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Unsuccessful proposals for railways in the Severn Valley

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*'''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>
*'''[[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)]].
*'''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>
*'''Shropshire Mineral Railway''': Advertised in '''September 1845''' seeking capital of £700,000. It was intended to form "...''in conjunction with other existing and projected lines, a direct connection between Liverpool, Manchester Sheffield, York and Hull and Swansea and South Wales.''" The proposed Railway itself formed a connection between the Grand Junction Railway at Norton Bridge (near Stafford) and the Shrewsbury, Hereford and North Wales Railway at Wistanstow (north of Ludlow), Shropshire. From Oakengates the planned route southwards passed through "...''Priors Lee, Stirchley, Dawley, Madeley and Ironbridge to Coalbrookdale, there crossing the proposed "Worcester and Crewe Railway"''<ref group="note">Presumably referring to the Worcester, Shrewsbury and Crewe Union Railway.</ref>".<ref>Worcestershire Chronicle, 17 September 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Direct London and Holyhead Railway''': Advertised in '''October 1845''' seeking capital of £2M, it proposed a direct route between London and Holyhead. The southern end of the route was described thus: "''It will commence by a junction with the proposed Buckinghamshire Railway at Banbury, and will proceed by way of Kineton, Stratford and Bromsgrove to Kidderminster. From Kidderminster, passing near Bridgnorth, Madeley, Broseley and Wellington to Shrewsbury''.".<ref>Worcester Journal, 9 October 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Dudley, Madeley, Broseley and Ironbridge Railway''': Advertised in '''October 1845''' seeking capital of £800,000. The prospectus began "''This company has been formed for the purpose of constructing a direct line of railway from Dudley to Madeley, Broseley and Iron Bridge, at or near which place it is proposed to form a junction with the proposed Shrewsbury, Worcester and Crewe Union Railway''<ref group="note">Presumably referring to the Worcester, Shrewsbury and Crewe Union Railway.</ref>...".<ref>Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 6 October 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref> In November 1845 the Company determined to extend their line to Wolverhampton and Stourbridge by a direct line through Kingswinford, noting this would provide a connection to Stourport "''...in conjunction with the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway''".<ref>Worcester Journal, 13 November 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway''' (often shortened to Stour Valley Railway and now known as the Stour Valley Line): The Company was authorised by an Act of Parliament in August 1846 and successfully built the line from Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Smethwick which opened in 1852 and is still in use today.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stour_Valley_Line Stour Valley Line on Wikipedia]</ref>The 'Stour Valley' by which the line is known referred to a branch (proposed but never built) from Smethwick following the River Stour via Stourbridge and Kidderminster to its junction with the Severn at Stourport.<ref>Worcestershire Chronicle, 20 August 1845, via the British Newspaper Archive</ref>
*'''Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth Railway''' (known as Peele's Line, probably after Joshua John Peele, a prominent Bridgnort Solicitor): Plans and sections for this proposed railway were deposited in '''November 1852'''. The Book of Reference noted it was "...''to incorporate a Company for making Railways from the Shifnal and Madeley Branch of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway to the towns of Ironbridge and Bridgnorth, and to Lightmoor; and to authorise working arrangement with other Companies.''".<ref>[http://search.shropshirehistory.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_XQ_E_7_1_348/ Shropshire History]</ref> [[Robert Nicholson]]'s original route for the SVR, which passed to the east of the [[Linley|Apley Estate]] and towards Madeley was supported by the Estate's owner and local MP [[Linley|Thomas Whitmore]]. When the SVR announced an alternative route to Shrewsbury via [[Linley]] in late 1852, Whitmore switched his support to the Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth Railway instead.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 23.</ref>
 
*Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow and Birmingham Railway
*Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway
*[[Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company]]
*Shropshire Mineral Railway
*Cambrian and Grand Junction Railway
*Dudley, Madeley, Broseley and Ironbridge Railway
*Shropshire Union Railway (Worcester to Crewe)
*Wellington and Severn Junction Railway
==Proposals after the opening of the SVR in 1862==
==See also==
[[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership]]
 
==Notes==
<references group="note"/>
==References==
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