Items about local passenger and freight trains and various specials as reported in 'The Railway Observer'. Also the closure of stations and withdrawal of services. Reports about diversions are in the 'Way and Works' section.
June 1949. The Saturdays 10.45am Newquay - Birmingham Snow Hill is scheduled to run non-stop to Cheltenham Malvern Road, a distance of 228 and a quarter miles.
9 August 1949. Two Sunday School excursions from Cheltenham Leckhampton to Weston-Super-Mare were routed via Hatherley Loop, not regularly used by this date;motive power on each was a 'Hall' 4-6-0, 5990 and 4996.
5 June 1950. The 'Devonian' has been reintroduced again - it also ran in Summer 1949. The train uses two 12-carriage sets, one Western and one London Midland Region.
25 January 1951. An excursion to see a Pantomime in Cheltenham was advertised from Parkend and Whitecroft - on a line which lost its passenger service in 1929. Wonder whether it ran?
9 July 1951. The Ashchurch - Malvern passenger has just one coach, a standard LMS non-corridor brake third. Sometimes an auto-coach is used, though not in auto mode. A considerable number of fruit vans are stored on the down line beyond Tewkesbury.
29 July 1951. Gloucester's ex-GWR station renamed Gloucester Central, with the ex-Midland one renamed Gloucester Eastgate.
August 1951. Excursions on Sundays and public holidays from Nailsworth to Weston-Super-Mare observed to be well patronised. (Regular passenger trains on the Nailsworth branch ceased in June 1947.)
August 1951. The Thornbury branch now needs two locos to handle ballast traffic. The condition of Tytherington Tunnel is a cause for concern.
19 August 1951. An excursion from Kidderminster to Barry Island was routed via Worcester, Malvern, Upton, Tewkesbury and Ashchurch with GW 'Mogul' 6378.
23 September 1951. After derailment of a train near Westerleigh the 2.12pm Bristol - Bradford was diverted through the Severn Tunnel. The loco was Bristol 'Jubilee' 45685 'Barfleur' 'doubtless the first 'Jubilee' to pass through the Tunnel.'
22 October 1951. A new daily class 'D' goods working goes from Cambridge to Severn Tunnel Junction via Yarnton and Honeybourne, where it reversed to go from the Oxford-Worcester route onto the Cheltenham line.
29 November 1952. 0-4-4T 58071 worked the final passenger train from Great Malvern to Ashchurch. The branch passenger will from now only run between Ashchurch and Upton-on-Severn. BR had wanted to withdraw passenger services on the whole branch.
December 1952. The last train from Lydney to Lydbrook Junction was the 9.25am goods with 0-6-0PT 1625.
5 March1953. A Race special from Paddington to Cheltenham had a Royal Coach attached.
23, 24 April 1953. Two trains ran on the Mineral Loop in the Forest of Dean taking ammunition which had been stored at Acorn Patch, to Cairnryan, Scotland. (The last such train ran on 16 June 1953.)
15 June 1953. A special hauled by GW 2-6-0 6348 ran over the MSWJ from Cheltenham, heading to Portsmouth Spithead for the Coronation Naval Review.
1 July 1953. A weedkilling train ran from Lydney to Lydbrook Junction with 0-6-0PT 1616.
9 August 1953. Three troop specials ran over the MSWJ from Cheltenham to Ludgershall. One had doubleheaded 'Moguls' 5371 and 6373 on 14 coaches, said to be the longest loaded train ever observed on the line.
13 August 1953. The Blakeney branch is used for wagon storage. On this date 0-6-0PT 8487 was noted shunting at the Awre end.
September 1953. The signal box and goods shed at Gotherington on the Honeybourne line have been removed and the station reduced to a Halt.
20 February 1954. Timekeeping on Derby - Bristol line is 'generally quite good.'
27 February 1954. A 'football' excursion was run from Parkend and Whitecroft to South Wales.
14 June 1954. From today the 8am Cheltenham - Paddington will run the 91 miles from Kemble in even time - that is a mile a minute.
3 July 1954. The Sling branch in the Forest is used up to four times a week for Fred Watkins Ltd, boiler repairers. A boiler from Abergwnfi was on a wagon at Coleford Junction.
1 December 1954. Woolaston station between Lydney and Chepstow closed entirely.
May 1955. With the four miles of line from Lydbrook to Lydbrook Junction closed, coal from Mierystock Colliery to the cable works at Lydbrook travels via Lydney, Gloucester and Ross - 48 miles, including four reversals.
November 1956. The up 'Cheltenham Spa Express' is observed to be a poor timekeeper - though runs to time when the Chairman of the British Transport Commission, Sir Brian Robertson, travels from Kemble!
18 November 1956. A DMU excursion was run from Coventry to Cardiff via Cheltenham and Gloucester.
10 March 1958. New 3-car DMUs with a buffet introduced on Birmingham - South Wales services on the Honeybourne line, replacing the existing Inter-City DMUs and steam hauled services.
June 1958. The 'Cornishman' is duplicated daily; the Wolverhampton - Penzance is followed by a Wolverhampton - Kingswear.
More to come