Having attracted its own patronage, capital and accomplished fully functional transformation and employment of land, buildings, labour force and rolling stock, it was acquired by the Midland Railway in 1846.

[1][page needed] Investors, among which wealthy venture capitalists, were enthusiasts of the scheme and before the fund promoters' prospectus meeting closed, all the 16,000 shares allocated to Bristol were taken up.

[2][3][4] In 1832 the company advanced a new scheme; Isambard Kingdom Brunel was asked to survey a cheap route between Birmingham and Gloucester.

Moorsom modified his intended route to provide it a station, but that was not considered convenient for the centre of the town, and a branch line was proposed.

As well as giving a direct connection to London, and over the Grand Junction Railway to the north west of England, this avoided the expense of constructing a new terminus in the city.

Acquisition of the tramroad was sought by the B&GR and the C&GWUR; its alignment was unsuitable for a main line railway but its dock trade and access were very attractive.

The collaborative approach to building the new main line extended to the issue of acquiring the tramroad, and it was agreed to do so jointly, for the sum of £35,000.

To assuage fear of other railway company competition, the B&GR agreed to provide it a branch line, from Abbotswood in the county.

[2][4] Construction had been delayed due to high prices and the difficulty of obtaining access to the land on the route, but in April 1837 it was started in earnest.

However a group of shareholders cast doubt on Moorsom's ability and it was agreed that there would be a six-week delay while an eminent engineer reviewed the technical aspects of the proposed line.

By August 1839 the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway had four locomotives, and 35 wagons had been delivered but an early opening that was anticipated was delayed by extremely bad weather.

[1][page needed] On 17 December 1840 northern extension, to Camp Hill, opened which became the Birmingham terminus for a time, as very early planned.

The largest bridge is over the Avon at Eckington, Worcestershire, when built having three cast-iron segmental arches of 73-foot (22.3 m) span supported on two lines of iron columns.

[1][page needed] Edward Bury, locomotive builder and superintendent of the London and Birmingham Railway, was engaged in 1838 as consultant for motive power, workshops and stationary engine for the Lickey Incline.

He promptly organised the purchase of two second hand engines, the 0-4-0 Leicester and the 0-4-2 Southampton to assist in line construction and ordered four from George Forrester, the first two arriving in November.

[f] The prototype Norris engine was described as a Class A Extra locomotive, supposedly capable of taking 75 long tons (76 tonnes) up the Lickey incline at 10 to 15 mph (15 to 25 km/h).

A Class A Extra locomotive, Philadelphia, was delivered at the end of May 1840; it had a sandbox and water tub "for wetting the rails to improve adhesion".

[1][page needed][4] However Rake comments that, "The American locomotives were, however, afterwards superseded, as it was found that an ordinary tank engine, assisted by a pilot, worked the traffic in a perfectly satisfactory manner."

The fact of a through rail route between Birmingham and Bristol, albeit for the time being with a break of gauge at Gloucester, heralded the decades of busy goods traffic.

[16] On 24 January 1845 the Great Western Railway offered to buy the two companies; this would have resulted in the broad gauge being extended to Birmingham; and was declined.

John Ellis of the Midland Railway encountered Edward Sturge and Joseph Gibbons while they were travelling to a second meeting with the GWR on 26 January.

[2] The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway had, from the outset, implied a willingness to serve Worcester to respond to an outcry from the city over being bypassed.

MPs and Peers objected to such a branch who had interests in or lobbying from its canals, the stagecoach sector and rival railways so that the early authorising Acts left such plans out.

[18][9][19] Gough reports: The Midland worked the service on the short section between Abbot's Wood Jcn and Worcester from its commencement.

When the loop to Stoke Works Jcn was completed the company began to divide its passenger trains and run one section direct and one via Worcester.

A connection was made at Lifford to Kings Norton on the Birmingham and Gloucester main line, and the passenger trains from Granville Street ran to that place.

This had the added advantage of entering New Street station from the west, enabling forward running on to the Midland Railway's Derby line without reversal.

In 1892 a curve was installed at Lifford forming the third side of a triangle there, and enabling circular suburban passenger train operation.

In 1920 a four cylinder 0-10-0 locomotive was built specially of the purpose; no 2290, it was known informally as Big Bertha, in association with the German heavy howitzer used during World War I.

West Midlands Trains operate the local passenger service from Hereford to Birmingham New Street, which uses the line only closer to the latter (Stoke Works Junction to Kings Norton).