"Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, crossing the Shropshire/Worcestershire border, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route. Train services are hauled predominantly by steam locomotives, plus one diesel hauled train, making two round trips a day, on most days. Diesel locomotives are also used for engineering trains, to replace failed steam locomotives at short notice, and during periods of high fire risk. The railway is one of the most popular heritage railways in"
"from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade in 1970. Although other drainage work enhancements remained to be completed, the line between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth reopened fully to the public on Good Friday, 21 March 2008. The work increased to 144 the number of culverts under the line, where previously there were 44 before the 2007 floods. The entire railway is one of the most comprehensively signalled heritage railways. With the exception of the connection at Kidderminster to Network Rail metals (which uses a colour light signal) the whole railway is signalled using GW style lower quadrant signals, of both metal and wooden"
"occasional through charter trains to operate from various parts of the country to Bridgnorth. An example of these visitors was that of the VSOE Northern Belle in 2006. Two direct trains to from Bridgnorth operated by Chiltern Railways ran in 2009, one on 15 August and one on 28 November. Some trackwork revisions have been completed at Kidderminster to improve ingress of incoming excursions. The railway operated two revenue-earning freight trains in May 2007 which carried 6-metre-long pipes from Kidderminster to the Severn Trent water handling plant at Trimpley. Carriage by road of such long pipes would have been difficult"
"Bridgnorth Cliff Railway The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, also known as the Bridgnorth Funicular Railway or Castle Hill Railway, is a funicular railway in the town of Bridgnorth in the English county of Shropshire. The line links the Low Town of Bridgnorth, adjacent to the River Severn, with the High Town, adjacent to the ruins of Bridgnorth Castle. The line is one of four funicular railways in the UK built to the same basic design (the others were the Clifton Rocks Railway in Bristol; the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway in Devon; and the Constitution Hill Railway in Aberystwyth, Wales). It"
"of the S&DJR Sentinels has been preserved but a similar locomotive is operational at Midsomer Norton railway station. Four ex-S&DJR carriages have survived into the preservation era; Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in northeast Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreech Junction to Burnham-on-Sea and Bridgwater. Strictly speaking, the main line ran from Bath Junction to Broadstone, as the line between Broadstone and Bournemouth was owned by the London and South Western"
"as the answer to a question in the long-running BBC television quiz 'Mastermind'. In the general knowledge round contestants were asked which Shropshire town on the River Severn had a funicular railway connecting its High Town with its Low Town. Bridgnorth Cliff Railway The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, also known as the Bridgnorth Funicular Railway or Castle Hill Railway, is a funicular railway in the town of Bridgnorth in the English county of Shropshire. The line links the Low Town of Bridgnorth, adjacent to the River Severn, with the High Town, adjacent to the ruins of Bridgnorth Castle. The line is"
"Centre, where there is an operating broad-gauge train. Preserved GWR lines include those from Totnes to Buckfastleigh, Paignton to Kingswear, Bishops Lydeard to Minehead, Kidderminster to Bridgnorth and Cheltenham to Broadway. Many other heritage railways and museums also have GWR locomotives or rolling stock in use or on display. Numerous stations owned by Network Rail also continue to display much of their GWR heritage. This is seen not only at the large stations such as Paddington (built 1851, extended 1915) and Temple Meads (1840, 1875 & 1935) but other places such as Bath Spa (1840), (1878), (1879), (1897), and (1927)."
"Bridgnorth, providing the town with a part-time performing arts school for people of ages between 6 and 18. Stagecoach Kidderminster pupils have performed in London's West End. The Kidderminster School, now named ""Stagecoach Kidderminster & Bridgnorth"" remains highly popular and successful. Bridgnorth also has one of the nation's first co-educational cheerleading teams, established in 2001, the Bridgnorth Tigers Cheerleading Club. The BTCC hold the title of national small senior team champions for 2003. They have also gained numerous regional titles since this time. Bridgnorth today is closely related to the towns of Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. It is a traditional market"
"same station approach road and is known as ""Kidderminster Town"" to distinguish it from the National Rail station. This also reflects the GWR tradition of suffixing the station name with ""Town"" if it was closer to the main body of the town served than that of its competitor(s), which Kidderminster Town achieves to the tune of around 60 yards. Kidderminster station opened with the extension of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway from Worcester to Stourbridge on 1 May 1852 by the GWR. The earliest station building was replaced by another in 1859. In 1863 the second building was destroyed"
"For many years, the SVR official website has confirmed that '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' The 559-yard-long Bridgnorth Tunnel is still in existence, as is the old trackbed between Bridgnorth and Coalport. Former stations, most of which were closed with the Severn Valley line as a whole in 1963, after 101 years in use: Between Hartlebury and Bewdley: Between Kidderminster and Bewdley: North of Bridgnorth: The plan to expand North was mooted by groups within the SVR as"
"stations. Bridgnorth to Bewdley passenger services started in 1974, and it was decided to extend the line to Kidderminster to attract more custom from what was (and still is) a bustling town close to the West Midlands conurbation. After Kidderminster goods yard became disused in 1982, the SVR purchased the line to the east of Foley Park. Sharing the British Rail station of Kidderminster was impractical, so SVR claimed a site to the west of the BR station. Initially, the site was leased from BR until privatisation when BR looked to sell off the site, leading to the 1994 SVR"
"sections of mainline such as the Great Central Railway. Many have links to the National Rail network, both at station interchanges, for example the Severn Valley Railway between and Kidderminster Town, and physical rail connections like the Watercress Line at . Although most are operated solely as leisure amenities some also provide educational resources, and a few have ambitions to restore commercial services over routes abandoned by the nationalised industry. British Railways operated ships from its formation in 1948 on several routes. Many ships were acquired on nationalisation, and others were built for operation by British Railways or its later"
"Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line is a suburban railway line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster. It is one of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by West Midlands Trains and Chiltern Railways using and diesel units. It is a future aspiration of Network Rail to electrify the entire line, as well as the Chiltern Main Line to London Marylebone. The line is one of two railway routes between Birmingham and Worcester, the other route runs via Bromsgrove. The line was used mostly by GWR trains from"
"and Porthmadog. This is possibly the only narrow-gauge/standard-gauge level crossing in the UK, and an interface between 19th century signalling and 21st century signalling systems. Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway () is a narrow-gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park. The railway is roughly long and runs from the harbour at Porthmadog to the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, travelling through forested and mountainous scenery. The line is single track throughout with four intermediate passing places. The first mile of the line out of Porthmadog runs"
"stations such as Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Cheltenham and Worcester. Mainline trains run by Great Western Railway to London Paddington also are available from Kemble station near Cirencester, Kingham station near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury station and Moreton-in-Marsh station. Additionally, there is the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, a steam heritage railway serving the Cotswolds from Cheltenham Racecourse through Gotherington, Winchcombe and Hayles Abbey Halt to Toddington and Laverton. The preserved line is currently being extended to Broadway, with the aim of reaching Honeybourne and making a reconnection with the Cotswold Line. The Cotswold region has inspired several notable English composers. In the early 1900s,"
"continued to use the lines within their quarries. These were eventually replaced by roads and conveyor belts and the last internal quarry line was abandoned in 1981. Today the line is run purely as a heritage railway. A large collection of steam and internal combustion locomotives run on the line. Visitors can ride the train and are issued with an Edmondson ticket. There is a collection of industrial railway locomotives at Stonehenge Works towards the northern end of the line. The railway is promoted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The line is unusual as it runs mostly through"
"occasional trainloads of whisky & containers to/from Elgin, where the former GNSR Elgin East station yard is still operational. The Keith and Dufftown Railway heritage group reopened the Dufftown line beyond Keith Town in 2001, and they hope to reinstate the missing link back to the national network at Keith in the long term. Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway is an historic railway in Scotland. The Inverness an Aberdeen Junction Railway was a railway company that constructed a line between Nairn and Forres in Scotland. It opened in 1857 and 1858. It merged with the"
"multiple units. The service between Kidderminster and Birmingham is heavily used, by both commuters and shoppers to Birmingham. The service was increased from three to four trains per hour in 2006. The other company which operates trains is Chiltern Railways to London. Their services are: These services also connect Kidderminster to , and . Kidderminster railway station Kidderminster railway station is the main station serving the large town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England and the wider Wyre Forest district. The station is operated by West Midlands Trains, and is on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. Regular commuter services run"
"until 1963, being BR's last surviving horse-drawn remnant. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (PBSSR) endeavoured to build an electric railway to connect Porthmadog with the village of Beddgelert and the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway (NWNGR) at Rhyd Ddu. This venture also obtained powers to build a line to Betws-y-Coed and to connect with existing tramways and slate quarries. The PBSSR's life and history is complex, but two of its enabling Acts made provision for extensions from the northern end of the NWNGR from to the quayside at Caernarfon. The Act"
"Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing. The restoration, which had the civil engineering mainly built by contractors and the track mainly built by volunteers, received a number of awards. Originally running from"
"These include: The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust is based at Midsomer Norton South station. It operates a one mile section of line on the original trackbed heading south from Midsomer Norton towards Chilcompton. Public trains will run every two weeks in 2019. The Shillingstone Railway Project, supported by the North Dorset Railway Trust, at Shillingstone railway station. These two are heritage railway attractions intending to run standard gauge trains. The railway station project is known as the North Dorset Railway with Shillingstone as its headquarters. The project also aims to restore the line between the sites of Sturminster"
"1889 when the forges stopped working. There is a bus service through the village, operated by Central Buses. The number 125 bus service operates Mondays to Saturdays, from Bridgnorth to Stourbridge. Eardington Eardington is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is near the A442 road and is two kilometres south of the town of Bridgnorth, along the B4555 road. The population taken at the 2011 Census is shown under Bridgnorth. The Severn Valley Railway runs immediately to the east of the village and there was once a stop on the line, situated about half a mile"
"of rolling stock items and locomotives after opening to the public when the first train steamed from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade in May 1970. The station is reached from High Town via a modern footbridge over a main road and a valley, the present bridge having opened in 1994. This replacement tubular steel bridge occupies the site of a lattice bridge closed and demolished several years previously. A section of the original footbridge adorns the centre island of one of the road traffic roundabouts. Plans for a significant redevelopment of Bridgnorth station were approved by Shropshire Council in August 2016."
"Dartmouth Steam Railway The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between and in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth. The line is owned and operated by Dart Valley Railway plc. This company also owns Dart Pleasure Craft Limited, which operates the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry as well as river and coastal cruises. The railway and connecting"
"the 'Happy Valley' sidings, or at Churston. Dartmouth Steam Railway The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between and in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth. The line is owned and operated by Dart Valley Railway plc. This company also owns Dart Pleasure Craft Limited, which operates the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry as well as river"
"far as Stourbridge Junction. On Saturdays, there are also four morning trains from Kidderminster to Marylebone from the December 2017 return services in the evening were introduced. There were no Chiltern Railways service to Kidderminster on Sundays until the December 2017 timetable when 2 trains in each direction were introduced. Regular trains between Birmingham Moor Street, Stourbridge Junction and Kidderminster are operated by West Midlands Trains as part of its ""Snow Hill route"" service. Chiltern Railways operates a weekday parliamentary train to and from West Ealing via the Greenford line. , there is one train per day running from South"
"begin between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade. The end of coal trains from the colliery in 1973 allowed SVR to acquire a further 8½ miles of the line as far as Foley Park, the purchase price of £74,000 being raised by the flotation of a public company initially under the chairmanship of Sir Gerald Nabarro. Services were extended to Bewdley in May 1974. Following the end of freight traffic from BSC at Foley Park in 1982, the SVR purchased the final section of the line to Kidderminster at a cost of £75,000. The SVR also rented the former Comberton Hill goods"
"a replica. The SVR Kidderminster's name plate was recovered from another signal box that formerly stood on the up end of the down platform at Kidderminster station (Network Rail). The lever frame from the same signal box was reused at Arley, which has an LNWR signal box, originally from Yorton after the original was demolished. The replica name plate at Bridgnorth is made of fibre glass, although it is not known if it was moulded from the original or even if the original still exists. The SVR trains new signalmen at the Kidderminster Signalling School, located above the carriage works."
"Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway (L&HR) is a heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The L&HR runs from Haverthwaite at the southern end of the line via Newby Bridge to Lakeside at the southern end of Windermere. Some services are timed to connect with sailings of the diesel excursion vessels or steam vessels on Windermere, sailing from Lakeside to Bowness and Ambleside. The railway is a former branch line of the Furness Railway (FR) and was opened on 1 June 1869. The line was served by local passenger trains which started their journey at Ulverston on the"
"serving two heritage railways, (the Keith and Dufftown Railway at Dufftown and the (second) Strathspey Railway at Boat of Garten on the Highland Railway's Aviemore to Forres route), no part of the original Strathspey Railway has been preserved. However, the section between Ballindalloch and Craigellachie has now been converted into part of the Speyside Way, which runs between Ballindalloch and Spey Bay. Many of the railway's attractive stone-built station buildings still exist today; some have been converted for private usage, while others are near derelict. The former station building at Aberlour has been converted into a tearoom and visitor centre."
"Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading. The town is noted for its railway heritage, having been a station on Brunel's Great Western Main Line from London Paddington, opening in 1844. Today the town is known for its railway museum and power stations, and is the gateway town to the Science Vale: three large science and technology centres in the surrounding villages of Milton (Milton Park), Culham (Culham Science Centre) and"
"""Severn Valley Venturer"" which are the principal dining car trains (normally on Sundays). A diesel multiple unit is used to run an ""Evening Scenic Special"" fish-and-chip special train run on selected Saturday evenings between April and September, leaving Kidderminster at around 7pm and returning at 10pm after one hour in Bridgnorth. Many special gala days are held, often with visiting engines and rolling stock from other heritage lines; these and other attractions have seen visitor numbers exceed 250,000 per year. The SVR's rail connection to the National Rail network at Kidderminster permits various track maintenance, weed killing, track measurement and"
"from Exeter to Plymouth via Tavistock. The line from Exeter remains open for freight traffic to and from Meldon Quarry, two miles (3 km) west of Okehampton. In summer, and at weekends throughout the year, the Dartmoor Railway operates a heritage railway service between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry. In 1997, Devon County Council revived a passenger rail service from Exeter, on summer weekends only, in an attempt to reduce motor traffic to the national park. In March 2010, the freight operator Devon & Cornwall Railways announced plans to reinstate a daily passenger service terminating in Exeter, but this has yet"