Bristol and Gloucester Railway

The development of railways in Great Britain was gaining momentum, and it soon appeared obvious that a line between Bristol and Gloucester was appropriate. An attempt to get authorisation in the 1838 session of Parliament was unsuccessful, but on 1 July 1839 the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was authorised, to take over and extend the old Bristol and Gloucestershire coal line from Westerleigh to a junction with the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway at Standish. The length of new line was to be about 22 mi (35 km). Because continuity with the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway was foreseen, the track was to be standard gauge.[8][4] Authorised capital was £400,000.[2]

The C&GWUR was now (in November 1839) in serious financial difficulty, and it indicated to the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway that it would be unable to build the agreed part of the line at Gloucester. The Birmingham and Gloucester company decided to go ahead and build this itself, but first it approached the newly authorised Bristol and Gloucester Company, and they agreed to merge and to purchase the C&GWUR together. A Parliamentary Bill was put forward, but negotiations between the two main companies led to disagreement, and the idea was dropped.[6]

The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway went ahead alone with the construction to Gloucester, and it opened there on 4 November 1840.[6][9]

By the end of 1841 the C&GWUR had done nothing tangible to construct its own line north of Kemble, and under pressure from others who relied on it, it obtained an Act in 1842 authorising sale or lease of its undertaking to any of the neighbouring lines, and extension of time for construction and additional capital, requesting the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway to lay broad gauge rails between Gloucester and Cheltenham (at the expense of the C&GWUR), and enabling the Bristol and Gloucester Railway to make the railway between Standish and Gloucester itself, as a standard gauge line, subject to the C&GWUR buying that back later if they wished. Negotiations were quickly opened with the Great Western Railway to acquire the C&GWUR's line, and after some delay, this was agreed in January 1843. The resources of the GWR would obviously enable them to complete the construction expeditiously.[6]

The Bristol and Gloucester now saw that they were to run between the broad gauge GWR at Bristol, and the broad gauge GWR (ex-C&GWUR) at Standish and Gloucester. Isambard Kingdom Brunel had become the company's engineer (on 12 September 1839), and in April 1843, the Bristol and Gloucester decided to make its line on the broad gauge instead. A connection to the GWR station at Bristol would be made, and the GWR would complete the C&GWUR Standish to Gloucester line within a year and give the Bristol and Gloucester running powers to Cheltenham. The Bristol and Gloucester was to be given access to the GWR stations at all these places. The arrangement was to last for 20 years for a rent of £18,500, rising by £1,000 after five years.[8][2]

Barnes suggests that the decision was coerced. It is true that if the Bristol and Gloucester Railway had built its line on the narrow gauge it would have been isolated, and the GWR could by-pass it by routeing broad gauge traffic through Swindon and the C&GWUR line.[7] Nevertheless, the saving in capital on building the Bristol station and other facilities, as well as the avoidance of living in proximity to a hostile GWR, were powerful in persuading the Bristol company to select this option; and Brunel had explained that transshipment of goods at the break of gauge to the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway would be simple: "a very simple arrangement may effect the transfer of the entire load of goods from the waggon of one Company to that of the other". Passenger transfer would be even simpler: passengers would "merely step from one carriage into the other in the same station and on the same platform".[10]

MacDermot (citing "Gauge Commission evidence") states that "At this stage, the works were already partly made so that Wickwar and Fishponds Tunnels and several underbridges were in place, built for standard gauge double track," and this is repeated by Christiansen. They are saying that the works were made for a double line standard gauge track; and that the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was opened as a broad gauge line. They do not explain how two broad gauge tracks were squeezed through, and this seems to be a mistake.[note 1][2][11][12]

Lewis observes that "Some structures on the B&GR, including the Stroudwater Canal Bridge, were only 26 ft (7.9 m) (rather than the more usual 28–30 ft (8.5–9.1 m) on other broad gauge lines) due to the late decision by the B&GR to conform to the GWR broad gauge."[13]

The assertion is contradicted by the evidence of James Edward M'Connell, locomotive superintendent of the Bristol and Birmingham Railway in evidence to the Gauge Commissioners on 11 August 1845:

"Q: Is the Wickwar tunnel adapted to the broad gauge?

A: It is; it was constructed for the broad gauge.

Q: Then the broad gauge was determined on before that tunnel was constructed?

A: The bridges and tunnels were all made sufficiently large to accommodate the broad gauge, but till that meeting that I allude to [at which the Bristol and Gloucester decided on the broad gauge], it was perfectly understood that it was to be a narrow [i.e. standard] gauge [line], although the bridges and tunnels were made to suit either."[14]

On 18 June 1842 an Act was passed authorising an additional £200,000 in capital.[2]

The Avon and Gloucestershire Railway had its standard gauge fish=bellied rail track between Mangotsfield and Coalpit Heath, and this was preserved by the 1839 Act. When the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was first constructed, the broad gauge track was laid with the standard track inside it, the first example of mixed gauge track in the country, between Mangotsfield and Westerleigh, a distance of about 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4.0 km).[note 2][15][16]

The main structure other than the tunnels on the B&GR was Beard's Mill Viaduct at Stonehouse. It was a timber viaduct designed by Brunel; there were ten main spans of 50 ft (15 m), with two shorter approach spans partly buried in the embankment. It lasted well, being replaced by a brick and iron structure, opened fully on 30 July 1884.

There was a 30 ft (9.1 m) span bridge over the Stroudwater Canal just north of the Stonehouse Viaduct; it was laminated timber.

Of the 73 bridges on the line, 41 over and 32 under, there were 15 timber bridges. Ten of these were laminated timber beam bridges of 28 ft (8.5 m) span: in the case of the underbridges they had ballasted longitudinal timber track. There were two trussed overbridges, also 28 ft (8.5 m) span; and three laminated beam overbridges of three spans.[13]

The relationship with the GWR Was not entirely harmonious, and a proposed working agreement was not finalised, the B&GR believing that the price asked by the GWR was excessive.[2] The necessary arrangement was made with Stothert and Slaughter of Bristol to work the line for ten years,[8] and the Bristol and Gloucester Railway opened on 6 July 1844.[4] The opening ceremony involving a journey from Bristol to Gloucester started very late and the engine derailed approaching Gloucester. During the sumptuous banquet that followed, the Chairman of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, in a speech, remarked that, "if the right thing had been done originally, there would have been one line throughout between Birmingham and Bristol, and there would have been no differences about broad gauges and narrow gauges". The public opening of the line was on 8 July 1844.[7][2]

The trains used Temple Meads station at Bristol; a half-mile connecting line at Lawrence Hill had been constructed under powers of 27 June 1843.[2] At Gloucester the Birmingham and Gloucester had established a station when it opened on 4 November 1840; it was located in the angle of what is now Station Road and Bruton Way. The Bristol and Gloucester opened a platform on the north side of that, its route curving in from the south and south-east so that the respective routes crossed on the approach to the stations. There were six passenger trains each way daily; from the beginning double line was not available throughout, but it was provided after a short time. Coal traffic started operating on 9 September 1843.[2][9]

Now that the line was operating, the possibility of merging the Bristol and Gloucester Railway with the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway was raised again at the end of 1844, and this time found favour. The respective Chairmen ratified an agreement on 14 January 1845 and the shareholders of the two companies approved it on 28 January. The agreement would have required formalisation by Parliament, but a Bill for the purpose failed standing orders. The Great Western Railway immediately moved to propose that the broad gauge should be implemented throughout the new company, that is, into Birmingham, and this developed into a proposal to amalgamate the combined company with the Great Western Railway. The negotiation was simply a matter of cash; on 24 January 1845 a Great Western deputation offered £60 of GWR stock for £100 of Birmingham and Gloucester, at market values equating to about £123 for £109.

The matter was adjourned until a meeting planned for 27 January, but John Ellis, Deputy Chairman of the Midland Railway happened to meet the Birmingham and Gloucester directors. He was aware of the inconvenience of the break of gauge and motivated by fear of that approaching too near to his own business location in Leicester. Ellis soon offered them a perpetual lease at 6% on the £1.8 million capital of the two Gloucester companies, in addition taking on the half-million pound debts. Unable to consult colleagues in the time available, he made this offer entirely on his own responsibility. This was done without hostility to the GWR, he said later, but simply to avoid the extension of the broad gauge. His offer was ratified by the Midland directors on 8 February 1845, and from 1 July the Midland leased the two companies,[4] confirmed by Parliament on 3 August 1846 (as there was not time to prepare the amalgamation Bill for the 1845 session. The Bristol and Gloucester Railway and the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway were now part of the Midland Railway.[8][7][12][17]

The Great Western Railway secured a clause in the Act of Amalgamation requiring the Midland to maintain "two lines of railway of the same gauge as the Great Western Railway" between Bristol and Standish, with running powers over them for the GWR. In 1848 Midland obtained an Act authorising them to add narrow (standard) gauge rails between Bristol and Standish and to lay a separate narrow gauge double track from Standish into Gloucester.[8][7] This Bill, as well as those for the amalgamation, were the responsibility of the Midland's solicitor Samuel Carter.

So from February 1845 the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was effectively part of the Midland Railway. The new owner bought out Stothert and Slaughter's working contract and their rolling stock in July 1845, but continued to work the Bristol and Gloucester line on the broad gauge, using the Great Western tracks between Standish and Gloucester station, and the C&GWUR station at Gloucester, although the owning company had not yet reached there.

The Coalpit Heath branch of the old Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway was converted to broad gauge and upgraded for locomotive use; this was ready on 9 June 1847.[17]

The Bristol and Gloucester lines in 1864

At this time (February 1845), the Gloucester railways consisted of the narrow (standard) gauge former Birmingham and Gloucester line approaching from the north-east, and turning to the west from Barnwood to its terminus station; and the broad gauge former Bristol and Gloucester line approaching from the south-west, and turning to the west to the C&GWUR terminus. In addition the Gloucester and Cheltenham Railway (the horse plateway) was in operation.

The Great Western Railway opened the C&GWUR line on the broad gauge on 12 May 1845, joining the Bristol line at Standish. The fact enabled the GWR to repurchase "its" half of the Cheltenham line that was already opened according to the earlier Act.

Direct running by-passing Gloucester was desirable, but the Midland Railway had a break of gauge at Gloucester, so it was the GWR which built the third side of the triangle as a broad gauge line. This was ready in 1847 by which time mixed gauge had been installed between Gloucester and Cheltenham. Captain Simmons inspected the new arrangements in October 1847 for the Board of Trade:

Additional rails have now been laid from Cheltenham to Gloucester, uniting the gauges in one line of railway [that is, forming mixed gauge] and a connexion on the broad gauge has been made between the two lines leading into Gloucester Station, called the "Avoiding Line"... the junction of the Avoiding Line with the line from Gloucester station to Cheltenham is called the "Barnwood Junction"; and the point of meeting of the Avoiding Line with the Bristol and London line is called the "Millstream Junction"... [It is not] contemplated to unite carriages of both gauges in one train.[18]

A political cartoon emphasising the evils of the break of gauge at Gloucester

The Midland Railway was now working two separate lines of different gauges, terminating at different (although adjacent) stations in Gloucester. This was hardly a satisfactory long-term situation, and on 14 August 1848 the Midland obtained an authorising Act for the Gloucester and Stonehouse Junction Railway. This enabled it to lay standard gauge tracks alongside the GWR between Standish Junction (which was near Stonehouse) and Tramway Junction, at the east end of the Gloucester stations, and to lay narrow (standard) gauge rails on the Bristol and Gloucester line between Bristol and Standish. By the Act of 1846 they were not allowed to remove the broad gauge rails on the Bristol to Standish section. These were never used by the Great Western, and it was not until the GWR converted the gauge of its own lines in the area in 1872 that the Midland was able to discontinue their maintenance. Even then a daily broad gauge coal train of the Bristol and Exeter Railway ran to and from Parkfield colliery, and the broad gauge rails had to be maintained as far as Westerleigh, and on the branch.[8][7][4]

The work was brought into use on 22 May 1854.[4][17] Approaching Gloucester, the new line diverged from the GWR at Tuffley Junction on to the Tuffley Loop, which made a westerly sweep and joined the other lines from west to east at Gloucester, enabling a form of direct running. However it was not possible to run directly to the Midland Railway passenger or goods stations, which were situated as a terminus. Midland Railway trains could at last run through on the narrow gauge from Bristol to Birmingham, but they needed to back in to the station to make the passenger call. There were five new level crossings on the Tuffley Loop, and there were now four tracks, two narrow and two broad gauge, between Standish and Tuffley Junction. The work cost £150,042.[12]

Down coal train south of Haresfield in 1962

The GWR and the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway had jointly acquired the Gloucester and Cheltenham Railway, a horse-operated plateway; the original purpose was to get access to the docks at Gloucester. The tramway was of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge and in street running in Gloucester it made some extremely sharp turns at road junctions. Various proposals were made to convert the plateway to standard gauge in Gloucester, but these were never implemented, and the use by the others railways of the plateway's right of way was confined to sidings within the docks.

A very short stub from the Bristol and Gloucester goods station to a location alongside the plateway was made in 1840; transshipment was necessary there. It closed in 1896.

Independent railway access to the docks was made in 1848 when the High Orchard Branch was opened, from the Tuffley Loop. It closed on 1 October 1971.[9]

In 1900 the New Docks Branch was opened from Tuffley Junction, crossing the Berkeley Canal by a swing bridge to the west side, and joining with the GWR docks branch near Llanthony Bridge. There was a short stub to Hempsted Wharf (on the east side of the canal) and, from 1913, the gas works, which had previously been served exclusively by the canal. These branches all closed by 1971.[9][19]

In 1872 the GWR converted all its broad gauge and mixed gauge track in the Gloucester area to standard gauge. As part of that work it removed the Avoiding Line and the spur to the T station ("long derelict") altogether.[9][20]

The need to reverse in and out of the Gloucester station was a continuing difficulty, and on 12 April 1896 a new through station was opened, on the curve adjacent to the former station; this was a considerable step forward. It was later named Gloucester Eastgate station. The former Bristol and Gloucester and Birmingham and Gloucester stations were limited to goods operation.[4][9][21]

The Avoiding Line, now known as the Cheltenham Loop, was reinstated and opened for goods traffic on 25 November 1901; through passenger operation over it followed on 1 July 1908.[9]

The former Bristol and Gloucester Railway lines in 1903

The Midland Railway passenger trains used the GWR Temple Meads station at Bristol. This was fairly limited in size until enlargement in 1878, and of course handled the traffic of the Bristol and Exeter Railway in addition. Avonside Wharf was used for transfer to and from river barges and lighters.[4] From 1858 the Midland Railway established its own goods facilities at St Philips, and on 2 May 1870 a single platform passenger station was opened there, dealing chiefly with Bath trains. A major engine shed was opened at Barrow Road in 1873 complemented by a carriage shed in 1877.[9][17]

As a main line trunk railway, the Bristol and Gloucester line had a number of branch lines added over the years; they are described from north to south.

After World War I the Government passed the Railways Act 1921 which compulsorily restructured the main line railways of Great Britain into one or other of four new large companies, the "groups". The process was referred to as "the grouping" and is considered to be effective from 1 January 1923. The Midland Railway was a constituent of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), and the Great Western Railway, with others, was a constituent of the new enlarged Great Western Railway. Consequently, the LMS was now the controlling company for the former Bristol and Gloucester line, but the process imposed little other change on practices locally.

On 1 January 1948 the main line railways of Great Britain were taken into national ownership, under British Railways. At first the former companies were replicated, and the London Midland Region of British Railways operated the Bristol and Gloucester line, while the Western Region operated the former Great Western Railway lines in the area.

In 1949 the last of the collieries on the old Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway branch to Coalpit Heath closed down and the branch too was closed.[32]

Since the Great Western Railway had enlarged Temple Meads station at Bristol, the necessity to use St Philip's station had gone, and it was closed on 21 September 1953.[4][17]

The Avonmouth connection between Kingswood Junction and Ashley Hill Junction closed in 1965.[30]

Following the publication of the Beeching Report (the Reshaping of British Railways) widespread closures of unremunerative stations and lines took place in the latter years of the 1960s. Intermediate stations between Bristol and Gloucester were closed on 4 January 1965.[4]

On 7 March 1966 the former Midland Railway Bath branch and the Somerset and Dorset line were closed, although the Bath branch remained in use until 31 May 1971 for coal traffic to Bath Gas Works.[4][17]

The quadruple track between Standish Junction and Tuffley Junction was reduced to double track on 8 September 1968.[4][9]

The existence of two adjacent stations at Gloucester was not in keeping with expectations in the 1970s, and a rationalisation scheme was developed. This resulted in closure of Gloucester Eastgate station on 1 December 1975, as well as the entire Tuffley Loop, and the concentration of all passenger traffic on the GWR station, Gloucester Central. The Central station was itself rationalised to a single long platform. The route layout at Gloucester was therefore a simple triangle, with the south-western apex leading to Standish, the western apex towards Chepstow, and the north-eastern towards Cheltenham. All through passenger trains from Bristol to Cheltenham and beyond needed to reverse in the Gloucester station if they were making a call there.[9]

At Bristol, the section of line between Lawrence Hill Junction (just north of Temple Meads)) and Yate was closed on 29 December 1969.[4][17] Trains on the Bristol to Gloucester axis ran instead via Filton, Stoke Gifford and Westerleigh Junction, rejoining the Bristol and Gloucester line at Yate. Westerleigh sidings were retained as an engineers' depot and private siding. When Bristol Parkway station opened at Stoke Gifford on 1 May 1972[33] passenger trains on the Bristol to Gloucester route made calls there, giving the possibility of making connections with South Wales main line services.

Yate station was reopened on 11 May 1989, and Cam & Dursley station was opened on 29 May 1994.[4]

The majority of the Bristol and Gloucester Railway is in heavy use at present (2017) between Yate and Horton Road in Gloucester. The dominant traffic is long distance passenger trains, with an additional volume of local traffic and some heavy haul freight.

Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Gloucester–Newport line (SWR) to Newport Gloucester Birmingham & Gloucester Rly (MR) to Birmingham  M5  Haresfield Golden Valley line (GWR) to Swindon Stonehouse (Bristol Road) Stonehouse & Nailsworth Rly (MR) to Nailsworth/Stroud Stroudwater Navigation Frocester Cam & Dursley Coaley Junction Dursley & Midland Junction Rly (MR) to Dursley  M5  Berkeley Road Sharpness branch line (MR) to Sharpness  M5  Charfield Wickwar Wickwar tunnel Thornbury branch line (MR) to Thornbury Yate Westerleigh Junction South Wales Main Line (GWR) to London Paddington Coalpit Heath Sidings Ram Hill Colliery Westerleigh Goods Depot  M4  Bristol Parkway Mangotsfield & Bath branch line (MR) to Bath South Wales Main Line (GWR) to Swansea Mangotsfield Goods line to Avonmouth docks Staple Hill Staple Hill Tunnel Filton Abbey Wood Fishponds Avonside Locomotive Works Clifton Extension Rly (GWR & MR) to Avonmouth Kingswood Junction River Frome Atlas Locomotive Works and collieries  M32  Stapleton Road Lawrence Hill Waste Depot Goods Depots Bristol St Philip's Bristol Harbour River Avon (from Bath) (GWR) Temple Meads Goods Depot Great Western main line to London Paddington Bristol Temple Meads Bridge over Victoria Street tunnel under St Mary Redcliffe churchyard Bristol Harbour Railway St Philip's Marsh depot River Avon (to the sea) Bristol & North Somerset Rly (GWR) Bristol and Exeter Railway (GWR) to Taunton and Exeter

• Gloucester (C&GWUR station); opened 8 July 1844; transferred to former Birmingham and Gloucester station when Bristol and Gloucester Railway became mixed gauge;
• Gloucester Eastgate; opened 12 April 1896; renamed Gloucester Eastgate 1951; closed 1 December 1975;
• Tuffley Junction; convergence of Tuffley Loop and C&GWUR direct line;
• Haresfield; opened 29 May 1854; closed 4 January 1965;
• Standish Junction; divergence of Swindon line (former C&GWUR);
• Stonehouse Bristol Road; opened 8 July 1844; renamed Stonehouse Bristol Road 1951; closed 4 January 1965;
• Frocester; opened 8 July 1844; closed 11 December 1961;
• Cam and Dursley; opened 29 May 1994; still open;
• Dursley Junction; opened 17 September 1856; renamed Coaley 1888; closed 4 January 1965;
• Berkeley Road; opened 8 July 1844; closed 4 January 1965;
• Berkeley Road South Junction;
• Charfield; opened 8 July 1844; closed 4 January 1965;
• Wickwar; opened 8 July 1844; closed 4 January 1965;
• Yate; opened 8 July 1844; closed 4 January 1965; reopened 15 May 1989, still open;
• Westerleigh Yard;
• Mangotsfield North Junction; divergence to Bath Green Park;
• Mangotsfield; open by May 1845; relocated southwards 4 August 1869; convergence from Bath Green Park; closed 7 March 1966;
• Staple Hill; opened 1 November 1888; closed 7 March 1966;
• Fishponds; opened by October 1849; closed after September 1850; reopened 21 March 1866 as Stapleton; renamed Fish Ponds 1867; renamed Fishponds 1910; closed 7 March 1966;
• St Philips; opened 2 May 1870; closed 21 September 1953;
• Bristol Temple Meads; GWR station.[34][19]

The broad gauge locomotives that operated this line carried up to four different numbers during the ten years or so that they were running. The first number (in the series 1 – 11) was given by Stothert and Slaughter who were contracted to operate the railway.[35]

Although the Midland Railway (MR) purchased these eleven locomotives from the contractors in July 1845, and absorbed the Bristol & Gloucester Railway (and the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway) on 3 August 1846, the locomotives were not given MR numbers until February 1847, when they became nos. 260–270. They were twice renumbered by adding 100 to their number in June 1852 and again in September 1853.[35][36] Eight of the locomotives (B&GR nos. 1, 3 & 7 excepted) were sold by the MR to Thomas Brassey, who had secured the contract for working the North Devon Railway from 28 July 1855.[37]