Rail Centres: No. 10 - Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury has been an important regional centre since Norman times but it was not until 1848 that it was reached by the railways. After a few years of bitter dispute virtually bankrupted the small local companies, the Great Western and London & North Western Railways monopolised the town in an uneasy alliance, sharing not only the station, but also some of the lines leading to the town. Apart from serving the railway needs of Shropshire and the bordering counties of Wales, Shrewsbury was at the crossing point of two important trunk lines - the Great Western's Paddington-Birkenhead route linking London with the Mersey, and the North-to-West line linking the industrial northwest of England with the collieries of South Wales and, after the completion of the Severn Tunnel, the important port of Bristol and the holiday resorts of the southwest.
Shrewsbury was also the terminus of the over-ambitious Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway which first closed barely months after it had opened. After a few more years of struggle it closed again and stayed derelict until the arrival of Colonel Stephens, who resurrected and renamed the railway. The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway with its motley collection of locomotives and rolling stock was an enthusiast's delight and was in turn resuscitated by the Army in World War 2. Shrewsbury suffered badly in the 1960s, losing several of its branch lines, many of its local stopping trains, its main line link to Paddington, and finally its once large engine sheds. But the 1980s have seen a slight revival in the town's railway fortunes and the future at last looks fairly bright for what is an important regional railway centre.
Hardback, 128 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9781901945201
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Updated: 2 January 2025