The Woodstock Branch
- The Woodstock Branch
- The Great Western Railway built (or acquired) a varied assortment of attractive rural branch lines, many of which are justly famous. Inevitably, the seaside routes in Devon and Cornwall have enjoyed much attention, but not all Great Western branches served the far west; there was another group of classic country branch lines in and around the Thames Valley, and these London Division lines were every bit as interesting as their West Country counterparts.
- The Woodstock line, for example was an archetypal GWR branch. Opened as recently as 1890, the line was situated on the periphery of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, and was just 3.75 miles long though as it ran parallel to the Oxford to Birmingham main line for well over a mile, its apparent length was nearer 2.5 miles.
- The Woodstock branch was an essentially simple affair, small in scale and intimate in character. Sadly its life was short and the last trains had run by 1954, just 64 years after the first public working had steamed proudly into Woodstock station. Fortunately, the branch was recorded photographically throughout its brief life, and thanks to much hard work carried out by Paul Karau and others, many rare and interesting illustrations have been painstakingly assembled.
- It is hoped that the narrative will expand and complement the illustrative material and perhaps throw light on aspects of the Woodstock branch that have not yet been fully explored. It is hoped that the following text and photographs will form a worthy memorial to a little railway that was born in hope, flourished for a few years, and is now gone.
- Out of Print, 104 pages. Laminated Card Cover
- Wild Swan Publications
- ISBN-10 0906867517
- ISBN-13 9780906867518
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- Mr G.Johnson
- British Railway Books
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- Abergavenny
- NP7 1AU