Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway
Encyclopedia
The Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway was a railway owned by the London and North Western Railway
(LNWR) company, built to connect Crewe
with the jointly owned with the GWR
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
.
Authorised in 1853, planning difficulties accessing the GWR station at Shrewsbury
delayed opening until 1858. Proving so successful for both companies to transport coal from the South Wales Valleys
to industrial Northwest England, and finished goods in the opposite direction, it was doubled tracked by 1862.
Amalgamated into the London Midland and Scottish Railway in the 1920s, post nationalisation into British Railways, its services reduced as motor transport
proved quicker more cost effective than its various branch line
s. It now forms the northern section of Network Rail
's Welsh Marches Line
.
opened, linking the four largest cities of England
by joining the existing Liverpool and Manchester Railway
with the projected London and Birmingham railway
. The line, which was the first long-distance railway in the world, ran from Curzon Street railway station
in Birmingham
to Dallam
in Warrington
, Cheshire, where it made an end-on junction with the Warrington and Newton Railway, a branch of the L&M. Conceived as a through route, the GJR was not interested in serving towns en-route. Wolverhampton
, for instance, was by-passed by half a mile because it did not lie on the intended route.
Having been turned down by Nantwich
, a station was built in the township of Crewe which formed part of the ancient parish of Barthomley
, on the junction of a turnpike road
linking the Trent and Mersey
and the Shropshire Union
canal
s. As soon as the station opened it was seen to be at a useful point to begin a branch line to the county town of Chester
, facilitated by the 1840 construction of the Chester and Crewe Railway
, extended in 1841 to Holyhead
to provide the fastest route to Ireland
.
In 1845 the GJR merged with the L&B and L&M to form the London and North Western Railway
Company, which until its demise in 1923 was the largest company in the world. The new company extended the Warrington line to Lancaster and Carlisle, the Manchester line to Leeds, and built a new line to Shrewsbury
to join the now jointly financed with the GWR Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
, which provided connections to South Wales
.
allowing the new Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
. Built to standard gauge
and engineered by Thomas Brassey
, the line was to cover 50.5 miles (81.3 km), following an approximate route of the valley of the River Wye
.
At its southern end, it would connect the major market town of Hereford with the northern terminals the GWR's Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
and the LNWR's Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway
, allowing access through to the coal fields and ports of South Wales
. A joint Railway Fete occurred on the 6th of December, 1853, when all five companies connecting Hereford ran their first official trains in to the town.
At its northern end, the S&HR connected with the GWR's railways:
However, the major financial gain for both companies was the transport of coal
from the South Wales Valleys
to industrial Northwest England. At inception, the only way of this occurring was via the S&CR to Chester
, so a more direct route was required.
raised objections to the LNWR’s proposed route into the GWR's Shrewsbury station
, causing delays while alternative routes were considered.
After approval of a route, the LNWR contracted Joseph Locke
and John Edward Errington
as engineers, and Thomas Brassey
as the civil engineering
developer. The 32.5 miles (52.3 km) route was constructed as a single track route, with the in-built option to increase to double track should traffic require. Completed at the budgeted cost of £10,000 per mile, the first train entered Shrewsbury station on the 1st September 1858. It was thus the first railway in North Shropshire
.
The line’s success showed other operators the importance of access to Crewe, with the GWR sponsored Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway (OE&WR) proposed in 1860. Following ferocious arguments between the LNWR and GWR, Parliament authorised building the line in August 1861.
The first phase was restricted to the Whitchurch-Ellesmere section, with the onward section to Oswestry held over for a year in case of new GWR route developments. Engineered by Robert and Benjamin Piercey, the civil engineering contractor was Thomas Savin
.
Facilities at Whitchurch were expanded by the LNWR to allow for trains using the new line, with the stations staff numbers reaching over 100 between the two wars. Intermediate stations were built by the OE&WR at Fenn’s Bank, Bettisfield and Welshampton
. The first public passenger service left Ellesmere for Whitchurch on 4 May 1863, and construction of the Ellesmere-Oswestry section was completed one year later. The total cost of the line was £200,000.
Following further proposals of railways between Crewe and Chester, by 1864 four companies were operating between Whitchurch and Machynlleth
:
In July 1864, the government approved a share holder request that they were amalgamated, granting an Act of Parliament to form the Cambrian Railway. The opening of a last section of line between Borth and Aberystwyth now enabled through trains to run from Whitchurch, a distance of 95.75 miles (154.1 km).
In 1870 the LNWR proposed the Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway
to break the GWR's monopoly on the Shrewsbury to Chester route. Opened in October 1872, little consideration was given to route or revenue, resulting in consistently low traffic volumes and a life-long record of annual losses.
The construction of a British Army
World War I
training camp at Prees Heath, resulted in the construction of a private 1 miles (1.6 km) branch line, which left the mainline west between Whitchurch and Prees. Used to transport troops, supplies and equipment initially, the site developed as a hospital resulting in return dispersement trains.
In the 1920s amalgamation of British railways, the GWR absorbed the Cambrian Railway, while the LNWR became part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS)
.
During World War II
, Press Heath was developed into a Royal Air Force
airfield as RAF Tilstock, still with its own railway depot, barracks and hospital facilities. Despite this, the relatively rural and resultantly dark run of the combined S&HR and C&SR meant that the flow of coal to the industrial Northwest continued virtually unabated.
After the war, the newly nationalised British Railways suffered competition from new road transport competitors, assisted in their efforts by the Ministry of Defence
selling off cheaply former military trucks and coaches. This resulted in a closure of the many branch lines, many before the Beeching Axe
of the 1960s, reducing the Whitchurch of today to little more than an unmanned halt.
s Welsh Marches Line
.
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
(LNWR) company, built to connect Crewe
Crewe railway station
Crewe railway station was completed in 1837 and is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. Built in fields near to Crewe Hall, it originally served the village of Crewe with a population of just 70 residents...
with the jointly owned with the GWR
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire.Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies, became a joint...
.
Authorised in 1853, planning difficulties accessing the GWR station at Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury railway station
Shrewsbury railway station is the railway station serving Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire, England. It is the only remaining railway station in the town; Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town, having long closed. The station was built in 1848 and has been extended...
delayed opening until 1858. Proving so successful for both companies to transport coal from the South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
to industrial Northwest England, and finished goods in the opposite direction, it was doubled tracked by 1862.
Amalgamated into the London Midland and Scottish Railway in the 1920s, post nationalisation into British Railways, its services reduced as motor transport
Motor transport
Motor transport refers to the operation and maintenance of a military vehicle fleet , and sometimes to the servicemembers to operate and maintain them. Traditionally, motor transport organizations are responsible for a unit's military trucks and associated equipment, as well as the transport of...
proved quicker more cost effective than its various branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
s. It now forms the northern section of Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
's Welsh Marches Line
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
.
Background
On 4 July 1837, the Grand Junction RailwayGrand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
opened, linking the four largest cities of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by joining the existing Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
with the projected London and Birmingham railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
. The line, which was the first long-distance railway in the world, ran from Curzon Street railway station
Curzon Street railway station
Curzon Street railway station was a railway station in Birmingham that was used briefly for regular scheduled passenger services between 1838 and 1854 when it acted as the terminus for both the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway, with lines connecting Birmingham to London...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to Dallam
Dallam, Warrington
Dallam is a suburb of Warrington, England. It is home to a Royal Mail rail terminus on the main West Coast Main Line railway, opposite a large Eddie Stobart distribution centre. Considerably smaller than most suburbs of Warrington, Dallam alongside its slightly larger neighbour Bewsey...
in Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Cheshire, where it made an end-on junction with the Warrington and Newton Railway, a branch of the L&M. Conceived as a through route, the GJR was not interested in serving towns en-route. Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, for instance, was by-passed by half a mile because it did not lie on the intended route.
Having been turned down by Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
, a station was built in the township of Crewe which formed part of the ancient parish of Barthomley
Ancient parishes of Cheshire
The Ancient Parishes of Cheshire refers to the group of parishes that existed in Cheshire, roughly within the period of 1200–1800. Initially, the ancient parishes had only an ecclesiastical function, but reforms initiated by King Henry VIII, developed by Queen Elizabeth I and expanded by...
, on the junction of a turnpike road
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
linking the Trent and Mersey
Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
and the Shropshire Union
Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....
canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s. As soon as the station opened it was seen to be at a useful point to begin a branch line to the county town of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, facilitated by the 1840 construction of the Chester and Crewe Railway
Chester and Crewe Railway
The Chester and Crewe Railway was an early British railway company absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840. The line was 11 miles in length, the engineer was Robert Stephenson and the contractor for the work was Thomas Brassey...
, extended in 1841 to Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
to provide the fastest route to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
In 1845 the GJR merged with the L&B and L&M to form the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
Company, which until its demise in 1923 was the largest company in the world. The new company extended the Warrington line to Lancaster and Carlisle, the Manchester line to Leeds, and built a new line to Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury railway station
Shrewsbury railway station is the railway station serving Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire, England. It is the only remaining railway station in the town; Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town, having long closed. The station was built in 1848 and has been extended...
to join the now jointly financed with the GWR Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire.Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies, became a joint...
, which provided connections to South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
In 1846 Parliament sanctioned an Act of ParliamentAct of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
allowing the new Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire.Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies, became a joint...
. Built to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
and engineered by Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
, the line was to cover 50.5 miles (81.3 km), following an approximate route of the valley of the River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
.
At its southern end, it would connect the major market town of Hereford with the northern terminals the GWR's Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway , was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1862. In 1869 the railway was converted to standard gauge...
and the LNWR's Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway
Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway
The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway line connecting the Welsh port city of Newport via Abergavenny, to the major English market town of Hereford.Sponsored by the LNWR, it opened on 6 December 1853...
, allowing access through to the coal fields and ports of South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. A joint Railway Fete occurred on the 6th of December, 1853, when all five companies connecting Hereford ran their first official trains in to the town.
At its northern end, the S&HR connected with the GWR's railways:
- The Cambrian LineCambrian LineThe Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The railway runs first through the central part of Wales and then along the coast of Cardigan Bay....
, for mid-Wales and AberystwythAberystwythAberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol.... - The Shrewsbury and Birmingham RailwayShrewsbury and Birmingham RailwayThe Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway opened on 12 November 1849. It merged with the Great Western Railway on 1 September 1854.The company formed originally as the Shrewsbury & Wolverhampton, Dudley & Birmingham Railway in 1844, it became Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway in 1847.When the section...
for access to the MidlandsEnglish MidlandsThe Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important... - The Shrewsbury and Chester Railway, allowing a pan-Wales route from Cardiff to HolyheadHolyhead railway stationHolyhead railway station serves the town of Holyhead on Holy Island, Anglesey. It is the western terminus of the North Wales Coast Line and is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, although Virgin Trains also serves it....
However, the major financial gain for both companies was the transport of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from the South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
to industrial Northwest England. At inception, the only way of this occurring was via the S&CR to Chester
Chester railway station
Chester railway station is a railway station in Newtown in the city of Chester, England. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, although Merseyrail, Northern Rail and Virgin Trains also run services from the station. It is situated to the north-east of the city centre...
, so a more direct route was required.
Construction
The Act of Parliament to approve the Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway was approved in 1853. The House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
raised objections to the LNWR’s proposed route into the GWR's Shrewsbury station
Shrewsbury railway station
Shrewsbury railway station is the railway station serving Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire, England. It is the only remaining railway station in the town; Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town, having long closed. The station was built in 1848 and has been extended...
, causing delays while alternative routes were considered.
After approval of a route, the LNWR contracted Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects...
and John Edward Errington
John Edward Errington
John Edward Errington was an English civil engineer, particularly noted for his work on railway construction in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
as engineers, and Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
as the civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
developer. The 32.5 miles (52.3 km) route was constructed as a single track route, with the in-built option to increase to double track should traffic require. Completed at the budgeted cost of £10,000 per mile, the first train entered Shrewsbury station on the 1st September 1858. It was thus the first railway in North Shropshire
North Shropshire
North Shropshire was a local government district in Shropshire, England. The district council was based at Edinburgh House, in Wem. Other settlements included the towns of Ellesmere, Market Drayton, Wem and Whitchurch, as well as the large villages of Shawbury and Baschurch...
.
Operations
The immediate success of the route, particularly revenue from coal traffic, meant the line was authorised to be upgraded to double track, which was completed in 1862.The line’s success showed other operators the importance of access to Crewe, with the GWR sponsored Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway (OE&WR) proposed in 1860. Following ferocious arguments between the LNWR and GWR, Parliament authorised building the line in August 1861.
The first phase was restricted to the Whitchurch-Ellesmere section, with the onward section to Oswestry held over for a year in case of new GWR route developments. Engineered by Robert and Benjamin Piercey, the civil engineering contractor was Thomas Savin
Thomas Savin
Thomas Savin was a British railway engineer who was the contractor who built many railways in Wales and the Welsh borders from 1857 to 1866. He also in some cases was an investor in such schemes.- Railway contractor :...
.
Facilities at Whitchurch were expanded by the LNWR to allow for trains using the new line, with the stations staff numbers reaching over 100 between the two wars. Intermediate stations were built by the OE&WR at Fenn’s Bank, Bettisfield and Welshampton
Welshampton
Welshampton is a small village located on the A495 road in Shropshire, England, near to the town of Ellesmere. It is adjacent to the villages of Lyneal and Colemere which comprise part of the so-called 'North Shropshire Lake District', all of which is within walking distance of Welshampton...
. The first public passenger service left Ellesmere for Whitchurch on 4 May 1863, and construction of the Ellesmere-Oswestry section was completed one year later. The total cost of the line was £200,000.
Following further proposals of railways between Crewe and Chester, by 1864 four companies were operating between Whitchurch and Machynlleth
Machynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
:
- OE&WR
- Oswestry and Newtown Railway
- Llanidloes and Newtown RailwayLlanidloes and Newtown RailwayThe Llanidloes and Newtown Railway was an early Welsh railway. It was absorbed by the Cambrian Railway. A section of the line - from Newtown to where the later Cambrian Line diverges to Machynlleth, at the former Moat Lane Junction, remains in use...
- Newtown and Machynllyth Railway
In July 1864, the government approved a share holder request that they were amalgamated, granting an Act of Parliament to form the Cambrian Railway. The opening of a last section of line between Borth and Aberystwyth now enabled through trains to run from Whitchurch, a distance of 95.75 miles (154.1 km).
In 1870 the LNWR proposed the Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway
Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway
The Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway was a railway line in Cheshire, which ran between Whitchurch and Tattenhall, where it joined the North Wales Coast Line at Tattenhall to terminate in Chester. The line connected the small Cheshire Villages of Malpas, Hampton, Edge, Duckington, Broxton, and...
to break the GWR's monopoly on the Shrewsbury to Chester route. Opened in October 1872, little consideration was given to route or revenue, resulting in consistently low traffic volumes and a life-long record of annual losses.
The construction of a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
training camp at Prees Heath, resulted in the construction of a private 1 miles (1.6 km) branch line, which left the mainline west between Whitchurch and Prees. Used to transport troops, supplies and equipment initially, the site developed as a hospital resulting in return dispersement trains.
In the 1920s amalgamation of British railways, the GWR absorbed the Cambrian Railway, while the LNWR became part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS)
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Press Heath was developed into a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
airfield as RAF Tilstock, still with its own railway depot, barracks and hospital facilities. Despite this, the relatively rural and resultantly dark run of the combined S&HR and C&SR meant that the flow of coal to the industrial Northwest continued virtually unabated.
After the war, the newly nationalised British Railways suffered competition from new road transport competitors, assisted in their efforts by the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
selling off cheaply former military trucks and coaches. This resulted in a closure of the many branch lines, many before the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
of the 1960s, reducing the Whitchurch of today to little more than an unmanned halt.
Today
Presently, the line remains open from Shrewsbury to Crewe, the northern most section of Network RailNetwork Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
s Welsh Marches Line
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
.