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 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
  1. http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/mortonshipston.htm
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