Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) is a volunteer-run heritage railway that has reopened the closed railway line between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse railway stations in Gloucestershire. It is currently extending to Broadway, Worcestershire. In the long term future the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway could extend even further, to Cheltenham Spa railway station and even Stratford on Avon and become the longest heritage railway in England.

Overview

The line was originally part of the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham–Stratford-upon-Avon–Birmingham line, built in 1900–1906, and runs through the Cotswold towns of Winchcombe and Bishop's Cleeve. The line was closed after a derailment in 1976. The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations in 1984. This culminated in the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by HRH The Princess Royal. The railway operates a wide variety of both steam and heritage diesel locomotives as well as heritage multiple units. These have included the world-famous locomotives 4472 "Flying Scotsman", and 3440 "City of Truro", which was reputedly the first engine to reach 100 mph, in 1904. The railway is also home to David Shepherd's 9F locomotive 'Black Prince'

Locomotives

Operational steam locomotives

* GWR 0-6-2T GWR 5600 Class no. 5619, owned by Telford Steam Railway.
* GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class no. 7903 "Foremarke Hall"
* BR 2-10-0 Class 9F no. 92203 "Black Prince".
* GWR 2-6-2 45XX prairie 5542. Normally resident on the West Somerset Railway.
* GWR 4-4-0 GWR 3700 Class 'City Class' no. 3440 'City of Truro. On loan from the National Railway Museum.

team locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration

* LMS 2-8-0 Class 8F no. 8274. Undergoing restoration which could be finished by 2010.
* SR 4-6-2 "Merchant Navy" Class no. 35006 "Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co.". Boiler shortly to be removed and sent away for overhaul while the final work is done on the frames; completion expected in 2009.
* GWR 0-6-0PT 5700 Class no. 9642. Undergoing a ten-yearly overhaul.
* GWR 2-8-0T 4200 Class no. 4270. At the start of restoration from Barry Scrapyard condition.
* GWR 2-8-0 2800 Class no. 2807. Frames undercover, tender complete, final work on the frames under way, boiler to be finished and to have steam test mid 2008, planned to enter service on the railway in late 2008.
* BR 2-6-0 Class 4MT no. 76077. Awaiting major restoration.
* Industrial 0-6-0ST no. 2409 "King George". Undergoing an overhaul after failing its boiler exam, planned to steam in 2008.
* GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class no. 6960 "Raveningham Hall". Away for overhaul.
* GWR 4-6-0 6959 "Modified Hall" Class no. 6984 "Owsden Hall". Undergoing restoration.

Operational diesel locomotives and DMU

* BR 0-6-0 Class 03 nos. D2069 and D2184
* BR Bo-Bo Class 20 no. D8137
* BR Co-Co Class 37 nos. 37215 and 37324 "Clydebridge"
* BR Co-Co Class 47 nos. 47105 and 47376 "Freightliner 1995"
* BR Bo-Bo Class 73 no. 73129 "City of Winchester"
* LMS 0-6-0 English Electric shunter no. 7069

Diesel locomotives and DMU undergoing overhaul or restoration

* BR 0-6-0 Class 14 no. D9553
* BR Bo-Bo Class 24 no. 24081
* BR Bo-Bo Class 26 no. 26043
* BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 no. 45149
* BR Class 108 unit 51950+52062

Coaching stock

Operational coaches are shown in bold.
* BR Mk 1 RBR, nos. 1672 and 1675
* BR Mk 1 RMB, nos. 1808, 1811 and 1876
* BR Mk 1 RU, nos. 1965 and 1972
* BR Mk 1 FO, nos. 3045, 3091 and 3093
* BR Mk 1 SO, nos. 3727, 4787, 4790 and 4798
* BR Mk 1 TSO, nos. 3960, 4331, 4440, 4763, 4772, 4806, 4869, 5042, 5054
* BR Observation car, no. 6300
* BR Mk 1 BSOT, no. 9000
* BR Mk 1 FK, nos. 13089, 13326, 13329, 13337
* BR Mk 1 CK, nos. 15849, 15989, 16166, 16195, 16221
* BR Mk 1 BCK, no. 21275
* BR Mk 1 SK, nos. 24918, 24949, 25020, 25341, 24451, 25501, 25618, 25636 and 25743
* BR Mk 1 BSK, nos. 34548, 34676, 34929, 35308 and 35444
* BR Mk 1 S, no. 46116
* BR Mk 1 Courier van, no. 80212
* BR Mk 1 POT, nos. 80433 and 80435
* BR Mk 1 BG, nos. 80926, 81039, 92199, 92418, 92933 and 92990
* BR CCT, nos. 94486, 94557 and 94824
* BR GUV, no. 94051
* BR Bullion van, no. 99202

ignalling

The signalling on the line is a mixture of Electric Key Token and Staff working, depending on operational requirements. Current sections are:
* Toddington–Winchcombe (EKT)
* Winchcombe–Cheltenham Racecourse (EKT)
* Toddington–Cheltenham Racecourse (with Winchcombe switched out – long section staff)

There are four signal boxes on the line:
* Toddingon – operational
* Winchcombe – operational
* Gotherington – currently being commissioned
* Cheltenham Racecourse – operational

Future plans

The railway currently has two major projects in progress.

* Implementation of signalling on the Winchcombe–Cheltenham section of the line, to allow operation of multiple trains. This includes construction of signal boxes at Cheltenham Racecourse and Gotherington.
* Extension of track northwards from Toddington towards Broadway, with the construction of a new station at Broadway.

In the long term, plans could include a southern extension to link up to the national rail network at Cheltenham Spa mainline station, and extensions further north towards Honeybourne and possibly eventually Stratford-upon-Avon. The extension as far as Honeybourne may be made more possible by the planned Cotswold Line impovement which includes a new third platform at Honeybourne station to allow services from the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway to connect with National Rail services [CLPG 2008] . However, extensions to the ends of the closed sections of line at Stratford and Cheltenham are impossible at present. The trackbed to Stratford is blocked by a road, and the trackbed through Cheltenham, while mostly complete, is in need of expensive rehabilitation and reconstruction, with the primary impediment being a non-rail-usable bowstring bridge near a Waitrose built on the St. James station site.

References

[1] [http://www.clpg.co.uk/newsdoubling.htm Cotswold Line Promotion Group] Includes proposal to link GWR to main line at Honeybourne
[2] [http://www.aboutbritain.com/GloucestershireWarwickshireRailway.htm About Britain Entry]
[3] [http://www.cheltenham4u.co.uk/localattractions_railway.asp Cheltenham local attractions]
[4] [http://www.heritagerailways.com/abc.html Reference in directory of Heritage Railways in the UK]

ee also

*North Gloucestershire Railway – a narrow gauge railway also at Toddington
* Stratford on Avon and Broadway Railway – a group hoping to restore the railway between Stratford upon Avon and Broadway

External links

* [http://www.gwsr.com Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway]
* [http://www.isibutu.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway]
* [http://www.GWR2807.co.uk Cotswold Steam Preservation Ltd. - Owners of No. 2807]
* [http://www.warwickshirerailways.com Warwickshire Railways]