Severn Bridge railway station

Severn Bridge railway station was a small station on the Severn Bridge Railway located close to the north west bank of the River Severn, 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England.

Severn Bridge for Blakeney
Severn Bridge station and the Bridge
General information
LocationPurton, Forest of Dean
England
Grid referenceSO667043
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companySevern Bridge Railway
Pre-groupingSevern and Wye and Severn Bridge Railway (GWR & MR joint line)
Post-groupingS&W&SBR
Key dates
20 October 1879 (1879-10-20)Station opened
26 October 1960 (1960-10-26)services suspended
November 1964officially closed

History
A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Severn Bridge
A map from 1946, showing the station location

The Severn Bridge Railway linked Lydney Junction railway station on the north bank of the River Severn with Sharpness Docks on the south bank via the Severn Railway Bridge. The railway joined up at Sharpness with the Sharpness Branch Line which had been built from Berkeley Road railway station on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway to the docks in 1875. The opening of the bridge in 1879 provided a cross-Severn route for Forest of Dean and south Wales coal both to Sharpness docks and to Bristol.

On the north side of the river, the bridge was approached on a series of arches, one of which traversed the Gloucester to Chepstow and Newport main line. Severn Bridge station was on the embankment leading up these arches, on a section of the line that ran almost parallel with and to the north of the main line as both went into Lydney Junction, about two miles to the south west.

Berkeley Rd to Lydney train at Severn Bridge station, looking east, towards the Severn Bridge, hauled by GW '1600' class 0-6-0T No. 1616 (built 12/49, withdrawn 10/59!).

Severn Bridge station had a passing loop, small shelters on the two platforms and a signalbox. There was a short siding with a cattle pen at the end of the station nearer to the bridge, which closed in 1957. At times, the station was known as "Severn Bridge for Blakeney".[1]

The Severn Railway Bridge was hit by petrol barges in a shipping accident on 25 October 1960[2] which demolished two of its 22 spans, and it was judged to be beyond economic repair. All services on the line were suspended, though it was not officially closed until November 1964. The Severn Bridge station site, according to a book published in 2003, was then "just left to rot".[1]

Sharpness branch line
For canal icons used below, please refer to waterways legend instead.
 Dean Forest Railway
(To Parkend)
 Severn Bridge
 Gloucester–Newport line
(From Newport to Gloucester)
 Severn Railway Bridge over River Severn
(Dismantled 1970)
 Swing bridge over Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
 Sharpness Old Port
Sharpness
(closed 1964)
 Sharpness Docks
 New Docks Branch
 Sharpness New Port
Berkeley
(closed 1964)
 Cross Country Route
(To Gloucester)
Berkeley Road
(closed 1965)
 Berkeley Loop
 Cross Country Route
(To Bristol)

Services
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Lydney Junction
GWR station remains open		   Severn Bridge Railway
Midland Railway and Severn and Wye Railway		   Sharpness
Station closed

References
  1. Mike Oakley (2003). Gloucestershire Railway Stations. Wimborne: Dovecote Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 1-904349-24-2.
  2. Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 524. OCLC 931112387.
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