Great Western Railway Trains at Chippenham on February 18th 2023

1st visit to Chippenham Station on the Great Western Main Line Featuring services from Great Western Railway plus a freighter and some diverts Chippenham opened in 1841 when the final section of the GWML between Chippenham and Bath Spa was completed. In 1848 the line from Thingley Junction towards Westbury opened originally formed by the Wilts, Somerset & Weymouth Railway eventually was absorbed into GWR in 1851 A formed goods shed and engine shed opened in 1858 when the station was expanded In 1863 a 5 mile branch line opened between Chippenham and Calne which was opened by the Calne Railway which ran independent until that was absorbed into GWR in 1892 A branch line opened in 1906 which connected up to the nearby Chippenham Gas Works however its life was a short one closing in 1932 Chippenham engine shed closed in 1964 with the Calne Branch closing in 1965 and the East and West Signal Boxes closing in 1966 The station had 3 platforms however the down platform was taken out of use in 1976 which today Platforms 1 and 2 are now on the island platform. Step free access at present is only provided to the island Platform and the former down platform dates from January 2016 however was closed for 2 weeks in September 2016 due to drainage issues however criticism was made due to have no lifts for the entrance via the Car Park however at the time of filming a 3rd lift that will link to the car park was being installed GWML Electrification was originally suppose to Bristol Temple Meads however was scaled in November 2016 and again in July 2017 due to high costs and rather frustratingly some of the steel pylons have been erected however at present no plans are made for electrifying the rest of the GWML to Bristol Temple Meads via both Bath Spa or Bristol Parkway. Today services are half hourly between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads with some extended to Weston-super-Mare, Taunton and Exeter St Davids respectively which also includes 1 every 2 hours between Swindon and Westbury via Melksham On the day of filming Plymouth and Penzance services were diverted via Westbury or Bristol Temple Meads due to engineering works on the Berks & Hants Line between Westbury and Theale in particular the Newbury Area Music used: JJD - Adventure Music provided by NCS Video link: NoCopyrightSounds    • JJD - Adventure | Glitch Hop | NCS - Copyr...   Filmed on Saturday February 18th 2023 on iPhone 14 Pro and edited on iMovie #greatwesternrailway #class800 #gwr #class802 #wiltshire