Disused Railways Nailsworth Stroud connection

Branch line from the Nailsworth railway into Stroud Gloucestershire. This branch only totalled just over a mile, but was quite successful as a passenger route for a while in its early days. It quickly declined after the second world war and was closed to passenger traffic in 1949. It did continue as a freight line into the 1960’s, but like so many branch lines, it along with the Nailsworth to Stonehouse line, was then closed. This meant that it only hosted steam trains in its life. Apart from general freight, this line supplied coal to Stroud’s gas works. Since this was in a valley below the railway an ingenious method was used to deliver it. A ‘Hydro hydraulic’ system was used to up end the coal wagons so that the coal was then guided by chutes directly into the gas works.
The station itself was built on a high embankment, which was accessed over a six arch viaduct. Although the embankments have been removed the viaduct remains. What appears to be a raised roadway just beyond the canal, was probably used to access the station over the canal, and provide a link to the GWR station nearby. From this roadway it is possible to look down on the station site, now a builders merchants, but there are no remains to be seen. Another lost railway.
Although this Midland Railway station is long gone, the Great Western Railway still have theirs in use nearby. A typical GWR layout and well worth a visit.