Monument Type(s):

• RAILWAY (Mid 19th century to 21st century - 1846 AD to 2050 AD)

Summary

Railway of 19th century and later date.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Description

Line built in 1848 and opened in 1849 <1>
CMHTS Record Sheet <2>
CMHTS Report <3>

The Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway (SBR) scheme was approved by Parliament in 1846. It was a revised version of one of two rival plans (thrown out by Parliament the year before) put forward by the Grand Junction Railway and the London & Birmingham Railway, which had since merged to become the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), henceforth the chief rival of the Shrewsbury & Birmingham. The line was only authorised between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. The section into Birmingham was to be built by a separate company, the Stour Valley Railway Company, which was jointly controlled by the SBR, LNWR and Birmingham Canal Company. ->

-> Stephenson acted as consultant engineer to the SBR, and his pupil, William Baker, was resident engineer. Engineering difficulties were relatively few, but the large embankment near Shifnal and the Oakengates tunnel did delay work on the line somewhat. Round the clock working was introduced in order to try to complete the line by the time the SURC Stafford line (which shared tracks with the SBR as far as Wellington, but was now leased to the SBR's main rival, the LNWR) was finished, but to no avail. The SBR was opened as far as Oakengates in June 1849 (when the Stafford line was opened), and to Wolverhampton later that same year. It was double track throughout the route. ->

-> In 1847 the LNWR had also acquired overall control of the Stour Valley Railway Company, which by the terms of the Act was supposed to be extending the SBR line from Wolverhampton to Birmingham. With the LNWR now operating the Stafford line [PRN 08462], which formed the main London connection, it had no interest in completing this rival line, and for the next few years employed a variety of blocking tactics. The SBR's agreement with the Shrewsbury & Chester Railway (SCR) regarding the sharing of track and rolling stock, the promotion of their combined alternative Midlands-Mersey through route, and the undercutting of LNWR prices, only made things worse. The engineer William Baker, who was now working for the Stour Valley Railway Company was ordered to hold up the completion of the SBR's rail link to Birmingham. And when the SBR tried to use a wharf on the Birmingham Canal at Wolverhampton to take their freight on by water, the militia had to be called in to quell the ensuing violence. The price war, however, intensified, with the LNWR lowering both passenger and freight prices on the Stafford line which it controlled. By mid 1850 the SBR was in financial trouble. Together with its ally, the SCR, it entered into an agreement with another major railway company trying to expand northwards, the Great Western Railway (GWR). This incensed the LNWR, though it failed to stop the agreement being ratified. By late 1850 the Stour Valley Railway was ready for use, but it took another four years of legal wrangling before the SBR trains could use it. The breakthrough came in November 1854, shortly after the Amalgamation Act for the Associated Companies (the SBR, SCR and GWR) came into force. ->

-> The SBR lines linked up with GWR lines south of Birmingham, but until 1861 the southbound lines from Birmingham were broad gauge. It was not until the GWR had changed to narrow gauge on all its lines, therefore, that it was able to offer through services to London. <4>

The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was incorporated in 1846 and opened in 1849 between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. Until 1854, it was forced to terminate at Victoria Station because the LNWR fought a long battle preventing the line reaching Birmingham. Having been amalgamated with the GWR in 1854, it at last achieved a route to Birmingham using the Grand Junction Railway via Wolverhampton Low Level Station. <5>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.