Minsterley branch line

The Minsterley branch was a short railway line that ran from Cruckmeole Junction on the Cambrian Line just south of Shrewsbury to Minsterley in Shropshire. The six-and-a-half mile standard gauge line was the only section built of a plan to connect Shrewsbury with mid Wales. It was part of a joint venture between the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies.

Minsterley branch line
A rail tour at Minsterley station 11 September 1965
Overview
OwnerGreat Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
LocaleShropshire
TerminiCruckmeole Junction
52°40′40″N 2°50′28″W
Minsterley railway station
52°38′27″N 2°55′27″W
Stations3
History
Opened1861
Closed1967
Technical
Line length6.5 mi (10.5 km)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Minsterley
Branch Line
1861-1967
Hanwood
Cruckmeole Junction
Plealey Road
Pontesbury
Minsterley
unbuilt section
Chirbury
Proposed line
to Lydham Heath
England
Wales
Montgomery
The remains of the bridge abutments which carried the Minsterley line from Cruckmeole Junction on the Cambrian Line

History

Plans

The route, which was conceived in the late 1850s, was planned to connect Shrewsbury via Hanwood on the Cambrian Line, with Pontesbury, Minsterley, Montgomery and Newtown. Services would also be able to continue to the Welsh coast. At Pontesbury station, transfer sidings connected the narrow gauge Snailbeach District Railway, which ran to lead mines at Snailbeach.

Opening

On 14 February 1861, the first section of line was opened from Cruckmeole Junction, on the Cambrian Line, to Minsterley. However, with the northerly section of the Cambrian main line into Wales opening the following year in 1862 (connecting Newtown via Welshpool to Shrewsbury), it became apparent there was little need to continue beyond Minsterley to Newtown. The station became the terminus of the cancelled project.

Decline and closure

By the start of World War II, regular traffic on the line had almost ended. Passenger services ceased to Minsterley in 1951, although Hanwood station on the Cambrian Line remained open to passengers until 1960 and to goods until 1964. The rest of the branch line to Minsterley continued to carry goods (mainly for the Minsterley Creamery) until 1967 when the line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts. The track was lifted after closure.

Minsterley site today

The former terminus at Minsterley is now a large meat factory (a large dairy-related factory also exists on either side of the old trackbed just before the terminus) and the stationmaster's house has been converted to a private residence.

References

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