The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North Western Railway, which used underhand and coercive tactics. The section between Shrewsbury and Wellington was also built jointly, in this case with the Shropshire Union Railway.
The S&BR opened from Shrewsbury to its own Wolverhampton terminus in 1849. The Stour Valley Line was still delayed by the LNWR, but the S&BR eventually got access to it in 1852. By this time it was obvious that the LNWR was an impossible partner, and the S&BR allied itself to the Great Western Railway, which reached Wolverhampton in 1854. The S&BR merged with the GWR in 1854. With the S&BR and other absorbed railways, the GWR obtained a through route between London and the River Mersey at Birkenhead, and to Manchester and Liverpool by the use of running powers.
The S&BR route was an important part of this main line until the 1960s, when electrification of former LNWR routes compelled concentration of long-distance traffic elsewhere, and the line became a secondary route, still in important passenger operation.
The S&BR line had the distinction of having at one time the northernmost section of GWR broad gauge usage, and much later the first section of the former GWR to have overhead electrification.
Origins Local people proposed a railway from Birmingham to Shrewsbury by way of Dudley and Wolverhampton in 1844. The London and Birmingham Railway was engaged at the time in competitive rivalry with the Grand Junction Railway and hoped that the Shrewsbury line might enable them to by-pass the GJR; accordingly they supported it, and provisionally agreed a lease.E T MacDermot, History of the Great Western Railway: volume I, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927, pages 348 to 351Keith M Beck, The Great Western North of Wolverhampton, Ian Allan Limited, Shepperton, 1986, , page 10
In their own defence, the Grand Junction Railway devised a scheme for a railway from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury as well as a line from Stafford, on their own main line, to join it. It was these lines that went to the 1845 session of Parliament as the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway, but the scheme failed Standing Orders and was rejected.
Shortly afterwards the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway amalgamated, forming (with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway)the London and North Western Railway. This changed the competitive situation completely, and both factions within the LNWR abandoned their support for any Shrewsbury line.Rex Christiansen, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 7: the West Midlands, David & Charles Publishers, Newton Abbot, 1973, 0 7110 6093 0, pages 81 to 83
The independent promoters of the Shrewsbury line called their line the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway. They decided to continue their attempt, but to leave the section of route between Birmingham and Wolverhampton to be built jointly with others: this was going to be the most expensive section to build, and the bigger railways already had plans for the district. That became the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway (BW&SVR); it would be paid for jointly, with the S&BR, the LNWR and the Birmingham Canal each subscribing a quarter of the capital; the remaining quarter would come from ordinary public subscriptions.
Authorisation
The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Bill (now for a railway between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton only, under 20 miles) and the Stour Valley Railway (the short form name of the BW&SVR) both went to the 1846 session; so did the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway, destined to be the saviour of the S&BR later on. Sixteen railways in the district were under consideration, and the S&BR capital was £1.3 million. The Stour Valley capital was £1.11 million. The bills were passed on 3 August 1846 as the (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccvii) and the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxv).Christiansen, page 85Herbert Rake, The Progress of the Great Western Railway from London to the Mersey, part1, in the Railway Magazine, June 1915Ernest F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959, pages 117 to 119
The Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway was authorised in 1845 to build to a terminus in Shrewsbury, but the obvious affinity of that line – it became the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway – with the Birmingham company led to the decision to have a joint station at Shrewsbury, at a modified location. It would also be jointly used by the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway and the Shropshire Union company. It was ready in time for the opening throughout of the S&BR.MacDermot, page 346
So far as the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was concerned, the ten miles from Shrewsbury to Wellington, about a third of the extent of the line, was to be built and operated jointly with the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company; that railway was planning a line from Stafford to Wellington, in order to get access to Shrewsbury.
The final laying out of the line was entrusted to William Baker. The directors instructed that the major structures on the line be made suitable for broad gauge track, in case that were to be laid later.Beck, page 11
The Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Junction Railway amalgamated with the S&BR in 1847.
The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway got approval in the (10 & 11 Vict. c. lxxx) to build a branch from Shifnal to Madeley, and extend the Coalbrookdale branch to Ironbridge, as well as increasing capital.Rake, part 2, in Railway Magazine, August 1915
The LNWR gathers strength In the autumn of 1846 the LNWR took a lease of both the Shropshire Union Railway and Canal system, and of the Stour Valley Railway. The S&BR acquiesced in this, having been given assurances about traffic pooling. The LNWR had acquired share of the Birmingham Canal Company, so that the LNWR now had a 50% share of the Stour Valley Railway as well as the lease. Suddenly the LNWR was dominant in the area, and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham saw that its position was precarious. However an agreement was reached with the LNWR that traffic would not improperly be diverted away from the S&BR line, and the LNWR's bill to authorise the lease was allowed to pass. The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was also given running powers over the Stour Valley line; and in addition that the short section of line from Wolverhampton station to the divergence of the Shrewsbury and Stafford lines would be joint. The running powers would lapse if the S&BR were taken over by the GWR or certain companies considered to be its allies.MacDermot, pages 351 to 353
Opening of the line Oakengates tunnel, 471 yards, took some time to complete; although it was short, it was to be bored through solid rock. The S&BR opened its line as far as from Shrewsbury to Oakengates station, as well as the joint line on 1 June 1849. The LNWR opened its line from Stafford, joining the joint line at Wellington, on the same day. The rest of the S&BR through to a temporary station at Wolverhampton was opened on 12 November 1849. The Wolverhampton station was a small affair immediately south of the Wednesfield Road. It was at this stage not connected to any other railway, so one platform was enough for the passenger business.MacDermot, page 353Christiansen, page 86
War with the LNWR At this period the LNWR decided to do all it could to harm the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway, and its natural allies the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway, and the Chester and Birkenhead Railway. This extended to illegal acts; the worst of these took place around Chester, involving the two railways that opposed the LNWR there.Peter E Baughan, A Regional History of the Railways Of Great Britain: volume 11: North and Mid Wales, David St John Thomas, Nairn, 1980, , pages 40 and 41 Further south the LNWR engaged in a price war, in which fares dropped to unreasonably low levels, in an attempt to coerce the S&BR.
In addition the LNWR as the major shareholder in the Stour Valley line ensured that the completion of the line, on which the S&BR relied, was delayed. The agreement about traffic pooling was ignored. The LNWR had the old Grand Junction Railway station at Wednesfield Heath, a mile or so from Wolverhampton, while the S&BR connected into no other line at Wolverhampton.Geoffrey Holt and Gordon Biddle, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 10: the North West, David St John Thomas, Nairn, 1986, , page 45George P Neele, Railway Reminiscences, McCorquodale & Co, London, 1904, pages 28 and 29
Obviously the S&BR was unable to convey goods traffic for points south of Wolverhampton because of LNWR intransigence, and they tried to construct a goods transhipment location alongside the canal at Victoria basin, just north of Wolverhampton, in April 1850. This was alongside their passenger terminus. As they attempted to lay boards to make a pathway for the physical transfer of goods from their wagons to canal barges, they suffered from LNWR physical violence and intimidation there too.
The S&BR was alienated from the LNWR, and turned to the Great Western Railway, which was building its own line towards Wolverhampton.At this stage the GWR was no closer than Banbury. On 10 January 1851 a traffic agreement was concluded between the S&BR and the S&CR with the GWR.MacDermot, pages 357 to 363Christiansen, page 88Beck, page 14
LNWR actions included packing shareholders’ meetings with nominees, the forging of a S&BR company seal, and numerous other improper procedures. As the S&BR and S&CR became increasingly aligned to the GWR, LNWR aggression turned to the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway. Nevertheless, in 1851 the Associated Companies (the GWR, the S&BR and the S&CR) obtained running powers over the BL&CJR, giving them ultimately access to Birkenhead, Liverpool and Manchester.MacDermot, pages 371 to 373
Stour Valley line
The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway needed the Stour Valley line to be opened, to give them access to Birmingham. It was evidently physically completed, but the LNWR now adopted underhand tactics to delay opening that would permit the S&BR trains to run on the line. The escalation of this culminated in the S&BR deciding to run a train on 1 December 1851, despite the LNWR prevarication. The LNWR put physical obstructions on the line to prevent the train running; a large number of men on both the S&BR and LNWR sides were present, but the planned run was frustrated.
The matter dragged on, with alleged unsafe factors on the line being used to delay opening, in some cases assisted by the Board of Trade inspector. At length the line opened on 1 July 1852. The LNWR was still able to prevent the S&BR trains running, by failing to agree operating rules at Wolverhampton and Birmingham stations, and numerous other artificial difficulties. Eventually on 4 February 1854 S&BR trains started to run on the Stour Valley Line to Birmingham.MacDermot, pages 373 to 380Christiansen, pages 88 and 89Beck, pages 15 to 18
A GWR route at last The opening of the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway in 1854 finally gave the S&BR access southwards to the GWR, and the LNWR was at last powerless to frustrate the S&BR in the Birmingham area. The Wolverhampton Junction Railway was an essential part of the connection. It was three-quarters of a mile long and connected the southward course of the S&BR at Stafford Road Junction into the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway, at Cannock Road Junction. It was wholly owned by the Great Western Railway.