The Severn Railway Bridge was a bridge carrying the railway across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 1870s by the Severn Bridge Railway Company, primarily to carry coal from the Forest of Dean to the docks at Sharpness; it was the furthest-downstream bridge over the Severn until the opening of the Severn road bridge in 1966. When the company got into financial difficulties in 1893, it was taken over jointly by the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway companies. The bridge continued to be used for freight and passenger services until 1960, and saw temporary extra traffic on the occasions that the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering work.
Lydney railway station is a railway station serving the town of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the Gloucester-Newport line. The station is located a mile south of Lydney, and was originally called Lydney Junction, which is now the name of the nearby station on the preserved Dean Forest Railway.
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was a railway company opened in 1844 to run services between Bristol and Gloucester. It was built on the 7 ftBrunel gauge, but it was acquired in 1845 by the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge Midland Railway, which also acquired the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway at the same time.
The South Wales Railway was a main line railway which opened in stages from 1850, connecting the Great Western Railway from Gloucester to South Wales. It was constructed on the broad gauge. An original aspiration was to reach Fishguard to engender an Irish ferry transit and transatlantic trade, but the latter did not materialise for many years, and never became an important sector of the business. Neyland was the western terminus of the line until 1906.
The Severn and Wye Railway began as an early tramroad network established in the Forest of Dean to facilitate the carriage of minerals to watercourses for onward conveyance. It was based on Lydney, where a small harbour was constructed, and opened its line to Parkend in 1810. It was progressively extended northwards, and a second line, the Mineral Loop was opened to connect newly opened mineral workings.
Berkeley Road railway station served the towns of Berkeley and Dursley in Gloucestershire, England.
The Sharpness branch line is a railway in Gloucestershire, England, built by the Midland Railway (MR) to connect the port of Sharpness to the main Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The line opened for goods traffic in 1875 and to passenger traffic a year later. Passenger services were withdrawn in November 1964, but the line remains open for freight traffic to and from Sharpness Docks.
The Wye Valley Railway was a standard gauge railway that ran for nearly 15 miles (24 km) along the Lower Wye Valley between the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth, crossing several times between Wales and England. Opened on 1 November 1876, it was leased to, and worked by, the Great Western Railway (GWR), before being fully absorbed by the GWR in 1905.
The Forest of Dean Railway was a railway company operating in Gloucestershire, England. It was formed in 1826 when the moribund Bullo Pill Railway and a connected private railway failed, and they were purchased by the new company. At this stage it was a horse-drawn plateway, charging a toll for private hauliers to use it with horse traction. The traffic was chiefly minerals from the Forest of Dean, in the Whimsey and Churchway areas, near modern-day Cinderford, for onward conveyance from Bullo Pill at first, and later by the Great Western Railway.
Berkeley railway station served the town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Sharpness Branch Line, part of the Midland Railway (MR), which connected the Bristol and Gloucester Railway main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness.
Sharpness railway station served the village of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England.
The Coleford Railway was a railway company that constructed a short railway from near Monmouth to Coleford, close to the Forest of Dean. The company was sponsored by the Great Western Railway. It was built on part of the course of the Monmouth Railway, a horse-operated plateway, and it was intended that its primary business would be the conveyance of minerals and forest products from the Forest of Dean.
The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway (CMU&PR) was a standard gauge railway of 16 miles (26 km) which ran from Monmouth to Little Mill, near Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was intended to convey the mineral products of the Forest of Dean to the ironworks of South Wales, by connecting to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway at Little Mill Junction. The NAHR made the onward connection over its Taff Vale Extension line. The CMU&PR intended to acquire the Monmouth Railway, actually a horse-operated plateway, and convert it to locomotive operation.
The Ross and Monmouth Railway was a standard gauge railway of 13 miles (21 km) which ran between Ross-on-Wye, in Herefordshire, England and Monmouth, Wales.
The Forest of Dean Central Railway was a mineral railway line designed to connect certain collieries in the central part of the Forest of Dean to a new dock at Brimspill on the River Severn. It was authorised by Parliament in 1856, but serious difficulties were encountered in raising the money to build it. It opened in 1868 by which time the principal colliery intended to be served had ceased operation. It was unable to finance the construction of the dock at Brimspill and relied on transfer of traffic to the main line of the South Wales Railway.
The Severn Bridge Railway was a railway company which constructed a railway from Lydney to Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England. It was intended chiefly to give access for minerals in the Forest of Dean to Sharpness Docks, and the company built a long bridge, 1,387 yards (1,268 m) in length, over the River Severn. The line opened in 1879.
Lydbrook Junction railway station is a disused railway station in England opened by the Ross and Monmouth Railway in 1873, it remained open for 91 years until 1964 when the line finally closed to freight, though passenger services ceased in 1959. The station was constructed in the hamlet of Stowfield approximately half a mile from Lydbrook and its viaduct on the Severn and Wye Railway. It was located approximately 4 miles and 34 chains along the railway from Ross-on-Wye station. In 1874 the Severn and Wye Railway opened a branch from Serridge Junction and Cinderford, passenger services commenced in 1875. All passenger trains along the S&W branch were withdrawn from 1929.
The Monmouth Railway, also known as the Monmouth Tramroad, was a horse-drawn plateway of 3 ft 6in gauge. It ran for about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Howler's Slade, east of Coleford, in Gloucestershire and Monmouth; there were two branches from other mineral sites. It was intended to bring mineral products of the Forest of Dean to Monmouth, and to the works alongside the River Wye.
Speech House Road railway station is a disused railway station opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway in 1875, it remained open for 88 years until the line, north of Parkend, closed to freight in 1963. Passenger trains on the Severn and Wye Railway, north of Lydney, were withdrawn from 1929.
Cinderford New railway station is a disused railway station that was opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway to serve the mining town of Cinderford.
