Henham Halt

Henham Halt was a stop on the Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway between Mill Road Halt and Sibleys

Information
Type: National Rail (Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway)
Opened: 1913
Closed: 1952
Platforms: 1

Henham Halt was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1913 [1], like the other stations on the light railway it had a single low short platform and very basic facilities. A grounded coach body was used as a waiting room. There was no booking office and only a single oil lamp, though there was a gents! [2] The station was closed in 1952 when passenger services ended on the line. 
The station on opening [1]



[1] "New branch of the Great Eastern", Railway Times (April 5 1913) p. 345
[2] Vic Mitchell, Broxbourne to Cambridge (Middleton Press, 2012) Fig. 71

Stourbridge Junction (SBJ)

Stourbridge Junction is a stop on the Birmingham-Worcester Line between Lye and Hagley, as well as being a terminus of the Stourbridge Town Branch. 
WMR 172 219 departs for Worcester


Information
Type: National Rail (Birmingham-Worcester Line &
Stourbridge Town Branch)
Station code: SBJ
Opened: 1852
Platforms: 3

The first station was opened as Stourbridge by the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway in 1852 in a different location to the current station. This replaced the original station in 1901, being about 370m to the South of the old station. A branch was built to Smethwick in the 1860s by the Stourbridge Railway, this was taken over by the GWR and later went on to become the current line to Birmingham Snow Hill. The branch line to Stourbridge Town was opened in 1879.


The station had four platforms on two islands. Three are still in use but the fourth platform is now closed, the carriage sidings which used to face it form the station's carpark. Access between the platforms and the ticket hall and station exit is via a subway (the original station had a footbridge [1]). 

The station is managed by West Midlands Railway. The station has regular services between Birmingham Snow Hill and Kidderminster / Worcester. There is also a shuttle to Stourbridge Town every ten minutes which is operated by the unique Class 139. Chiltern Railways also stop at Stourbridge Junction during peak hours with services to London Marylebone.
Platform 1, only one side of the island is now in use

View down platform 1, the steps lead down to the subway...

...and here are the steps

A WMR 172 departs Birmingham bound

WMR 139 001 on platform 3


[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Worcester to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2007) Fig. 49

Long Eaton (LGE)

Long Eaton is a stop on the Midland Main Line in Derbyshire between Spondon and Attenborough and is the fourth station to have this name.
An XC 170 departs for Nottingham


Information
Type: National Rail (Midland Main Line)
Station code: LGE
Opened: 1888
Platforms: 2

The original Long Eaton station was opened by the Midland Counties Railway in 1839. This station was replaced by one called Trent in 1862, this station closed in 1968. A second Long Eaton station was opened on the Erewash Valley Line in 1847, which was in turn replaced by another station in 1863.

A station called Sawley Junction was opened in 1888. When the third generation Long Eaton station was closed in 1967, Sawley Junction (which from 1933 was called Sawley Junction for Long Eaton) was renamed Long Eaton the following year [1]. This is the station which is still in use now.

 
The station is an elevated section of track with ramps and lifts down from each platform to street level. At street level there is ticket office. The station is served by East Midlands Railway (who manage the station) and Cross Country.

XC 170 108 departs

View down the platform towards Nottingham

An EMR Meriden arrives

Road level station building

View down the platform towards Derby


[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Nottingham - Long Eaton - Derby (Middleton Press, 2020) Fig. 61

Hinckley (HNK)

Hinckley is a stop on the Birmingham New Street-Leicester Line in Leicestershire between Nuneaton and Narborough
XC 170 117 at Hinckley


Information
Type: National Rail (Birmingham-Leicester Line)
Station code: HNK
Opened: 1864
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the South Leicestershire Railway in 1864, for two years prior trains terminated at London Road to the West of the current station site [1], the line being completed through to South Wigston in 1864. The original station building dates from then though is no longer purely in use as a station with small businesses occupying part of the building, though the ticket office remains staffed at times. 

The original footbridges were replaced in 1983 [2] by a stepless one, this also allows for a pedestrian right of way across the railway line. The station had extensive goods handling facilities including two separate goods sheds but, as with most station goods facilities, are now long gone.

The station is managed by East Midlands Railway though all services, usually one an hour in each direction, are run by Cross Country.
View down the platform

Station frontage

An XC train under the footbridge

View from the footbridge

XC 170 523 heads off towards Leicester



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Coventry to Leicester (Middleton Press, 2017) Map. XVII
[2] Ibid. Fig. 45

Goudhurst

Goudhurst was a stop on the Hawkhurst branch line in Kent between Horsmonden and Cranbrook.

Information
Type: National Rail (Hawkhurst Branch Line)
Opened: 1892
Closed: 1961
Platforms: 2

The station was opened in 1892 by the Cranbrook & Paddock Wood Railway as Hope Mill for Goudhurst & Lamberhurst. However after a couple of months the station was renamed Goudhurst following local pressure. Goudhurst was the terminus of the line for nearly a year until the line was extended to Hawkhurst in 1893. Services were operated by the South Eastern Railway and later the Southern Railway.

The station was closed in 1961 along with the rest of the branch line. The station was demolished in the late 1960s and a new private dwelling built on the site.
Goudhurst station (KD collection)


Ashton Gate

Ashton Gate was a stop in Bristol on the Portishead Railway between Parson Street and Clifton Bridge.

Information
Type: National Rail (Portishead Railway)
Opened: 1906
Closed: 1984
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1906 as Ashton Gate Platform to serve Bristol City football club (their ground being Ashton Gate). The station was closed in 1917 as a wartime economy measure and did not re-open until 1926. The station was renamed Ashton Gate soon afterwards. It was known as Ashton Gate Halt in the early 1960s.

The station was closed again in 1964 but re-opened for football traffic before being closed again in 1977. In 1984 the station was re-opened for a series of Billy Graham rallies at the football ground before being closed for good. The line through Ashton Gate is planned to be re-opened for passenger trains though as yet no firm plans to re-open Ashton Gate (again!)
A DMU calls at Ashton Gate (KD collection)