The broad gauge track through Longhope was part of the 30 mile long Hereford to Gloucester line. The track was converted to standard gauge by 20th August 1866 and took five days to complete. Seven passenger trains a day travelled back and forth along the line by 1910 and was worked by the GWR from 1923 up until nationalisation in 1947. Three freight trains ran on weekdays. The line had junctions at Grange Court and Ross-on-Wye.

Longhope station had a passing loop where two trains could pass one another, as the rest of the line was single track (apart from other passing loops elsewhere along the line). Two station platforms were present either side of the passing loop, the waiting room was present on the east platform while a signalbox occupied the one to the west.

Longhope also had mail receiving and pickup facilities. The receiver consisted of a large net into which bags of mail could be thrown.

The line was closed to passenger trains on 2nd November 1964, but freight trains still ran between Ross-on-Wye and Gloucester. However this service was also closed a year later on 1st November 1965.

The steel from the line and bridges was melted down and reused. The brickwork supports of the bridge over the Ross Road are still standing but the bridge at the bottom of Hopes Hill was demolished when the bypass was built. Some remote stations along the rest of the line still survive but have been converted into private houses. Longhope station has been demolished apart from the waiting room which still survives to this day, but has also been converted to a summerhouse. The signal box was converted to a garden wall upon demolition.

Following the course of the line through Longhope can be tricky in places as many parts of it have been built on since the line was removed, this only applies to the parts near the centre of the village where development is taking place. The picture here shows the railway embankment from Longhope station looking along the line to Ross-on-Wye.

http://www.longhopevillage.co.uk/history/railways/index.asp
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