100 years since through services began

One of the celebrations this year's Cotswold Festival of Steam marks is the centenary of the first through services on the line.  The first through service ran from Wolverhampton to Penzance in July 1908. Departing Wolverhampton at 10.00, this time was a permanent fixture (except for Sundays) and the train eventually became known as The Cornishman, which lent its name to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's quarterly members' magazine.

The story of the glorious days of through expresses on the line is told in our latest History Lesson the fourth in our occasional historical series.  In the article is a fine photograph of the first Up The Cornishman departing from Stratford on 30th June 1952 - so click here to enjoy the story and the superb picture.

The feature also looks at the completion of the line and connections to it, which allowed through trains from the Midlands to run for the first time.  There is also a plan of Honeybourne Junction which is difficult to explain in words and hopefully, will put the complexity of the various connections into context. So what are you waiting for?  Click here for the story and links to our earlier History Lessons.