Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (G-WR, GWHR, GWSR or Gloucs-Warks Steam Railway) is a volunteer-run heritage railway on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire Border that has reopened the closed railway line between Laverton Halt and Cheltenham Racecourse railway stations in Gloucestershire/Worcestershire.

As of January 2012^[update], it currently operates over 12 miles between Cheltenham Racecourse and the site of Laverton Halt and is currently extending to Broadway, Worcestershire. With the extension (currently under construction) towards Broadway, the line will be increased to around 15 miles in length, by 2015.

As part of the regeneration project of the Worcester-Oxford line, which crosses over a proposed extension of the G-WR and included the rebuilding of the island platform at Honeybourne, the G-WR also plan to eventually extend their services "a further 4 miles" to Honeybourne (increasing up to a total of 19 miles in length possibly by the year 2020).

In the long term the G-WR could (once work has completed on extending to Broadway and then to a newly-reconstructed island platform 3 at Honeybourne) extend further:

• South to (a new heritage platform or two) at Cheltenham Spa (where the G-WR could interchange with rail services on the nearby national network's Cross-Country Mainline).
• North to Stratford Racecourse in Stratford on Avon via Milcote (in Warwickshire) and thus become the fourth longest heritage railway in England, crossing the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire/Warwickshire borders.

Overview

The line was originally part of the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham–Stratford-upon-Avon–Birmingham line, known as the Honeybourne Line, built in 1900–1906, and runs through the Cotswold towns of Winchcombe and Bishop's Cleeve.^[1] The line was run down over the years and finally closed after a derailment damaged a stretch of track in 1976, with the double track being lifted from 1979. The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations at Toddington in 1984 over 700 yards of re-laid track. In 1987 the line was restored as far as Winchcombe where the station was reconstructed using the former Monmouth Troy station building. The railway continued to re-lay track south of Winchcombe, through the 693 yard long Greet Tunnel, and past the villages of Gretton, Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve.^[2] This culminated in the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by HRH The Princess Royal. The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (known as the 'G-WR') runs trains from March to the end of December^[3] with the line closing during January and February for major line and locomotive maintenance. The G-WR runs regular train services every weekend and most weekdays during the summer, and some weekends are used to host special events including steam and diesel galas, Day out with Thomas events and Santa Specials. 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 locomotive 4472 "Flying Scotsman" and equally famous 3440 "City of Truro", which was reputedly the first engine to reach 100 mph, in 1904. In 2011 the resident steam locomotives are ex-GWR 'Modified Hall' Class no.7903 'Foremarke Hall', ex-GWR '28XX' Class no.2807 and an LMS-designed '8F' Class that has been repatriated after a lifetime working in Turkey. To complement the running stock a collection of over 210 carriages and wagons of various origins has been compiled and many are still being restored.

Signalling

The line is all single line sections with passing places at all the stations. All stations and looped are fully signaled using GWR Lower Quadrant Semaphore Signals. ^[4]

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

• Laverton-Toddington (One Train Staff)
• Toddington–Winchcombe (EKT)
• Winchcombe-Gotherington
• Gotherington-Cheltenham Race Course (EKT)
• Winchcombe–Cheltenham Race Course (EKT) (With Gotherington Switched Out)
• Toddington–Cheltenham Race Course (One Train Staff - with Winchcombe & Gotherington switched out and Cheltenham Race Course behaving as a ground frame)

There are currently four signal boxes on the line, and one more are planned:

• Broadway - Planned
• Toddingon – operational
• Winchcombe – operational
• Gotherington – operational
• Cheltenham Racecourse – operational

Future plans

As of January 2012^[update], the railway currently has two major development projects in progress.

• Completion of Gotherington loop to allow operation of multiple trains. This is imminent (Jan 2012) and will permit 2 train running.
• Extension of track northwards from Toddington towards Broadway, with the construction of a new station at Broadway. The railway has so far completed trackwork for the first 2 miles of the new extension to Laverton Halt as part of the extension towards Broadway by 2015. In 2011, it ran a DMU service from just short of Laverton to Hailes, while the railway was still cut in two by the land slip at Chicken Curve). Work on Laverton loop is well advanced, as is construction of the first platform at Broadway station.

The water tank at Toddington, replacing the original that stood on the same spot, has been installed and awaits final plumbing before it can be brought into use. Water cranes have been in stalled at the end of both platforms.

In the long term, plans could include a southern extension to link up to the national rail network at the nearby mainline station in Cheltenham Spa, and extensions further north towards Honeybourne and possibly and eventually Stratford Racecourse in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. The extension as far as Honeybourne has been facilitated by the upgrade of the Cotswold Line to double track. A new third platform at Honeybourne station has been provided which will allow services from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway to re-connect with National Rail services.^[5]

However, extensions to the ends of the closed sections of line at Stratford and Cheltenham are currently impossible at present. The trackbed to Stratford is blocked by a road, and the trackbed through Cheltenham, while mostly complete and intact, is in need of expensive rehabilitation and reconstruction, with the primary impediment being a non-rail-usable bowstring bridge near the Waitrose store built on the site of the old St. James station.

At present the extension to Broadway has reached Laverton Halt where a bridge has been reinstated.^[6] In addition to this the former GWR station at Broadway is currently being rebuilt as of August 2011, the section of line is towards the (broadway station site) is likely to re-open sometime around 2012 with the station itself whom sounds likely to reopen about spring/summer 2015.

Landslips

In the early 2010s the G-WR has lately suffered a tail of two landslips which cut of the line in separate sections (however the Gotherington slip has recently been repaired and re-opened).

2010 (Gotherington)

In April 2010 the G-WR suffered a landslip of an embankment near Gotherington.^[7] The landslip forced the closure of the line south of Gotherington including Cheltenham Racecourse Station which was effectively cut off. The railway continued to operate services from Toddington to Gotherington, with a locomotive at both ends of the train ("top and tailed") as it was not possible to run the locomotive around the train at Gotherington. It was deemed unlikely that the line south of Gotherington would re-open before July 2011, but donations have ensured the work could be carried out, and it was reopened on the 22nd April 2011. The railway launched a £1m appeal to fund the rebuilding of the embankment and to ensure this does not happen at other points along the line.

2011 (Chicken Curve)

In January 2011, the railway suffered another slip, this one just east of Winchcombe station. The slip effectively severed the railway in two, and no services could be run. The slip was very similar to the one at Gotherington, and it is estimated that the cost of the repair work is £850,000. To raise the money, a DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) service has been run from Toddington up to the extension at Laverton, and since the Gotherington slip has been reopened, steam trains are running from Winchcombe to Cheltenham Racecourse (though the chicken curve slip has yet to be repaired).

Steam locomotives

Operational

Undergoing restoration, repairs or overhaul

Stored or static

Operational diesel locomotives and DMUS

• BR 0-6-0 Class 03 nos. D2069 and D2184
• BR Bo-Bo Class 20 no. D8137
• BR Bo-Bo Class 24 no. 24081
• 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"
• British Rail Class 117 DMU DMS 51407 & DMBS 51365 – T304 – Currently on loan from the Plym Valley Railway
• BR Class 122 Unit W55003 - Purchased from the Watercress Line in 2011.

Diesel locomotives and DMU undergoing overhaul or restoration

• BR 0-6-0 Class 14 no. D9553
• BR Bo-Bo Class 26 no. 26043
• BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 no. 45149
• BR Class 108 unit 51950+52062
• LMS 0-6-0 English Electric shunter no. 7069

Coaching stock

Operational coaches are shown in bold.

• BR Mk 1 RBR, nos. 1672 and 1675
• BR Mk 1 RMB, nos. 1808 and 1876
• BR Mk 1 RU, nos. 1965 and 1972
• BR Mk 1 FO, nos. 3045 and 3091
• BR Mk 1 SO, nos. 3727, 4787, 4790, 4798 and 4806
• BR Mk 1 TSO, nos. 3960, 4331, 4440, 4763, 4772, 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, 16195, 16221
• BR Mk 1 BCK, no. 21275
• BR Mk 1 SK, nos. 24918, 24949, 25020, 25341, 25451, 25501, 25618 and 25743
• BR Mk 1 BSK, nos. 34500, 34676, 34929, 35000, 35201 and 35308
• 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

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

References

• Cotswold Line Promotion Group Includes proposal to link G-WR to main line at Honeybourne
• About Britain Entry
• Cheltenham local attractions
• Reference in directory of Heritage Railways in the UK
• New bridge on the Honeybourne Line.

External links

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