An archive extract from The Railway Magazine describing Redbrook, Monmouth and the Coleford Railway Company, including historical notes on the line, its construction, operation under the Great Western Railway, and later removal of the permanent way.
VISUALISE a sheltered valley hamlet
VISUALISE a sheltered valley hamlet, a country station complete with its signal-box and other appurtenances, but devoid of anything in the nature of permanent way, and you have in a few words Redbrook, Monmouth.
A quiet Forest of Dean location
Thanks to its situation on the western edge of the Forest of Dean, the quiet village is rather off the beaten track, and its railway associations can be easily missed by the casual visitor. The station lies back in a meadow and is separated by a sleeper stockade from the highway. Standing on the platform it is, indeed, hard to realise that it has seen twenty-four years of active service, which is, however, a fact.
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Coleford Railway Company origins
Coleford Railway Company was founded in 1883 to construct a line from Wyesham Junction to Coleford, a distance of 5 miles 20 chains. This line was opened
Opening and operation
in September of that year, and was worked under an arrangement by the Great Western Railway until it was finally taken over by that company in the following year.
Removal of permanent way
In 1917, however, Government requirements necessitated the removal of the whole of the permanent way, which was dismantled, and shipped for service overseas, thus leaving a derelict line of much of peculiar interest to railwaymen.
Present-day condition
There is no intention, so far as is known, of reopening the section, but those interested might well pay a visit to this district while things are in their present distinctly picturesque state. The whole line is within easy walking distance of Coleford, or Monmouth stations, on the Great Western, and the writer can strongly recommend a visit to the “station without a railway.”
