5593 Kolhapur climbing Lickey Incline (painting by Terence Cuneo)

The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway is a railway route linking Birmingham to Gloucester in England. The city from above Centenary Square. ... Gloucester (pronounced ) is a city in south-west England, close to the Welsh border. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion...

It is one of the world's oldest mainline railways and includes the famous Lickey Incline, a two mile dead straight stretch of track running up the Lickey Ridge at a gradient of 1/37. The line was built to link the factories of Birmingham to Bristol and its docks, as well as to operate passenger services. The Lickey Incline in England is a steep climb of just over two miles, at a gradient of 1 in 37, between Bromsgrove and Blackwell (near Barnt Green) on the railway line between Birmingham and Gloucester. ... Bristol is an English city and county and one of the two administrative centres of South West England (the other being Plymouth). ... Dock can refer to several things: Places for the transfer of people and materials to, from, or between different forms of transport or working with transport: A maritime dock. ...

Origins

The idea for a line had been mooted during the construction of the Stockton & Darlington railway. There was alrady a horse drawn coal railway between Bristol and Gloucestershire, however a line running the whole distance to Birmingham was suggested. At that time, the canal journey from Birmingham to Bristol took almost a week, and the road journey, which due to expense and road quality was only really suitible for passengers, took the best part of four days. The Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was the worlds first railway to successfully use steam locomotives and carry passengers, and is considered the worlds first modern railway. ... Gloucestershire (pronounced [ ˈglɒstəʃəʳ]; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a ceremonial and administrative county in southwest England. ...

Several surveys were completed in the ten years after 1824; however all observers recognised the challenge that the Lickey Ridge posed to the construction of the railway. Other lines, such as the Cromford and High Peak Railway had previously been built up steeper inclines, however the Birmingham and Gloucester was a mechanised commercial railway, and was intended to be worked by steam locomotives. Both Stephenson and Brunel said that a general purpose steam locomotive could not work such a gradient. 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Cromford and High Peak Railway was a railway built in the 1830s and operated by the London and North Western Railway to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal at Cromford Wharf and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. ... People: D. C. Stephenson, Ku Klux Klan leader David Stevenson, a Lighthouse designer George Stephenson a British engineer who created Stephensons Rocket Neal Stephenson, author Pamela Stephenson, comedienne and actress Robert Stephenson, British civil and railway engineer (son of George Stephenson) Rod Stephenson, a Canadian politician from Manitoba Places... Brunel can mean: Isambard Kingdom Brunel Marc Isambard Brunel Brunel Bridge Brunel University This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Due to the Lickey problem, many investors remained sceptical and withheld funds; certain landowners asked excessive prices for land needed to construct the railway. Also, the people of Bromsgrove protested the proximity of the 'iron beast' to the town. Eventually it was decided that the incline could be worked by a system of 'banking engines'. Deals were struck with recalcitrant landlords and Bromsgrove station was built almost two miles outside the town, in Aston Fields. The line was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1836, just eleven years after the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The line was completed by 1840. Bromsgrove is a town in north west Worcestershire, part of the West Midlands in England. ... 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was the worlds first railway to successfully use steam locomotives and carry passengers, and is considered the worlds first modern railway. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Development

The line remains part of one of the UK's 'mainline' railway routes, despite a series of changes in ownership. The original Birmingham and Gloucester company merged with the Bristol and Gloucester Railway in 1845 to form the Birmingham and Bristol Railway. In 1846 the whole become a part of the Midland Railway, which later became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in the rationalisation of 1923. The LMS, along with the rest of the UK's mainline railways, became part of British Railways when it was nationalised in 1948 by the Labour government. In 1995, the line was sold to Railtrack as part of the privatisation of the Major government, and then partially returned to public ownership under Network Rail in 2003. 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed from 1844 to 1922. ... The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS1) was a British railway company. ... The Railways Act of 1921, also known as the Grouping forcibly merged British railway companies into The Big Four, as of 1st January 1923. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Railtrack was a group of companies which owned the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and some stations of the British railway system from its privatisation in 1996 until 2002. ... The Right Honourable Sir John Roy Major, KG, CH, PC (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1990... Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend Company Limited by Guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Reference

Maggs, C (1986) 'The Birmingham Gloucester Line', Line One Press, Cheltnam, ISBN 0-907036-10-4