The railway, although running through mainly rural areas, was not without competition from other Companies rival plans.
In 1843 Gabriel Goldney proposed the Wilts and Gloucester railway to run from Thingley, on the GWR Bristol line, to Stroud, via Malmesbury, Tetbury and Nailsworth with branches to Egypt Mills in Nailsworth and Longfords and Iron Mills in Avening. Because of the opposition of local land owners the scheme was abandoned.
The Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Railway Act of 1864 was an attempt by the Midland Railway to infiltrate GWR territory. It was to be a link line between the North of England and the South Coast, and was to run from their Railway at Nailsworth to Christian Malford. A meeting to discuss the proposal was held in Stroud Subscription Rooms in October 1863. The Midland Railway's goal was Salisbury, where it would meet the London and South Western Railway. Because of the lack of agreement between the Companies concerned the project was dissolved in 1870.
1865 saw the passing of the Great Western and South Wales Direct Railway Act, an idea by GWR consulting engineer John Fowler, to run from Wotton Bassett to Chepstow bridging the River Severn at Oldbury Sands. It was to loop off the Cheltenham line just after Stonehouse and run under that line to join the Midland line to Bristol. The project never materialised.
To try and get rid of its Great Way Round image the GWR opened the Severn Tunnel in 1886. Prior to this all South Wales traffic, especially heavy in coal, used the Gloucester route. It was four years after the tunnel's opening that express passenger trains were diverted to the new route via Bath. There was a saving of half an hour on the previous four and a half hour Paddington to Cardiff timing.
The Canal Railway
The opening of the Great Western Railway to Cheltenham in 1845 had adverse effects on the Thames and Severn Canal Company. By l845 receipts had dropped to three thousand pounds, a third of those in 1841. In 1865 the Thames and Severn Company decided to turn their canal into a railway, with the backing of the Midland Railway. It was planned to run from Stroud to Fairford using the section of the canal from Wallbridge to Cerney Wick and included using the Sapperton Canal tunnel. The Great Western, of course, opposed the scheme and tried to rent the canal, but the conversion failed to materialise. A similar scheme was proposed in 1882 but this also failed. The Great Western managed to buy the Canal Company by 1885 and closed the canal east of Chalford. Local opposition was voiced at the motives of the Great Western, and the 1895 Act transferred control of the canal to the Thames and Severn Trust, which consisted of representatives of the local authorities and canal companies. The canal was reinstated, but due to heavy leakage it was again abandoned east of Chalford in 1901. Gloucestershire County Council assumed responsibility and authorised a restoration project, but there was too little traffic, the last reported boat passing through the tunnel in 1911. The canal was abandoned in 1933 but still carried occasional traffic up to 1941.
Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway.
On 4th February l867 the Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway, with the support of the Midland, made a challenge to the Great Western's monopoly of the Stroud area when they opened their five and three quarter mile line as a branch off the Bristol and Gloucester route. The planned opening was delayed by contractor' failures and the constant slipping of canal and stream bridges. They received a judgement against them for one thousand and sixty pounds damages by the Stroud Water Canal Company, but because of their poor financial state were unable to settle until 1878.
In 1871 the Fromehall Estate came onto the market following the death of Mrs Mansfield, and after prompting by local engineer, John Tauton, the Midland Railway purchased the land and opened a one and a quarter mile branch from Dudbridge to Stroud on l6th November 1885, three years after Parliamentary powers had been given. The Nailsworth Railway had been vested in the Midland from 1878, but the Company was not dissolved until 1886.
While in its original planning stage, a proposal was made for the railway to run from Dudbridge and cross the Cainscross Road near Downfield and join the Cheltenham line just north of Upper Ganicox. It was proposed to share Stroud's GWR station and goods facilities. This gained Parliamentary approval but the Midland had decided to build its own station in Stroud, at Wallbridge. Dudbridge station, the junction of the Stroud branch, was improved in the 1880's, double track being laid and a second platform erected. At Stonehouse the branch station was completely separate from the main line station although they were linked by a corrugated iron passageway. The Nailsworth line had a number of private sidings serving local mills and Woodchester had a busy holiday traffic, with tourists visiting Amberley At Nailsworth the goods yard was at a lower level than the passenger station and the standard practice was for the goods engine to be run forward into a siding, while the trucks were run by gravity into the goods sidings. The picturesque station building contained the offices of the original company and its entrance was a, small arcade carried on leafy capitals in front of the door. Stroud had an extensive goods yard for a branch line and a large coal depot site.
Under Midland ownership the Stroud branch was worked independently, Nailsworth to Stonehouse being the main line with a separate train from Dudbridge to Stroud. In later days the whole line was worked as one, by tank engine and a single coach, the train to and from Nailsworth also working to Stroud.
The single line from Stonehouse to Stroud and Nailsworth was no real match for the Great Western, the service somewhat poor by comparison. The opening however jolted the Great Western into giving an even better service, and because of the publicity given to the local competition, both Companies increased their receipts. In the first six months of business 36,048 passengers were booked from the Stroud Midland and in the second six months this had increased to 83,102.
The trains were mainly powered by 0-4-4 tank engines and the service became known as the "Dudbridge Donkey". It did however, unlike the Great Western, serve the local mills which were dotted along the canal side. The Bristol and Gloucester named one of their early 2-2-2 broad-gauge engine no 9 "Stroud", later to be renumbered by the Midland Railway 265 then 465. The Midland were not slow to develop local coal distribution and opened a depot Stonehouse. About 3,000 tons of coal were conveyed monthly to Stroud Gas Works, but this traffic was lost in 1956 when the works closed.
The post war economies of the Midland Railway saw the closure of the line to passenger traffic in 1947. Although stated as temporary, the closure was confirmed as permanent two years later by the nationalised British Railways. But freight traffic continued to serve local trade, the line being worked by 0-6-0 tender engines and later BR 2-6-0 moguls and diesel shunters. The competition from cheap road haulage finally closed the line in 1966 but sections of the trackbed still remain as public walkways and cycle tracks, maintained by the Youth Training Scheme.
