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Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

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GWR 2-8-0T '4200' Class, no. 4247, at Toddington Station on 8th August 2004. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1916.
File:GWR 3440 'City of Truro' departing Cheltenham Racecourse.JPG
GWR 4-4-0 '3700' (City) Class, no. 3440 'City of Truro', departing Cheltenham Racecourse on 17th April 2004. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1903. The locomotive achieved fame by reputedly reaching 102 mph whilst hauling the "Oceans Mail" special from Plymouth to London Paddington on 9th May 1904. The locomotive was withdrawn from traffic in 1931, but preserved by the London and North Eastern Railway at York at the site that would eventually become the National Railway Museum.
File:GWR 6430 at Cheltenham Racecourse.JPG
GWR 0-6-0PT '6400' Class, no. 6412, at Cheltenham Racecourse on 11th September 2004. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1937, and was withdrawn from traffic in 1964. It is normally a resident on the Llangollen Railway.
BR Class 24, no. 24081, departing Cheltenham Racecourse on 24th August 2004. This locomotive was built by British Rail at Crewe Works in 1960. It had the distinction of being the final locomotive of its class in traffic, and was withdrawn in 1980.
BR Class 47, no. 47376, approaching Cheltenham Racecourse on 5th September 2003. This locomotive was built in 1965, by Brush Traction, Loughborough. It was the first locomotive to be painted in the corporate livery of Freightliner in 1995, and survived in traffic until 2001. It was preserved in 2002.

Description

The award-winning Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) is a volunteer run organisation that has reopened the closed railway line between Toddington, Gloucestershire, and Cheltenham Racecourse. It has future plans to extend to Broadway, Warwickshire. The line was originally part of the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham to Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham line, which was built in 1900-06, and runs through the local Cotswold towns of Winchcombe, and Bishops Cleeve. The line was closed after a train derailment in 1976. The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations in 1984. This culminated with the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by HRH Anne, Princess Royal. The railway operates a wide variety of both steam and heritage diesel locomotives, and heritage multiple units. These have included the world famous engine 4472 "Flying Scotsman" and 3440 "City of Truro", which was reputedly the first engine to reach 100 mph in 1904.

Stations

  • Toddington
  • Winchcombe
  • Gotherington (Halt)
  • Cheltenham Racecourse

Locomotives

Locomotives marked with an asterisk (*) are not permanent residents on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway


  • Steam Locomotives
    • BR 4-6-0 Class '4MT' no. 76077
    • BR 2-10-0 Class '9F' no. 92203 'Black Prince'
    • GWR 0-6-0 '2251' Class no. 3205*
    • GWR 2-8-0 '2800' Class no. 2807
    • GWR 2-8-0 '2884' Class no. 3822*
    • GWR 4-4-0 '3700' (City) Class no. 3440* 'City of Truro'
    • GWR 2-8-0T '4200' Class nos. 4247 and 4270
    • GWR 2-6-2T '5100' (Large Prairie) Class no. 5199*
    • GWR 2-8-0T '5200' Class no. 5224*
    • GWR 0-6-0PT '6400' Class nos. 6412* and 6430*
    • GWR 4-6-0 '6959' (Modified Hall) Class nos. 6960 'Raveningham Hall', 6984 'Owsden Hall', and 7903* 'Foremarke Hall'
    • Industrial 0-6-0ST no. 2409 'King George'
    • LMS 2-8-0 Class '8F' no. 8274
    • SR 4-6-2 'Merchant Navy' Class no. 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental'



  • Diesel Multiple Units

Future Plans

The railway currently has two major projects ongoing.

  • Implementation of signalling on the Winchcombe-Cheltenham section of the line, to allow operation of multiple trains. This includes construction of signal boxes at Cheltenham Racecourse and Gotherington.
  • Extension of track northwards from Toddington towards Broadway, with the construction of a new station at Broadway.

In the long-term future, plans could include a southern extension to link up to the national rail network at Cheltenham Spa mainline station, and extensions further north towards Honeybourne and possibly eventually Stratford-upon-Avon.

North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway

Toddington station is also home to the North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway.

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