Morton Pinkney railway station

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Morton Pinkney
Moreton Pinkney station - geograph.org.uk - 493943.jpg
General information
Location Moreton Pinkney, West Northamptonshire
England
Grid reference SP575498
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company East and West Junction Railway
Pre-grouping Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 July 1873 [1] Opened
1 August 1877Closed
22 February 1885Reopened
7 April 1952 [2] Closed

Morton Pinkney (also known as Morton Pinkney for Sulgrave) was a railway station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ) which served the Northamptonshire village of Moreton Pinkney between 1873 and 1952. It was situated not far from Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington's family.

Contents

History

A line from Greens Norton junction near Towcester to Stratford-upon-Avon and the junction with the Great Western Railway's Honeybourne branch line was first authorised in June 1864, but due to a lack of funds it took a further nine years for the line, built by the East and West Junction Railway (E&WJ), to be fully open to traffic. [3] A station was opened at Moreton Pinkney, a Northamptonshire village 11.5 miles (18.5 km) from Blisworth. As with other E&WJ stations, Morton Pinkney had a passing loop with two platforms and a single goods siding without a goods shed. Goods handled included milk collection and coal deliveries; [4] in addition, as many as 40 loads of cattle were dispatched on weekly Tuesday marketdays, the railway company laying on special trains to run to Blisworth and Broom. To the west of the small brick station building lay a 12-lever signal box which was switched out at night to create a long section from Woodford West junction and Blakesley when services were signalled in both directions on the Up line. [5]

A special gating crossing existed near the station for the use of local huntsmen, a key being provided to the local Master of Foxhounds. In 1912, the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway, which had amalgamated with the E&WJ in 1908, agreed to cover all drains along the line and to replace barbed wire with ordinary wire in order to minimise the risk of injury to horse and hound. [6] In an attempt to boost passenger traffic, the station began to appear as Morton Pinkney for Sulgrave in timetables from January 1913, the railway company hoping that the mention of Sulgrave, the location of the home of George Washington's ancestors, would encourage tourists to use the line. [7] Passenger traffic continued to tail off and the station was finally closed in 1952, though the line through the station remained open for freight trains between Woodford West junction and Blisworth until 7 February 1964. [8]

Routes

A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Moreton Pinkney (centre, in blue) Banbury, Blisworth, Cockley Brake, Fenny Compton, Northampton, Ravenstone Wood,Roade, Stratford on Avon, Towcester, & Woodford & Hinton RJD 2.jpg
A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Moreton Pinkney (centre, in blue)
Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Byfield   SMJR
East and West Junction Railway 		  Blakesley

Present day

The station site has been redeveloped into light industrial use and the station buildings have been removed. The gate leading to the site does however carry a sign bearing the station's name. [9]

Related Research Articles

The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) was a railway company in the southern Midlands of England, formed at the beginning of 1909 by the merger of three earlier companies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moreton Pinkney</span> Human settlement in England

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Stoke Bruern railway station was on the Stratford-upon-Avon, Towcester and Midland Junction Railway which opened on 1 December 1892 near the Northamptonshire village of Stoke Bruerne after which it was misnamed. Passenger services were withdrawn on 31 March 1893. It is arguable that Stoke Bruern along with Salcey Forest have a claim to have had the shortest passenger service of any British railway station. On the first service, it was reported that one person alighted at Salcey Forest, but no-one joined, whilst at Stoke Bruern, seven joined and one alighted. The service attracted no more than twenty passengers a week and the SMJ incurred a loss of £40. The station was situated in a sparsely populated area and only saw passenger services for four months, despite the railway company's optimism which saw substantial station facilities provided in the expectation of traffic which never came. The station remained open for goods until 1952.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blakesley railway station</span> Former railway station in Northamptonshire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easton Neston</span> Human settlement in England

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References

  1. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN   1-85260-508-1, p. 164.
  2. ↑ Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 98. ISBN   0-905466-19-5.
  3. ↑ Dunn, J.M. (1977). The Stratford & Midland Junction Railway. Blandford, Dorset: The Oakwood Press. p. 6. ISBN   0-85361-036-3.
  4. ↑ Riley, R.C.; Simpson, B. (1999). A History of the Stratford-upon-Avon & Midland Junction Railway. Witney, Oxon: Lamplight Publications. p. 78. ISBN   978-1-899246-20-5.
  5. ↑ Jordan, Arthur (1982). The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway: the Shakespeare route. Headington, Oxford: Oxford Railway Pub. Co. p. 39. ISBN   978-0-86093-131-7.
  6. ↑ Jordan, A., p. 39.
  7. ↑ Riley, R.C. and Simpson, B., p. 76.
  8. ↑ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (November 2008). Branch Lines Around Towcester. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press. p. Plate 104. ISBN   978-1-906008-39-0.
  9. ↑ Kingscott, Geoffrey (2008). Lost Railways of Northamptonshire (Lost Railways Series). Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. p. 121. ISBN   978-1-84674-108-1.

Coordinates: 52°08′38″N1°09′39″W / 52.144009°N 1.160867°W / 52.144009; -1.160867

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