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

Stanley Junction

Stanley Junction was at the junction of the Scottish Midland Junction Railway and Perth & Dunkeld Railway in Perthshire between Strathord and Cargill or Murthly.

Stanley Junction [1]



Information
Type: Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Opened: 1848
Closed: 1956
Platforms: 3

The original station was opened as Stanley by the Scottish Midland Junction Railway in 1848, in 1857 it was replaced by a new station (called Stanley Junction) for the junction with the Perth & Dunkeld Railway. It was later absorbed into the Caledonian Railway. The station was closed in 1956.

[1] R.E. Charlesworth, "Twenty four hours at Carlisle", Railway Magazine (November 1907) p. 382

Cheddington (CED)

Cheddington is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in Buckinghamshire between Leighton Buzzard and Tring.

LNWR 350 265 departs for London Euston



Information
Type: National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code: CED
Opened: 1838
Platforms: 4

The station was opened by the London & Birmingham Railway in 1838 as Aylesbury Junction to link up with the Aylesbury Railway [1] which opened the following year. The station was renamed Cheddington Junction in 1850, it lost the Junction suffix twenty years later. The line to Aylesbury High Street was closed to passengers in 1953, though freight continued to use the line until 1964. The line has now been lifted. In 1963 the Great Train Robbery took place just over a mile north of the station at Bridego Bridge.

Cheddington has platforms for both the slow and fast lines of the WCML though only the platforms on the slow lines are in regular use, and fast services by Avanti West Coast do not stop at the station, only London Northwestern Railway services on the slow lines. The fast line platforms tend to be only used during engineering works.

The station is unstaffed and has a footbridge for access between the different platforms. The station is managed by LNWR. The current station buildings date from a rebuilding in 1956.

Station building, no longer staffed

View from the footbridge

Brick shelter

Footbridge

Looking back north



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Watford to Leighton Buzzard (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 72

Great Malvern (GMV)

Great Malvern is a stop on the Cotswold Line in Malvern, Worcestershire between Malvern Link and Colwall

West Midlands Railway 196 003 departs for Hereford


Information
Type: National Rail (Cotswold Line)
Station code: GMV
Opened: 1860
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the Worcester & Hereford Railway in 1860. However, the station buildings were not completed until 1862. Malvern was a popular Victorian spa town, the station had dock sidings for the carriages of the gentry [1], there was also a private siding for coal supplies to the adjacent Imperial Hotel. The station had an enclosed private passageway to the hotel known as the Worm though this is no longer open (the hotel is nowadays a school in any case).

The station had an ornate clock tower but it was lost in the post-war period [2]. The station's sidings have also now gone being lifted in the mid-1960s, a signalbox which controlled them was also removed though the splendid platform canopies have been restored. Access between the platforms is via a subway.

The station is served by West Midlands Railway (to and from Birmingham Snow Hill) and Great Western Railway (to and from London Paddington).

Station frontage

Restored canopy supports and a platform clock

Alternative station entrance

View down the platform

A GWR Class 800 stands at Great Malvern



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Worcester to Hereford (Middleton Press, 2004) Map. XIX
[2] Ibid. Fig. 55

Dovey Junction / Cyffordd Dyfi (DVY)

Dovey Junction is a stop on the Cambrian Line on the Powys / Ceredigion border where the line splits towards Aberystwyth or Pwllheli. The station is between Machynllech and Borth or Penhelig.

Transport for Wales 158 830 arrives with an east bound service


Information
Type: National Rail (Cambrian Line)
Station code: DVY
Opened: 1863
Platforms: 2

The station was opened as Gandovey Junction in 1863 by the Cambrian Railway, it was renamed Dovey Junction in 1904, Dovey or Dyfi refers to the river next to the station. Nowadays the station is in the middle of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. It is also close to the hamlet of Glandyfi which is where the station entrance, this is in Ceredigion a kilometre away from the platforms which are in Powys!

The original Cambrian Railway buildings were replaced in the 1970s by a new brick building [1], this has now been replaced by a bus shelter type structure. The station is managed by Transport for Wales, there is a service in both directions at least every two hours, hourly at peak times.

The nature reserve is around the station

Down the platform

Station entrance

Down both platforms

TfW 158 827 departs for Pwllheli



[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Machynlleth to Barmouth (Middleton Press, 2009) Fig. 15

Southchurch Drive North NET

Southchurch Drive North is a stop on the Nottingham Express Transit's Line 2 between Ruddington Lane and Rivergreen.

A Nottingham bound tram arrives



Information
Type: Nottingham Express Transit Line 2
Opened: 2015
Platforms: 2

The tram stop was opened in 2015 as part of phase 2 of the Nottingham Express Transit. The trams run on street tracks on Southchurch Drive. the stop being located near the junction with Farnborough Road. The two tram platforms are either side of the tracks facing each other.

The stop is served by up to eight trams in each direction between Clifton South and Pheonix Park.

Clifton bound 211 arrives at the stop

The stop has the standard NET tram stop architecture

Heading off