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 Railway services in country districts began to be a real cause of competition for the railway. The GWR was seeking methods of catering economically for light passenger traffic, using steam railcars. These consisted of a passenger coach into which was built a four-wheeled steam locomotive, duplicate driving controls being provided at the opposite end from the locomotive. The very limited power of the small traction unit was always an issue, and on the steeply graded Forest of Dean Railway section it proved impracticable. Instead higher capacity units known as auto-trains, consisting of a tank locomotive coupled to one or two coaches