Reports from the RCTS,Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, magazine 'The Railway Observer' - RO.
29 March 1947. Gloucester - Hereford services were disrupted when Strangford Bridge, near Fawley, collapsed into the River Wye, after a gale and flood water took down the central pier. Trains then ran from Gloucester to Ross-on-Wye, bus to Fawley, with another train into Hereford. This was still the situation in November 1947. The bridge was rebuilt with a longer span and no central pier and the January 1948 'RO' reported that it had now been reinstated. (There is a picture of the collapsed bridge at http://www.bosci.net/lowv/LOWV%20history%20railways.htm. Also a picture of the bridge being rebuilt http://www.bdca.org.uk/gallery/index.php/Ransomes-and-Rapier/GWR-No-3/GWR-Nos-2-and-3-Strangford-Bridge-probably-August-1947)
8 August 1949. The 10.5am Cheltenham - Southampton passenger train suffered derailment of the two rear carriages on catch points at Cirencester Watermoor station. The train was being brought in on a different line than usual because of a points failure. Luckily the carriages remained upright and no-one was injured, despite debris from nearby bridge parapet falling into the road below.
22 March 1951. Both parts of 6.35pm Paddington - Gloucester diverted via Oxford, hauled by 'Castles'.
13 September 1953. Sunday trains between Cheltenham and Paddington have been diverted via Standish and Yate due to engineering works at Sapperton.
5 October 1956. Track removal between Malvern Wells and Upton-on-Severn was completed today.
4 January 1960. A new halt, Park Leaze, was opened on the Kemble - Cirencester branch.
March 1960. Following withdrawal of the Cheltenham - Honeybourne local services, in the coming months all signal boxes on the line are to be switched out and closed entirely when new boxes at Weston-sub-Edge and Toddington are brought into use. Bishop's Cleeve, Winchcombe, Toddington and Broadway stations remain open for freight and parcels traffic.
March 1960. The curve from the Kingham line, at Gloucester Loop Jumction, to the Gloucester line at Hatherley Junction has now been severed by the removal of the bridge over Hatherley Road, where only the previous week a double-deck bus lost its roof. For the last two years or so only the westbound track remained in an overgrown condition. Gloucester Loop Junction Signal Box is boarded up.
8 May 1960. At Ledbury the signalling and track of the closed Gloucester branch was still in place.
25 October 1960. The Severn Bridge connecting Lydney and Sharpness was damaged by two drifting oil barges and subsequently closed. Proposals to rebuild the bridge were made but it never happened.
4 December 1960. Lifting barriers installed at Barton Street level crossing, Gloucester, on 4th December are electrically operated and replace the exising manually operated gates.
18 March 1961. 3-car diesel stop boards have been erected at each halt on the Chalford Auto service for many months, but steam still reigns supreme on this line.
8 March 1964. At Ashchurch, apart from access to the MOD depot,the Evesham branch was taken out of use. (per R J Essery's Ashchurch to Barnt Green Line')