toller interlude

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 25.2.1975)

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Toller was a charming intermediate station on the Bridport branch, and was to close just a few months after these pictures. The Bridport branch was very rural throughout, but did serve the largish town of Bridport. It was perhaps surprising that a rural village like Toller could maintain a station in 1975, I can imagine how the loss of the railway has damaged house prices and will cause real problems in the future if the line is not reopened. But I'm now sure this will happen as being so rural it will be easy to rebuild and demand even now would be much higher than in 1975 which was just about the nadir of the railway system in the UK. Lines like this will be rebuilt in their hundreds as the oil starts to run out, using either flywheel electric transmission or new build ultra-modern steam. The golden age of railway braach lines is ahead, not behind, us!

The station building is now at Totnes (Littlehempston) station on the South Devon Railway, so is still in use.

More info (via Wikipedia)

Toller was a railway station on the Bridport Railway in the west of the English county of Dorset. The station served the village ofToller Porcorum. Opened on 31 March 1862, five years after the branch, it consisted of a single platform and modest wooden building.

History

Opened by the Bridport Railway, but operated from the outset by the Great Western Railway, it was placed in the Western Region when the railways were nationalised in 1948.

The branch was threatened with closure in the Beeching report, but narrow roads in the area, unsuitable for buses, kept it open until 5 May 1975. In its final years, trains were normally formed of a single carriage Class 121 diesel railcar.

The site today

The platform can still be seen from the overbridge although the building was moved to Littlehempston on the South Devon Railway, a heritage line.

fittleworth

(All pics copyright 15.5.1977 Rail Thing/Steve Sainsbury)

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Back in the sixties this place always fascinated me. We used to go over it in the car on the way to London visiting relatives. Every time it looked more and more derelict. I even got involved with a preservation attempt for the route in the 70s.

It was the first station out from Pulborough on the Pulborough-Midhurst line, which closed to passengers in 1955, lingering on in part for freight until May 1966.

Back in the seventies it was possible to wander around the station and line but eventually it was sold and turned into a house. Of course in the future the line is almost certain to be restored as it serves the small towns of Petworth and Midhurst and would provide an excellent link to London.

At one time Midhurst had three routes, the others being the branch to Petersfield, on the London to Portsmouth main line, and the wonderful line through the Downs southwards to Chichester, which closed as long ago as 1935 to passengers. The only direction trains didn't travel in was northwards, and a line through Fernhurst to Liphook or Haslemere will provide a very useful commuter route in the future.

More info (from Gravelroots)

FITTLEWORTH RAILWAY STATION

Fittleworth railway station was on the LBSCR, London, Brighton and South Coast, line between Pulborough and Midhurst which opened in 1859.
For some 30 years there was no station at Fittleworth. After numerous complaints, a small station opened in September 1889.

After nearly 66 years of service it finally closed to passengers in February 1955. Freight traffic from Fittleworth continued until 1963 three years before the lines total closure in 1966. The small station building remained undeveloped for many years. However it was restored and converted into a private dwelling in 1987.
more on the local lines here

timeline - 
1859 line opened 
Sep. 1889 Station opened 
Feb.1955 Station closed to passengers 
May 1963 Station closed for freight 
1966 line closed

rural gem

WATERGATE HALT

(Copyright 24.6.1980 Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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This little gem was Watergate Halt on the Torrington to Meeth line in Devon. In 1980 this line was still used by china clay trains and was the remaining section of the North Cornwall Junction Light Railway, opened as recently as 1925. The line originally ran from Torrington to Halwill Junction, and was never heavily used by passengers, one coach usually being sufficient to handle the traffic. It struggled on a few years after 1980 until closing completely. It's unlikely that this line will ever reopen, which is a shame as it was a classic country light railway, but who knows? It closed to passengers in 1965, lasting just 40 years.

a closed city station

(All 1.5.1985)

It seems strange now but as late as 1985 small sections of line and a few stations were still closing. It was usually due to rationalisation or replacement by trams. I'm not even sure why Lincoln St Marks closed, but close it did!

I only got to visit it once, on May 1st 1985 and grabbed a few shots. There was still a lot of classic infrastructure about - and look at those taxis!

More info (from Wikipedia)

St. Mark's railway station, the first in Lincoln, was opened by the Midland Railway in 1846. Originally a terminus the line was extended through the station only a few years after opening to connect with the Great Northern Railway just to the east of their station. The Durham Ox Junction was also crossed by a road, leading to many delays. The junction was crossed by Pelham Bridge in the mid 1950s. Up to closure St. Marks was the mainline station with through services from Cleethorpes to London. Prior to closure of the Lincoln to Grantham line during the Beeching Axe, London services had used Lincoln Central station. Direct services were stopped with rail privatisation requiring a change of train at Newark North Gate.

To save duplication of operating two stations in 1985 the station closed when services were diverted to the nearby Lincoln Central station. The construction of a new 80 metre length of track to the west allowed services from Newark to reach Lincoln Central. The grand ionic portico that was once the entrance has been preserved and, as of January 2007, is home to Lakeland Limited as part of the commercial development of the site. A mock signalbox has also been erected in the car park on which has been affixed an original sign from the station.The remainder of the former station site is now St. Marks Shopping Centre.The redevelopment in keeping with the preserved buildings won an Ian Allan heritage award in 2009, commemorated by a plaque.