Carlton (CTO)

Carlton is a stop on the Nottingham-Lincoln Line between Nottingham and Burton Joyce.

EMR 156 917 arrives with a Nottingham bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Nottingham-Lincoln Line)
Station code:	CTO
Opened:	1846
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1846. The station name was changed to Carlton & Gedling in 1871 [1] and then changed to Carlton & Netherfield in 1896 (the actual Netherfield station is a short walk away). The station name was shortened to Carlton in 1974.

The station's two platforms are staggered either side of a level crossing over the Victoria Road (the staggering to reduce delays to traffic). The station had a small goods yard but this was closed in 1965. The station has been unstaffed since 1969 [2]. The original station buildings have been replaced by modern shelters.

The station is served by East Midlands Railway who maintain an hourly service on the Matlock-Newark Castle route. A few peak hour trains go on to Lincoln Central.

A train is about to go through the level crossing

Station sign

Looking down towards Nottingham

EMR 156 917 departs for Newark Castle

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Nottingham to Lincoln (Middleton Press, 2013) Map IV
[2] Ibid. Fig. 18

Maxstoke (Coleshill)

Maxstoke was a stop on the Stonebridge Junction Railway near Warwickshire between Whitacre Junction and Hampton-in-Arden. The station was opened as Coleshill by the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway in 1839, connecting to the London & Birmingham Railway. The route was originally double track but singled by 1842 due to the line quickly losing it's importance after alternative routes opened [1] via Birmingham.

Maxstoke station today

Information
Type:	National Rail (Stonebridge Junction Railway)
Opened:	1839
Closed:	1917
Platforms:	1

Through trains continued to use the line, even as far as London. However, the service was gradually reduced and by 1877 there was just a single Parliamentary service a day (with a single carriage) between Whitacre Junction and Hampton-in-Arden. Passenger loadings were low, often nil. The station master even gaining a degree of international notoriety for the loneliness of his job! The line was finally closed to passenger traffic in 1917 [2] as part of First World War economy measures, however the line remained open for freight and the small station goods yard remained in use.

Despite having no passenger traffic the station was renamed Maxstoke in 1923, the railway company even going to the expense of new station name boards! This renaming was to allow Forge Mills to be renamed Coleshill (this station itself was closed in the 1960s but later re-opened in 2007 as Coleshill Parkway). Freight use of the line continued until the 1930s, the line was closed as a through route for good after a wooden bridge over the river Blythe was judged too weak to allow for trains in 1935 [3]. The two ends of the line continued to be used for wagon storage for a while longer.

The station building survived until the early 1960s [4] when it was demolished due to vandalism. The platform survived and has been partially restored in recent years by an enthusiast. The station was very basic with a single siding, the station had a single short platform. At one end of the station was a level crossing.

[1] Colin G Maggs, The Branch Lines of Warwickshire (Amblerley, 2011) p. 21 
[2] Vic Mitchell, Birmingham to Tamworth & Nuneaton (Middleton Press, 2014) Fig. 111
[3] Ibid. Fig. 113
[4] Maggs p. 23

Edge Hill (EDG)

Edge Hill is a stop on the Liverpool-Manchester Line between Liverpool Lime Street and Wavertree Technology Park or Mossley Hill.

Northern 319 361 departs

Information
Type:	National Rail (Liverpool-Manchester Line)
Station code:	EDG
Opened:	1836
Platforms:	4

The first Edge Hill station was opened in September 1830 by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and was one of the earliest railway stations to be opened. This station was replaced by a new one in 1836 after the Liverpool terminus was changed from Crown Street to the more central Lime Street, Edge Hill is just to the East of the cutting and tunnels down to Lime Street.

For a time Edge Hill was where steam haulage began and ended, with passenger trains descending and ascending thanks to a rope powered by a static steam engine at Edge Hill. This was due to the steepness of the gradient up from Lime Street, early steam locomotives not having sufficient power to haul trains up it. Rope haulage continued until 1870. One of the original 1836 built station buildings still exists and is one of the oldest railway buildings still in use in the world [1].

Next to Edge Hill is a large marshalling yard which was opened by the LNWR in 1873, the first to be opened in Britain. At it's height the yard had sixty miles of track and handled over two thousand wagons a day. A much smaller freight yard still exists, also near to the station is a motive power depot which services Pendolino EMUs. A far cry from the 1950s when Edge Hill Depot was home to one hundred and fifty steam engines! [2]

The station is managed and served by Northern. Two branches of the Liverpool-Manchester Line (via Earlestown and Warrington) split just East of the station. The station is served by up to five trains an hour in each direction.

Northern 150 226 heads for Lime Street

Northern 319 386 and a Northern 323 at Edge Hill

View down the platform towards the junction

Looking down the platform towards Lime Street

Station buildings

[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 52

[2] Martin Jenkins & Charles Roberts, Merseyside Transport Recalled (Ian Allan, 2014) p. 64

Havenstreet

Havenstreet is a stop on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway between Wootton and Ashey.

41928 stands at the station

Information
Type:	Preserved Railway (Isle of Wight Steam Railway)
Opened:	1875 (Closed 1966)
Re-Opened:	1971
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Ryde & Newport Railway in 1875. It was later operated by the Isle of Wight Central Railway and Southern Railway (and British Railways of course).

The station, which was renamed Havenstreet in 1959 [1], was closed along with much of the once extensive Isle of Wight railway system in the late 1960s. The station was re-opened by the Isle of Wight Steam Railway who opened a stretch of line between Havenstreet and Wootton in 1971. The station consists of an island platform, the main station building is accessed via a foot crossing.

Havenstreet is the headquarters of the preserved line with workshops (the first of which opened in 1980), a museum and a recently opened visitor centre (Train Story) at the station [2].

General view of the station, there is a foot crossing at the end of the island platform

Number 11 arrives with a train bound for Smallbrook Junction

D2059 stands in the yard

41298 departs

Number 11 heads into the station

[1] R.J Maycock & R. Silsbury, The Isle of Wight Railways from 1923 Onwards (Oakwood Press, 2006) p. 155
[2] Ibid p. 263

Witton (WTT)

Witton is a stop on the Chase Line in North Birmingham between Aston and Perry Barr.

WMR 323 202 departs heading for Aston

Information
Type:	National Rail (Chase Line)
Station code:	WTT
Opened:	1876
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the London North Western Railway in 1876 adjacent to Villa Park. Next to the station was Witton Wharf goods depot, this site closed in 1970 [1] and is now occupied by a supermarket. The line through Witton was electrified in 1966.

The station is located on an embankment with ramps down to road level. The station is unstaffed with concrete canopies and waiting rooms. A bridge next to the station is painted in Aston Villa colours (though is in need of a refresh!)

Station entrances are either side of this bridge

View towards Perry Barr

Station building

[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) Map. XIX

Itchen-Abbas

Itchen-Abbas was a stop on the Alton-Winchester Line in Hampshire between Alresford and Winchester.

Along the platform (KD Collection)

Information
Type:	National Rail (Alton-Winchester Line)
Opened:	1865
Closed:	1973
Platforms:	2 (1 at closure)

The station was opened by the Alton, Alresford & Winchester Railway in 1864, later becoming part of the London South Western Railway. The station was built with two platforms but one was taken out of use in the 1930s.

The station continued to be gradually run down, becoming unstaffed after 1967. It was finally closed in 1973 along with the rest of the line. The line was reopened as the Watercress Line (Mid-Hants Railway) but re-opening from Alton went only as far as Alresford. The station building has now been demolished and new houses built on the former track bed.

Polesworth (PSW)

Polesworth is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in Warwickshire between Atherstone and Tamworth.

View down the platform

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:	PSW
Opened:	1847
Platforms:	1

The station was opened by the London North Western Railway in 1847 on what was then known as the Trent Valley Line. The line was originally double track but later quadrupled. The station had a goods yard and a fine Edwardian main station, the far cry from the bare bones station today.

Over the last few decades the station has been starved of services with platform 2 closed and the footbridge to it removed as the cost of replacing it did not justify the station traffic. The station now is served by just one Parliamentary service a day between Northampton and Crewe. No surprise therefore that the station is one of the least used in the country with just 186 passengers using it in 2019. There are proposals to close Polesworth and replace it with a new station called Polesworth Parkway but this may not happen until the next decade.

Station frontage, facilities are fairly basic!

The disused Platform 2 can be seen in the background

Green Lane (GNL)

Green Lane is a stop on the Merseyrail Wirral Line in Tranmere, Birkenhead between Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Central.

Merseyrail 508 123 arrives at Green Lane

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code:	GNL
Opened:	1886
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Mersey Railway in 1886 as it's terminus on the Wirral side of the line [1]. The station was built near the site of Tranmere / Lime Kiln Lane station which closed in 1857 [2]. The line was extended to Rock Ferry a few years later. The line was electrified in 1903 with the help of British Westinghouse.

The station is built in a deep cutting on a low level as it is on the approach to the Mersey Tunnel, and can be a bit gloomy. The overbridge at Green Lane could not be raised which is one of the reasons the LMS stuck with third rail and not overhead lines on the Mersey electrified network. Green Lane became part of the Merseyrail network in the 1970s.

Tunnels are at either end of the platforms

View down the platform

A Merseyrail train prepares to depart

Platform shelter

A footbridge allows interchange between the platforms

[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 77
[2] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Chester to Birkenhead (Middleton Press, 2012) Fig. 72