Longmoor Downs railway station

Longmoor Downs
General information
Location	East Hampshire England
Coordinates	51°04′30″N0°52′05″W / 51.075°N 0.868°W / 51.075; -0.868 Coordinates: 51°04′30″N0°52′05″W / 51.075°N 0.868°W / 51.075; -0.868
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Longmoor Military Railway
Key dates
probably 1907	station opened
31 October 1969	closed

Longmoor_Downs_railway_station

v t e Longmoor Military Railway
Legend
Bordon Light Railway to Bentley White Hill Road LC Bordon Oakhanger Halt Whitehill Junction Two Range Halt Hopkins Bridge Woolmer Hollywater Longmoor Downs Griggs Green Weaversdown Halt Liss Forest Road Liss Junction Liss   to Guildford London to Portsmouth line to Havant

Longmoor Downs railway station is a former railway station, on the Longmoor Military Railway serving Longmoor Military Camp. ^{[lower-alpha 1]} The station was the Southern terminus of the original standard gauge railway opened in stages between 1907 and 1908. ^[3]

The station was also the Northern terminus of an 18 inches (460 mm) tramway used mainly to transport stone from a local quarry to be used in the building of Longmoor Camp and other facilities. There was a loading bank for this line to the South of Longmoor goods yard, it was in use until WWI after which it disappeared during enlargements of the standard gauge facilities. The line was eventually extended northwards towards Bordon as an aid to constructing the standard gauge line. ^[4]

The early station had no permanent platforms, none are shown on the OS map surveyed in 1908, but undated photographs show platforms constructed of sleepers, the stations on the line were upgraded from 1923 and by 1934 the platforms were solid ash surfaced. ^{[5] [6]}

The sleeper platforms appeared to be single sided but by 1928 the main passenger platform was a central platform with running lines both sides, there was also an ash platform and dock to the South of the main platform forming a bay on one side with the other on a through line. The station had an adjacent, extensive, goods yard, workshops and engine shed, there were two block posts, the Army's name for a signal box, one at each end of the station, there was a training school and a headquarters building. ^[7]

The railway completed its extension to Liss in 1933 and additional services were provided, prior to the extension opening the normal service was three trains to and from Bordon in summer, more in winter and more on Mondays and Fridays for soldiers going on leave. After 1933 there were more services, some ran through and some just served either the northern or the southern sections of the line. ^{[8] [9]}

The station was featured in the films The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery , when it was named Fordbridge at one end and Nutcombe at the other and The Magnificent Two . ^{[10] [11]}

The station was closed along with the rest of the line on 31 October 1969. ^[12]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Woolmer		Longmoor Military Railway		Weaversdown Halt

References

Notes

1. Longmoor Downs is on the station platform nameboards, at least in 1966, the station was Longmoor in the timetables of 1932, 1946 & 1965 and it was occasionally referred to as Longmoor Down. ^{[1] [2]}

Citations

1. Ronald & Carter 1974, pp. 222–225.
2. Mitchell & Smith 1987, photo 53.
3. Ronald & Carter 1974, pp. 40–48.
4. Ronald & Carter 1974, pp. 28—29 & 46.
5. Mitchell & Smith 1987, photos 39,40 & 43.
6. "Hampshire and Isle of Wight XLIV.10". National Library of Scotland. 1910. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
7. Ronald & Carter 1974, p. 85.
8. The Railway Magazine 1933, p. 81.
9. Ronald & Carter 1974, p. 222-225.
10. The Railway Magazine 1966, pp. 52–53.
11. "The Magnificent Two". IMDB. 1967. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
12. Quick 2022, p. 565.

Bibliography

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1987). Branch Lines to Longmoor. Middleton Press. ISBN   978-0-906520-41-3.
• Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society.
• Ronald, D.W.; Carter, R.J. (1974). The Longmoor Military Railway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN   0-7153-6357-3.
• "A Railway which gives Free Travel: The Woolmer Instructional Military Railway". The Railway Magazine (434). August 1933.
• "Another Great Train Robbery". The Railway Magazine. 112 (777). January 1966.

Further reading

• Farmer, Keith (March 1966). "Longmoor Military Railway". Industrial Railway Record: 199–205.