The first train ran through from Swindon to Gloucester on April 14th 1845. On board were dignitaries of the Great Western Railway as well as the line's engineer I. K. Brunel. After the final Board of Trade inspection in early May, the line was officially opened on Whit Monday, May 12th 1845. There were four intermediate stations:- Tetbury Road, Brimscombe, Stroud and Stonehouse. Tetbury Road served the village of Kemble, denied a station by Squire Gordon. It was sited a mile down the line on the border of his estate. Brimscombe station was sited between the villages of Brimscombe and Chalford with the intention of serving both communities. When Chalford Station opened on 2nd August 1897, Brimscombe station was left almost remote. At Gloucester the Great Western was to have used the Bristol and Gloucester Company s station but permission was refused. A temporary station was built by adding a platform to the north side of the terminus of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, which the Great Western crossed on the level just outside the station. This platform had previously been used by the Bristol and Gloucester Company.
Even though the extension from Lansdown Road into Cheltenham had begun in 1844, no attempt was made to open the broad-gauge line beyond Gloucester. In August the Directors reported that the repurchase of the moiety of the Gloucester to Cheltenham line had been made, but did not think it desirable to complete the line or to build a station, owing to plans for a new Railway between Cheltenham and the Oxford and Worcester Railway at Shipton-under-Wychwood. Nothing was accomplished for two years until the Shipton scheme was abandoned and the disputes with the Midland Railway Company settled, the Midland now leasing the whole of the line between Birmingham and Bristol. The Directors then announced plans to run Great Western trains over the rails already laid for the broad-gauge into Cheltenham, although the station building was not yet completed. This line was the first major example of a mixed-gauge system, and its junctions were very complicated. At Barnwood Junction, on the down line from Gloucester, the broad-gauge avoiding line joined the mixed gauge from the right. It was formed by ordinary trailing points in the common and broad-gauge rails, there being no point in the middle standard gauge rail. At the Lansdown Junction, where the Broad-gauge diverged to the right, there were no movable points at all, but only a fixed facing point in the common right hand rail and a guard rail inside the left standard gauge rail to draw the wheels of the standard gauge stock to the left of the fixed point. Its operation was assisted by the same middle rail being lowered three inches, while the outer broad-gauge rail was raised three inches to throw the broad-gauge stock to the right of the point.
On the up line from Cheltenham, the union of the gauges at Lansdown Junction were effected by a single trailing point in the common right hand rail. At Barnwood Junction the broad-gauge diverged to the left by means of a fixed facing point in the common rail as in the down line at Lansdown Junction, only here the broad-gauge outer rail was lowered and had the guard rail, while the standard gauge rail was raised. A few feet beyond the fixed point and while the right hand rail of the broad-gauge was still between the two standard gauge rails, there were ordinary double facing points in the broad-gauge to turn trains either along the avoiding line or towards Gloucester station. In the latter direction there were then four rails, the right hand broad-gauge rail continued between those of the standard gauge for several hundred yards until the broad-gauge diverged to the left, without any points, and then swept around to the right to join the line from Swindon just east of the crossing of the two railways. These junctions had speed restrictions of eight miles an hour. Slightly improved fixed point junctions were installed in places where the two gauges diverged, and these were used for many years without recorded accident.
A broad-gauge station was built on the avoiding line at the point where a single short line from Gloucester Station crossed it at right angles, connecting it by means of a turntable in each of the running lines, and terminating in a short dead end beyond. It became known as the "T" Station, and the short single line as the "T" line. As soon as the station was opened, Swindon trains ran direct to Cheltenham via the avoiding line, calling at the "T" station, and a shuttle ran from the station on the "T" line to Gloucester. The through Gloucester vehicles were transferred by means of the turntables. This method of working continued until the railway from Gloucester westwards opened in September 1851, after which the "T" station and avoiding line fell out of use and lay derelict until 1901 when the line was reopened as the Cheltenham Loop. The "T" station house, however, managed to avoid demolition.
The curious arrangement regarding ownership of the railway between Tramway Junction in Gloucester, and Lansdown Junction, made by the Acts of 1836/44, survived until 1947, except that the Great Western were no longer trustees of the southern portion. On their repurchase of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Company's rights in l845, they became legal owners of the whole of the line, but, as regards to the half nearer Gloucester, only as trustees for the Midland Company. This lasted until 1867, when a long standing lawsuit between the Companies regarding properties and rights in the Gloucester district came to an end, and as one of the results, the Great Western conveyed this southern half to the Midland. The northern half from the Halfway Post just south of the Midland's Churchdown station, opened in January 1847, to Lansdown, was their absolute property, as well as the extension into St James' station. Each company had free use of the other's half and kept its own portion in good repair. The line between Gloucester and Cheltenham was quadrupled between 1942 and 1944, due to increased wartime traffic.
The Gauge War
The arrangement of a break of gauge had caused the Midland Company much distress. No through train could be run between Birmingham and Bristol as the line to Gloucester was standard gauge and the line to Bristol was broad-gauge, all goods and passengers being transferred at Gloucester. Sir Daniel Gooch had designed methods for transferring goods, including wheels sliding on their axles and standard-gauge trucks carried on broad-gauge transporter wagons. A Royal Commission was appointed to look into the gauge question on July 11th 1845, and evidence began on August 6th. When the Parliamentary Gauge Commission visited Gloucester, J D Payne, Goods Manager of the Birmingham and Gloucester, arranged for two goods trains which had already been dealt with to be unloaded and reloaded to add to the work so that the chaos the break of gauge caused would be more impressive.
The Great Western thought that the Commission should have seen the break of gauge at Bristol, not Gloucester, as it was against the Birmingham and Bristol's interest for things to go smoothly. The Midland had a good case however, because the standard gauge to Bristol would have greatly reduced trans-shipment. In the week ending October 25th 1845, almost 700 tons were trans-shipped at Gloucester and only 50 tons at Bristol, with weekly averages of 200 to 300 tons at Gloucester and 40 tons at Bristol.
Another saving would have been in locomotives, for the standard gauge engine stock would have sufficed, and the number of turntables, engine and goods sheds could have been reduced by half. The transfer of goods at Gloucester took about 50 minutes for a five ton wagon at an average cost of 3d a ton. Nineteen extra porters had to be employed as a result of the trans-shipment and the Birmingham and Bristol estimated the break of gauge cost them two hundred thousand pounds a year.
Broad-gauge supporters petitioned and campaigned, pointing out the comfort and speed advantages of their gauge against the cramped, confined condition of the standard gauge coaches.
In January 1840 the Bristol and Gloucester had proposed a separate line between Standish and Gloucester and in 1845 the Birmingham and Bristol lodged a Bill for such a line. It was read for the third time on July 6th 1846, but was suspended by Parliament pending the report of the Gauge Commission . On l9th June 1846 the Board of Trade recommended that the broad-gauge be kept, but that standard gauge metals should be laid within the broad-gauge. On 14th August 1848 Parliament consented to the Midland building a separate line from Standish to Gloucester, but a mixed-gauge to Bristol.
On the 4th April 1848 a Bristol to Birmingham express collided with a Great Western goods at Standish. The Great Western claimed that the Birmingham and Bristol was at fault and sued for damages. This accident brought to light the fact that the Great Western signalmen stopped Birmingham and Bristol goods for Great Western expresses, but did not stop Great Western goods for Birmingham and Bristol expresses. The incident highlighted the hostilities between the two Companies at the time.
The separate line from Standish to Gloucester was completed on 29th May 1854. Although the Birmingham and Bristol trains now used their own tracks they had to continue to pay tolls for the line they did not use until l2th May 1865 when their 20 year obligation came to an end. Because of the Broad - Gauge Amalgamation Act, the broad-gauge rails had to remain between Standish and Bristol, although the Great Western never used them. The broad-gauge rails were removed in 1872 when the whole of the Swindon to Cheltenham section was converted to standard gauge, 20 years before the last broad-gauge train ran from Paddington to Cornwall.
The conversion of the Swindon to Cheltenham line began on Thursday 23rd May 1872 when work started on the up line. Kemble and Stroud were used as crossing points as there was single line working, the trains being worked by pilot engines. The conversion of the line was completed by 29th May when normal running was resumed. Until 1854 the only semaphore signal on the Great Western was at Tramway Crossing in Gloucester, although it was the property of the Midland Railway. On the common line to Cheltenham, at Barnwood and Lansdown Junctions, there were semaphores for the Midland and disc and crossbar signals for the Great Western.
