Overpool (OVE)

Overpool is a stop on the Ellesmere Port branch of the Merseyrail Wirral Line in Cheshire between Ellesmere Port and Little Sutton.

Merseyrail 508 128 arrives at Overpool


Information
Type: National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line Ellesmere Port Branch)
Station code: OVE
Opened: 1988
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by British Rail in 1988 to serve new housing developments [1] on the line from Hooton to Helsby. In 1994 the line from Hooton was electrified as far as Ellesmere Port and through services to Liverpool began.

Access to the platforms is via ramps from the road level bridge which crosses the railway lines. Overpool is one of a small number of Merseyrail stations which are unstaffed. There is a half-hourly service in each direction.

View down the platform, facilities are fairly basic

Platform shelter

Another platform view



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Chester to Birkenhead (Middleton Press, 2012) Fig. 98

Morden Road Tramlink

Morden Road is a stop on the London Tram network in south west London between Merton Park and Phipps Bridge.

The two types of tram operated by London Trams pass at Morden Road



Information
Type: London Trams
Opened: 2000
Platforms: 2

The tram stop was opened in 2000, it is on the site of the former Morden Road railway station which closed in 1997. The tram line is singled between Morden Road and Phipps Bridge.

The tram stop is less than a kilometre away from Morden and South Wimbledon underground stations on the Northern Line (the tram stop is more or less inbetween them).

A Stadler Variobahn departs for Wimbledon
View down the line towards Wimbledon

A tram approaches

Tram 2562 departs

Camberley (CAM)

Camberley is a stop on the Ascot-Guildford Line in Surrey between Frimley and Bagshot.

South Western Railway 450 003 at Camberley


Information
Type: National Rail (Ascot-Guildford Line)
Station code: CAM
Opened: 1878
Platforms: 2

The station was opened as Camberley & York Town by the London & South Western Railway in 1878. The station was originally on a single track with a single platform. The line was doubled in 1893 and a second platform added to the station. The station later became part of the Southern Railway who electrified the line in 1938. British Rail rebuilt the station in 1975 [1] in the D70 style using steel beams and glass [2].

The station is managed by South Western Railway typically with two trains an hour in each direction between Ascot and Aldershot. Some peak hour services also extend to London Waterloo. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge.

View down the platform

Main station building view from the footbridge

Footbridge

Station entrance

SWR 450 003 arrives



[1] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy, 2018) p. 143
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Designed 1948-97 (Ian Allan, 2016) p. 98

Duddeston (DUD)

Duddeston is a stop on the Cross-City North Line between Birmingham New Street and Aston, and also the Walsall Line between New Street and Witton. It is Birmingham's oldest railway station.

West Midlands Railway 323 205 stands at Duddeston



Information
Type: National Rail (Cross-City Line & Walsall Line)
Station code: DUD
Opened: 1837
Platforms: 2

Duddeston was opened by the Grand Junction Railway as 1837 as Vauxhall and was the terminus of the line from the North (and thus Birmingham's first railway terminus) for 2 years until the opening of Birmingham Curzon Street.

After the opening of Curzon Street, Duddeston (still known as Vauxhall) closed to passenger services, being used for freight only until it was rebuilt by the London & North Western Railway in 1869. In 1889 it was renamed to Vauxhall & Duddeston. The final renaming to Duddeston came in 1974 [1]. The station has suffered destruction a number of times. The station was hit by a German bomb in 1941 which destroyed the main station building. The replacement building burned down in the 1950s!

Duddeston used to be adjacent to the Grand Junction Railway's engine shed (which opened in 1840) and a sizeable goods yard though these have now gone. The lines through the station were quadrupled in 1891 though only one island platform is in use now (the other has become a buddleia plantation!)

As part of the Cross-City and Walsall Lines, the route through Duddeston has been electrified. However, not all of the services on these busy lines stop at Duddeston. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.

Station entrance

View down the platform

The other platform, the old engine sheds beyond

WMR and London Northwestern Railway meet

LNWR 350 127 prepares to depart



[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) fig. 75

Goostrey (GTR)

Goostrey is a stop on the Crewe-Manchester Line in Cheshire between Holmes Chapel and Chelford.

Northern 323 235 departs for Manchester


Information
Type: National Rail (Crewe-Manchester Line)
Station code: GTR
Opened: 1891
Platforms: 2

Although the line was built by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway in 1842, the then-owners the London & North Western Railway did not open a station at Goostrey until 1891. The station was a simple two platform affair with a small goods yard, this was closed in 1964 [1]. The line was an early part of the West Coast Main Line electrification and the wires went up in 1959. At Goostrey this meant some rebuilding of the bridge and the main station building to facilitate the electrical equipment.

The station is managed by Northern, who also operate an hourly service in each direction. Access between the platforms is via the road bridge. 

Road bridge

BR era signage

Down the platform

Main station building, no longer in railway use

331 015 arrives with a Crewe bound service



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Crewe to Manchester (Middleton Press, 2014) Map. IX