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Westerleigh Junction
Westerleigh Junction is a railway junction in Gloucestershire, England, where the Cross Country Route (XCR) from to Bristol Temple Meads meets the South Wales Main Line (SWML) from London Paddington to , near the village of Westerleigh. The junction is located between the stations of , and . Description The junction provides access from the SWML to the west and the XCR to the north. The lines cross Westerleigh Road in separate bridges, with a bridge over the old Bristol and Gloucester Railway, now a single line to a Murco depot, just to the west of the junction. The South Wales Main Line section of the junction was electrified with 25 kV AC overhead lines as part of the 21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main Line. History The junction originated in 1903, when the Great Western Railway opened the Badminton Line, the direct route of the South Wales Main Line. The junction connected the eastbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway (now part of the XCR), which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westerleigh Junction MMB 03
Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and north-east of the city of Bristol. In the south it includes a steep hill of its own from the crest of the Cotswold hills which is designated an AONB. Background The village is first mentioned in a Saxon document of 887AD. At that time it was probably just a clearing in the woods with possibly a wooden church. Westerleigh is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. In medieval times the village would probably have been a green with the houses and church around it, and prosperous. The northern wall and porch of St James church is from the 13th century, as is the carved stone pulpit. The church was rebuilt in the perpendicular style, with the tower (once used as the village lock up) added at a later date. The 700th anniversary was celebrated in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 with the initial route completed between London and Bristol in 1841. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of —later slightly widened to —but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways. The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round" but it was famed as the "Holiday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR 3800 Class
The Great Western Railway 3800 Class, also known as the County Class, were a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger train work introduced in 1904 in a batch of ten. Two more batches followed in 1906 and 1912 with minor differences. They were designed by George Jackson Churchward, who used standard components to produce a four-coupled version of his Saint Class 4-6-0s. Construction The first locomotive, No. 3473 ''County of Middlesex'', was built at Swindon Works in May 1904, with the following nine completed by October 1904. They were initially fitted with parallel-sided copper-capped chimneys, which were soon replaced by tapered cast iron chimneys. The second batch, of twenty, were built between October and December 1906. This batch had tapered cast iron chimneys from the start. A third and last batch of ten were built between December 1911 and February 1912. On these the footplates had curved drop ends at the cab and front bufferbeam. They were also fitted fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stonehouse (Bristol Road) Railway Station
Stonehouse (Bristol Road) railway station, also known as Stroudwater station after the nearby canal, was a station in Stonehouse, England, on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway between Haresfield and Frocester. History The station was called, first and unofficially, Eastington Road and then, officially, Bristol Road to distinguish it from a second station, Stonehouse (Burdett Road), which was on the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway, now the Golden Valley Line, between Gloucester and Swindon. Its proximity to the older Stroudwater Navigation, opened in 1779, led to this name also coming into local usage. Bristol Road station was the junction for the Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway's branch line to Nailsworth, which later had a small branch line of its own to Stroud. Unusually, the junction was to the north of Stonehouse (Bristol Road) station, and the branch line platform was a separate affair to the east of the main line station and connected by a covered path ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR Flower Class
The GWR 4100 Class was a class of steam locomotives in the Great Western Railway (GWR) of the United Kingdom. The Badminton class express passenger 4-4-0 steam locomotives were introduced in 1897 as a development from the earlier Duke class. The name Badminton was chosen after the Duke of Beaufort's Badminton estate, through which the GWR was building a new line to South Wales at the time. Further modifications to the design resulted in the Atbara Class entering service in 1900, the names for these locomotives generally being taken from contemporary military engagements or senior army commanders. Later engines were named after cities of the British Empire. The final batch of locomotives were named after varieties of garden plant and in consequence were known as the Flower Class. These three types were later standardised and treated as a single class, so are listed together here. Four other prototype 4-4-0s, originally built in 1894 as the Armstrong Class, were also later r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) 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. It was constructed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) between 1873 and 1886 for the purpose of dramatically shortening the journey times of their trains, passenger and freight alike, between South Wales and Western England. It has often been regarded as the crowning achievement of GWR's chief engineer Sir John Hawkshaw. Prior to the tunnel's construction, lengthy detours were necessary for all traffic between South Wales and Western England, which either used ship or a lengthy diversion upriver via . Recognising the value of such a tunnel, the GWR sought its development, tasking Hawkshaw with its design and later contracting the civil engineer Thomas A. Walker to undertake its construction, which commenced in March 1873. Work proceeded smoothly until October 1879, at which poi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Severn Railway Bridge
The Severn Railway Bridge (historically called the Severn 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. The bridge was constructed by Hamilston's Windsor Ironworks Company Limited of Garston, Liverpool. It was approached from the north via a masonry viaduct and had twenty-two spans. The pier columns were formed of circular secti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berkeley Road Railway Station
Berkeley Road railway station served the towns of Berkeley and Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. History The station was one of the first six stations built on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, originally a broad gauge line overseen by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but later taken over by the Midland Railway and converted to standard gauge. It was two miles east of Berkeley and three north-west of Dursley, and for the first year of its life it was called "Dursley and Berkeley Road". Dursley acquired a station of its own in 1856 with the opening of the Dursley and Midland Junction Railway branch from Coaley Junction. In 1875, a branch line from Berkeley Road station was built to the new docks at Sharpness, passing around three quarters of a mile to the north of the town of Berkeley. The branch opened for goods traffic that year and to passenger services in 1876, with a station at Berkeley. In 1879 with the completion of the Severn Railway Bridge the Sharpness branch beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharpness
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 , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream ( typical spring tide), is still large ( typical spring). There is a small community of approximately 100 residents directly adjacent to the port, in addition to the subvillage of Newtown approximately 0.5 miles to the south-east. Four miles to the south lies the small town of Berkeley. Docks Sharpness docks began as a basin giving access to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. There were no port facilities at Sharpness itself and all traffic proceeded up the canal to Gloucester. The original Old Dock opened, with the canal, in 1827. The dock was separated from the Severn by a lock gate. The level of the basin varied for the hour or two for which the gate was open and so it was isolated from the canal by a lock with two gates. This lock was improve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangotsfield Railway Station
Mangotsfield railway station was a railway station on the Midland Railway route between Bristol and Birmingham, north-east of and from , serving what is now the Bristol suburb of Mangotsfield. The station was opened in 1845 by the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, but had very little in the way of passenger amenities. The station was resited in 1869 to serve the new Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line, and became an important junction station with extensive facilities and six platforms. Passenger footfall however failed to match the station's size, though at its peak eight staff were employed. The station closed in 1966 when services to Bath ended as part of the Beeching cuts, and the line through the station closed in 1969. The railway became a cycle path in the 1980s, and is a popular resting point on the route as several of the station's walls and platforms are still in situ. History First station The first railway through Mangotsfield was the Bristol and Gloucestersh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filton Abbey Wood Railway Station
Filton Abbey Wood railway station serves the town of Filton in South Gloucestershire, England, inside the Bristol conurbation. It is from . There are four platforms but minimal facilities. The station is managed by Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railway that operates all services. The general service level is eight trains per hour - two to South Wales, two to , two toward and two toward . Filton Abbey Wood is the third station on the site. The first station, Filton, was opened in 1863 by the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway. The station had a single platform, with a second added in 1886 to cope with traffic from the Severn Tunnel. The station was closed in 1903, replaced by a new station, Filton Junction, further north, which was built at the junction with the newly constructed Badminton Line from Wootton Bassett Junction railway station, Wootton Bassett Junction. The new station had four platforms, each with waiting rooms and large canop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It amalgamated with several other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at grouping in 1922. The Midland had a large network of lines emanating from Derby, stretching to London St Pancras, Manchester, Carlisle, Birmingham, and the South West. It expanded as much through acquisitions as by building its own lines. It also operated ships from Heysham in Lancashire to Douglas and Belfast. A large amount of the Midland's infrastructure remains in use and visible, such as the Midland main line and the Settle–Carlisle line, and some of its railway hotels still bear the name '' Midland Hotel''. History Origins The Midland Railway originated from 1832 in Leicestershire / Nottinghamshire, with the purpose of serving the needs o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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