The junction originated in 1903, when the
Great Western Railway opened the Badminton Line, the direct route of the South Wales Main Line. The junction connected the eastbound SWML to the northbound
Midland Railway (now part of the XCR), which had opened in 1844 as the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The junction provided a route from Bristol to the Midland Railway via
Filton Junction, an alternative to the direct Midland Railway route through
Mangotsfield. In 1908 a curve was added to the junction to connect the westbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway. This provided a connection from Bristol to
Sharpness via
Berkeley. It also gave an alternative route between Bristol and South Wales via the
Severn Railway Bridge, used when the
Severn Tunnel was closed. A more contentious use was that it now gave the GWR, with its running powers over the Midland to Berkeley and its own new 1906 line from Cheltenham to Birmingham, a new direct route from Bristol to Birmingham. On 1 July 1908, a new express service between Wolverhampton and Bristol was inaugurated, hauled by
Flower class 4101
Aurricula. The Midland resisted this new service and claimed that the loop had only been agreed on the basis of services to Berkeley and the Severn, not northwards. Various tactics were used to disrupt competing services, including slow trains scheduled ahead of GWR expresses. The matter came to court, but in November the Court of Appeal finally ruled that the GWR did have running powers northwards. Despite this, the Midland remained disruptive. In particular they refused to allow heavier locomotives, like the new 4-6-0s, over
Stonehouse Viaduct and so this remained the preserve of the 4-4-0
Counties. The curve was removed after the Severn Railway Bridge was irreparably damaged in 1960. In 1970 the original route of the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was closed between Bristol and Westerleigh Junction, except for the short section now serving the Murco depot. ==References==