Origin
At Gloucester the latter had formed a junction with the 7 ft 0 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway running into the town on mixed gauge tracks. In 1843 the C&GWU had been taken over by the Great Western Railway which began putting pressure on the Bristol and Gloucester to join the GWR at Bristol, to subscribe to the proposed South Devon Railway, and to convert to broad gauge track, to the alarm of the Northern "narrow" gauge railways.
The "break-of-gauge" at Gloucester was a major problem. It caused pandemonium as whole trainloads of passengers, and their luggage, changed from one to another, together with the transshipment of goods.
Read more about this topic: Birmingham And Bristol Railway
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