The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset Council. The railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc), which is supported and minority-owned by the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) charitable trust and the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust (WSRHT). WSR operates services using both heritage steam and diesel trains.
It originally opened in 1862 between and . In 1874 it was extended from Watchet to by the Minehead Railway. Although just a single line, improvements were needed in the first half of the twentieth century to accommodate the significant number of tourists that wished to travel to the Somerset coast. The line was closed by British Rail in 1971 and reopened in 1976 as a heritage line.
It is the longest standard gauge independent heritage railway in the United Kingdom. Services normally operate over just the between Minehead and . During special events some trains continue a further to where a connection to Network Rail allows occasional through trains to operate onto the national network.
History In 1845, when the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) had recently completed its main line, there were proposals for a number of different and competitive railway schemes in west Somerset. A Bristol and English Channels Direct Junction Railway was proposed as a link from Watchet through Stogumber and Bishops Lydeard to Bridport on the south coast, which would be an alternative to ships taking a long and dangerous passage around Land's End. This prompted the promotion of a connecting line from Williton to Minehead and Porlock, a line designed to attract tourists to Exmoor. Shortly afterwards, a Bristol and English Channels Connection Railway was suggested from Stolford to Bridport which would have passed through the Quantock Hills near Crowcombe. Alternatively, the Bridgwater and Minehead Junction Railway would link with the B&ER at Bridgwater and run through Williton to Minehead with a branch to Watchet and a connecting Minehead and Central Devon Junction Railway would provide a line to Exeter. An alternative link to South Devon was proposed by the Exeter, Tiverton and Minehead Direct Railway through Dunster and offered an extension to Ilfracombe.
West Somerset Railway Company None of these schemes were pursued and it was to be more than ten years before schemes for railways in the area were to be again proposed.
On 9 July 1856, local land owner Sir Peregrine Fuller Palmer Acland of Fairfield House, Stogursey arranged a meeting at the Egremont Hotel in Williton. The advertised purpose was to discuss a "Railway from the West Somerset iron-fields and coast, to the Bristol & Exeter Railway," proposed to connect Watchet – then a major port on the River Severn, as well as one of the largest industrial towns in Somerset, although in decline in importance thanks to the railways – to join the B&ER at either the county town of Taunton or the large port town of Bridgwater. The promoters had already approached Isambard Kingdom Brunel for his views as the former engineer of the B&ER, and by the time of the meeting he had already undertaken a preliminary survey of the alternative routes. There were three alternate options:
The Rev. J. Llewellyn, of Wiveliscombe, suggested a route leaving the existing WSMR at Washford, then passing through Monksilver, Elworthy, Brompton Regis, Ford, Milverton and Hillfarrance, and onwards to the B&ER. The second and third options bypassed the WSMR, running directly from Watchet to Williton to follow the Donniford valley to Crowcombe, and then either: To Triscombe and via a tunnel through the Quantock Hills to Bridgewater. The promoters were initially keen to build the tunnel, as the Ironstone in this part of Somerset was similar to that found in South Wales, amongst which were found rich seams of coal Or directly onwards to Taunton, and via the B&ER to Bridgwater
In his contribution, Brunel described the valley of "a little brook called Donniford Brook" as being of prime importance to any route. He had concluded that the starting point should be either Watchet or Porlock, then direct to Williton to follow the Donniford Brook as far as Triscombe. Brunel then gave the initial calculations on the required tunnel to reach Bridgwater, which being 70 to 80 chains in length would require 50 shafts to be sunk, and as it also required approaches with a 1 in 50 gradient, would be very expensive. In his conclusion, Brunel stated his preference as a route from Watchet via Williton to Taunton, stating it to be both cheaper and offering more development options to increase passenger loading.
The first meeting had been dominated by people from Minehead, Wiveliscombe and Bridgwater but, on 1 August 1856, a second meeting was held in Taunton. Brunel explained to those present the advantages of the different routes and gave some weight to the argument for a route to Bridgwater with a long tunnel under the Quantocks. He also suggested that the line should be continued to Minehead or Porlock but the meeting resolved to construct a railway only from Taunton to Watchet.
Brunel was engaged to undertake a more detailed survey and the B&ER agreed to operate the line for ten years in return for 45% of the receipts. Plans were produced as required by British law in November 1856 and the West Somerset Railway Company was incorporated on 17 August 1857 by the (20 & 21 Vict. c. cxlv) to build a railway from Taunton to Watchet. A prospectus was issued to raise the required £120,000 and these were all subscribed by the end of the year.
The railway's engineer, George Furness of London, started construction on 7 April 1859 at Crowcombe and construction lasted for nearly three years. The railway opened for passengers from Watchet Junction ( west of Taunton) to on 31 March 1862; goods traffic commenced in August. Trains were operated through to Taunton railway station as no station was provided at the junction. On 8 June 1871 a second junction was brought into use where the WSR joined the B&ER main line for the Devon and Somerset Railway and a station was finally opened here, known as , on 8 June 1871 but branch line trains continued to operate through to Taunton.
Minehead Railway
The West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR) was intended to link the iron-ore mines of the Brendon Hills with the harbour at Watchet. In 1856, before it was even opened, it was suggested that the WSMR should be extended to Minehead instead of the WSR and the West Somerset Mineral Railway Act 1857 authorising this work was passed on 27 July 1857 but it was never constructed. Instead, the (28 & 29 Vict. c. cccxvii) was passed on 5 July 1865 for a new company to build a line from the WSR at Watchet to Minehead. This again failed to be built but a renewed (34 & 35 Vict. c. xcvi) of 29 June 1871 finally saw the construction begin the following year.
The new railway was opened on 16 July 1874. In 1871, the WSR had agreed a new perpetual lease to the B&ER for a fixed sum each year which rose annually to a maximum of £6,600. The new Minehead Railway too was leased to the B&ER which then operated the two railways as a single branch from Taunton. To break up the of single track, a passing loop and second platform were installed at Williton, from the junction.
Part of the Great Western On 1 January 1876, the B&ER was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway (GWR). To increase the capacity of the West Somerset line, another loop was opened in 1879 at . The broad gauge was converted to standard gauge in 1882. Trains ran as usual on Saturday 28 October but the track was lifted the following day and reopened for traffic on Monday afternoon.
The Minehead Railway was amalgamated into the GWR by the Great Western Railway (Additional Powers) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c. ccxlviii), but the West Somerset Railway remained an independent company for the time being although all its assets continued to be leased to the bigger company. Under Great Western influence, there were steady improvements in the line as it carried an increasing level of holiday traffic to the Somerset coast and Exmoor. The platform at Stogumber was extended in 1900, a new passing loop was opened in 1904 at and, the following year, a second platform was opened at Minehead. A third loop was installed in 1906, this time at and the loop at Williton was lengthened in 1907.
Under the Railways Act 1921, the West Somerset Railway Company was finally amalgamated into the Great Western Railway but the Minehead branch, as the route was now known, continued to be operated by the newly enlarged GWR.
In the 1930s, alterations were made to significantly increase the number and length of trains that could be handled. The mainline from Norton Fitzwarren through Taunton to Cogload Junction was increased from two to four tracks on 2 December 1931 and the junction station was enlarged which meant that it was better able to cope with the trains on all three routes. In 1933, the platform at was extended to accommodate longer trains and two further passing loops were opened. These were at Leigh Bridge south of Stogumber and at Kentford west of Watchet. The following year saw the original single track doubled between and Minehead and the platform at the terminus was lengthened. The loop at Blue Anchor was also lengthened in 1934, the line was doubled from Norton Fitzwarren to Bishops Lydeard in 1936 and the Williton loop was lengthened for a second time in 1937. Camp coaches were placed at Blue Anchor from 1934 to 1939 and at Stogumber from 1935 to 1939, which encouraged holiday makers to use the train to reach these rural locations. In 1936, the GWR's chairman, Sir Robert Horne, opened the new £20,000 open-air swimming pool at Minehead.
Run down to closure The GWR was nationalised, becoming the Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948. Camp coaches made a reappearance in 1952 and were available to the public at both Stogumber and Blue Anchor from 1952 to 1964; the latter were kept on for British Rail staff holidays until 1970.
However, Washford signal box was closed in 1952 and Minehead engine shed was closed in 1956. Norton Fitzwarren station closed on 30 October 1961, after which passengers once again had to travel through to Taunton to change onto trains travelling west.
Despite the opening of a Butlins holiday camp at Minehead in 1962 which brought some 30,000 people to the town that year, the line was recommended for closure in the 1963 Reshaping of British Railways report. Goods traffic was withdrawn from Stogumber on 17 August 1963 and from the other stations on 6 July 1964 after which British Rail transported any goods traffic by road from Taunton. By this time the passing loops at Leigh Bridge and Kentford had been taken out of use, in April and May 1964 respectively.
The Beatles visited the branch on 2 March 1964 to film part of A Hard Day's Night. They shot a short scene at in which Ringo Starr and George Harrison cycle on the platform alongside the train. The train originated at London Paddington and eventually arrived at Minehead where a large crowd of admirers gathered to see the Fab Four.
Minehead signal box was closed on 27 March 1966 after which the two tracks between there and Dunster were operated as two bi-directional single lines, one to each platform. Dunster Signal Box was retained to control the level crossing and points there, and ground frames allowed the train crew to change the points at Minehead to allow locomotives to run round from one end of the train to the other. The original turntable was removed from Minehead in 1967 by which time all trains were operated by diesels.