Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Overview

The line was originally part of the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham–Stratford-upon-Avon–Birmingham line, known as the Honeybourne Line, built in 1900–1906, and runs through the Cotswold towns of Winchcombe and Bishop's Cleeve. The line was run down over the years and finally closed after a derailment damaged a stretch of track in 1976, with the double track being lifted from 1979.

The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations at Toddington in 1984 over 700 yards (640 m) of re-laid track. In 1987 the line was restored as far as Winchcombe where the station was reconstructed using the former Monmouth Troy station building. The railway continued to re-lay track west of Winchcombe, through the 693-yard (634 m) long Greet Tunnel, and past the villages of Gretton, Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve. This culminated in the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by Princess Anne.

The GWSR runs trains from March to the end of December, with the line closing during January and February as well as November for line and locomotive maintenance. The GWSR runs regular train services every weekend plus most weekdays from Easter to the end of October, and some weekends are used to host special events including steam and diesel galas, Day out with Thomas events and Santa Specials.

The railway operates a wide variety of both steam and heritage diesel locomotives, as well as heritage DMUs. These have included the world-famous locomotive 4472 "Flying Scotsman" and equally famous 3440 "City of Truro", which in 1904 was the first engine to reach 100 mph. In 2016 the resident steam locomotives on the line were 7820 "Dinmore Manor", 28xx class 2807, 42xx class 4270, 7903 "Foremarke Hall" and 35006 "Peninsular & Oriental SN Co". To complement the running stock a collection of over 210 carriages and wagons of various origins has been compiled, many of which are still being restored.

Signalling of the Heritage GWSR

The route consists of single line sections with passing places at the major stations. All stations and loops are signalled using GWR Lower Quadrant Semaphore Signals.

The signalling on the line is a mixture of Electric Key Token and One Train Staff working, depending on operational requirements. Current sections are:

There are four signal boxes on the line, and a new platform mounted one at Broadway is under construction, with the frame parts all acquired and assembled:

North to Broadway

Major works are focused on raising funds to extend northwards to Broadway by 2018. After receiving planning permission for the reconstruction of Broadway station to a similar plan to the previously demolished original, construction of both platforms is complete (Autumn 2016), with signal box construction complete but lever frame not yet operational (Autumn 2016). In late 2016 the main station building is complete to window level. In early November 2016 new track has been laid to within 200 yds of Peasebrook Farm thanks to the latest share offer. The railway is currently engaged in raising £1.25 million in a share offer entitled "Broadway: the last mile" which aims to complete the extension and have it operational.

Hayles Abbey Halt

On a smaller scale, a band of volunteers are rebuilding the small halt that served Hailes Abbey. Like quite a few other GWR stations, the Great Western decided on their own way of spelling the name. Although using modern construction methods, the halt will be finished to look as much like the original halt as possible.

South to Cheltenham

Encouraged by support from Cheltenham Borough Council, who have given both the railway direct funds as well as placing protected status on the former lines trackbed south from Cheltenham Racecourse to Cheltenham Spa, the railway could at some point connect to Network Rail in the south.

The Council have backed the long term scheme, as this would allow the railway to:

Although the GWSR has extended track to Hunting Butts tunnel, a few hundred metres beyond Cheltenham racecourse station, it owns the trackbed as far as the Prince of Wales stadium at Wyman's Brook. It is likely that after extending to Broadway laying track further into Cheltenham will happen to this point; a distance of about 1 mile. However, beyond here major and costly engineering works would be required to extend the trackbed further south.

The primary impediment is a bowstring bridge (located at 51.90245°N 2.086434°W / 51.90245; -2.086434), built in 2002 to allow continued access by bicycle along the old track bed alignment to Cheltenham Leisure Centre. When planning permission was given for the redevelopment of the former Cheltenham Spa St. James station site as a Waitrose supermarket in 2002, a condition was imposed that the developer construct a new pedestrian bridge to ensure continued access to the remaining trackbed. The resulting bowstring bridge follows a section of former railway embankment, which was removed to provide road access to the new store.

Landslips

In the early 2010s the GWSR was affected by two major landslips in embankments on the line, which cut it into separate sections; however, both slips have now been repaired, and the line has been fully reopened.

2010 (Gotherington)

In April 2010 the GWSR suffered a landslip of an embankment near Gotherington. Train services continued despite the Gotherington landslip, but over a reduced route. The landslip forced the closure of the line south of Gotherington, including Cheltenham Racecourse Station, which was effectively cut off. The railway continued to operate services from Toddington to Gotherington, with a locomotive at both ends of the train ("top and tailed"), as it was not possible to run the locomotive around the train at Gotherington at the time (there is now a run round loop just south of Gotherington). The railway launched a £1m appeal, both to fund the rebuilding of the embankment, and also to undertake preventative maintenance to ensure that similar problems do not happen at other points along the line. It was deemed unlikely that the line south of Gotherington would reopen before July 2011, but donations ensured that the work could be carried out promptly, and it was reopened on 22 April 2011.

2011 (Chicken Curve)

In January 2011 the railway was damaged by another landslip just east of Winchcombe station at Chicken Curve. The landslip severed the railway in two; it was very similar to the one at Gotherington, but closer to the middle of the route. It was estimated that the cost of the repair work would be £850,000; funds for the repair were successfully raised. During the repair period a DMU service was run from Toddington up to the extension at Laverton; since the earlier Gotherington slip had been repaired, steam trains ran from Winchcombe to Cheltenham Racecourse, the steam locomotive maintenance facilities temporarily being transferred to Winchcombe. The Chicken Curve landslip was repaired over the summer of 2012, and the GWSR is once again operational as a single unified line from Cheltenham Racecourse to the site of Laverton Halt, a total of 12 route miles in length.

Coaching stock

Operational coaches are shown in bold.