Silvertown (SVW)

Silvertown was a stop on the North London Line in East London between Custom House and North Woolwich. 

Modern day Elizabeth Line tracks through the site of the former station

Information
Type:	National Rail (North London Line)
Station code:	SVW
Opened:	1863
Closed:	2006
Platforms:	1 (at closure)

The station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1863, named after the housing area for workers at the S.W. Silver factory producing rubber products [1]. The original station was rebuilt in 1885. The station originally had two platforms but the line was singled by British Rail in 1980 and one platform removed. The line was electrified in 1986. The station was renamed Silvertown & London City Airport [2] the following year though, despite the close proximity to the aiport, there was little extra traffic. The name reverted back to Silvertown before the final closure in 2006.

There is now little trace of the station remaining. The original line has been replaced by new track for the Elizabeth Line. There have been proposals to build a new station on this line to serve the airport but none have come to fruition. Nearby is London City Airport Docklands Light Railway station.

The Elizabeth Line tracks behind a wall, Tate & Lyle's factory overlooking the scene

Silvertown station was located just ahead on the left

[1] J.E. Connor, Branch Lines Around North Woolwich (Middleton Press, 2001) Fig. 73

[2] Ibid. Fig. 82

Bootle New Strand (BNW)

Bootle New Strand is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line in Bootle between Bootle Oriel Road and Seaforth & Litherland. 

Merseyrail 507 025 arrives with a Liverpool bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:	BNW
Opened:	1850
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Liverpool, Crosby & Southport Railway in 1850 as Marsh Lane & Strand Road. It kept this name until 1968 when it was changed to Bootle New Strand to match the adjacent New Strand shopping centre which was opened. The station became part of the Merseyrail Northern Line in 1978.

Bootle New Strand is a staffed station with ramps from ground level up to the platforms. The station has trains at up to every fifteen minutes between Hunts Cross and Southport via Liverpool Central.

508 125 departs for Southport

View down the platform looking North

Waiting room and shelter

Ramp up to platform level

Platform view

Tackley (TAC)

Tackley is on the Cherwell Valley Line in Oxfordshire between Heyford and Oxford.

GWR 165 127 departs heading for Oxford

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cherwell Valley Line)
Station code:	TAC
Opened:	1931
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1931 as Tackley Halt [1] ("Halt" was removed from the name in 1961). The station had a basic wooden shelter, this has now been replaced by a modern plastic shelter.

Until recently Tackley had no footbridge or subway, to get between platforms (and also cross the railway line) a foot crossing was provided with manually operated gates. As non-stopping trains can pass through the station at high speed, people crossing always needed to be pretty alert! Approaching trains sounded their horns but anyone crossing only had a few seconds before the train passed through. This crossing has now been closed, a fatality occurred on the crossing in 2008, and a temporary footbridge built pending a more permanent solution.


Most trains that stop at Tackley are GWR services between Banbury and Oxford though a few services also go straight through to Reading. Chiltern Railways service for between Banbury and Oxford also stops at the station once a day.

A Cross Country services passes through

Information display and shelter

Footbridge

GWR 165 127 again, this time Banbury bound

Platform shelter, unfortunately it seems popular with wasps!

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Didcot to Banbury (Middleton Press, 2003) Fig. 82

Sandwell and Dudley (SAD)

Sandwell & Dudley is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in the West Midlands between Smethwick Galton Bridge and Dudley Port. 

A LNWR train prepares to depart

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:	SAD
Opened:	1852
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Oldbury and Bromford Lane by the Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Stour Valley Railway (later the London North Western Railway) in 1852. The station later becoming just Oldbury. The station was rebuilt and enlarged for intercity traffic (long enough for thirteen coach trains [1]) in 1983 and renamed Sandwell and Dudley (though the name Oldbury International was considered and even used on some early announcements after reopening [2]). The station was rebuilt in the plain brickwalls and mono-pitch roof style common to British Rail in the 1980s, sometimes called neovernacular [3].

The station platforms are accessible via a subway and ground level booking office. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway. Most services are provided by West Midland Railway and London Northwestern Railway, there is an hourly service by Avanti West Coast as well.

Avanti West Coast Pendolino passes through

Waiting room

LNWR 350 405 arrives

Steps down to the booking hall and exits

A Cross Country service passes through

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Tipton (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 67

[2] Ibid. Fig. 69

[3] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy, 2018) p. 155

Grouville

Grouville was a stop on the island of Jersey between Fauvic and Gorey Village. 

Former Grouville station building (KD collection)

Information
Type:	Jersey Eastern Railway
Opened:	1873
Closed:	1929
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Jersey Eastern Railway in 1873 as one of the original stations when the railway opened. Grouville was the railway's Eastern terminus for several weeks until the opening of Gorey Village. The station had a passing loop and two platforms though the railway was quiet enough most of the time for only one of the platforms to see much use. The station had a siding for goods but this was little used and eventually lifted.

The railway was unable to compete with competition from bus companies, train services ceased in 1929, the railway was liquidated in 1932. Grouville's main station building survives as a private residence.

Notting Hill Gate (ZNG)

Notting Hill Gate is a London Underground station in west London. It is situated between Holland Park and Queensway on the Central Line, and between High Street Kensington and Bayswater on the District and Circle Lines. 

A District Line S7 Stock train arrives at the station

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Central, Circle & District Lines)
Station code:	ZNG
Opened:	1868
Platforms:	4

The station was opened by the Metropolitan Railway in 1868. The Central London Railway opened it's deep-level platforms at Notting Hill Gate in 1900. However, the two stations were not linked until 1959 and until then had separate entrances [1].

The Circle and District Line platforms are a cut-and-cover station which retains it's original glass roof and many original features unlike some other stations along the line. The station was rebuilt in the 1950s (which is when the sub-surface and deep level parts were joined). The station was refurbished in 2010-11.

A good view of the glass roof

Central Line platform

Tunnel entrance on the Central Line

Busy times up on the sub-surface platforms

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 146

Whitlocks End (WTE)

Whitlocks End is a station on the North Warwickshire or Shakespeare Line between Shirley and Wythall in the West Midlands. 

WMR 172 214 arrives at Whitlocks End

Information
Type:	National Rail (Shakespeare Line)
Station code:	WTE
Opened:	1936
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the GWR in 1936 to serve the hamlet of the same name and the nearby village of Hollywood. The station was opened as Whitlocks End Halt [1] but this was changed in 1968 when the Halt part of the name was dropped. Since the station has been built the number of housing nearby has increased notably, including the new "village" of Dickens Heath.

As well as through services to Stratford-upon-Avon a number of services every hour from Birmingham terminate at Whitlocks End. These return to Birmingham from Platform 2 travelling "wrong way" a short distance until crossing over just North of the station.

Originally the station had short and low timber edged platforms [2]. The station was rebuilt in 1999 and has had a number of ramps added to aid accessibility as the station is in a cutting below the road bridge which allows interchange between the two platforms. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.

View down the platforms in the direction of Stratford

Train at the station

A Birmingham bound Class 172 arrives

View down the platform

WMR 172 344 departs for Birmingham

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham (Moor Street) (Middleton Press, 2006) p. 70
[2] Ibid p. 69

Longport (LPT)

Longport is a stop on the Crewe-Derby Line in Staffordshire between Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove. 

Northern 323 227 departs with a North bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Crewe-Derby Line)
Station code:	LPT
Opened:	1848
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Burslem in 1848 by the North Staffordshire Railway. The name was changed to Longport after another Burslem station was opened in 1873 on the Potteries Loop Line [1]. The station used to have a goods yard which later became a British Rail Speedlink terminal. Unlike a lot of former station goods yards, Longport's still exists and is now used by Electro-Motive Diesel for locomotive maintenance [2] and currently building the Class 69.

The station is unstaffed but retains it's original station building which is now Grade II listed, though not used for railway purposes. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway who operate one train per hour in each direction. There are also a couple of trains a day operated by Northern.

Footbridge and station forecourt

A Cross Country service passes through

Main station building

View from the footbridge, EMD's depot is to the right behind the station

EMR 156 497 arrives

[1] Adrian Hartless, Lines North of Stoke (Middleton Press, 2019) Map. XV

[2] Ibid. Fig. 52

Wrafton

Wrafton was a stop on the Ilfracombe Branch Line in North Devon between Barnstaple Town and Braunton. 

Former Wrafton station (KD collection)

Information
Type:	National Rail (Ilfracombe Branch Line)
Opened:	1874
Closed:	1970
Platforms:	2

Wrafton was opened by the London & South Western Railway in 1874 on it's new branch line between Barnstaple Junction and Ilfracombe. Wrafton was the smallest station on the line. It had a small goods yard, one of the sidings being dedicated for the nearby RAF base at Chivenor. Two camping coaches were situated at the station between 1954 and 1964.

Although the line was successful enough for it to be doubled in 1889, the line went into decline after the Second World War. The line and the stations on it were closed in 1970. Wrafton's station building has now become a private house though has been restored to resemble the station as it would have looked when open including a station name board and a signal.