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Add detail on the Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth Railway from GWR Magazines
*The Bridgnorth, Wolverhampton & Staffordshire Railway (June 1866). This would have left the S&BR near Oxley Viaduct, proceeding via Wombourne and Halfpenny Green to cross the Severn near Oldbury before joining the Severn Valley Railway just south of Bridgnorth. Curiously, the GWR had opposed its construction, seeing it as an attempt by the LNWR to reach Wales. Although this was overruled, the powers lapsed when funds could not be raised.
*The Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth Railway (1905). Under the GWR Additional Powers Act (July 1905). The the GWR’s own scheme was broadly similar to the above, but crossing the Severn close to Quatford before joining the Severn Valley Railway nearer Eardington with a triangle junction. However, even before the bill was passed, the GWR had introduced a [[Bridgnorth steam bus service | steam bus service]] between Wolverhampton Low Level Station and Bridgnorth Station, soon replaced by motor buses. The GWR (General Powers Act) 1909 included authority for a short loop line at Himley in connection with the proposed line.<ref>GWR magazine October 1909</ref> By 1911 steps were being taken to acquire the land as "the time has come when construction of this line should be be commenced in view of extensive colliery developments at the eastern end."<ref>GWR Magazine March 1911</ref> Although the Kingswinford and Wombourne section (“the Wombourne Branch”) commenced in 1913 and was completed in 1925, the Bridgnorth section had been postponed by 1913. <ref>GWR Magazine February 1913</ref> Another GWR Additional Powers Act in 1925 resurrected the possibility of its resumption, but the lack of traffic and growth of road transport soon led to it being abandoned.
The entry for the Severn Valley Railway on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Valley_Railway#Eastwards Wikipedia] makes reference to a proposal prior to World War II to link the Severn Valley Line with the Wombourne Branch, with a section being pegged out and some earthworks carried out immediately south of Crossing Cottage near Eardington. This may refer to the southern end of the GWR scheme, although no reference to these workings can be found in the books listed in the Bibliography section.
