The Shrewsbury and Wellington Joint Railway (S&WJR) was operated by the

London North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 in rail transport, 1846 and 1922 in rail transport, 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdo ...

and the

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 line ran from

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

( Abbey Foregate station, not to be confused with Abbey station, also in Shrewsbury) to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Abbey Foregate also acted as a junction, with chords to Shrewsbury station and to the direct line to Wales.

Construction

Construction, between 1846 and 1849, was a joint effort between the Shropshire Union Railways (SUR) and the

Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North W ...

(S&BR). The line was long.

Opening

The line opened on 1 June 1849, simultaneously with the SUR line from and the first section of the S&BR, which was between Wellington and (the latter was extended to

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

on 12 November that year). The three companies met at Stafford Junction, Wellington.

Ownership and leasing

Upon completion of the SUR line, that company was leased to the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

(LNWR), and so passed to the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

(LMS) on 1 January 1923; in the meantime, the S&BR was absorbed by the

(GWR) on 1 September 1854, and so from 1 January 1923 the S&WJR was joint GWR/LMS property.

Stations

Of the five stations of the joint line (

Abbey Foregate The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Shrewsbury (commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey) is an ancient foundation in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England. The Abbey was founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery by the Nor ...

Upton Magna Upton Magna is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. (''Magna'' is Latin, meaning "great". Therefore, the translation of Upton Magna is "Great Upton".) Nearby are the villages of Uffington, Rodington and Withington, as well as the wo ...

, Walcot, Admaston and

) only Wellington is still open.

References

British joint railway companies Great Western Railway constituents London and North Western Railway Railway lines opened in 1849 1849 establishments in England British companies established in 1849 {{England-rail-transport-stub