Shrewsbury
| Towards the north | Towards Hartlebury and Kidderminster |
|---|---|
| The Severn Valley line terminated at Shrewsbury. | Berrington (4¼ miles) |
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, situated on the River Severn.
Shrewsbury station, formerly known as 'Shrewsbury General', is a major junction between various GWR and LNWRLondon & North Western Railway routes, and was the northern terminus of the Severn Valley Railway, which connected it to Bridgnorth, Bewdley and Hartlebury[1].
Severn Valley Branch
Shrewsbury was the northernmost station on the Severn Valley Branch until the end of passenger services between Bewdley and Shrewsbury and closure of the line north of Alveley Colliery in 1963. The Branch diverged from the Shrewsbury-Hereford line at Sutton Bridge Junction, which still exists today as the junction for the former Cambrian Railways line to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli [2]. Severn Valley line services generally used the now-closed bay platforms 1 and 2 at Shrewsbury station.
A short stub of the SVRSevern Valley Railway was kept open until July 1988, in order to service an oil depot on the site the Shropshire and Montgomery railway's Shrewsbury Abbey station, a connection to the depot being built in 1960[2].
Shrewsbury Shed
Locomotives for services from the northern end of the Severn Valley Branch were provided by Shrewsbury Shed which was located in Coleham Yard, between the station and Sutton Bridge Junction to the east of the railway. A brief chronology of the Shed is as follows:[3]
- The original 1856 Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway (S&H) locomotive servicing depot was a single-road straight shed.
- As part of the joint purchase of the S&H, the GWRGreat Western Railway and LNWRLondon & North Western Railway agreed to build a new six-road shed on the same site to an LNWRLondon & North Western Railway design, with the original S&H shed becoming a wagon repair depot.
- In 1877 the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway added their own 10-road shed at the south of the Yard
- In 1883 the GWRGreat Western Railway built a new roundhouse to the rear/east of the existing former joint facilities, and added their own coaling stage.
- In 1932 the GWRGreat Western Railway demolished the old S&H shed and built a new steel-framed three road straight shed on the site.
- The depot closed to all steam locomotives in March 1967.
The buildings in the Yard to the east of the line have all been demolished and the area redeveloped. However in 2008 a small TMDTraction Maintenance Depot, also referred to as Diesel Depot was built to the west of the line on the site of the former extensive joint GWRGreat Western Railway/LNWRLondon & North Western Railway goods yard. Access is controlled by Sutton Bridge Junction Signal Box.
OSOrdnance Survey Map of 1927 showing Coleham Yard
See also
References
- ↑ Wikipedia - Shrewsbury Railway Station
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 David J. Parker, "Under the Semaphores at Shrewsbury, 1987-1994". Blurb Books.
- ↑ Shrewsbury TMD on Wikipedia]
Links
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