Forest of Dean Central Railway
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Legend
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The Forest of Dean Central Railway (also known as the Middle Forest Railway) was a short line in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It was built to serve the collieries in the heart of the forest. From its opening in 1868, the line was operated by the Great Western Railway and run by the Central Company until 1923. The GWR took over the line in 1923 and ran it until its closure in 1949. It ran from Awre Junction to Blakeney along the valley of Blackpool Brook. It served several mines and quarries as well as the corn mills in the nearby village of Blakeney.[1]
History
Opening
Plans for a railway in the heart of the forest were first drawn up in 1826, however nothing was completed until the Forest of Dean Central Line opened in 1868. A branch line to the New Fancy Colliery was opened in 1869.[2] The original plan was to open the line to a new dock at Brimspill on the River Severn; the railway never reached its target and stopped at its junction on the Gloucester to Newport Line. It was built mainly to serve Howbeach Colliery; a goods station was situated at Blakeney as well as a six arched viaduct to carry the railway over the A48 road.[3] The original objective was a colliery at Foxes Bridge - the formation there was fenced and a bridge built for the S&W's Mineral Loop - but no track was laid north of the link to New Fancy.
Decline and closure
The opening of the Severn and Wye Railway in the 1870s was a major blow for the line and the railway lost most of its traffic to the new company. In 1875 the section to the central mines and the New Fancy Colliery was abandoned and most of the traffic north of Blakeney stopped in 1921. The GWR continued to run some trains on the north stretch until all services north of Blakeney ceased in 1932.[2]
