Railway Lines Opened in 1862 - West Somerset Railway, Serviceton Railway Line, Victoria, Waverley Line, Watford and Rickmansworth Railway (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 106. Not illustrated. Chapters: West Somerset Railway, Serviceton Railway Line, Victoria, Waverley Line, Watford and Rickmansworth Railway, Geelong ballarat Railway Line, Victoria, Berks and Hants Railway, Kongsvinger Line, Pen-Yr-Orsedd Quarry Tramways, Border Counties Railway, Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway, Carnarvonshire Railway, Lyon Metro Line C, Border Union Railway, Keith and Dufftown Railway, Cheshire Midland Railway, Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway, Cowes & Newport Railway Company, the Portpatrick Railway. Excerpt: The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a railway line that originally linked Taunton and Watchet in Somerset, England. It opened in 1862 and was extended from Watchet to Minehead by the Minehead Railway in 1874. Although just a single track, improvements were needed in the first half of the twentieth century to accommodate the significant number of tourists that wished to travel to the Somerset coast. Despite this traffic it was closed in 1971 but was then reopened in 1976 as a heritage railway. At 22.75 miles (36.6 km) it is the longest privately owned passenger rail line in the country, however services normally only operate on the 19.5 miles (31.4 km) between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. During special events some trains continue to Norton Fitzwarren and a connection to Network Rail allows through trains to operate onto the national network. It operates services using both heritage steam and diesel trains. In 1845, when the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) had recently completed its main line, there were proposals for a number of different and competitive railway schemes in west Somerset. A Bristol and English Channels Direct Junction Railway was proposed as a link from Watchet through Stogumber and Bishops Lydeard to Bridport on the south coast, which would be an alternative to ship...