BRIEF ANALYSIS
The History of a Branch Line 1898 to 1973
Brief Analysis
 
The LVR line became operational on the 2nd of April 1898. Financed almost entirly by Colonel Archer Houlan, it ran as an Independent Company through until 1905 after which time, it came under the wing of the The GWR. 1948 saw further change when it became part of British Railways, with whom it stayed until its final closure in 1973 The Line itself was just over twelve miles in length and the journey from Newbury Station to Lambourn took approximately forty minutes.

When The GWR took full control in 1905 plans were laid for increasing the existing facilities and for introducing general line improvements. In 1907 An new halt was added at "Newbury West Fields" and the small original buildings at Lambourn were replaced by a larger, more modern brick built structure on a platform of regulatory height. Subsequently, all stopping places on the line were provided with standard height platforms, and all aquired buildings became distinctly Great Western in character.
Passing loops were constructed at Welford Park, Great Shefford, East Garston and Boxford, but the most important intermediate stations on the line were Welford Park and Great Shefford. Lambourn Station had the most extensive layout of all, in addition to the station buildings it had a signal box, loading dock & offices, and in the earlier years, a small engine shed. By around 1910, large scale improvements had been made including the replacement of the entire track using second hand GWR stock. In 1948 Nationalisation gave British Railways central control of the line.

The Lambourn Valley line left Newbury Station from bay-platform 3 and ran parrallel with the GWR tracks heading West, for a distance of half a mile, at which point, the branch line turned North encountering a 1 in 63 gradient.    Just beyond West Fields Halt, the line levelled out to cross the River Kennet and its tributaries, via a large elongated girder bridge. From here it continued onto Speen passing through a deep cutting and two tunnel bridges, one of which took the track under the main London to Bath road.
 
.Speen Halt was just one and three quarter miles from Newbury, The station was equipped with a level crossing and a small shelter but no sidings. Running North west, the line continued its a steady climb passing through Stockcross and Bagnor Halt following the course of the River Lambourn, until it reached the village of Boxford. The approach to Boxford was along an embankment and the Station itself consisted of a siding loop and a small office. From Boxford the climb continued in part at 1 in 75, before reaching it's halfway point at Welford Park.

Welford Park station had both up and down platforms, small offices and waiting rooms, plus a ground frame and siding. The following stretch of track was fairly straight and level and brought the line to Great Shefford.
Eight and a quarter miles from Newbury, Great Shefford station was home to a small goods yard on the south side of the line which featured a scissors crossover with a siding from two tracks that backed on to a cattle dock.

The final stage of the the line into Lambourn contained a whole series of gradients. A climb of 1 in 82 out of Great Shefford before levelling out through open country to East Garston. Beyond, an ascent of 1 in 60 precluded a short descent of 1 in 200 running into Eastbury Halt. After crossing the main road at Bockhampton, the line made its final climb on gradients of firstly, 1 in 63 and finally, 1 in 100 before entering Lambourn Station.