Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
The Honeybourne Line
Toddington railway station, August 2007
Locale	Gloucestershire, Worcestershire England
Terminus	Cheltenham Racecourse and Laverton Halt
Commercial operations
Name	The Honeybourne Line
Built by	Great Western Railway
Original gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preserved operations
Operated by	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc
Stations	4
Length	12 miles (19 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Commercial history
Opened	1906
Closed	1976
Preservation history
1981	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc formed and track re-laying began
1984	First public service along relaid section of track between Toddington Station and (the site of) Hayles Abbey Halt
1987	GWR Extended to Winchcombe
1997	GWR Extended to (the site of) Gretton halt
2000	Extended to Gotherington
2003	Extended to Cheltenham Racecourse
2011	GWR extends to (the site of) Laverton halt
Headquarters	Toddington, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway
Legend
miles [1] North Warwickshire Line to Birmingham Snow Hill Leamington to Stratford Line 32.8 Wilmcote Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway 29.1 Stratford-upon-Avon Evesham Road Crossing Halt 1904 1916 Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse Chambers Crossing Halt 1904 1916 26.1 Milcote 23.5 Long Marston Network Rail to Long Marston MOD Depot Broad Marston Halt 1904 1916 Pebworth Halt NR Cotswold Line to Worcester Shrub Hill 21.1 Honeybourne NR Cotswold Line to Oxford 18.8 Weston-sub-Edge Willersey Halt 16.1 Broadwayunder construction Extension under construction Laverton Halt Stanway Viaduct 11.6 Toddington North Gloucestershire Railway Hayles Abbey Halt 9.0 Winchcombe Greet Tunnel 693 yd  634 m  7.6 Gretton Halt 5.6 Gotherington 4.1 Bishops Cleeve 2.3 Cheltenham Racecourse Hunting Butts Tunnel 97 yd  89 m  Cheltenham High Street Halt 1908 1917 Cheltenham (St. James) Cheltenham (Malvern Road) 0.0 Cheltenham Spa NR Cross Country Route

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWR, GWSR or Gloucs-Warks Steam Railway) is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border in the West Midlands, England.

The GWSR has restored and reopened 12 miles (19 km) of line, operating between Cheltenham Racecourse and the site of Laverton Halt. The company is currently raising £1.5 million to extend 3 miles (4.8 km) northwards to Broadway, and will eventually begin working on plans to extend a further 6 miles (9.7 km) to Honeybourne, (where one half of an island platform has since been left unrebuilt for their future usage).

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.^[2] 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 west of Winchcombe, through the 693 yard long Greet Tunnel, and past the villages of Gretton, Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve.^[3] This culminated in the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by Princess Anne.

The GWSR runs trains from March to the end of December,^[4] with the line closing during January and February for line and locomotive maintenance. The GWSR 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, race trains and Santa Specials.

The railway operates a wide variety of both steam and heritage diesel locomotives, as well as heritage DMUs. These have included the world-famous locomotive 4472 "Flying Scotsman" and equally famous 3440 "City of Truro", which in 1904 was the first engine to reach 100 mph. In 2015 the resident steam locomotives on the line were 7820 "Dinmore Manor", 28xx class 2807 and 42xx class 4270, supplemented by regular visiter GWR prairie 5542. To complement the running stock a collection of over 210 carriages and wagons of various origins has been compiled, many of which are still being restored.

Signalling of the Heritage GWSR

The route consists of single line sections with passing places at the major stations. All stations and loops are signalled using GWR Lower Quadrant Semaphore Signals.^[5][6]

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

There are four signal boxes on the line, and a new platform mounted one at Broadway is under construction, with the frame parts all acquired and assembled:

• Broadway – under construction
• Toddingon – operational
• Winchcombe – operational
• Gotherington – operational
• Cheltenham Racecourse – operational

Future development plans

North to Broadway

Major works are focused on raising funds to extend northwards to Broadway by 2018. After receiving planning permission for the reconstruction of Broadway station to a similar plan to the previously demolished original, construction of both platforms is nearing completion (Autumn 2013), with signal box construction largely completed by 2015, bar external fitting out. In late 2015 the steel framework for the main station building was erected. In early November 2014 80 Lengths of 60 ft flat bottomed rail were delivered to the railway to lay track as far as the next bridge recently repaired thanks to the share offer at Little Bucklands, equating to approximately 800 metres beyond the current railhead at Laverton.^[7]

South to Cheltenham

A 1910 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa

The bowstring bridge, built on the alignment of the former GWR trackbed into Cheltenham by developers in 2002 to allow continued bicycle access to Cheltenham Leisure Centre, when they constructed a supermarket on the site of the former Cheltenham Spa St. James station

Encouraged by support from Cheltenham Town Council, who have given both the railway direct funds as well as placing protected status on the former lines trackbed south from Cheltenham Racecourse to Cheltenham Spa, the railway could at some point connect to Network Rail in the south.

The Council have backed the long term scheme, as this would allow the railway to:

• Be reinstated as an access point for race goers from all across the UK to easily access meetings at Cheltenham Racecourse, and reduce resultant current traffic congestion^[8]
• A new station at Cheltenham North, to serve a nearby sports stadium
• Tourist and excursion trains to access the railway and the town
• A possible future cross-city commuter route, from the Racecourse to Cheltenham and possibly onwards to Gloucester

Although the GWSR has extended track to Hunting Butts tunnel, a few hundred metres beyond Cheltenham racecourse station, it owns the trackbed as far as the Prince of Wales stadium at Wyman's Brook. It is likely that after extending to Broadway laying track further into Cheltenham will happen to this point; a distance of about 1 mile. However, beyond here major and costly engineering works would be required to extend the trackbed further south.

The primary impediment is a bowstring bridge (located at 51°54′09″N 2°05′11″W / 51.90245°N 2.086434°W / 51.90245; -2.086434), built in 2002 to allow continued access by bicycle along the old track bed alignment to Cheltenham Leisure Centre. When planning permission was given for the redevelopment of the former Cheltenham Spa St. James station site as a Waitrose supermarket in 2002,^[9] a condition was imposed that the developer construct a new pedestrian bridge to ensure continued access to the remaining trackbed.^[10] The resulting bowstring bridge follows a section of former railway embankment, which was removed to provide road access to the new store.^[11]

Landslips

In the early 2010s the GWSR was affected by two major landslips in embankments on the line, which cut it into separate sections; however, both slips have now been repaired, and the line has been fully re-opened.

2010 (Gotherington)

In April 2010 the GWSR suffered a landslip of an embankment near Gotherington.^[12] Train services continued despite the Gotherington landslip, but over a reduced route. 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 at the time (there is now a run round loop just south of Gotherington). The railway launched a £1m appeal, both to fund the rebuilding of the embankment, and also to undertake preventative maintenance to ensure that similar problems do not happen at other points along the line. It was deemed unlikely that the line south of Gotherington would re-open before July 2011, but donations ensured that the work could be carried out promptly, and it was re-opened on 22 April 2011.

2011 (Chicken Curve)

In January 2011 the railway was damaged by another landslip just east of Winchcombe station at Chicken Curve. The landslip severed the railway in two; it was very similar to the one at Gotherington, but closer to the middle of the route. It was estimated that the cost of the repair work would be £850,000; funds for the repair were successfully raised. During the repair period a DMU service was run from Toddington up to the extension at Laverton; since the earlier Gotherington slip had been repaired, steam trains ran from Winchcombe to Cheltenham Racecourse, the steam locomotive maintenance facilities temporarily being transferred to Winchcombe. The Chicken Curve landslip was repaired over the summer of 2012, and the GWSR is once again operational as a single unified line from Cheltenham Racecourse to the site of Laverton Halt, a total of 12 route miles in length.

Steam locomotives

Operational

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery	Image
No. 2807	GWR 2-8-0 2800 Class	Fully operational, built in 1905 with boiler ticket expiry due in 2020. Historically significant as the oldest locomotive to have ever been rescued from Barry Scrapyard.	GWR Green, Great Western Lettering
No. 5542	GWR 2-6-2T 4575	Operational, boiler ticket expires in 2022. Built in 1928.	GWR Green, Shirtbutton crest
No. 4270	GWR 2-8-0T 4200 Class	Restoration from Barry Scrapyard condition completed 2014.[13] Built in 1919.	GWR Green, GWR Lettering
No. 7820 "Dinmore Manor"	GWR 4-6-0 7800 "Manor" Class	Recently returned to service following its 10-year overhaul. The loco ran with the tender of "Dukedog" Class No. 9017 Earl of Berkeley until October 2015, when it was changed for 2884 Class No. 3850's tender after the loco came out of service for overhaul. Built in 1950. Boiler ticket expires in 2023.	BR Unlined Black, Early Emblem

Away from the GWR

N/A

Undergoing restoration, repairs or overhaul

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery	Image
No. 3850	GWR 2-8-0 2884 Class	Withdrawn from traffic on 28 September and now awaiting overhaul. Recently arrived from West Somerset Railway in late September.	BR Unlined Black, Early Emblem
No. 35006 "Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co."	SR 4-6-2 "Merchant Navy" Class	Undergoing restoration, built in 1941. The locomotive has passed its in frames steam test and has made its first moves under its own steam.	BR Green
No. 7903 "Foremarke Hall"	GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class	Overhaul in progress with the majority of the loco at Tyseley Locomotive Works and tender and other smaller parts at Toddington. Built in 1949.	BR Green, Early Emblem
No. 2874	GWR 2-8-0 2800 Class	Major restoration has begun. Built in 1918. Owned by the Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd. group.	N/A

Stored or static

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery	Image
No. 76077	BR 2-6-0 Class 4MT	Awaiting major restoration. Built in 1956. Currently stored on several flat wagons in the northern head-shunt just north of Toddington station. Restoration is hoped to begin as soon.	BR Black with late crest

Diesel locomotives and DMUs

Operational

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery	Image
No. D2182	BR 0-6-0 Class 03	Operational	BR green with late crest
No. 11230	Drewry 0-6-0 Class 04	Operational	BR black with early crest
No. D8137	BR Bo-Bo Class 20	Operational	BR green with yellow warning panels
No. 24081	BR Bo-Bo Class 24	Operational	BR blue with full yellow ends
No. D5343	BR Bo-Bo Class 26	Operational	BR blue with full yellow ends
No. 37215	BR Co-Co Class 37	Operational	BR blue with full yellow ends
No. 45149	BR 1 Co-Co 1 Class 45	Operational	BR blue with full yellow ends
No. 47376 "Freightliner 1995"	BR Co-Co Class 47	Operational	Freightliner grey
No. 73129 "City of Winchester"	BR Bo-Bo Class 73	Operational	BR blue with yellow warning panels
Nos. W51405, W59510, W51363	BR Class 117	Operational	BR lined green with yellow warning panels

Non operational

Number & Name	Description	Current Status	Livery	Image
No. 37248	BR Co-Co Class 37	Undergoing overhaul	N/A
No. 47105	BR Co-Co Class 47	Undergoing overhaul	BR blue with full yellow ends
No. W55003	BR Class 122	Undergoing restoration	New livery is yet to be chosen (was BR lined green with yellow warning panels)
No. W51360	BR Class 117	Undergoing restoration	BR Blue with full yellow ends

Coaching stock

Operational coaches are shown in bold.

See also

• North Gloucestershire Railway – a narrow gauge railway also at Toddington
• Stratford on Avon and Broadway Railway – a now defunct group that had initially hoped to restore the railway between Stratford upon Avon and Broadway.

References

• Cotswold Line Promotion Group Includes proposal to link GWR 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

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

Coordinates: 51°59′21″N 1°55′41″W / 51.98910°N 1.92813°W / 51.98910; -1.92813