Mitcheldean Road & Forest of Dean Junction Railway extraction industry in the Forest of Dean. The Monmouth and Hereford Railway was incorporated in 1845, but limited in scope by Parliament, and the powers were not exercised. However, in 1851 the "Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway" received its authorising Act of Parliament, and it opened a line on a similar alignment from Hereford to Grange Court on 1 June 1855. The GWR itself built the connecting section from Grange Court to Gloucester, and the South Wales Railway opened its line progressively from Grange Court to Chepstow. The South Wales Railway took over the "Forest of Dean Railway", successor to
Forest of Dean Central Railway Thereafter, the railway continued to function to Howbeach with three goods trains a week. The coal strike of 1921 finished off Howbeach Colliery and traffic ceased beyond Blakeney about this time; the track beyond Blakeney remained in position, but was removed in 1942. Because of the lease, the line had long been simply a quiet mineral branch line of the Great Western Railway; the Forest of Dean Central Railway owned the line but took no involvement in operating it, and the huge indebtedness meant that there was no dividend distribution. After World War I the Government determined that the railways