Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is the current Northern terminus of the SVRSevern Valley Railway. It has two platforms, a yard, and a signal box. The next station in the UpIn reference to the direction of travel means towards the major terminus (i.e. towards Kidderminster on the present day SVR) direction towards Kidderminster is Hampton Loade. The original Severn Valley Railway continued northwards towards Ironbridge through a 550 yard long tunnel underneath Bridgnorth High Town.
Bridgnorth is home to the SVR Loco Works. Bridgnorth MPDMotive Power Depot (motive power department) is the principal base for the Railway's locomotives.
Bridgnorth is also home to two new build projects, BRBritish Rail or British Railways Class 3 locomotive 82045 and a replica of the Trevithick locomotive Catch Me Who Can.
Bridgnorth has a pay and display car park, with overflow parking available a short walk away. Other facilities for visitors include a buffet, a gift shop and 'The Railwayman’s Arms' pub. High Town, with its Castle Gardens and Cliff Railway, can be accessed from the SVRSevern Valley Railway via a footbridge outside the entrance to the Station building.
From time to time the possibility of re-opening the section of the line north of Bridgnorth is raised on discussion forums and elsewhere. The official stance of the SVRSevern Valley Railway varies somewhat confusingly between "maintaining a watching brief" and "the railway land north of Bridgnorth has been long since sold, and there is now no possibility of Severn Valley trains reaching Ironbridge and Shrewsbury ever again".
Bridgnorth Timeline
- 1862: When the original Severn Valley Railway opened, Bridgnorth Station is the principal intermediate station between Hartlebury and Shrewsbury. The station building is made of stone in a Jacobean architectural style.
- 1887: The down platform is extended, a passenger shelter is erected, and a cast-iron and wrought-iron lattice footbridge is built to connect it to the up platform.
- 1887: The Town Corporation pays for a new approach road to the station.
- 1892: Two fully interlocked signalboxes open at the north and south ends of the station, replaced in 1923 by a single central box on the up platform.
- 1895: The Town Corporation pays for a lattice footbridge to shorten the route from High Town to the railway, at a cost of £1,400.
- 1922: Knowle Sand Brick Works siding opens, with ground frames at either end of loop, capable of accommodating 35 standard wagons plus engine and brake van.
- 1962: Bridgnorth Town Council objects to BRBritish Rail or British Railways's proposals to withdraw passenger trains between Shrewsbury and Bewdley, believing the line could be promoted as a holiday attraction.
- 1963: Official notice is given of the withdrawal of passenger services north of Bewdley, to be effective from 9 September 1963. Freight and parcels will continue until the end of the year, after which time only coal traffic from the south to and from Alveley Colliery will use the line. The last BRBritish Rail or British Railways passenger service to run into Bridgnorth from the south is on 8 September 1963, double headed by ex-GWRGreat Western Railway 0-6-0 Pannier Tanks Nos 9624 and 4665.
At the end of 1963 Bridgnorth and all the other Severn Valley line stations except Bewdley and Stourport are closed completely, and the track is taken up between Bridgnorth and Buildwas.[1]
References
- ↑ Information from the Bridgnorth Station website
