GWR 2-8-0T '4200' Class, no. 4247, at Toddington Station on 8th August 2004. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1916. GWR 0-6-0PT '6400' Class, no. 6412, at Cheltenham Racecourse on 11th September 2004. This locomotive was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1937, and was withdrawn from traffic in 1964. It is normally a resident on the Llangollen Railway.  BR Class 03, no. D2069, at the Doncaster Works open day on 27th July 2003. This locomotive was built by British Rail at Doncaster Works in 1959. It was withdrawn from traffic in 1983, and rescued for preservation in 1990 from a scrapyard in Leicester. BR Class 24, no. 24081, departing Cheltenham Racecourse on 24th August 2004. This locomotive was built by British Rail at Crewe Works in 1960. It had the distinction of being the final locomotive of its class in traffic, and was withdrawn in 1980.  BR Class 47, no. 47376, approaching Cheltenham Racecourse on 5th September 2003. This locomotive was built in 1965, by Brush Traction, Loughborough. It was the first locomotive to be painted in the corporate livery of Freightliner in 1995, and survived in traffic until 2001. It was preserved in 2002. Description
The award-winning Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) is a volunteer run organisation that has reopened the closed railway line between Toddington, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham Racecourse. It has future plans to extend to Broadway, Warwickshire. The line was originally part of the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham to Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham line, which was built in 1900-06, and runs through the local Cotswold towns of Winchcombe and Bishop's Cleeve. The line was closed after a train derailment in 1976. The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations in 1984. This culminated with the reopening of the line to Cheltenham Racecourse in 2003, by HRH Anne, Princess Royal. The railway operates a wide variety of both steam and heritage diesel locomotives as well as heritage multiple units. These have included the world famous engine 4472 "Flying Scotsman" and 3440 "City of Truro", which was reputedly the first engine to reach 100 mph in 1904.
Stations
- Toddington
- Winchcombe
- Gotherington (Halt)
- Cheltenham Racecourse
Locomotives
Locomotives marked with an asterisk (*) are not permanent residents on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
- Steam locomotives
- BR 4-6-0 Class '4MT' no. 76077
- BR 2-10-0 Class '9F' no. 92203 'Black Prince'
- GWR 0-6-0 '2251' Class no. 3205*
- GWR 2-8-0 '2800' Class no. 2807
- GWR 2-8-0 '2884' Class no. 3822*
- GWR 4-4-0 '3700' (City) Class no. 3440* 'City of Truro'
- GWR 2-8-0T '4200' Class nos. 4247 and 4270
- GWR 2-6-2T '5100' (Large Prairie) Class no. 5199*
- GWR 2-8-0T '5205' Class no. 5224*
- GWR 0-6-0PT '6400' Class nos. 6412* and 6430*
- GWR 4-6-0 '6959' (Modified Hall) Class nos. 6960 'Raveningham Hall', 6984 'Owsden Hall', and 7903* 'Foremarke Hall'
- Industrial 0-6-0ST no. 2409 'King George'
- LMS 2-8-0 Class '8F' no. 8274
- SR 4-6-2 'Merchant Navy' Class no. 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental'
- Diesel locomotives
- BR 0-6-0 Class 03 nos. D2069 and D2184
- BR 0-6-0 Class 14 nos. D9539 and D9553
- BR Bo-Bo Class 20 no. D8137
- BR Bo-Bo Class 24 no. 24081
- BR Bo-Bo Class 26 no. 26043
- BR A1A-A1A Class 31 no. D5541
- BR Co-Co Class 37 nos. 37215 and 37324 'Clydebridge'
- BR 1Co-Co1 Class 45 no. 45149
- BR Co-Co Class 47 nos. 47105 and 47376 'Freightliner 1995'
- LMS 0-6-0 no. 7069
Future plans
The railway currently has two major projects ongoing.
- Implementation of signalling on the Winchcombe-Cheltenham section of the line, to allow operation of multiple trains. This includes construction of signal boxes at Cheltenham Racecourse and Gotherington.
- Extension of track northwards from Toddington towards Broadway, with the construction of a new station at Broadway.
In the long-term future, plans could include a southern extension to link up to the national rail network at Cheltenham Spa mainline station, and extensions further north towards Honeybourne and possibly eventually Stratford-upon-Avon.
North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway
Toddington station is also home to the North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway.
External link
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