Stonebridge Railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Stonebridge Railway was opened in 1839 as part of the main Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway.

The line ran from Whitacre Junction to Hampton and had an intermediate station at Coleshill (renamed Maxstoke in 1923). From 1839 until 1840 it was a double track main line, linking in with the London and Birmingham Railway at Derby Junction, the remains of which can still be seen north of the current LNWR station in Hampton-in-Arden.

In 1841, the second running line was removed, believed to be the first singling in railway history. The line lost its final passenger service in 1917 as a wartime economy measure. The line was closed in 1935 following a bridge failure in Packwood, however most of the line was used for the storage of disabled wagons until the 1950s, when the track was finally removed.