Coldstream railway station

Last updated

Coldstream
General information
Location Cornhill on Tweed, Coldstream, Northumberland
England
Grid reference NT862395
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway,
North Eastern Region of British Railways
Key dates
27 July 1849Station opens as Cornhill
1 October 1873Station renamed Coldstream
15 June 1964Closed to passengers
29 March 1965Goods services withdrawn
Location
Coldstream railway station

Coldstream railway station served the town of Coldstream, in Berwickshire, Scotland; however, the station was sited across the River Tweed in Northumberland, England. It was a stop on both the Cornhill Branch, which ran from Alnwick to Cornhill Junction on the Kelso line near Coldstream, and the Kelso to Tweedmouth line.

Contents

Cornhill Branch
Overview
Locale Northumberland
Successor North Eastern Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Kelso Branch
to Kelso │ to Tweedmouth
 
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Coldstream
opened as Cornhill
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Mindrum
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Kirknewton
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Akeld
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Wooler
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Ilderton
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Wooperton
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Hedgeley
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Glanton
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Whittingham
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Edlingham
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Alnwick
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Alnwick branch line
to East Coast Main Line
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History

Authorised in 1845, the Kelso Branch was built by the North Eastern Railway to link the communities of the Tweed Valley with the fledgling railway network at Tweedmouth. The line opened in two stages: to Sprouston on 27 July 1849 and to Kelso on 1 June 1851.

The Cornhill Branch project was authorised in 1882 to link the farming communities of north Northumberland with the market town of Alnwick, and link the North Eastern Railway's Kelso line to its Alnwick Branch.

Construction started by the North Eastern Railway in 1884. The line opened to freight between Cornhill and Wooperton on 2 May 1887, and the whole line for both freight and passengers on 5 September of the same year.

The line had difficulty attracting passengers as many of the stations were some distance from the communities they served. Increased bus competition in the 1920s led to passenger trains being withdrawn on 22 September 1930, [1] although the service resumed briefly during the Second World War to serve RAF Milfield near Akeld. [2]

After a severe storm in August 1948 [3] washed away a bridge north of Ilderton station, British Railways, which had recently taken over the line, decided that the volume of traffic along the line did not warrant replacing it. The line was thus split into two: Alnwick to Ilderton and Coldstream to Wooler, which included Akeld. [2]

This, coupled with an infrequent service, caused the line to go further into decline and the section from Alnwick to Ilderton closed on 2 March 1953; the other section following suit on 29 March 1965. [4]

On 15 June 1964, passenger services were withdrawn along the whole line between Tweedmouth and St Boswells. Freight services between Tweedmouth and Kelso followed suit the next year on 29 March with the complete closure of the line. Only one track of the double line between Kelso and Tweedmouth was lifted initially; all track was removed in 1969 from St Boswells through to Tweedmouth, following closure of the freight service to Kelso and complete closure of the Waverley Route. [4]

Services

Preceding stationDisused railwaysFollowing station
Terminus  North Eastern Railway
Cornhill branch line
  Mindrum
Sunilaws   North Eastern Railway
Kelso Branch
  Twizell

The site today

The station has been demolished and a housing estate occupies the site. [4]

References

Citations

  1. "The Alnwick and Cornhill Railway". Northumberland National Park. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  2. 1 2 Catford, Nick (26 May 2017). "Station name: Akeld". Disused Stations. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  3. Passengers No More by G.Daniels and L.A.Dench
  4. 1 2 3 Young, Alan (28 December 2017). "Station name: Coldstream". Disused Stations. Retrieved 15 April 2025.

Sources

55°38′58″N2°13′07″W / 55.64945°N 2.21868°W / 55.64945; -2.21868