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→Proposals prior to the construction of the SVR: additional info and history
*'''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>
*'''[[Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company]]''': First proposed by Robert Stephenson in '''July 1845''' as one of four planned railways for the Shropshire Union. Stephenson surveyed the route from Worcester to Shrewsbury in 1846. A Bill was raised in Parliament the same year, but never enacted. Proposals for formation of a company to build railway appeared in July 1847, but no further action had been taken by 1848 after which time the Shropshire Union let the plan lapse. However Stephenson's plans were used by [[Robert Nicholson]] for what became the [[The Severn Valley Railway Company (19th Century)]].
*'''Direct East and West Junction Railway''': Advertised in August 1845 seeking capital of £800,000. The route was described as "''This important railway is 42 miles in length; will commence at the railway station of the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Kidderminster, and will proceed from thence by way of Tenbury and Leominster to Hereford''".<ref>Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, 21 August 1845 via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> By 1846 it had been amalgamated with another scheme backed by the same promoters, the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Junction Railway.<ref>Worcestershire Chronicle, 4 November 1846 via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> It was later alleged that this merger was unlawful, and by 1851 action was being taken to wind up the affairs of the 'Direct East and West'.<ref>Worcester Journal, 26 June 1851 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>
*'''Cambrian and Grand Junction Railway''': Advertised in '''September 1845''' seeking capital of £2.2M. The prospectus began "''This important line, the only one having for its object the direct communication between South Wales, Birmingham, the Midland counties, Liverpool, Manchester and the North, will commence at Hereford, and passing to the Vale of the Severn via Bewdley, Bridgnorth, Broseley, Iron Bridge and Coalbrook Dale, take a direct route through or near Wellington and Market Drayton to Crewe, or to Runcorn, whence the existing lines will continue the traffic to Liverpool, Manchester and the North. At Bewdley there will be a branch line through Kidderminster to Birmingham and the Midland Counties.''".<ref>Worcestershire Chronicle, 24 September 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
