Lambourn Valley Railway
| Lambourn Valley Railway | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| Status | Dismantled |
| Termini |
Newbury Lambourn |
| Stations | 9 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1898 |
| Closed | Passengers 1960 Goods 1973 |
| Operator(s) | Lambourn Valley Railway Great Western Railway Western Region of British Railways |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 12 1⁄2 miles (20.1 km) |
| Number of tracks | Single track |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Lambourn Valley Railway (LVR) was a branch railway line running from the town of Newbury, Berkshire north-west to the village of Lambourn. It was opened in 1898. Fulfilling a local need, it was in financial difficulties throughout its independent life and was sold to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1905.
Railmotors and a GWR diesel railcar were used on the line.
The line closed to passenger traffic in 1960, but a section between Newbury and Welford remained open for freight traffic to RAF Welford until 1972. A special passenger service operated on 3 November 1973 between Newbury and Welford Park to give the public a final trip over the line; a nine-coach train made four runs in each direction, and unusually, a special souvenir booklet was produced.
Lambourn had been an important agricultural and trading centre, but in the second half of the nineteenth century it was declining. Interested parties suggested a number of ways of making a railway connection, seen as important to revitalising the town, but it was left to the Engineer of the newly authorised Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, E E Allen. to propose a realistic scheme. This was a tramway from Newbury to Lambourn; the Tramways Act 1870 had enabled a low-cost form of railway to be constructed without some of the legal processes required for conventional railways.
There was considerable local enthusiasm for the scheme and the provisional Newbury and Lambourn Tramway Company was formed in late 1873. A 3 ft gauge single track would be laid at the side of the main road, with several short branches within Newbury. It was to be horse-drawn, the vehicle making two round trips daily at first. The cost was estimated at £30,000 and an authorising Act was obtained on 7 August 1875; one year was allowed for construction. A contract for construction was let and a first rail was ceremonially fixed; the subscribers did not come forward and only shares to the value of £4,000 were taken up. The company could not proceed and at the expiry of the year allowed, it was wound up.
This was followed by a more conventional railway scheme taking advantage of the Regulation of Railways Act 1868 which, among other things, authorised the construction of a light railway—the first use of the term—subject to conditions that might be imposed by the board of Trade. An attempt to get an authorising Act failed in the 1881 session due to objections over level crossings, but a revised scheme with a shorter route and fewer level crossings was submitted for the 1883 session, and obtained its authorising Act on 2 August 1883. The Lambourn Valley Railway Company was incorporated, capital £100,000. It was to be a single line built on the standard gauge; the estimated cost of the infrastructure was £80,530; it was authorised as an ordinary railway, not a light railway. The engineer was John Fowler.
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