Stonebridge Railway

Stonebridge Railway
Legend
Freight line to Kingsbury Junction
Birmingham to Peterborough Line to Nuneaton
Whitacre Junction
Birmingham to Peterborough Line to Birmingham
Maxstoke
Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line to Birmingham
Hampton-in-Arden
Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line to Coventry

The Stonebridge Railway was opened in 1839 in Warwickshire, England 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 1843, 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 Packington, however most of the line was used for the storage of disabled wagons until the 1950s, when the track was finally removed.

Two of the most famous men in Midland Railway history were associated with this line - Sir James Joseph Allport, and Matthew Kirtley.

External links