| 2 Jul 1856 |
Advert in Taunton Courier announcing Public Meeting on 9 Jul 1856 at Egremont Arms, Williton |
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| 9 Jul 1856 |
First Public Meeting held at Williton with Sir Peregrine Acland in the Chair, and Isambard Brunel in attendance |
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| 17 Aug 1857 |
West Somerset Railway Company incorporated by Act of Parliament (20&21 Vic. cap, cxlv) |
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| 10 Feb 1858 |
First General Meeting of Company held at Pattison's Castle Hotel, Taunton |
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| 29 Sep 1858 |
Brunel reported the line laid out |
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| 5 Apr 1859 |
Contract signed with George Furness of London for construction of the line |
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| 7 Apr 1859 |
First sod dug at Crowcombe Heathfield |
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| 10 Apr 1859 |
Construction started |
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| 15 Sep 1859 |
Engineer to the Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, died (replaced by R.P.Brereton) |
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| 31 Mar 1862 |
West Somerset Railway opened - worked by Bristol & Exeter Railway |
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| 29 Jun 1865 |
Minehead Railway Company incorporated by Act of Parliament (35&35 Vic. cap.xcvi) |
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| 1871 |
Williton crossing loop opened |
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| 28 Dec 1871 |
Contract to build Minehead Railway let to Frederick Furniss of London |
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| 1873 |
Williton Bridge opened (to re-route road traffic away from the level crossing) |
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| 16 Jul 1874 |
Minehead Railway opened - worked by Bristol & Exeter Railway |
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| 1879 |
Crowcombe crossing loop opened |
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| 1 Oct 1896 |
Goods Depot opened at Norton Fitzwarren |
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| 1 Jul 1897 |
Minehead Railway absorbed into the Great Western Railway |
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| 5 Jan 1904 |
Blue Anchor crossing loop and signal box opened |
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| 1 Jul 1905 |
Minehead station reconstruction completed |
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| 2 Jul 1906 |
Bishops Lydeard crossing loop opened |
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| Nov 1906 |
Williton crossing loop extended |
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| 1 Apr 1913 |
Blue Anchor goods opened |
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| 1 Jan 1922 |
West Somerset Railway absorbed into the Great Western Railway |
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| 6 Apr 1926 |
Stogumber signal box closed |
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| 4 Aug 1926 |
Dunster signal box closed |
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| 11 Aug 1926 |
Watchet signal box closed |
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| 11 Aug 1926 |
Washford signal box closed |
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| 31 Jan 1929 |
Wansborough Paper Mill siding opened |
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| 14 Feb 1931 |
Extensions to Norton Fitzwarren Station opened |
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| 10 Jul 1933 |
Kentsford crossing loop opened |
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| 16 Jul 1933 |
Leigh Bridge crossing loop opened |
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| 5 Jan 1934 |
Minehead platforms extended |
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| 18 Feb 1934 |
Blue Anchor crossing loop and platforms extended |
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| 19 Mar 1934 |
Minehead to Dunster section doubled |
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| 19 Mar 1934 |
Dunster signal box opened |
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| 22 Apr 1934 |
Crowcombe crossing loop and platforms extended |
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| 6 Jul 1934 |
Automatic token exchange apparatus installed at Bishops Lydeard, Crowcombe, Williton, Blue Anchor and Dunster. Also at Leigh Bridge and Kentsford. First of type of the Great Western system |
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| 7 Jun 1936 |
Norton Fitzwarren to Bishops Lydeard section doubled |
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| 15 Jun 1937 |
Williton crossing loop extended |
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| 1952 |
Williton Bridge rebuilt |
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| 23 Apr 1961 |
Dunster Sea Lane Level Crossing gates replaced |
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| 10 Sep 1962 |
Diesel Multiple Units replace steam-hauled passenger trains |
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| 6 Jul 1964 |
Goods traffic ceased at Watchet |
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| 11 Jan 1965 |
Stogumber signalling removed |
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| 21 Feb 1966 |
Washford became unstaffed halt |
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| 27 Mar 1966 |
Minehead to Dunster section reduced to two independent single lines; Minehead signal box closed |
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| 5 Mar 1967 |
Crowcombe signal box closed |
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| 6 Mar 1967 |
Crowcombe became unstaffed halt |
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| 26 Feb 1968 |
All tickets now sold on train (except Minehead) |
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| 1 Mar 1970 |
Bishops Lydeard became unstaffed halt and signal box closed |
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| 19 Mar 1970 |
Closure of entire branch sanctioned by Minister of Transport |
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| 2 Jan 1971 |
Branch closed |
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| 5 May 1971 |
The present West Somerset Railway Company Limited was incorporated |
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| 7 May 1971 |
Inaugural meeting of the West Somerset Railway Association held at the Black Horse, Taunton |
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| 18 Nov 1973 |
Light Railway Order made to Company(came into force 10 days later) |
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| Oct 1972 |
Somerset County Council to purchase the line |
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| 18 May 1974 |
Graham Harwood leads the first working party on the line at Bishops Lydeard |
| 1 Jun 1974 |
Graham Harwood leads the first working party at Minehead |
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| 13 Mar 1975 |
LMS 4-6-2 no 46229 "Duchess of Hamilton" towed from Minehead to Taunton by BR Class 25 no 25059 |
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| 1 Sep 1975 |
Light Railway Order made to County Council (came into force 10 days later) |
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| 31 Oct 1975 |
Railway leased to the Company |
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| 21 Dec 1975 |
"Directors' Special" ran from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead (Train consist was "Victor" - Bagnall 0-6-0ST - plus a van and brake van. This was the first train run by the new WSR company |
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| 28 Mar 1976 |
West Somerset Railway reopened Minehead to Blue Anchor section, including Dunster station |
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| 31 Mar 1976 |
West Somerset Railway Company went public by the issue of ordinary shares |
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| 28 Aug 1976 |
Blue Anchor to Williton section reopened, including stations at Washford and Watchet |
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| 22 Oct 1977 |
The first trains since re-opening run between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard - the "Tauntonian" and the "West Somerset Express" - both hauled by GWR 0-6-0PT no 6412 |
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| 17-20 Feb 1978 |
The "Blizzard Specials" ran from Minehead through to Bishops Lydeard, carrying mail, food and people stranded by the severe weather |
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| 7 May 1978 |
Williton to Stogumber section reopened |
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| 9 Jun 1979 |
Stogumber to Bishops Lydeard section reopened, including the station at Crowcombe (actually also included the section to Norton Fitzwarren) |
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| 28 Jun 1987 |
Doniford Beach Halt opened |
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| 23 May 1988 |
"Victor", Bagnall 0-6-0ST no 2996 left the line after many years of stalwart service. The "Bagnalls" were totally unsuitable for the line and their departure marked an upturn in the line's fortunes. |
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| 12 Apr 1990 |
Minehead Signal Box commissioned |
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| 16 Jun 1990 |
First through train since 1971 - Manchester-Minehead |
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| 24 Mar 1991 |
First train from London Paddington to Minehead for over twenty years |
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| 16 Jan 1993 |
First HST traversed WSR - Bedford-Bishops Lydeard |
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| 5 Jun 1993 |
First through train to originate from WSR in 22 years - Minehead to York |
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| 27 Apr 1994 |
First steam-hauled through train (behind BR Class 4 No 75069) - Kidderminster-Minehead |
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| 21 Jan 1997 |
First sod cut for new stone siding at Minehead |
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| 24 Mar 1997 |
First consignment of stone (1170 tonnes) from Mendips hauled to Minehead by Class 37 no 37711 |
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| 8 May 1998 |
Minehead Shed Extension opened by Don Haynes |
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| 6 Mar 2000 |
First of the Doniford Stone trains hauled by Class 59 no 59001 "Yeoman Endeavour" |
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| Jun 2001 |
Bishops Lydeard re-signalling completed |
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| 1 Nov 2002 |
The Royal Train conveyed the Duke of Edinburgh to Minehead |
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| 24 Nov 2004 |
WSRA acquired land at Norton Fitzwarren for future developments |
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| 20 July 2007 |
First regular service trains run between Bristol and Minehead |
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Chronology
