Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
Encyclopedia
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English
railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire
.
Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway
(GWR) and London and North Western Railway
(LNWR) companies, became a joint railway
from 1862.
Today, the line forms the northern section of Network Rail
's Welsh Marches Line
, served mainly by Arriva Trains Wales
.
for the construction of the independent Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway Company. Running a length of 50.5 miles (81.3 km), the only stipulation was that it was built to standard gauge
.
The company initially appointed the Liberal
Member of Parliament
for Shrewsbury
, Henry Robertson
as engineer. Due to financial problems work on the line didn't begin until 1850 when Thomas Brassey
was appointed. A well known railway engineer and investor, Brassey agreed to work for no fee, and took a 3.5% share holding in the company. In 1854 the cost was transferred to an 8 year lease, which proved to be very profitable for Brassey.
The first section of the line from Shrewsbury
to Ludlow
opened on the 21st April, 1852, as the line south of this point required the construction of the short Ludlow tunnel.
was not big enough to cope with all four railway companies planning on entering the important market town. Secondly, the entrance route into Hereford from the north required extensive civil engineering.
The resolution was agreement to create a new joint railway station, called Hereford Barrs Court
. This would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge
station, sponsored jointly by the standard gauge S&HR, and the GWR sponsored Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
. When the Midland Railway
sponsored Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
entered the town, they were given access rights.
In civil engineering preparation for this, and as the only company planning to enter the town from the north, in 1849 the company built a brick works north of Dinmore Hill, which was feed by clay
from the earthworks of digging a tunnel south underneath it. In 1852, 2½ years later and having used 3¼ million bricks the tunnel was completed, freight traffic started in July 1852 to provide cash flow. However, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852.
The plan was to jointly open Barrs Court station between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived on Saturday 28 October, which carried the chairman Mr Ormsby-Gore and engineer Brassey. As the negotiations and financing of the joint station had taken so long, they arrived at an incomplete facility. The final Victorian Gothic building was designed by R.E. Johnson, which opened after the Railway Fete, reported to be attended by 60,000 people.
When the GWR extended the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
into Hereford with a junction north of Dinmore Hill, pressure increased from the town council on the LNWR to close Hereford Barton station. This it eventually did, and although the site remained open as a goods depot until the Beeching Axe
, it has since been redeveloped as a supermarket.
In 1887 the traffic levels on the line were increased by the opening of the Severn Tunnel
, with Hereford becoming the first stop after Bristol on the on the west-north expresses. In May 1892, the conversion of the broad gauge lines to standard gauge to the west of Exeter
meant even longer distance through services calling at Barrs Court.
In 1922 the S&HR became a joint GWR/LMS joint railway. After World War II
and nationalisation under British Railways, it came under the Western Region
. The 1960s Beeching Axe cut many of the previously feeding former GWR and LNWR branch lines, and at one point threatened services through Hereford and hence the entire line. But after the cull of Hereford Barton, the line was saved.
s Welsh Marches Line
, served mainly by Arriva Trains Wales
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
.
Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
(GWR) and London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
(LNWR) companies, became a joint railway
Joint railway
A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway.-United Kingdom:There are many examples of joint railway working in the United Kingdom...
from 1862.
Today, the line forms the northern section of Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
's Welsh Marches Line
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
, served mainly by Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
.
Construction
In 1846, the British Government approved an Act of ParliamentAct of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
for the construction of the independent Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway Company. Running a length of 50.5 miles (81.3 km), the only stipulation was that it was built to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
.
The company initially appointed the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Shrewsbury was a parliamentary constituency in England, centred on the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.It was founded in 1290 as parliamentary borough, returning two members to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the...
, Henry Robertson
Henry Robertson
Henry Robertson was a Scottish industrialist and Liberal Party politician.-Career:Robertson came to Wales to pursue his industrial interests...
as engineer. Due to financial problems work on the line didn't begin until 1850 when Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
was appointed. A well known railway engineer and investor, Brassey agreed to work for no fee, and took a 3.5% share holding in the company. In 1854 the cost was transferred to an 8 year lease, which proved to be very profitable for Brassey.
The first section of the line from Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury railway station
Shrewsbury railway station is the railway station serving Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire, England. It is the only remaining railway station in the town; Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town, having long closed. The station was built in 1848 and has been extended...
to Ludlow
Ludlow railway station
Ludlow railway station serves the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England, on the Welsh Marches Line from Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central. Trains are operated by Arriva Trains Wales....
opened on the 21st April, 1852, as the line south of this point required the construction of the short Ludlow tunnel.
Ludlow to Hereford
The second section through to Hereford posed problems. Firstly, the existing Hereford Barton station of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford RailwayNewport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway
The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway line connecting the Welsh port city of Newport via Abergavenny, to the major English market town of Hereford.Sponsored by the LNWR, it opened on 6 December 1853...
was not big enough to cope with all four railway companies planning on entering the important market town. Secondly, the entrance route into Hereford from the north required extensive civil engineering.
The resolution was agreement to create a new joint railway station, called Hereford Barrs Court
Hereford railway station
Hereford railway station serves the city of Hereford, England. Managed by Arriva Trains Wales, it lies on the Welsh Marches Line between Leominster and Abergavenny and is the western terminus of the Cotswold Line.The station has four platforms...
. This would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
station, sponsored jointly by the standard gauge S&HR, and the GWR sponsored Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway , was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1862. In 1869 the railway was converted to standard gauge...
. When the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
sponsored Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
The Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway was an early railway linking Hereford in England with Brecon in Wales.-Incorporation and early history:...
entered the town, they were given access rights.
In civil engineering preparation for this, and as the only company planning to enter the town from the north, in 1849 the company built a brick works north of Dinmore Hill, which was feed by clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
from the earthworks of digging a tunnel south underneath it. In 1852, 2½ years later and having used 3¼ million bricks the tunnel was completed, freight traffic started in July 1852 to provide cash flow. However, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852.
The plan was to jointly open Barrs Court station between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived on Saturday 28 October, which carried the chairman Mr Ormsby-Gore and engineer Brassey. As the negotiations and financing of the joint station had taken so long, they arrived at an incomplete facility. The final Victorian Gothic building was designed by R.E. Johnson, which opened after the Railway Fete, reported to be attended by 60,000 people.
Doubling the line
To save construction costs the line was at first built as a single track line, but was constructed with a double track future in mind (the bridges, embankments, etc being built wide enough for instance). The doubling took place in 1862, with the exception of Dinmore tunnel, which had its second line added 1891-3.Operations
In 1862 the S&HR was jointly leased by the LNWR, the GWR and the West Midland Railway (WMR). By 1871 the WMR had amalgamated with the GWR, so the LNWR and the GWR jointly acquired the S&HR.When the GWR extended the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...
into Hereford with a junction north of Dinmore Hill, pressure increased from the town council on the LNWR to close Hereford Barton station. This it eventually did, and although the site remained open as a goods depot until the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, it has since been redeveloped as a supermarket.
In 1887 the traffic levels on the line were increased by the opening of the Severn Tunnel
Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....
, with Hereford becoming the first stop after Bristol on the on the west-north expresses. In May 1892, the conversion of the broad gauge lines to standard gauge to the west of Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
meant even longer distance through services calling at Barrs Court.
In 1922 the S&HR became a joint GWR/LMS joint railway. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and nationalisation under British Railways, it came under the Western Region
Western Region
The Western Region or West Region may refer to:*Western Region, Bahrain*Western Region, Eastern Cape, South Africa*Western Region, Ghana*Western Region, Nepal*Western Region, Serbia*Western Region, Uganda*Western Region, Nigeria...
. The 1960s Beeching Axe cut many of the previously feeding former GWR and LNWR branch lines, and at one point threatened services through Hereford and hence the entire line. But after the cull of Hereford Barton, the line was saved.
Today
Today the line is still majorly in place as the northern section of Network RailNetwork Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
s Welsh Marches Line
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
, served mainly by Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
.