Chard Branch Line

Chard branch line
The bridge over the River Tone at Creech St Michael
Overview
Type	Cross country
Status	Dismantled
Locale	Somerset
Termini	Chard Junction and Taunton Chard Central
Stations	8
Operation
Opened	1863 (from Chard Jn) 1866 (from Creech)
Closed	1962
Owner	LSWR/SR (from Chard Jn) B&ER/GWR (from Creech)
Technical
Line length	3.06 mi (4.9 km) (from Chard Jn) 12.79 mi (20.6 km) (from Creech)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

[ ] Chard Branch Line
miles Bristol to Taunton Line 0.00 Taunton 2.40 Creech Junction River Tone 3.59 Thornfalcon Hatch Tunnel 6.59 Hatch 9.89 Ilton Halt 10.46 Ilminster 11.95 Donyatt Halt 15.19 Chard Central 15.50 GWR/LSWR boundary 15.51 Chard Town 18.49 Chard Junction West of England Main Line

The Chard branch lines were two lines serving the town of Chard in Somerset, England. One was a northward branch, opened in 1863, from the Salisbury to Exeter main line, and the other, opened in 1866, ran south-eastwards from the Bristol – Taunton main line. Each branch had its own Chard passenger station at first, although the two lines connected in Chard.

Although the town had an important history, it was declining during the second half of the twentieth century and the branch lines retained a rural character.

They were operated as a single entity from 1917, but finally closed to passenger traffic in 1962, and to goods traffic in 1966.

Chard had been an important commercial centre in the eighteenth century, based on linen drapery, shoemaking, wool and machine-made lace and cloth manufacture; during the canal age, a canal was built to connect the town to the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael. It was completed in 1842 but it was never commercially viable.

The Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) had opened its line to Taunton on 1 July 1842, giving rail access to London. The canal company sought Parliamentary approval to convert the canal to a railway, and it obtained an Act of Parliament to do so between Creech St Michael on the B&ER to Ilminster. The Act was passed on 16 July 1846; the Company obtained a second Act in 1847 to extend the railway to Chard. However the Chard Canal Company was in financial difficulty at this time and the necessary capital was not available; the powers lapsed, and the Chard Canal Company went into bankruptcy administration in 1853.

From 1856, the route of what became the Salisbury to Exeter main line was becoming firmer, after a considerable time spent in wrangling over alternatives: at last there were definite plans for a direct southern, narrow gauge route from Exeter to London.

The people of Chard discovered that this line would not pass through their town, but there would be a station on the new main line, then described simply as "three miles west of Winsham". (The station when built was called Chard Road, and it was two miles from the town.) Wanting a closer railway connection, promoters in the town met in November 1859 and resolved that "a railway from the London and South Western Railway, with a tramroad to the Canal Basin, is of great importance to the prosperity of the town". They promoted an independent "Chard Railway Company", obtaining an Act of Parliament on 25 May 1860 with a share capital of £25,000 and authorised loans of £8,300, to construct a railway from the town to the main line, and also a horse-operated goods tramway to the canal basin.

The London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened its Chard Road station on 19 July 1860. The Chard Railway Company started construction work on its line on 1 November 1860. The contractor for the line found himself unable to discharge his obligations and had to be replaced; this was followed by the second contractor failing too and the engineer to the line also departing.