Westerleigh Junction

Legend

Cross Country Route

to York

Thornbury Branchline

Yate Junction North

Yate

southbound

A432 Station Road

Yate

northbound

Yate Junction South

Nibley Lane

Westerleigh Road

Westerleigh Junction

London

Westerleigh village

Colliery lines

Murco

depot

M4

Bristol & Gloucester Rly

Westerleigh Junction is a railway junction in

London Paddington to Swansea, near the village of Westerleigh

.

The junction is located between the stations of Bristol Parkway, Swindon and Yate.

Description

The junction provides access from the SWML to the west and the XCR to the north. The lines cross Westerleigh Road in separate bridges, with a bridge over the old

Murco

depot, just to the west of the junction.

The South Wales Main Line section of the junction was

21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main Line

.

History

The junction originated in 1903, when the Great Western Railway opened the Badminton Line, the direct route of the South Wales Main Line. The junction connected the eastbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway (now part of the XCR), which had opened in 1844 as the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The junction provided a route from Bristol to the Midland Railway via Filton Junction, an alternative to the direct Midland Railway route through Mangotsfield.

In 1908 a curve was added to the junction to connect the westbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway.

Flower class 4101 Aurricula. The Midland resisted this new service and claimed that the loop had only been agreed on the basis of services to Berkeley and the Severn, not northwards. Various tactics were used to disrupt competing services, including slow trains scheduled ahead of GWR expresses. The matter came to court, but in November the Court of Appeal finally ruled that the GWR did have running powers northwards. Despite this, the Midland remained disruptive. In particular they refused to allow heavier locomotives, like the new 4-6-0s, over Stonehouse Viaduct^[3] and so this remained the preserve of the 4-4-0 Counties.^[2]

The curve was removed after the Severn Railway Bridge was irreparably damaged in 1960.

In 1970 the original route of the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was closed between Bristol and Westerleigh Junction, except for the short section now serving the Murco depot.

References

^ The Chronology, Doug Edwards
^
ISBN 0-85361-435-0
.

^ Stonehouse Viaduct

51°31′15″N 2°26′08″W / 51.5207°N 2.4355°W / 51.5207; -2.4355

[1] The Chronology, Doug Edwards

[Maggs,_35-2] 
ISBN 0-85361-435-0
.

[3] Stonehouse Viaduct

[3]

[2]