West Midland Railway
The West Midland Railway[1] was an early British railway company. It was formed on 1 July 1860 by a merger of several older railway companies and amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 August 1863. It was the successor to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR).[2]
History
[edit]Constituents
[edit]The original constituent companies were the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (incorporated 1846 and opened 1854), the Worcester and Hereford Railway (inc 1853 and opened 1859), and the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (inc 1845 and opened 1850); which had already absorbed the Stratford and Moreton Tramway (inc 1821 and opened 1826).
On 1 July 1861 the WMR leased the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway (inc 1853 and opened 1857). In 1862 it also leased the Leominster and Kington Railway (opened 1857) and the Severn Valley Railway (from opening).
Amalgamation with the GWR
[edit]The West Midland Railway was dissolved on 1 August 1863, with its powers and obligations being vested in the Great Western Railway. The West Midland Railway Company itself continued in existence until complete amalgamation was brought about by the Great Western Railway Act 1872.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Crumlin_Viaduct._%283375269%29.jpg/220px-Crumlin_Viaduct._%283375269%29.jpg)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Yolland, Col W (1861). "West Midland Railway" (PDF). Accident Returns. Board of Trade. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
- ^ "Round Oak Station". Railaroundbirmingham.co.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ Nabarro, Sir Gerald (1971). Severn Valley Steam. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 50. ISBN 0-7100-7064-0.
- Early British railway companies
- Pre-grouping British railway companies
- Railway companies established in 1860
- Railway companies disestablished in 1863
- 1860 establishments in England
- 1863 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
- British companies established in 1860
- British companies disestablished in 1863
- Great Western Railway constituents
- England rail transport stubs