Whitchurch Town railway station

Last updated

Whitchurch Town
Whitchurch Town station with 2-6-2T 41329.JPG
LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T No. 41329 passes the station in the 1960s.
Location Whitchurch, Basingstoke and Deane
England
Coordinates 51°13′44″N1°20′36″W / 51.2289°N 1.3433°W / 51.2289; -1.3433 Coordinates: 51°13′44″N1°20′36″W / 51.2289°N 1.3433°W / 51.2289; -1.3433
Grid reference SU459479
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway
Pre-groupingDidcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway
Post-grouping Great Western Railway
Key dates
4 May 1885 (1885-05-04)Opened as Whitchurch
1 July 1924Renamed Whitchurch (Hants)
4 August 1942Closed
8 March 1943Re-opened as Whitchurch (Hants)
26 September 1949Renamed Whitchurch Town
7 March 1960Closed to passengers
6 May 1963Closed to goods

Whitchurch Town railway station was a station on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway in England. It served the town of Whitchurch, Hampshire, between 1885 and 1960.

Contents

History

The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&S) was opened in stages. The section between Enborne Junction (to the west of Newbury) and Winchester was formally opened on 1 May 1885, public services beginning on 4 May; among the original stations was one named Whitchurch. [1] [2] [3] It was 12 miles 57 chains (20.5 km) from Enborne Junction, and 31 miles 64 chains (51.2 km) from Didcot. [4]

Whitchurch was already served by one railway station on the LSWR which survives to this day. The DNSR had a choice of connecting to the LSWR and building a station nearby to aid interchange traffic. However, it decided to build the station further south, closer to the town. [5] [6]

Accidents and incidents

Facilities

The station was relatively large compared to others on this section of the line including a larger station building on the northbound platform and a subway to link the two platforms. There was also a long passing loop and three sidings complete with a large goods shed. The station also boasted a water crane and water tower. [2]

Working

The DN&S was worked by the Great Western Railway (GWR), and at the 1923 Grouping, the DN&S was absorbed by the GWR. [8] The GWR had other stations also named Whitchurch, and to distinguish them, most were renamed: this one became Whitchurch (Hants) on 1 July 1924. [1]

Temporary closure

Like other stations on the former DN&S line, Whitchurch (Hants) station was closed temporarily on 4 August 1942 so that the line could be upgraded for wartime freight trains; it reopened on 8 March 1943. [1] [9]

Final closure

Following the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, British Railways renamed the station Whitchurch Town on 26 September 1949, a name which it retained until closure to passengers on 7 March 1960. [1] Goods services continued, but these ceased as from 6 May 1963. [2]

Routes

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Litchfield
Line and station closed
  Great Western Railway
Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway
  Barton Stacey
Line and station closed

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Butt 1995, p. 248.
  2. 1 2 3 Judge 1984, p. 94.
  3. Sands 1971, pp. 18,29.
  4. Sands 1971, p. 50.
  5. Sands 1971, p. 29.
  6. Conolly 1976, p. 4, section B3.
  7. 1 2 Bishop, Bill (1984). Off the Rails. Southampton: Kingfisher. pp. 57–65. ISBN   0-946184-06-2.
  8. Sands 1971, p. 38.
  9. Sands 1971, pp. 40–41.

Related Research Articles

Wessex Main Line

The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The Wessex Main Line intersects the Reading to Taunton Line at Westbury and the West of England Main Line at Salisbury.

Aldermaston railway station

Aldermaston railway station serves the village of Aldermaston in Berkshire, England. The station is at nearby Aldermaston Wharf and about 2 miles (3 km) north of Aldermaston village. It is 44 miles 63 chains (72.08 km) measured from London Paddington.

Newbury railway station

Newbury railway station is located in the centre of the town of Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire. The station is 53 miles 6 chains (85.42 km) from London Paddington. It is served by stopping services between Reading and Newbury and Bedwyn, and by faster services between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids and other parts of Devon and Cornwall. All train services at the station are operated by the Great Western Railway.

Didcot Parkway railway station

Didcot Parkway is a railway station serving the town of Didcot in Oxfordshire, England. The station was opened as Didcot on 12 June 1844 and renamed Didcot Parkway on 29 July 1985 by British Rail to reflect its role as a park and ride railhead. It is 53 miles 10 chains (85.5 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Cholsey to the east and Swindon to the west.

St Denys railway station

St Denys railway station serves the St Denys and Portswood suburbs of Southampton in Hampshire, England. It is 77 miles 10 chains (124.1 km) down the line from London Waterloo.

Hockley Railway Viaduct Bridge in United Kingdom

The Hockley Railway Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct to the south of Winchester in Hampshire, England.

The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Midlands and North of England to the port, but they ran out of funds to complete the line to Southampton. The intended heavy through traffic never materialised, and the line was dependent on larger railways—the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway—for support, which was not freely given. The line opened in two stages, in 1882 and 1885.

The Lambourn Valley Railway (LVR) was a branch railway line running from the town of Newbury, Berkshire north-west to the village of Lambourn. It was opened in 1898. Fulfilling a local need, it was in financial difficulties throughout its independent life and was sold to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1905.

Southampton and Dorchester Railway

The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received Parliamentary authority in 1845 and opened in 1847. It was promoted by Charles Castleman of Wimborne Minster, and became known as Castleman's Corkscrew because of the meandering route it followed.

Woodhay railway station was a station on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway in England. It was located about five miles south of the junction with the Great Western Railway west of Newbury railway station. Woodhay station served the villages of Enborne and Enborne Row in Berkshire and Broad Laying in the parish of East Woodhay, Hampshire. It was a considerable distance from the villages of East Woodhay and West Woodhay. The site now lies under the A34 Newbury by-pass.

Berks and Hants Railway

The Berks and Hants Railway comprised two railway lines built simultaneously by the Great Western Railway (GWR) south and west from Reading in an attempt to keep the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) out of the area that it considered to be its territory in England.

Litchfield railway station Disused railway station in Hampshire, England

Litchfield railway station, on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, served the small village of Litchfield, Hampshire, England. The station received relatively little traffic.

Winchester (Chesil) railway station Disused railway station in Hampshire, England

Winchester (Chesil) railway station was, for the first six years after the opening of the line, the terminus of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DNSR), until the line was extended to link up with the Southern Railway line to Southampton. The station buildings were larger than those of any other DNSR station but were built to the standard designs used by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The station buildings were located on the northbound platform. At the northern end of the station the line passed into the double tracked Chesil tunnel. The station also included a loading bay and single siding at its southern end accessible from the northbound line.

The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton. The M&SWJR was formed in 1884 from the amalgamation of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway and the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway. The line was absorbed by the Great Western Railway at the 1923 Grouping and became part of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The railway closed to passengers in 1961, and to goods between 1964 and 1970. A small part of it has been reopened as the heritage Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

Reading Southern railway station

Reading Southern railway station was opened as the western terminus of the South Eastern Railway's route from Redhill, a junction station at the time of opening known as Reigate Junction in south-east Surrey, having direct links thence to Dover port, Brighton and London Bridge. The station was referred to for exactly one century by an identical name to its neighbour, 'Reading', until 1949. Seven years after its opening the station expanded its uses by becoming the terminus of a new company's Waterloo to Reading line from London Waterloo station. This mid-length line added to the town's connections with more intermediate stops, beyond nearby Wokingham and mid-south parts of Surrey which had been directly served by the station and added a competing service, approximately one third longer in distance to a London terminus than the adjacent Great Western Railway.

Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station

Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station was a station in the town of Cheltenham.

Redmarshall railway station

Redmarshall railway station was a railway station on the North Eastern Railway, in County Durham.

Wickham railway station (Hampshire)

Wickham (Hants) railway station served the village of Wickham in Hampshire, England. It was on the Meon Valley line of the London and South Western Railway. The station opened in 1903 and closed to passengers in 1955 and to goods in 1962. The main building was to a design by the architect T. P. Figgis.

Montgomery railway station served the town of Montgomery, Powys, Wales between 1861 and 1965.

Market Drayton railway station served the English town of Market Drayton in Shropshire between 1863 and 1963. It was at the junction where three railway lines met: two of them, forming the Great Western Railway route between Wellington (Shropshire) and Crewe, were met by a line from Stoke-on-Trent on the North Staffordshire Railway.

References