IT may come as no consolation to the thousands of travellers inconvenienced last weekend by disruption caused after faults were spotted in some super-dooper high-speed trains, but there have always been problems on the railways.

Had you been lucky enough to secure a ticket for the first service from Worcester Shrub Hill to Malvern in the mid-19th century, you might have felt equally jigged off. Because you would have had to travel across the river to St John’s to get on it.

The aggravation back then was not with the train itself, but with the newly built rail bridge over the Severn.

Henwick station in 1957. In 1859 it was the emergency starting point for the Worcester to Malvern service. Photo courtesy CFOW.

Henwick station in 1957. In 1859 it was the emergency starting point for the Worcester to Malvern service. Photo courtesy CFOW.

Part of a one-and-a-half mile long viaduct and embankment, the bridge was the work of Stephen Ballard of Colwall, backed by Thomas Brassey, the great railway constructor. The section included 68 arches, one of which, the Croft Road arch, was the first brick arch to be built “on the skew.”

As with all railway projects of the age, the embankment was created by hundreds of pick and shovel navvies, who moved across the country like rag-tag armies, leaving railway lines and often no little trouble in their wake.

Worcester’s first rail bridge, built in the late 1850s by Stephen Ballard of Colwall.

Worcester’s first rail bridge, built in the late 1850s by Stephen Ballard of Colwall.

The passing through of such a large and motley crew of strangers, must have been testing to say the least for the citizens of Worcester, especially when drink flowed. It would have been better for the city – and less expensive – had a blue print produced by famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel been adopted.

This proposed crossing the Severn at Diglis Lock by an opening bridge, but the thriving canal trade around Lowesmoor Wharf meant the Pitchcroft-St John’s route was more direct.

The functionality of diesel lacks the romance of steam and somehow downgrades this photo.

The functionality of diesel lacks the romance of steam and somehow downgrades this photo.

However this involved crossing the river at a geologically awkward spot and the construction team had great difficulty securing the foundations in the river bed. On top of that, when government inspectors checked the bridge before passing it safe for use, they spotted a defect in the two cast iron arched spans, putting the scheme well behind schedule.

While this was being rectified, there was the embarrassing sight of the first train to use the route actually leaving from Henwick station in St John’s, the rolling stock being transported from Shrub Hill, through the city streets and over the road bridge on the back of horse-drawn wagons. Not quite the image that had been planned.

Trains obviously kept using the line while a new bridge was being built around the old.

Trains obviously kept using the line while a new bridge was being built around the old.

The inaugural run set off at 8am on July 25, 1859, the engine decorated with evergreens and small flags.

The station was also decorated and crowds lined the route to give the train a rousing send off. From a signal box hung a banner which read “Hope, Peace and Plenty.”

There were 58 passengers on board and the journey from Henwick to Malvern Link station took 15 minutes. In 1904 that first rail bridge was replaced by a girder bridge designed by JC Ingles, the GWR chef engineer, using the old abutments and the centre support. So whatever problems there were below water in the 1850s had been well and truly mastered.