Shottle is an intermediate station on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. It serves the settlements Cowers Lane (which is nearest), Turngate and Shottlegate. The station was opened as Cowers Lane but was changed by request of the owner of Shottle Hall.
Information
Type:
Preserved Railway
(Ecclesbourne Valley Railway)
Opened:
1867 (Closed 1947)
Re-Opened:
2014
Platforms:
1
Shottle was on the branch line from Duffield to Wirksworth and was opened by the Midland Railway in 1867. The station was closed for passenger use in 1947 as a fuel saving measure though remained open for freight until 1967 when full closure occurred.
The station was re-opened as a stop on the preserved Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in 2014. Like with Idridgehay further up the line the former station buildings are now privately owned (by an oil company in Shottle's case) so only the platform is officially part of the EVR station. The building's owners however agreed to have the building repainted in Midland Railway colours. The station building was designed by the Midland Railway's John Crossley [1] who designed all of the stations on the line.
Shottle hosts a passing loop on the EVR though only has a platform on the down line, trains from Wirksworth can stop for passengers to embark or alight but not from Duffield. A second platform is under construction and due to open in 2018. A couple of sidings are next to the station used by the railway for stock storage and engineering trains.
General view of Shottle, the former station building is not part of the EVR station
View of the former station building
A Duffield bound Class 33 hauled train passes a train waiting in the loop
One of Shottle's sidings
[1] Tom Tait & Neil Ferguson-Lee, The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: the First 150 Years (Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Media, 2017) p. 10
