The Route
Mangotsfield lies high in the hills north-east of Bristol, about seven miles distant. The Bristol to Gloucester line ran north-easterly, with a Mangotsfield station on the Shortwood Road. The Bath line formed a junction about a mile nearer Bristol, and facing Bristol; a new Mangotsfield station was opened when the Bath branch opened, replacing the earlier station. The station was very extensive with four wide platforms and large canopies, to cater for considerable passenger interchange volumes.
From Mangotsfield the line descended with a ruling gradient of 1 in 121, east and then south-eastwards with stations at Warmley, Oldland Common and Bitton; all of those settlements were in those days remote from the suburban areas of Bristol. From Bitton the line followed the valley of the River Avon south-easterly into Bath on flatter gradients, but the Great Western Railway main line already occupied the easiest route, and the new Midland alignment ran further north, crossing the River Avon five times. Although the line skirted the northern margin of the town of Saltford, there was no station there, but there was one at Kelston, across the river. Some tickets were printed "Kelston for Saltford"; there was a ferry there. Next station was Weston, then Bath. The goods yard and engine shed at Bath were west of the final river crossing, and the station was east of it.
The line was double track from the start; the station at Bath had a large all-over roof, covering two platforms in the then-traditional format of a departure platform and an arrival platform, with two carriage sidings between them. (In later years the platforms were used for both arrivals and departures, and one of the carriage sidings was altered to become an engine-release road.) The station at Bath was called simply "Bath" although timetables sometimes indicated "Queen Square -- about 1 mile to G.W. station". It seems that the description Queen Square was never formally used by the railway. After nationalisation of the railways in 1948, it was no longer appropriate to refer to "Midland station" and the title Bath Green Park was applied from 18 June 1951.
An east chord line, forming a triangle, was made at Mangotsfield, enabling trains to run direct between Bath and Gloucester; this opened in 1873.
Weston station was renamed Weston (Bath) on 1 October 1934 because of confusion with Weston-super-Mare.
Read more about this topic: Mangotsfield And Bath Branch Line
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