Alcester–Bearley branch line

It connected the manufacturing town of Alcester into the Great Western Railway network, opening in 1876.

[note 2][1][5][4][6][7][8][9][10] The construction of the North Warwickshire line by the Great Western Railway in 1907 affected the branch.

West of Bearley it created a triangular junction by adding a southern chord; and it used the formation of the Alcester branch for 250 yards.

[note 3][7][4] As an emergency measure during World War I, the branch was closed on 1 January 1917: the track was lifted in March, for use in support of military action.

On 18 December 1922 the line was reopened from Bearley to Great Alne, and a new halt at Aston Cantlow was brought into use.

The Maudslay Motor Company was an important vehicle manufacturing works in Coventry; at the outbreak of World War II it was considered important to be able to sustain production in the event of heavy bombing by enemy aircraft, and a "shadow" factory was constructed near Great Alne; it came to be known as Castle Maudslay.

As had been foreseen, the central works was badly damaged in bombing in 1940, as part of the so-called Baedeker Blitz.

Trains ran from Leamington in connection with services from Coventry; these specials continued until 3 July 1944 when buses were substituted.

[4][7] After its wartime use, the branch was then used for storing crippled wagons, until closure on 1 March 1951; a short length was retained at each end until August 1960 as sidings.

The branch engine took water from the canal at this point, a wheel-operated valve controlling supplies.

Great Alne station had a very domestic-looking two-storey building with the stationmaster's house on the single platform.

The line crossed the River Arrow by a girder bridge curving southwards before becoming double and joining the Midland Railway at Alcester Junction.

When the line was reinstated after World War I, the Alcester shed was reopened, on 1 August 1923 but finally closed on 27 October 1939.