Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

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Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Legend National Rail (Birmingham to Stratford Line to Birmingham (Snow Hill)) Stratford-upon-Avon Evesham Road Crossing Halt Stratford Race Course Chambers Crossing Halt Milcote Long Marston National Rail (To Long Marston MOD Depot) Broad Marston Halt Pebworth Halt National Rail (Cotswold Line, from Worcester to Oxford) Weston Sub Edge Willersey Broadway Laverton Extension under construction Stanway Viaduct Toddington Hayles Abbey Halt (Closed) Winchcombe Greet Tunnel Gretton Halt (Closed) Gotherington Bishops Cleeve (Closed) Cheltenham Race Course Hunting Butts Tunnel Cheltenham High Street Cheltenham (St James) Cheltenham (Malvern Road) National Rail (Cross Country Route, from Birmingham to Bristol)

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The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) is a volunteer-run heritage railway that has reopened the closed railway line between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse railway stations in Gloucestershire. It is currently extending to Broadway, Worcestershire.

[edit] Overview

The line was originally part of the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham–Stratford-upon-Avon–Birmingham line, built in 1900–1906, and runs through the Cotswold towns of Winchcombe and Bishop's Cleeve. The line was closed after a derailment in 1976. The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations in 1984. This culminated in the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by HRH The Princess Royal. The railway operates a wide variety of both steam and heritage diesel locomotives as well as heritage multiple units. These have included the world-famous locomotives 4472 "Flying Scotsman", and 3440 "City of Truro", which was reputedly the first engine to reach 100 mph, in 1904.

[edit] Stations

Toddington Station, August 2007

• Toddington
• Winchcombe
• Gotherington
• Cheltenham Racecourse

[edit] Locomotives

[edit] Operational steam locomotives

• GWR 0-6-2T GWR 5600 Class no. 5619, owned by Telford Steam Railway.
• GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class no. 7903 "Foremarke Hall"
• BR 2-10-0 Class 9F no. 92203 "Black Prince".
• GWR 2-6-2 4575 "Small Prarie" Class no. 5542. Normally resident on the West Somerset Railway.
• GWR 4-4-0 GWR 3700 Class 'City Class' no. 3440 'City of Truro. On loan from the National Railway Museum.
• SR 4-6-0 SR Lord Nelson Class no. 850 'Lord Nelson. On loan from the National Railway Museum.
• SR 4-6-2 SR West Country Class no. 34007 'Wadebridge'. On loan from the Mid Hants Railway.

GWR 2-8-0T 4200 Class no. 4247 at Toddington Station on 8th August 2004. This locomotive, now based at the Bodmin and Wenford Railway, was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1916.

[edit] Steam locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration

• LMS 2-8-0 Class 8F no. 8274. Undergoing restoration which could be finished by 2010.
• SR 4-6-2 "Merchant Navy" Class no. 35006 "Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co.". Boiler shortly to be removed and sent away for overhaul while the final work is done on the frames; completion expected in 2009.
• GWR 0-6-0PT 5700 Class no. 9642. Undergoing a ten-yearly overhaul.
• GWR 2-8-0T 4200 Class no. 4270. At the start of restoration from Barry Scrapyard condition.
• GWR 2-8-0 2800 Class no. 2807. Frames undercover, tender complete, final work on the frames under way, boiler to be finished and to have steam test mid 2008, planned to enter service on the railway in late 2008.
• BR 2-6-0 Class 4MT no. 76077. Awaiting major restoration.
• Industrial 0-6-0ST no. 2409 "King George". Undergoing an overhaul after failing its boiler exam, planned to steam in 2008.
• GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class no. 6960 "Raveningham Hall". Away for overhaul.
• GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class no. 6984 "Owsden Hall". Undergoing restoration.

GWR 4-4-0 "City" Class no. 3440 City of Truro approaching Cheltenham Racecourse on 13th May 2005. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1903. The locomotive achieved fame by reputedly reaching 102 mph while hauling the "Oceans Mail" special from Plymouth to London Paddington on 9th May 1904. The locomotive is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York.

[edit] Operational diesel locomotives and DMU

• BR 0-6-0 Class 03 nos. D2069 and D2184
• BR Bo-Bo Class 20 no. D8137
• BR Co-Co Class 37 nos. 37215 and 37324 "Clydebridge"
• BR Co-Co Class 47 nos. 47105 and 47376 "Freightliner 1995"
• BR Bo-Bo Class 73 no. 73129 "City of Winchester"
• LMS 0-6-0 English Electric shunter no. 7069

[edit] Diesel locomotives and DMU undergoing overhaul or restoration

• BR 0-6-0 Class 14 no. D9553
• BR Bo-Bo Class 24 no. 24081
• BR Bo-Bo Class 26 no. 26043
• BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 no. 45149
• BR Class 108 unit 51950+52062

GWR 0-6-0PT 6400 Class no. 6430 at Cheltenham Racecourse on 11th September 2004. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1937, and was withdrawn from traffic in 1964. It is normally resident on the Llangollen Railway.

[edit] Coaching stock

Operational coaches are shown in bold.

• BR Mk 1 RBR, nos. 1672 and 1675
• BR Mk 1 RMB, nos. 1808, 1811 and 1876
• BR Mk 1 RU, nos. 1965 and 1972
• BR Mk 1 FO, nos. 3045, 3091 and 3093
• BR Mk 1 SO, nos. 3727, 4787, 4790 and 4798
• BR Mk 1 TSO, nos. 3960, 4331, 4440, 4763, 4772, 4806, 4869, 5042, 5054
• BR Observation car, no. 6300
• BR Mk 1 BSOT, no. 9000
• BR Mk 1 FK, nos. 13089, 13326, 13329, 13337
• BR Mk 1 CK, nos. 15849, 15989, 16166, 16195, 16221
• BR Mk 1 BCK, no. 21275
• BR Mk 1 SK, nos. 24918, 24949, 25020, 25341, 24451, 25501, 25618, 25636 and 25743
• BR Mk 1 BSK, nos. 34548, 34676, 34929, 35308 and 35444
• BR Mk 1 S, no. 46116
• BR Mk 1 Courier van, no. 80212
• BR Mk 1 POT, nos. 80433 and 80435
• BR Mk 1 BG, nos. 80926, 81039, 92199, 92418, 92933 and 92990
• BR CCT, nos. 94486, 94557 and 94824
• BR GUV, no. 94051
• BR Bullion van, no. 99202

BR Class 03 no. D2069 at the Doncaster Works open day on 27th July 2003. This locomotive was built by British Rail at Doncaster Works in 1959. It was withdrawn from traffic in 1983, and rescued for preservation in 1990 from a scrapyard in Leicester.

[edit] Signalling

The signalling on the line is a mixture of Electric Key Token and Staff working, depending on operational requirements. Current sections are:

• Toddington–Winchcombe (EKT)
• Winchcombe–Cheltenham Racecourse (EKT)
• Toddington–Cheltenham Racecourse (with Winchcombe switched out – long section staff)

There are four signal boxes on the line:

• Toddingon – operational
• Winchcombe – operational
• Gotherington – currently being commissioned
• Cheltenham Racecourse – operational

BR Class 24 no. 24081 departing Cheltenham Racecourse on 24th August 2004. This locomotive was built by British Rail at Crewe Works in 1960. It had the distinction of being the final locomotive of its class in traffic, and was withdrawn in 1980.

[edit] Future plans

The railway currently has two major projects in progress.

• Implementation of signalling on the Winchcombe–Cheltenham section of the line, to allow operation of multiple trains. This includes construction of signal boxes at Cheltenham Racecourse and Gotherington.
• Extension of track northwards from Toddington towards Broadway, with the construction of a new station at Broadway.

In the long term, plans could include a southern extension to link up to the national rail network at Cheltenham Spa mainline station, and extensions further north towards Honeybourne and possibly eventually Stratford-upon-Avon. However, extensions to the ends of the closed sections of line at Stratford and Cheltenham are impossible at present. The trackbed to Stratford is blocked by a road, and the trackbed through Cheltenham, while mostly complete, is in need of expensive rehabilitation and reconstruction, with the primary impediment being a non-rail-usable bowstring bridge near a Waitrose built on the St. James station site.

[edit] See also

• North Gloucestershire Railway – a narrow gauge railway also at Toddington
• Stratford on Avon and Broadway Railway – a group hoping to restore the railway between Stratford upon Avon and Broadway

BR Class 47 no. 47376 "Freightliner 1995" at Toddington on 25th September 2005. This locomotive was built in 1965, by Brush Traction, Loughborough. It was the first locomotive to be painted in the corporate livery of Freightliner in 1995, and survived in traffic until 2001. It was preserved in 2002.

[edit] External links

• Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway
• North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway
• Cotswold Steam Preservation Ltd. - Owners of No. 2807
• Warwickshire Railways

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