Sharpness branch line

Last updated

Sharpness branch line
For canal icons used below, please refer to waterways legend instead.

BSicon CONTg.svg
Dean Forest Railway
(To Parkend)
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon exSTRc2.svg
BSicon exHST3+l.svg
BSicon exSTR+r.svg
Severn Bridge
BSicon CONTgq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon ABZql.svg
BSicon eABZq1.svg
BSicon exSTRc4.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon lhSTRa@f.svg
BSicon xKRZo.svg
BSicon CONTfq.svg
Gloucester–Newport line
BSicon ukSTRc2.svg
BSicon ukSTR3+l.svg
BSicon uSTRq.svg
BSicon uSTRq.svg
BSicon uSTRq.svg
BSicon uSTRq.svg
BSicon xmhKRZ.svg
BSicon uCONTfq.svg
Severn Railway Bridge over River Severn
(Dismantled 1970)
BSicon ukSTR+1.svg
BSicon uSTR+l.svg
BSicon uSTRq.svg
BSicon lhSTRe@g.svg
BSicon xmKRZo.svg
BSicon uCONTfq.svg
Swing bridge over Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
BSicon uFABZgl+l.svg
BSicon uFGATEr.svg
BSicon uddHSTRf.svg
BSicon uLockr.svg
BSicon uFABZgr+r.svg
BSicon exENDEa.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
Sharpness Old Port
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon lKRZu+F.svg
BSicon uSKRZ-Yu.svg
BSicon exSKRZ-Yu.svg
BSicon exSKRZ-Yu.svg
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon 3STR+1.svg
BSicon 3BRIDGEq-.svg
BSicon 3STRq-.svg
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon x3ABZg+4.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Sharpness
(closed 1964)
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon KDSTe.svg
BSicon uWHRF.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
Sharpness Docks
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon uDRYr.svg
BSicon uFABZgr+r.svg
BSicon KRWgl.svg
BSicon xKRWg+r.svg
New Docks Branch
BSicon uFABZgl+l.svg
BSicon uFGATEr.svg
BSicon uddHSTRf.svg
BSicon uLockr.svg
BSicon uSTRr.svg
BSicon kSTR3.svg
BSicon STR.svg
Sharpness New Port
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon KDSTaq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon kSTRr+1.svg
BSicon STRc2.svg
BSicon kSTRc4.svg
BSicon STR3.svg
BSicon uCONTf.svg
BSicon STR+1.svg
BSicon STRc4.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Berkeley
(closed 1964)
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon CONTg.svg
Cross Country Route
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon KRW+l.svg
BSicon KRWgr.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon eXBHF-L.svg
BSicon eXBHF-R.svg
Berkeley Road
(closed 1965)
BSicon STRl.svg
BSicon xABZqr.svg
BSicon eABZg+r.svg
Berkeley Loop
BSicon CONTf.svg
Cross Country Route
(To Bristol)
The freight-only line to Sharpness Goods line to Sharpness docks - geograph.org.uk - 367058.jpg
The freight-only line to Sharpness

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. [1] Passenger services were withdrawn in November 1964, but the line remains open for freight traffic to and from Sharpness Docks.

Contents

History

The branch line opened on 1 August 1876, [2] and was four miles long and ran from Berkeley Road station, which was the junction with the main line, to Sharpness, with an intervening station to serve the town of Berkeley. [3]

The line's status as a branch was short-lived. In 1879, the Severn Bridge Railway (SBR) opened to connect Sharpness across the Severn Railway Bridge to Lydney and the Forest of Dean on the north bank of the river Severn. Passenger through-services were run between Lydney and Berkeley Road, and the through-line's freight capacity contributed to the further development of Sharpness docks. Sharpness station was re-sited as a through station.

Upon the opening of the SBR on 17 October 1879, it amalgamated with the Severn and Wye Railway to form the Severn and Wye and Severn Bridge Railway. [4] This railway got into financial difficulties in 1883, and on 1 July 1894 was sold to the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the MR, becoming a joint line. The Sharpness branch (totalling 4 miles 54 chains (7.5 km)) was transferred from the MR to the joint committee on the same day. [2]

On 9 March 1908, together with the opening of new connections between the MR and GWR to the south of Yate, a second junction of the Sharpness branch with the main line was provided south of Berkeley Road to enable freight trains from Sharpness Docks to go south towards Bristol; this line, 1 mile 22 chains (2.1 km) in length and known as the Berkeley loop, was always GWR property. [5]

This state of affairs lasted until October 1960, when an accident involving petroleum barges on the river Severn brought down part of the railway bridge. The bridge was judged to be beyond economic repair, and the Sharpness branch line resumed its earlier status as a branch. Passenger services lasted for only four more years, though, being withdrawn in November 1964, and the stations at Sharpness and Berkeley were closed. The line remains open for freight traffic to and from Sharpness Docks, though these services are not frequent.

Re-opening proposal

First attempt

Sharpness Berkeley Railway Ltd (Company No. 07166656) [6] intended to re-open the line as a heritage railway,[ citation needed ] using the trading names "Berkeley Vale Railway" and "The Beaver Line". [7] Freight trains serving the Berkeley and Oldbury nuclear power stations would continue to be operated by Direct Rail Services.[ citation needed ] Rolling stock from the Stratford on Avon and Broadway Railway was expected to be used but this plan had been dropped.[ citation needed ] In March 2011, site clearance at Sharpness was carried out by members of the Proactive Vision community group, which had obtained a lease of part of the line from Network Rail. [8] Tracklaying began in January 2012. [9] Sharpness Berkeley Railway Ltd, Company No. 07166656, was dissolved on 12 June 2012. [10]

Second attempt

On 24 August 2015, a new group, now known as the Vale of Berkeley Railway Trust, announced its intention to restore the branch as a heritage railway, along with the announcement that it had secured a lease on the former diesel shed at Sharpness Docks with the nearby Canal & River Trust. [11] It has restored the shed to carry out restorations of its rolling stock and now has a fully functional machine shop, where it undertakes work for the railway project as well as external contract work for companies such as Bombardier. It has a number of active restoration projects, for which new volunteers are always welcome. The VoBR now has 3 active work sites: at Sharpness Docks where the main engineering base is located, the derelict sidings known as Oldminster Sidings where a lease has been granted by Network Rail to build a storage and maintenance depot for the railway. The site has been cleared ready for track relaying and work on developing the site and building a shed and other facilities is expected to start in early 2021. At Berkeley station, some of the station site has been cleared, the foundations of the old station building have been uncovered and a regular team of volunteers meet there to work each Wednesday./ [12]

October 2019 announcement

On 22 October 2019, Stroud District Council announced a draft plan to build a railway station in Sharpness, to support housebuilding plans. [13] A bid to reopen the Sharpness branch line as a tourist heritage line (VoBR), and later upgrading the line to public passenger services to serve the locality, was submitted in the third round of the Government's 'Restoring Your Railway' Ideas Fund in 2021 but was not one of the successful bids. [14] [15]

Rolling stock

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives

Notes

  1. Oakley 2003 , p. 121
  2. 1 2 MacDermot 1931 , pp. 406, 633
  3. Bradshaw 1910 , p. 606
  4. MacDermot 1931 , pp. 404, 632
  5. MacDermot 1931 , pp. 442–443, 612
  6. "WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information". wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  7. "Bid to reopen Sharpness railway line". This is Gloucestershire. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. Marshall, Clare (8 March 2011). "Sharpness railway project chugging along". Gazette Series. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  9. "Work begins on railway line between Sharpness and Oldbury". BBC News Online. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. "WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information". wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  11. "Sharpness Engine Shed Opens". valeofberkeleyrailway.co.uk. Vale of Berkeley Railway. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  12. "Current Progress » Vale of Berkeley Railway".
  13. "Stroud plans garden villages and new railway station". BBC News. 22 October 2019.
  14. "Restoring Your Railway Fund: bids received". GOV.UK. Department for Transport. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  15. "Restoring Your Railway Fund: successful bids". GOV.UK. Department for Transport. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  16. "Engine Shed". valeofberkeleyrailway.co.uk. Vale of Berkeley Railway. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  17. "44901 Kingmoor Black 5". valeofberkeleyrailway.co.uk. Vale of Berkeley Railway. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  18. "Austerity No 15 Arrives". Vale of Berkeley Railway. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  19. "03 Shunter Arrives for Finishing". Vale of Berkeley Railway. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  20. "New Year's Latest Arrival". Vale of Berkeley Railway. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  21. "British Gypsum No 2". Vale of Berkeley Railway. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Temple Meads railway station</span> Major railway station for the city of Bristol, England

Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located 118 miles 31 chains away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city and surrounding districts, with a ferry to the city centre. Bristol's other major station, Bristol Parkway, is a more recent station on the northern outskirts of the conurbation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn Valley Railway</span> Heritage railway in England

The Severn Valley Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England, named after the company that originally built the railway over which it now operates. The 16-mile (26 km) heritage line runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn along the Severn Valley for much of its route, and crossing the river on the historic Victoria Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharpness</span> Human settlement in England

Sharpness is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at grid reference SO669027, at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream, is still large.

The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limited passenger service was operated in addition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Harbour Railway</span>

The Bristol Harbour Railway was a standard-gauge industrial railway that served the wharves and docks of Bristol, England. The line, which had a network of approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) of track, connected the Floating Harbour to the GWR mainline at Bristol Temple Meads. Freight could be transported directly by waggons to Paddington Station in London. The railway officially closed in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwili Railway</span>

The Gwili Railway is a Welsh heritage railway, that operates a preserved standard gauge railway line from the site of Abergwili Junction in southwest Wales along a four-and-a-half-mile (7.2 km) section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line. The original railway closed in 1965, with the track being lifted in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydney railway station</span> Railway station in Gloucestershire, England

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+12 instandard gauge Midland Railway, which also acquired the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydney Junction railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Lydney Junction railway station is a railway station near Lydney in Gloucestershire. The station is now the southern terminus of the Dean Forest Railway. It is located to the south of Lydney, near the A48 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portishead Railway</span>

The Portishead Railway is a branch line railway running from Portishead in North Somerset to the main line immediately west of Bristol, England. It was constructed by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway Company, but it was always operated by its main line neighbour, and was more usually thought of as the Portishead branch or the Portishead railway.

The Pontypool, Caerleon & Newport Railway was promoted independently to relieve congestion on the heavily worked Eastern Valley Line of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. The Great Western Railway put up half the capital, making it in effect a GWR subsidiary. It opened in 1874, and most long-distance passenger and goods traffic, especially the heavy mineral traffic, transferred to it. It amalgamated with the GWR in 1876.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn and Wye Railway</span> Former railway in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Challow railway station</span> Disused railway station in England

Challow railway station is a former railway station about 2 miles (3 km) south of Stanford in the Vale on the A417 road between Wantage and Faringdon. It is named after the villages of West Challow and East Challow, which are 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and 2.5 miles (4 km) southeast of the former station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley Road railway station</span> Disused railway station in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England

Berkeley Road railway station served the towns of Berkeley and Dursley in Gloucestershire, England.

The Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway was a single track railway branch line, 22 miles (35 km) long, in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. It was opened in succession by two companies, the first in 1861 to connect the important woollen town of Witney to the main line network, and the second in 1873 as the rump of an ambitious scheme to connect to Cheltenham, but which ran only between Witney and Fairford. The junction with the main line was at Yarnton, north of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley railway station</span> Disused railway station in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England

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 and docks of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England from 1875 to 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn Bridge Railway</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brentford branch line</span>

The Brentford branch line, also known as the Brentford Dock Line, is a freight-only branch railway line in west London, England. The route, which opened in 1859, was backed by the Great Western Railway and built by the Great Western & Brentford Railway Company. It ran 4 mi (6.4 km) from Southall to Brentford Dock. In 1964, the line to the wharves was closed. The branch now runs from the Great Western Main Line to a goods yard and waste transfer station in Brentford.

References