenger services between a temporary station at Preston Street (at the southern edge of Whitehaven) and Ravenglass followed an official opening on 21 July 1849. Bootle became the southern terminus of passenger services in July 1850: the last section between Bootle and Foxfield was opened for passenger services 1 November 1850 although trains carrying Lord Lonsdale and invited guests had travelled from Whitehaven to Broughton-in-Furness over the section on at least two previous occasions. The link to the WJR station at the north of the town was made (as originally intended) by a tunnel, completed at the end of September 1852. A tramway through the market place allowing goods waggons to be horse-drawn from Preston Street to the south end of the harbour, authorised by an Act of 1853 was completed in 1854; a joint working agreement with the WJR took effect at the start of 1854. From December 1855 W&FJR passenger trains ran to the WJR station at Bransty; Preston Street became the goods station for both lines and a passenger station was opened at Corkickle, immediately south of the tunnel. The goods portion of north-bound mixed trains was detached some distance from Corkickle and run into Preston Street under gravity.
The opening of the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway brought considerable additional mineral traffic onto the W&FJR at its northern end: at the southern end, a through route southward from Whitehaven was finally achieved with the completion of the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway in 1857, reflecting this an additional curve was laid down at the junction with the Furness Railway and W&FJR trains ran to Foxfield or Ulverston rather than Broughton. To facilitate the export of haematite southwards, in 1864 the W&JR (now paying a previously unheard-of 8% dividend) projected a direct crossing of the Duddon estuary (to eliminate the dog-leg through Foxfield) in competition with a similar proposal by the Furness Railway; disagreement with the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont as to who should build a line from the WC&ER at Egremont to the W&FJR at Sellafield was deferred by the W&FJR's charges being reduced, and both companies (temporarily) dropping their plans to build the line, subsequently agreeing to promote as a joint line. The WW&FJR got its Bill for the Duddon crossing, but then agreed to be leased by the Furness Railway for a guaranteed 8% a year.
Furness Railway.
Foxfield to Barrow-in-Furness.
Incorporated 1844; promoted by Duke of Buccleuch and Earl of Burlington (later Duke of Devonshire) to link iron ore mines (at Dalton-in-Furness) and slate mines (at Kirkby-in-Furness) with Barrow harbour. Open Barrow- Kirkby in 1846, extended to Broughton in Furness 1848.
All the above constituents were absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.
Current passenger services.
Train services are operated by Northern. Services stop at all stations (although many are request stops), with the exceptions of Nethertown and Braystones, which are served by four trains a day in each direction.
In the December 2013 – May 2014 timetable, the following trains operated on weekdays:
There are no trains after 19:30 each evening between Millom and Whitehaven, as this section is only open for 12 hours each day due to the high operating costs associated with the large number of signal boxes and staffed level crossings that are present. Services are slightly altered on Saturdays and on Sundays there is no service between Barrow and Whitehaven, with four trains in each direction between Whitehaven and Carlisle.
A new Sunday service is to be introduced (now scheduled for the May 2018 timetable change) over the section south of Whitehaven after the new Northern Rail franchise agreement came into effect in April 2016 – the new operator (Arriva Rail North Ltd) will also be running an additional six weekday trains each way as part of the new 10-year agreement with the Department for Transport.
At Carlisle the lines connects to the: West Coast Mainline; the Settle-Carlisle Line; the Tyne Valley Line; the Glasgow South Western Line; and the Caledonian Sleeper service. At Barrow, there are connections to the Furness Line.
Passenger rolling stock.
Due to restricted clearances on the section of line between Maryport and Carlisle as several overbridges were built to narrower than normal dimensions by the M&CR, Class 150's, Class 158's plus the new Class 195's and many other diesel multiple units are banned from the route owing to width issues. Services are therefore operated by Class 153 and Class 156 units. The line has also been previously operated by Class 142 Pacer units, but these have since been phased out in favour of 156 Sprinters cascaded from Abellio ScotRail.
In the past the Class 108 first generation DMUs formerly used on the line were custom-fitted with bars on the drop-light doors for this reason. Since 2006 Network Rail have eased clearance restrictions so as to allow Mark 1, Mark 2 and Mark 3 coaching stock to operate the full route, although under strict instructions that all drop-light windows must be ether stewarded or locked between Maryport and Carlisle to prevent passengers from putting their heads out of the windows. This has allowed many charter services to operate the full length of the Cumbrian Coast. Since the May 2015 timetable change, a number of scheduled services between Carlisle & Barrow were operated using Mark 2 coaches and Class 37 diesel locomotives hired in from Direct Rail Services to provide additional seating capacity – these were modified accordingly which included placing bars across the droplight windows. These workings reverted to DMU operation at the end of December 2018.
Because most of West Coast Railways Mark 1 coaches which are used by charter companies don't have bars across the droplight windows, whenever steam tours run down the route it is mandatory that passengers are in their seats for when the train is travelling between Maryport and Carlisle in both north and southbound direction. Steam railtours down the route until a couple of years back had been banned because of the restricted clearances as well as the fear of injury to members of the public.
The Cumbrian Coast was given Community Rail status in 2008, and has an active Community Rail Partnership working hard to develop the route.
Route description.
Network Rail's route NW 4033 runs for from Carnforth North Junction, near Carnforth, to Carlisle South Junction, near Carlisle, by way of Sellafield.
2009 floods.
In the aftermath of the 2009 floods, an extra hourly service between Maryport and Workington operated stopping at all stations in between, including the temporary Workington North. These services were withdrawn in December 2010.
Historical Connecting lines.
The following lines all previously connected to the Cumbrian Coast Line, but have mostly now been closed


Chapel inclined plane

The Chapel Inclined Plane is an inclined plane immediately to the south of Chapel-en-le-Frith, High Peak, Derbyshire. The ground here rises sharply and the inclined plane was built to connect the lower and upper levels of the Peak Forest Tramway, which was built and initially operated by the Peak Forest Canal Company. It opened for trade on 31 August 1796.
Operating principle.
At this point the ground rises by and the operating principle of the plane was that it was self-acting and loaded waggons descending under the action of gravity hauled empty waggons up it. A maximum of eight loaded waggons were permitted to descend the plane at any one time. The net (or tare) weight of a mineral waggon was between and it could carry about 2½ tons. Thus the gross weight of a gang of eight waggons descending the plane was about 22 to 28 tons. Chains coupled the waggons to each other and the waggon at the rear was coupled to the incline chain/rope. In Derbyshire, the workman who made the coupling to the incline chain/rope was generally known as a "hanger-on" and he connected two special chains to the rear waggon, which he then plaited around the incline chain/rope and fastened them off with leather thongs. It was found that plaiting these chains in place had the effect of tightening their grip once the waggons were in motion on the plane. It is known that these chains were sometimes made with progressively smaller links, which also had the effect of tightening the grip but it is not known whether chains of this type were used on this plane.
Speed control.
As the waggons moved on the plane, the weight of the chain/rope increased on the descending side and decreased on the ascending side. Thus, it was essential to keep waggons under control once they were in motion and this was accomplished in three ways.
Safety catches.
In the event of an accident, three catches were provided towards the top of the plane to stop runaway waggons but their method of operation is unknown and it is not known how effective they were. The two running tracks on the plane were laid parallel to each other and this makes it evident that a gravel dragpit was not provided for runaway waggons to enter. On several occasions reports of chain/cable breakage were recorded and descending loaded waggons crashed into Buxton Road Bridge at the foot of the plane.
Signalling.
An iron post, incorporating a red and white disc and bell signal, was positioned between the running tracks at the bottom of the plane and when everything was ready a signal was given to the brakeman, the bell being used when it was misty or dark. When the brakeman was also satisfied that everything was ready at the top, he released the brake and the descending waggons were pushed onto the plane. As the descending waggons approached the bottom the reduced gradient slowed them down and simultaneously this action was assisted by the increased gradient encountered by ascending waggons as they approached the top. When the brakeman was assured that the waggons had completed the full traverse of the plane, he stopped them by fully applying the brake.
Band brake.
At the top of the plane the incline chain/rope passed underground and into a pit where it was wound one and a half turns around a horizontal drum in diameter. The groove in the drum for the chain/rope was lined with wooden blocks with the grain facing outwards to increase the friction. Above this groove there was an integral brake wheel about wide. A wrought iron (or steel) band brake encircled this, which almost made a 360° arc of contact with the brake wheel, and this was lined with wooden blocks with the grain facing inwards to increase the friction. The band brake was anchored to the back wall of the pit and at the front, one end was cranked upwards and the other end was cranked downwards. The upward crank was attached above the fulcrum of the brake lever and the downward crank was attached below the fulcrum. The brake lever was about long and it extended into the hut at the top of the tower. In spite of the large mechanical advantage provided by the brake lever, the brakeman was unable to apply the brake unaided. To further increase the mechanical advantage, a pulley block was fitted to the lever and the brakeman used this to apply the brake.
Rope or chain.
When the tramway opened in 1796, a hemp rope was used on the incline but it was found that this was too weak and a wrought-iron chain soon replaced it. This also proved not to be strong enough and in 1809 it was replaced. The new chain had links 5 inches (127 mm) long and it was manufactured in Birmingham at a cost of £500. Records suggest that the chain was also replaced in 1817 and again in 1831. It was about 1,075 yards (983 m) long and weighed about 7 tons. With the development of the Bessemer steel making process during the 1860s, a steel rope eventually replaced the chain and this was 2 inches (51 mm) in diameter and weighed 6 tons (tonnes).
Rollers.
At first, the chain/rope was supported and guided on the plane by wooden blocks placed between the rails every 10 yards (9.1 m) but it is known that steel rollers were fitted in the late 1860s or the 1870s as it became easier to manufacture steel. While the substantial drag between the chain/rope and the wooden blocks was put to beneficial use in the operation of the plane it must have been found that this was too great and rollers were substituted for blocks with the purpose of reducing drag.


Tyne Yard

Tyne Yard (TY) is a railway yard in Gateshead, England, on the East Coast Main Line, operated by DB Cargo UK. The yard is the major freight yard of the region, with the majority of rail freight movements in Tyne and Wear from around Great Britain passing through the yard.
History.
Tyne marshalling yard was part of the 1955 Modernisation plan by British Railways, and was opened up to traffic in 1963. Part of the southern end of the yard was built on the former railway station.
The yard is south of Newcastle upon Tyne railway station, between Team Valley and the town of Birtley. It is visible from trains passing on the adjacent East Coast Main Line, with the yard located on the western side of the line. As of 2015, it is a major hub for the Network Rail High Output renewals programme. At least one High Output train is based here at any time. As of Oct 2016, there is a High Output Ballast Cleaner (HOBC) and Track Replacement System (TRS) serviced and maintained in the down primaries.
The Yard has nine staging sidings, seven of which are under overhead lines, engineering sidings, carriage sidings, three departure roads, and the primaries which house the Network Rail centre and virtual quarry / spoil heap. The old signal box was demolished in 2015, the radio mast some time before this.
There is a Freightliner Train Crew Depot here which is for the signing on of Freightliner train crew based in Tyne Yard.
The yard also acts as a servicing point for railtours visiting the region, and the Smithy Lane road bridge over the northern end of the Yard is a popular location for railway photography.
The Angel of the North is visible from the yard and main line on the high ground to the East.
From 2019, the yard was used as a storage location for Class 800/801 "Azumas" of LNER and also of Class 802 "Paragons" of Hull Trains.


Cirencester branch line

The Cirencester branch line was a five-mile-long single-track branch railway line in Gloucestershire, England that connected Cirencester to the main line at Kemble. It was opened by the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway in 1841. The main line was extended from Kemble to a junction near Gloucester in 1845, by the GWR which had taken over the C&GWUR. The branch supported a busy passenger and goods business, but these declined in the 1930s, and closure was threatened in the 1950s. To reduce costs and maintain the viability of the line, lightweight four-wheel diesel railbuses were introduced, and they proved popular. Nevertheless the line's decline was inexorable, passenger service closed in 1964 and the goods service ending the following year.
The route crossed the River Thames near its source and formed the highest rail crossing point on the river.
Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway.
The Great Western Railway opened its main line between London and Bristol in 1841. During the construction period, an independent company called the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway obtained authorisation on 21 June 1836 to make a line from the GWR at Swindon, to Cheltenham by way of Stroud and Gloucester. The estimated cost of construction was £750,000.
As well as the main line between Swindon and Cheltenham, there was to be a branch to Cirencester, terminating at a place there referred to as Botany Bay. A landowner at Kemble, named Robert Gordon, was evidently hostile to the railway, and he secured clauses in the authorising Act requiring a tunnel, not needed for engineering purposes, near Kemble. Moreover the railway was forbidden to open a public station on Gordon's estate. The new line was to be on the broad gauge.
The money market was extremely depressed in the period following authorisation of the line, and subscriptions could not be secured to make material progress on construction. In desperation, the directors determined to construct between Swindon and Cirencester only for the time being, for that would give the best chance of getting an income that would pay a dividend on the outlay. The company arranged a provisional lease with the Great Western Railway, in which the GWR would pay £17,000 annually for the use of the (as yet unbuilt) line.
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was relying on timely completion of the C&GWUR at the Gloucester and Cheltenham end of the line, and obtained Parliamentary clauses in C&GWUR Acts pressuring the Cheltenham company to complete at the Gloucester end of the line, and the emphasis on early construction passed to that area. In November 1840 even that work proved impossible to finance, and attention reverted to the Swindon end of the line.
Progress was eventually made, and the line opened between Swindon and Cirencester on 31 May 1841. It was a single broad gauge line; stations were at Purton, Minety and Cirencester, so there was no intermediate station on what was to be the branch line. The line was leased to the GWR as arranged, for a period of seven years. In 1842 the C&GWUR obtained Parliamentary authorisation to sell their line to the GWR. The main line company was not yet ready to purchase, but after a delay the transfer was agreed in January 1843. The actual amalgamation took place on 1 July 1843; the GWR spent £230,000 in the acquisition of the line, which so far had cost the C&GWUR £600,000 to construct.
The GWR did not hasten to complete the line, but it opened from Kemble to Standish Junction, joining the Bristol line there, on 12 May 1845. Kemble thus became the junction station for what was now the Cirencester branch. Robert Gordon's restrictive clauses prevented the opening of a public station there, and the GWR contented itself with an exchange station, not accessible for joining and leaving passengers or goods. Tetbury was served by a station named Tetbury Road, located on the main line immediately north of the Cirencester to Tetbury road, just outside Gordon's estate (and near the present-day Thames Head public house).
Gauge conversion.
The Cirencester branch had been opened as a broad gauge line. The GWR undertook a widespread conversion to narrow (standard) gauge in the general area in 1872, and the Cirencester branch was closed on 22 May for the conversion work and reopened as a standard gauge line on 27 May. Passengers were conveyed by omnibus to and from Tetbury Road station during the closure.
Cirencester station.
The station originally had an overall roof, but this was removed in 1874.
Kemble station.
Kemble station was fully open to the public on 1 May 1882.
Signalling improvements.
In 1908, the Webb-Thompson electric train staff system was installed on the branch. The Cirencester line was controlled from Kemble East signalbox and Cirencester. During 1929 Kemble East signalbox was abolished, and a new 62 lever Kemble signalbox installed. Because of the curvature of the platform at Kemble there was an auxiliary staff instrument on the platform. In 1936, there were eleven passenger trains each way daily, as well as three goods trains. By 1954, the passenger service was reduced to nine trains daily.
Train service in 1922.
In 1922, there were ten trains daily, but no Sunday service.
Cirencester station renovation.
In 1956, work was carried out towards renovation of Cirencester station, but the work was suspended, leaving the buildings in a partly completed state.
Diesel railbuses.
In an attempt to save the line from closure, diesel railbuses were introduced on the line in February 1959 to reduce costs. The train service was increased to fourteen trains per day and halts were opened at Chesterton Lane and, in January 1960, at Park Leaze. Results were encouraging: 130,000 passengers yearly, an average of about 13 per train. Particularly on Saturdays, the railbus was overcrowded. The original intention was to run railbuses through to Swindon to avoid a change of trains at Kemble, but this proved impossible as the lightweight vehicles did not reliably operate the signalling track circuits on the main line.
Nevertheless, despite the initial success, the passenger service was not financially viable, and it was withdrawn on 6 April 1964. Goods traffic was withdrawn on 4 October 1965.
After closure.
A Cirencester ring road was built on part of the railway in the mid 1970s.
Future.
In 2016, discussions took place regarding the potential of relaying 5km of track from Kemble station to the edge of Cirencester at Chesterton Halt.
In January 2019, the Campaign for Better Transport identified the line as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).
Two bids for feasibility study funding were made to the Department for Transport's 'restoring your railway' fund in March and June 2020, and the second was successful.


Beer Heights Light Railway

The Beer Heights Light Railway operates of minimum gauge track at Beer, Devon, England. It is part of Pecorama, an exhibition owned by Peco.
Overview.
The official opening was by Rev. W.V. Awdry on 14 July 1975, at which time it offered a return ride from "Much Natter" station via a balloon loop. Subsequently, it was almost doubled in length by construction of the "Devil's Gorge" extension which involved a very considerable cutting, and the complex track layout also includes a more recent steeply-graded branch line to "Wildway Down". The station at Deepwater was revamped in late 2014 and reopened in July 2015 as 'Deepwater Halt'.
The line is notable for its high standard of presentation to the public and for the fine views obtainable from it. It is home to eight steam locomotives designed on narrow gauge principles.
Locomotives.
The railway currently has eight steam locomotives, two diesel and one electric. A locomotive called 'Finn MacCool' also visits every summer (usually July – September) from the Belfast and County Down Miniature Railway Society, Northern Ireland, to help out in the peak season. Other locomotives also visit during the 'Loco Week' and 'Bank Holiday Weekend Gala' in August.


Torrington and Marland Railway

The Torrington and Marland Railway was a narrow gauge built to carry clay from the quarries at Clay Moor to Torrington in north Devon.
History.
The line was surveyed in 1879 by John Barraclough Fell who was also the consulting engineer to the nearby Pentewan Railway. Fell's survey was notable for its use of ten wooden viaducts, which were an unusual feature for a British railway.
The railway was a private line, built to serve clay traffic, but part of the agreement with the landowners over whose land it passed was that it would carry local passengers. Steam locomotives were used on both the main railway and the internal lines in the clay pits.
In 1925 the main line was replaced with a standard gauge branch of the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway. The Torrington and Marland was cut back to a 1½ mile stub and the internal quarry lines. These continued in use until 1971 when the line finally closed.


Bittern Line

The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in the reedy wetlands of Norfolk.
The line is in length and there are 10 stations. It is part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11, and is classified as a rural line.
Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia, which also manages all of the stations.
History.
The line was granted permission in 1864 and the first stretch was opened between Norwich and in 1874 by the East Norfolk Railway. It was extended to Cromer by 1877 before being extended to in 1877, using a section of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line. From the early twentieth century until the end of steam services, in 1962, the Great Eastern Railway operated coastal holiday services from London Liverpool Street under names such as the "Norfolk Coast Express" and "The Broadsman".
Following the closure of the majority of the Midland and Great Northern network, the line operated as a single branch between Norwich and Melton Constable before the section between Sheringham and Melton Constable was closed in 1964. The remainder of the line was listed for closure in 1967 but survived the proposal after being declined by the Secretary of State for Transport.
The Bittern Line Partnership was set up by Norfolk County Council in 1997. and was designated a community rail line by the Department for Transport in September 2007.
The section of the line between Sheringham and Holt which was closed in the 1960s remains in use as a heritage railway line operated as the North Norfolk Railway. After a period of 36 years, the link between the Bittern line and the North Norfolk Railway was reinstated in 2010 with the opening of a new level crossing at Sheringham.
Stations.
The following table summarises the line's 10 stations, their distance measured from , and estimated number of passenger entries/exits in 2018/19:
Services.
Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia. The typical service is one train per hour in each direction between Norwich and Sheringham. Calling patterns are varied, with some trains stopping at all stations while others omit some of the lesser-used stations along the line, such as , and .
In 2019, new Class 755 bi-mode trains began to replace the previous mixture of Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170 diesel multiple units.
The line is also used by freight trains which are operated by GB Railfreight. Some trains carry gas condensate from a terminal at North Walsham to Harwich International Port.
Infrastructure.
The line is double-track from Norwich to , where it becomes single-track with a passing loop at , and two platforms at Cromer also allowing passing. The line is not electrified; it has a loading gauge of W8 between Norwich and Roughton Road and W6 from Roughton Road to Sheringham. The maximum speed is .
The line was re-signalled in 2000, leading to the closure of a number of mechanical signal boxes and control moving to a panel at the Trowse Swing Bridge control room. This saw the end of one of the few remaining sections of single-track main line controlled by tokens. The Cromer signal box has been preserved.
Proposed developments.
Rackheath station.
A new station is proposed as part of the Rackheath eco-town. The building of the town may also mean a short freight spur being built to transport fuel to fire an on-site power station. The plans for the settlement received approval from the government in 2009.


Bury and Thetford (Swaffham Branch)

The Bury and Thetford (Swaffham Branch), also known as the Crab and Winkle Line, was a railway line in England. It was formed of the Watton and Swaffham Railway, founded in 1866 as an independent venture by the Thetford and Watton Railway Company. Freight services commenced in January 1869, with passenger services in October 1869. The line ran from Thetford, via Watton to a junction with the Lynn and Dereham Railway at Swaffham and was completed in 1875. The extension to Swaffham cost £72,000,
On 21 July 1879 the line was leased to the Great Eastern Railway for 999 years, commencing 1 March 1880. It was vested into the GER in 1897, becoming part of the London and North Eastern Railway on 1 January 1923.
The line was closed to passengers on 15 June 1964, with a two-car diesel multiple unit (DMU) driven by driver David Grant of Dereham operating the final service. There were only 70 passengers on the final stage of the journey. Roudham Junction to Watton was closed completely at this time, and the remainder was closed to freight on 19 April 1965, after transporting the final sugar beet and coal traffic.
Rolling stock.
On opening, the railway was approached by Robert Fairlie, who wanted a line to test his "Fairlie Steam Carriage", but the railway company were not interested in this proposal. Instead locomotives were obtained from Manning Wardle & Co. These were 0-6-0 tank locomotives with 3-foot driving wheels and 11-inch cylinders. The railway also secured a rebuilt 3 ft 6 in saddle tank. These locomotives were maintained at a shed at Watton.
Two more Manning Wardle tanks, and two Sharp, Stewart and Company 0-4-2 tender locomotives were added by September 1876. The railway was taken over by the Great Eastern Railway in 1880, with the locomotives joining the GER stock list. The Sharp locomotives being scrapped in 1891 and the tank engines in the late 1880s.
The route today.
The line was lifted after closure. The route either side of Stow Bedon station has been removed, and the station site levelled. The section of line between Stow Bedon and Wretham was intended to be used for a new road, and Stow Bedon station was demolished as part of this plan. The road was not, however, constructed.
Watton station has also been demolished and the site redeveloped, although a level crossing gate survived on Church Road as late as 1983. The line from the junction with the Dereham line at Swaffham remains unobstructed, although with some bridges removed. Holme Hale station remains as a private residence, complete with signal box and signal post - although heavily extended.
Loch Neaton.
One of the ballast quarries created during the construction of the railway through Watton was converted into a leisure park and bathing lake known as Loch Neaton. The area was named "Loch Neaton" in honour of the Scottish navvies who built the line, with Neaton being the local hamlet. The park remains today, bordered on one side by the abandoned railway embankment.


Grimsby District Light Railway

The Grimsby District Light Railway (GDLR) was one of three standard gauge railways, all part of the Great Central Railway, promoted by the latter to connect the wider world to Immingham Dock which it built in the early Twentieth Century on an almost uninhabited, greenfield site on the south bank of the Humber, England.
Overview.
The three railways were:
All three lines became part of the LNER in 1923 then part of the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
The Barton and Immingham route closed in 1963.
In 2016 the Humber Commercial Railway route remained the port's major artery, carrying imports towards Barnetby and beyond.
By 2016 the GDLR survived, having been renamed the Grimsby Light Single. It was but a shadow of its former self.
The line's purposes.
The GDLR's immediate purpose was to convey men and materials to the dock workings, with the primary permanent aim of enabling workers to travel between Grimsby and the dock to work. The secondary permanent aim was to enable materials and especially locomotives to transfer between the new engine shed at Immingham and the intensively railway-served port of Grimsby and the railway-promoted seaside resort of Cleethorpes.
The GDLR became a railway with two lines - a conventional light railway used by ordinary trains and an electric tramway which ran parallel to the conventional line for a significant part of its route. This tramway was publicised by the Great Central as the Grimsby District Electric Railway and later by the LNER as the Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway, by which name it became widely recognised, but legally, all three were one, as set out in a Light Railway Order of 15 January 1906. The two lines were not physically connected.
Early uses.
The conventional line was completed in May 1906, connecting at its south eastern end to the Great Central's Great Coates branch and thereby to the Grimsby to Sheffield Victoria line and the wider world. It was initially single track. At its Immingham end it ended in a field near what would eventually become Immingham East Junction. Lady Henderson performed the ceremonial cutting of the first sod for the massive Immingham Dock undertaking near this spot on 12 July 1906, with the VIP party brought to the site in the GCR directors' saloon and lesser guests brought in open wagons, spruced up for the occasion. Both trains used the GDLR.
Contractors building the dock used the conventional line for the next three years, mainly transporting materials, but also transporting workmen in a train of ex-Metropolitan Railway carriages, which became known locally as the "Navvy Mail". The Great Central decided to provide a public passenger service along the line and built single wooden platformed stations apart named Grimsby Pyewipe Road and Immingham Halt. The line and the stations were inspected by the Board of Trade on 3 January 1910 and services started the same day using a steam rail car.
It was intended that part of the GDLR would be an electric, passenger-carrying tramway to transport highly peaked flows of workers between the dock and Grimsby, the nearest centre of population. The 1906 Light Railway Order permitted the construction of a line from a triangular junction with
Great Grimsby Street Tramways at the confluence of Victoria Street and Freeport Wharf, over Corporation Bridge then along Corporation Road and across country to Immingham Dock. This permission did not imply any legal or managerial connection between the line and Grimsby Tramways, merely permission to build a physical connection and, by implication, permission to run trams over both concerns' metals by agreement. This would seem a triumph of optimism over sense, as Corporation Bridge was not strong enough to carry trams and there were no firm plans or money to replace it. When it was eventually replaced in 1928, with heavy government financial backing, the wind had left Grimsby Tramways' sails and they were converting to trolley bus and internal combustion engine services. Corporation Bridge was a bridge too far.
Orders for the construction of the electric tramway were placed in 1909 and the line passed inspection in November 1911, though with the dock not yet completed there was no urgency to open the line. A trial service was run on 6 May 1912, followed by a "Big Bang" undertaken without ceremony on 15 May 1912 when:
From this point readers are referred to the Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway article for details of the tramway's development and decline.
The line's evolution.
Electric cables running from the power station at Immingham Dock to feeders along the tramway were carried on distinctive masts along the seaward side of the GDLR's conventional line, lending it an unusual appearance. The masts vaguely resembled commonplace lineside telegraph masts, but their narrow A-shaped structure and heavier wire-bearing crosspieces were sufficiently different to catch the eye.
The conventional GDLR line was doubled in 1914, only to be singled in 1917, the lifted tracks being sent abroad as a contribution to the war effort. The Great Central's final estimates in 1922 included provision for reinstating the second track, but the LNER never did so. Towards the end of the Second World War Grimsby Corporation bought substantial tracts of land between the GDLR and the Humber Bank for post-war industrial development. The Humber Bank Estate was fully allocated by 1948 and other sites were also taken up, such as Fisons at Immingham. To match this development British Railways started to redouble the conventional GDLR line in November 1948, completing the task on 17 September 1951. Several of the wholly new, greenfield site industries, like Immingham Dock years before, obtained rail connections, changing the character of the GDLR's conventional line from a plain, rural, inter-urban connection to one with sidings and varied goods trains. Over time five sidings were laid, three heading towards the Humber Bank and two inland. In 2015 all could still be traced online using aerial and satellite images, though all had closed to traffic. In 1984 one track towards the southern end of the line was lifted and the remainder followed towards the end of the 20th Century, meaning the GDLR's conventional track has twice been doubled and twice been singled.
This industrial development had consequences for the GDLR's conventional line besides the upturn in rail traffic. The huge growth in road traffic - from near zero - by lorries and employees put pressure on the level crossings. This, together with the specific example of an accident on 7 April 1954 when a light engine collided with a van at Kiln Lane level crossing, resulted in the crossings adjacent to Kiln Lane and Great Coates tramcar halts having signalling and lifting barriers installed and the lineside electricity cables being buried. The signalling introduced on both the electric and the conventional line was two aspect - red and white.
Speed limits - a blanket 25 mph by virtue of its status as a light railway - have often been reduced to 10 mph near crossings or because of poor track conditions.
The 1953 East Coast floods disrupted the electric tramway, with the GDLR's conventional line proving invaluable to ferry men and materials to effect repairs.
The line has found occasional use for passenger diversions and enthusiasts' specials such as the "Lincolnshire Poacher" on 24 October 1987.
The Line is Still used today for diverted freight into Immingham, Looping Freight Trains, Light Movements for Driver Training, Track RUST Busting or engineering work trains.
The line has 9 remaining Level Crossings
3 on the Port line with crossings still active but line disused and rusted, 2 rusted crossing for old TIOXIDE factory and 4 which are active for Freight services
1. Moody Lane AOCL (Open Crossing) Port of Grimsby Line - DISUSED
2. Port Of Grimsby No.1 AOCL (Open Crossing) PRIVATE ACCESS FOR PORT - DISUSED
3. Port of Grimsby No.2 AOCL (Open Crossing) PRIVATE ACCESS FOR PORT - DISUSED
4. Moody Lane TIOXIDE was 4 barrier Level Crossing - DISUSED, Line is still visible with Hedges, track and ballast
5. Moody Lane TIOXODE was Open Crossing - DISUSED
6. Pywipe Road - Gilbey Road Gated Crossing with Signal Box and token monitored - USED/ACTIVE
7. Woad Lane AHB (Half Barrier Crossing) - USED/ACTIVE
8. South Marsh Lane (Half Barrier Crossing) - USED/ACTIVE
9. Kiln Lane AOCL (Open Crossing) - USED/ACTIVE
Relationship with the electric tramway.
On 1 July 1961 the electric tramway closed, thereby depriving the GDLR's conventional line of an occasional traffic - transporting major items, notably tramcars, to and from the tramway's Pyewipe car sheds for heavy maintenance or repair. This was always a challenge, as there never was any physical connection between the tramway and any other line, but a track at the shed was adjacent to the GDLR conventional line, so cars and other large items were craned over from one to the other. After the Second World War, when the expansion of industry on the Humber Bank was bringing unprecedented usage to both the conventional and electric lines, surplus tramcars were bought first from Newcastle Corporation then from Gateshead Tramways. The Newcastle cars were transshipped without mishap, but when the Gateshead cars were being lifted over in 1951 a crane toppled onto one, damaging it beyond repair before it turned a wheel in Lincolnshire.
The death-throes of the electric line led to two recorded, public, suggestions being made that passenger services be run along the GDLR's conventional line. On 16 March 1955 The BTC Chairman, Sir Brian Robertson, visited and in a speech said that the Commission would consider running DMUs or, astonishingly, EMUs along the line if the tramway closed, but that this would only be feasible if a direct road between Grimsby and Immingham was not going to happen. The politicking reappeared on 29 December 1960 when British Railways announced that if their application to withdraw the tramway was refused they would run a DMU service on the GDLR conventional line, competing with Grimsby Council's bus service. The council subsequently withdrew its objection to closing the tramway.
The modern position.
Neighbouring lines were resignalled over Christmas 2015 with the "Immingham Light Railway" shown on a map and in text as a live line with current signalboxes at Pyewipe Road and Great Coates No.1. Part 2 of the article confirms the line remains open, primarily as a diversionary route, so Immingham can remain accessible if the main Humber Commercial Railway route through Ulceby is closed or overloaded. This is both corroborated and confused by the authoritative "Trackwatch", which confirms the arrangements but refers to the line as "Grimsby Light Single".


Didcot Railway Centre

Didcot Railway Centre is a former Great Western Railway engine-shed and locomotive stabling point located in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England, which today has been converted into a railway museum and preservation engineering site.
Background.
The founders and commercial backers of the GWR supported Isambard Kingdom Brunel's scheme to develop an integrated railway and steam-ship service which allowed trans-Atlantic passengers and freight quicker passage to and from London to New York City. However, whilst backing the scheme the railway had to make a profit, and so it took a number of detours and added both mainline and branchline traffic to increase its domestic earnings. This earned the railway the nickname "The Great Way Round" from its detractors.
Whilst the route from London Paddington to Reading was relatively straight, the then obvious most direct route to Bristol would have taken the railway further south, thus avoiding both Didcot and Swindon. However, passenger and freight traffic both to and from Oxford and onwards to the West Midlands in part dictated a more northerly route. Secondly Brunel had originally planned to cut through Savernake Forest near Marlborough, Wiltshire to Bristol, but the Marquess of Ailesbury, who owned the land, objected - having previously objected to part of the Kennet and Avon Canal running through his estate (see Bruce Tunnel). With the railway needing to run near to a canal at its midpoint – as it was cheaper to transport coal for trains along canals at this time – and with need for the branch northwards to Cheltenham via Stroud, Swindon was the next logical choice for the junction (and later railway works), north of the original route. This dictated that the Oxford junction also be moved northwards, and hence via Didcot. The Great Western Railway built the first rail line through Didcot in 1839 and opened its first station in 1844.
Construction.
Due to the technical operational difficulties of running and maintaining a mainline service from London to Bristol, as well as the need for servicing locomotives going to Oxford, Didcot became an obvious midpoint maintenance and stabling point. Having built a timber-framed broad gauge shed on the original site during the railways development west in the 1800s, in June 1932 a new steel-framed half-brick 4-road through shed (), was completed by the GWR under the Loans and Guarantees Act (1929). With shed code DID, it also included a repair shop (), coaling stage (), sand furnace () and turntable plus associated offices (). During World War II, a standard steel-framed with corrugated iron-panel covered ash shelter was erected.
Operations.
After World War II, the site remained virtually unchanged during the nationalised ownership of British Railways (BR), but for taking on the new code of 81E. The standard allocation of locomotives remained the same, with Halls, Dukedogs and Panniers making up the bulk of the depot's fleet.
Closure.
With the replacement of steam with diesel traction under the Modernisation Plan, the shed became redundant and was closed in June 1965.
Formation and site lease.
The Great Western Society (GWS) was offered the use of the former Didcot locomotive depot, taking it over in 1967. In the 1970s, the society negotiated a long-term lease with BR which was to expire in 2019. But this was subject to a six-month termination clause which could force the GWS to quit the site, and which could be operated at any point in time by lease-holder Network Rail (NR).
In an attempt to secure a long-term future for the society, in 2002 the GWS opened negotiations with NR to either purchase the site or extend the lease. In a letter dated May 2007, NR informed the GWS that they were prepared to sell the site subject to Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) approval. It had been thought the site could be subject to need as a depot, either due to: the rebuilding of Reading station; a Crossrail project depot; or the Intercity Express Programme. After expressing some concern at the slow speed of negotiations at the GWS annual meeting in September 2008, NR wrote to the GWS to advise that the site was no longer available for sale, and although a lease extension was still on offer it was still subject to the previous six-month termination clause. The GWS then wrote to their local MP Ed Vaizey, and placed any long-term development plans on hold. Richard Croucher (Chairman of the Great Western Society) signed a new 50-year lease with Network Rail, therefore preserving the site for at least another 50 years.
Museum and railway centre.
Today the GWS have developed the site, which still retains many of the original GWR buildings and features, as both a working steam locomotive and railway museum, engineering maintenance centre, and railway line offering short rides to visitors.
Access via Didcot Parkway station brings the visitor into the southern end of the site, at the start of the ramp coal wagons would take up to the coaling stage. Beyond this is the original 1932 four-road engine shed, and beyond this the original repair shed and 1988 constructed locomotive works, both of which have restricted access due to safety concerns. Beyond this lies a Ransomes & Rapier turntable and pit, originally built for the Southern Railway and installed at Southampton Docks.
The centre regularly holds events such as steam and diesel railcar days. Members of the Great Western Society are active in the preservation of locomotives and rolling stock. Certain 'new-build' projects to create locomotives that did not escape wholesale scrapping are also undertaken at Didcot, such as the completed Firefly locomotive, a 'Saint' class (using a 'Hall' class chassis and boiler) and a 'County' class locomotive (using a 'Hall' class chassis and an LMS '8F' class boiler).
The Railway Centre is used a period film set and has featured in works including Anna Karenina, and The Elephant Man.
Running lines.
There are three short lengths of running track, each with a station at both ends:
Access.
The railway centre is entirely surrounded by active railway lines and has no road connection of any kind. Public access is on foot from a subway at Didcot Parkway station, which links the centre by rail to London and much of southern and central England. Wheelchair and pram access is practically nonexistent; they have to be carried up a flight of concrete steps. Although this contravenes the Disability Discrimination Act, the Great Western Society is unable to improve it since the site is owned by Network Rail.
Collection.
Other rolling stock.
The GWS has an extensive supporting collection of GWR rolling stock, including three of the GWR Super Saloons that serviced the boat train traffic to Plymouth.
Two Broad Gauge replica carriages were also made by the GWS:


Windermere branch line

The Windermere branch line, also called the Lakes line is the railway line from Oxenholme to Kendal and Windermere in Cumbria, North West England.
The line has a loading gauge of W6.
History.
The 10 mile (16 km) long line, which opened on 20 April 1847, was originally built as the Kendal and Windermere Railway and at its southern end connected into the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway. In 1859 it became part of the London and North Western Railway, then the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 Grouping. Upon nationalisation in 1948, it was managed by the London Midland Region of British Railways. On privatisation in 1994, it was initially operated by First North Western, then First TransPennine Express from 2005 and since April 2016 by Northern.
Originally built as a double-track main line, with through links to destinations including , , and London Euston, it was reduced to a single line branch in May 1973 when the West Coast Main Line (which it joins at Oxenholme) was re-signalled & electrified. Freight traffic to the last active depot at had previously ceased in 1972.
There are no passing loops or sidings on the route, which is operated under "One Train Working with Train Staff" regulations, with only one train allowed on the line at any time. Entry to and exit from the branch is controlled by the signalling centre at and before a service can proceed beyond the branch platform at Oxenholme, the driver must collect the train staff from a cabinet on the platform, which is electrically released by the Carlisle signaller. Once the train has made its journey to the terminus and back again, the staff must be returned to the cabinet before the train can either leave for the south or make another return trip along the single line.
Due to the lack of a run round loop at the terminus all services need to be operated by Diesel Multiple Units, or locomotive-hauled trains operating in top and tail mode. In BR days, the service was operated as a self-contained shuttle and passengers were forced to change at but since privatisation, some through trains to , and have been operated.
Train services.
Passenger services are operated by Northern using Class 185s and more recently by Class 153 and Class 156 diesel multiple units. Previously Class 175 "Coradias" operated the services provided by First North Western and TPE until 2006. Class 158s can also occasionally be seen on the route as a replacement for booked units.
Services over the line are operated by the new Northern franchise, having taken over from First TransPennine Express in April 2016, however, only one service a day continues past Oxenholme to Manchester Airport.
On 4 June 2018 Arriva Rail North announced that all trains on the line would be suspended and replaced by a bus service to allow for driver training. The service suspension was initially to be for 2 weeks until 18 June 2018 but this was later extended until 2 July 2018. However, on 17 June 2018 charter train operator West Coast Railways introduced its own services on the line, which attracted substantially more passengers than the regular Arriva Rail North services. The reason for this may be that no fares were charged to passengers. The £5,500 per day reported cost (total approx £80,000 over two weeks of operation) is said to have been paid for by the Department for Transport.
Electrification proposal.
In August 2013, the Department for Transport announced that the line was to be electrified as part of the wider scheme to wire many other routes in the North West of England such as the Manchester–Preston line. The £16 million scheme would have allowed through trains from and points south to use electric stock (such as the Class 350 "Desiro" units) rather than the current DMUs and also improve capacity on the route to allow new direct services to London Euston. Funding was approved in 2014 and electrification was planned to be undertaken in CP6, which covers 2019–2024.
However, on 20 July 2017 it was announced that electrification of the Windermere branch had been cancelled. As an alternative, Northern originally planned to utilise multiple units on the route; these are electric multiple units converted to function as bi-mode units, which would operate under electric power between Manchester and Oxenholme and then under diesel power on the Windermere branch. However, it was later announced that new Class 331 'Civity' units would be installed with batteries with trials starting from 2021. Platform 3 at Oxenholme Lake District was electrified in 2018 despite the cancelled branch line electrification.
The line in fiction.
The branch line appears in fiction in Arthur Ransome's children's novel Pigeon Post; with two of the children releasing a pigeon at "Strickland Junction" before they go up "the little branch line that led into the hills" (and to the Lake).


Wolverhampton (Stafford Road) TMD


Ashorne Hall Railway

The Ashorne Hall Railway was a ridable miniature railway in Warwickshire, England. It was conceived as an added attraction to the collection of mechanical musical instruments at the Ashorne Hall museum. It was completed in the mid-1990s and was called the Nickelodeon Line.
It was gauge and had a clever and complicated track layout giving a journey of about one mile (1.6 km) in a restricted area of . With two substantial stations, a tunnel and engine shed it was very well equipped. With the death of its creator Graham Whitehead in 2003, the railway closed. It was dismantled and sold in 2005 and the track lifted. The steam locomotive is now at the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway and the petrol locomotive and carriages at the Wilderness Railway.