Shipston-on-Stour branch

The Shipston-on-Stour branch was a 6-mile (9.7 km) long single track branch railway line that ran between a junction near Moreton-in-Marsh on the present day Cotswold Line to the Shipston-on-Stour via two intermediate stations, Longdon Road, and Stretton on Fosse.

History

Shipston on Stour station, 26 April 1960, shortly before final closure

The line started life as part of the horse drawn Stratford and Moreton Tramway that ran between Moreton-in-Marsh and Stratford-Upon-Avon with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour which opened on 11 April 1836. With the arrival of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Moreton-in-Marsh in 1851 plans were made to convert the tramway into a proper railway. The southern section of the tramway plus the branch to Shipston-on-Stour were converted in 1859 but because the original authorising legislation prohibited the use of steam it remained horse powered.[1] The tramway company went into liquidation by 1868, and the branch to Shipston-on-Stour was bought by the Great Western Railway. On 1 July 1889 the GWR obtained permission to run the line with steam trains.

Passenger services ended on 8 July 1929 and goods on 2 May 1960.

References

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