Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway

The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway was a 7 ft 0 ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) broad gauge railway that linked the Great Western Railway at Swindon, Wiltshire, with Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Much of the route is still in regular use today (see Golden Valley Line).

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

Chronology

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• 1964 Stroud Valley local services withdrawn and all the halts and some of the intermediate stations closed.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

Stations

[v · d · e]C&GWU Line and stations, 1840 - today

Legend to Birmingham 7.03 Cheltenham St James 6.40 Cheltenham Malvern Road Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury 3.04 Churchdown 114.09/0.0 Gloucester excludes ex-MR lines Standish Junction to Bristol 104.75 Stonehouse 103.52 Ebley Crossing Halt 103.23 Cashes Green Halt 102.69 Downfield Crossing Halt 102.13 Stroud 101.37 Bowbridge Crossing Halt 100.60 Ham Mill Halt 99.74 Brimscombe Bridge Halt 99.24 Brimscombe 98.62 St Mary's Crossing Halt 98.01 Chalford 95.14 Cirencester Town 94.49 Chesterton Lane Halt Sapperton Tunnels 94.42 Park Leaze Halt 91.65 Tetbury Road to Tetbury 90.79 Kemble Kemble tunnel 88.35 Oaksey Halt 85.37 Minety and Ashton Keynes Purton to Bristol Swindon to London

Includes stations opened by the Great Western Railway (1843–1947) and BR (1948–)

• Swindon (1840, Great Western Railway)
• Purton (1841)
• Minety and Ashton Keynes (1841)
• Oaksey Halt (1929)
• Kemble (1845 for interchange only; 1882 for public access)
  • Park Leaze Halt (1960)
  • Chesterton Lane Halt (1959)
  • Cirencester (1841)
• Tetbury Road (1845)
• Chalford (1897)
• St Mary's Crossing Halt (1903)
• Brimscombe (1845)
• Brimscombe Bridge Halt (1904)
• Ham Mill Halt (1903)
• Bowbridge Crossing Halt (1905)
• Stroud (1845)
• Downfield Crossing Halt (1903)
• Cashes Green Halt (1930)
• Ebley Crossing Halt (1903)
• Stonehouse (1845)
• Gloucester (1844, Bristol & Gloucester Railway)
• Churchdown (1874, joint with Midland Railway)
• Cheltenham (Malvern Road) (1908)
• Cheltenham (St James) (1847)

Swindon and Gloucester stations were already served by other railways prior to the arrival of the C&GWU in 1841 and 1845 respectively. Between Stonehouse (Burdett Road) station and Gloucester trains on this line passed next to the station at Haresfield, but the station only served Midland Railway trains running between Bristol and Gloucester, and there were no platforms facing the C&GWUR (Great Western) tracks.

References

• Fenton, Mike (1985). "The Brimscombe Bankers". British Railway Journal (Wild Swan Publications) (GWR Special Edition): 64–83. 
• MacDermot, E T (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, volume I 1833-1863. London: Great Western Railway. 
• Mike Oakley. Gloucestershire Railway Stations (2003 ed.). Dovecote Press, Wimborne. p. pp62. ISBN 1-904349-24-2. 

This United Kingdom rail transport related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Rail transport in Gloucestershire Rail transport in Wiltshire Great Western Railway constituents 7ft gauge railways Railway companies established in 1836 Railway lines opened in 1841 Railway companies disestablished in 1843 Stroud (district) 1836 establishments in England United Kingdom rail transport stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Azubuike Oliseh Xia Xuanze Look at other dictionaries: Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway — Die Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway war eine britische Eisenbahngesellschaft in Swindon und Gloucestershire in Südwest England. Die Gesellschaft wurde am 21. Juni 1836 gegründet. Der erste Abschnitt von Swindon nach Kemble und nach… …   Deutsch Wikipedia Great Western Railway — The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company and a notable example of civil engineering, linking London with the West Country, South West England and South Wales. It was founded in 1833, kept its identity through the 1923… …   Wikipedia List of constituents of the Great Western Railway — The Great Western Railway (GWR) was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835 and Nationalised on 1 January 1948. During this time it amalgamated with, or purchased outright, many other railway companies. These are listed here in two groups. The… …   Wikipedia Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station — Cheltenham Spa St. James Location Place Cheltenham Area Cheltenham Grid reference …   Wikipedia Cheltenham Spa Malvern Road railway station — Cheltenham Spa (Malvern Road) The station in 1959 …   Wikipedia Cheltenham South and Leckhampton railway station — Cheltenham Leckhampton Location Place Leckhampton Area Cheltenham Grid reference …   Wikipedia Cheltenham Spa railway station — Cheltenham Spa Cheltenham Spa station Location …   Wikipedia Cheltenham High Street Halt railway station — Not to be confused with Cheltenham High Street railway station. Cheltenham High Street Halt Location Place Cheltenham Area Cheltenham Grid reference …   Wikipedia Cheltenham High Street railway station — Not to be confused with Cheltenham High Street Halt railway station. Cheltenham High Street Location Place Cheltenham Area Cheltenham Grid reference …   Wikipedia Chalford railway station — Chalford Location Place Chalford Area Stroud Grid reference …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”