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→Proposals prior to the construction of the SVR: additional info and history
*'''Hereford and Kidderminster Railway''': Advertised in '''February 1845''' seeking capital of £750,000. It proposed "''...connecting Hereford, Leominster, Kington, Ludlow, Tenbury, Cleobury, Bewdley, Stourport and adjacent country, etc, with the Mining and Manufacturing districts of Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Dudley, Birmingham and the Metropolis.''".<ref>Hereford Times, 22 February 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> By April 1845 it was to be amalgamated with the Welsh Midland Railway.<ref name=LES14041845>London Evening Standard, 14 April 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Welsh Midland Railway''': Advertised in '''April 1845''' seeking capital of £3.5M. It proposed "''...to connect the manufacturing districts and the seaports of south Wales ... with Birmingham and the great manufacturing districts of Staffordshire.''".<ref>London Evening Standard, 14 April 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> A meeting took place at Worcester on 30 April 1845 at which it was noted that the proposed railway would be beneficial to the interests of the City. At that time the question of whether the railway would be built to 'broad gauge' had not been decided.<ref>Worcester Journal, 1 May 1854, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> Notice of the intention to bring a Bill to Parliament was advertised in November 1845.<ref>[https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3334419/3334420/4/Cilgerran The Cambrian, 21 November 1845, via National Library of Wales]</ref> By 1846 the affairs of the company were being wound up.<ref>[http://www.gwentarchives.gov.uk/media/46833/d4131-newport-abergavenny-and-hereford-railway-company-records-relating-to-the-taff-vale-extension.html#toc Gwent Archives]</ref>
*'''Worcester, Shrewsbury and Crewe Union Railway''': Advertised in '''April 1845''' seeking capital of £1.5M. The proposed route was described as "''Forming a junction at Stourport with the London, Worcester and South Staffordshire Railway, the proposed railway will pass up the valley of the Severn, and through or in the immediate neighbourhood of Bewdley, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Much Wenlock, Madeley, Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, to Shrewsbury, and thence… will terminate at Crewe''.".<ref>Morning Chronicle, 18 April 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Kidderminster and Welsh Midland Junction Railway''': Advertised in '''May 1845''' seeking capital of £650,000. This appears to follow on from the April 1845 proposal to merge the Hereford and Kidderminster Railway with the Welsh Midland Railway, as the advertisement repeated word for word the proposal of the former.<ref>Worcester Herald, 24 May 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Oxford and Worcester Extension and Chester Junction Railway''': Advertised in '''September 1845''' seeking capital of £2.25M. Planned as a broad gauge extension to the OWW's Oxford to Worcester route, the proposed extension from Worcester was described as "''Passing up the Severn Vale, it reaches Stourport and proceeding thence through Kidderminster arrives at Bewdley. Leaving Stourbridge a little to the East, the line is taken to Bridgnorth. Passing through or near to Much Wenlock, Broseley and Madeley, from which there will be a branch to Shrewsbury, the line ascends Coalbrookdale and approaching in its course Wellington and Wem, enters Whitchurch. The trunk line will continue from Whitchurch and passing through or near Malpas, will have its northern terminus in the city of Chester''.".<ref>Shrewsbury Chronicle, 19 September 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> The proposal did not go ahead and shareholders in the Company voted to wind it up in November 1846.<ref>London Evening Standard, 30 November 1846, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow and Birmingham Railway
*Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway
*[[Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company]]
