Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
| Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway | |
|---|---|
| The Honeybourne Line | |
 |
|
| Toddington railway station, August 2007 | |
| Locale |
Gloucestershire, Worcestershire England |
| Terminus |
Cheltenham Racecourse and Laverton Halt |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | The Honeybourne Line |
| Built by | Great Western Railway |
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Operated by | Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc |
| Stations | 5 |
| Length | 12 miles (19 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1906 |
| Closed | 1976 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1981 | Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc formed and track re-laying began |
| 1984 | First public service along relaid section of track between Toddington Station and (the site of) Hayles Abbey Halt |
| 1987 | GWR Extended to Winchcombe |
| 1990 | GWR Extended to (the site of) Gretton halt |
| 1997 | Extended to Gotherington |
| 2003 | Extended to Cheltenham Racecourse |
| 2011 | GWR extends to (the site of) Laverton halt |
| Headquarters | Toddington, Gloucestershire |
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWR, GWSR or Gloucs-Warks Steam Railway) is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border of the Cotswolds, England.
The GWSR has restored and reopened 12 miles (19 km) of line, operating between Cheltenham Racecourse and the site of Laverton Halt. The company is currently raising £1.5 million to extend 3 miles (4.8 km) northwards to Broadway, and will eventually begin working on plans to extend a further 6 miles (9.7 km) to Honeybourne, (where one half of an island platform has since been left unrebuilt for their future usage).
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.
...
Wikipedia