Freightliner 66 517 heads a freight passing through Water Orton
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Birmingham-Leicester Line)
Station code:
WTO
Opened:
1842
Platforms:
2
The first station at Water Orton was built by the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway in 1842. It was replaced by the current station built by the Midland Railway in 1909 after the junction of the line to Kingsbury was re-sited to allow for higher line speeds. The new station was built further away from the junction [1].
The station was built as a single island platform with the station building on a road bridge which crossed the railway lines. A goods yard used to be located next to the station but it was closed in 1966 [2]. The station building is still intact though the station is now unstaffed with just the most basic facilities.
Although the station is managed by West Midlands Trains only Cross Country services stop there, usually a two-hourly train between Birmingham New Street and Leicester though there is also one train a day to and from Nottingham. There is no Sunday service.
Station building
Cross Country 170 397 passes through bound for Nottingham
Signage and shelter on the platform
Access from road level and the station entrance is via these steps
Another Cross Country service passes through
[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) fig. 29 [2] Vic Mitchell, Birmingham to Tamworth and Nuneaton (Middleton Press, 2014) fig. 45
Kingsbury is a stop on the London Underground Jubilee Line in north west London between Wembley Park and Queensbury.
Jubilee Line 96094 departs
Information
Type:
Transport for London (London Underground Jubilee Line)
Station code:
ZKY
Opened:
1932
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1932 as part of the Metropolitan Railwway's new branch to Stanmore [1]. The following year the Metropolitan Railway became part of London Transport. The station was transferred to the Bakerloo Line in 1939. Finally, in 1979 the station became one of the original stops on the new Jubilee Line.
The station building is in a parade of shops on the Kingsbury Road. The platforms are in a cutting with steps or lifts down from street level and have canopies.
Under the station building
Platform building and canopy
Arrival
Heading off
[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 137
Crowthorne is a stop on the North Downs Line in Berkshire between Wokingham and Sandhurst.
GWR 165 117 departs bound for Reading
Information
Type:
National Rail
(North Downs Line)
Station code:
CRN
Opened:
1859
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1859 by the South Eastern Railway following pressure (and a financial contribution) by the nearby Wellington College. The station was called Wellington College for Crowthorne, the name became just Crowthorne in 1928 [1]. The main station building was repurposed for commercial use when the station became unstaffed in 1967. The station was given new platform shelters in the 1980s including a brick built shelter with a pleasing BR symbol made out of bricks! Access between the platforms is via the road bridge which crosses the tracks.
Crowthorne's goods yard closed in 1964, a signalbox for the yard closing in 1967. Crowthorne is managed by Great Western Railway with an hourly service in each direction between Reading and Redhill or Gatwick Airport, there are some extra services in peak hours.
Crowthorne shelter
Main station building, now disused
View down the platform
Station entrance
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Reading to Guildford (Middleton Press, 1988) Fig. 43
Horsley is a stop on the New Guildford Line in Surrey between Clandon and Effingham Junction.
South Western Railway 455 741 arrives at Horsley
Information
Type:
National Rail
(New Guildford Line)
Station code:
HSY
Opened:
1885
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1885 by the London & South Western Railway as the rather unwieldy Horsley and Ockham and Ripley, the name was shortened to Horsley in 1914. The station served a number of villages scattered around the area. The station had a small goods yard which closed in 1964 [1]. The station retains it's original buildings with decent canopies.
Access between the platforms is via a footbridge. The station is managed by South Western Railway with three trains an hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Guildford.
Main station building
Across the footbridge
View from the footbridge
Station building
SWR 455 847 and friend meet at Horsley
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Branch lines around Effingham Junction (Middleton Press, 1990) Fig. 82
Wood End is a stop on the North Warwickshire Line (nowadays better known as the Shakespeare Line) between Danzey and The Lakes. The station serves the Warwickshire village of Wood End near Tanworth-in-Arden and is close to the border with the West Midlands region.
West Midlands Railway 172 220 departs
Information
Type:
National Rail (Shakespeare Line)
Station code:
WDE
Opened:
1908
Platforms:
2
As with some of the other stations on the line Wood End was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1908, it was located in a cutting next to the 161 metre long Wood End tunnel. The station was originally known as Wood End Platform [1] and kept this name until the late 1930s. The station was never a major affair, serving a sparsely populated area (Danzey was considered the better station for Tanworth-in-Arden). The station had no goods yard though did have a ticket office and a staff of two.
Station facilities were basic however, comprising of wooden structures [2]. The ticket office was damaged by fire in 1967. A concrete footbridge was built at Wood End in 1949. This was removed in 2014 when new stairs were built down to the platforms via access ramps from the main road.
The station is now an unmanned station managed by West Midlands Railway. The only facilities being two concrete shelters and public information screens. The station has an hourly service during the week between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon though has no Sunday service.
GWR style station nameboard
Platform shelter
Wood End tunnel
Station entrance
Stairs down to platform level
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Moor Street (Middleton Press, 2006) Fig. 59 [2] Colin G, Maggs, The Branch Lines of Warwickshire (Amberley, 2011) p. 139
Wigston had three railway stations but the last was closed in the late 1960s. British Rail opened the new station of South Wigston in 1986, about 300m away from the site of the former station Glen Parva. The station has two platforms which are staggered either side of the station's footbridge [1].
The station is nowadays managed by East Midlands Railway though all services are operated by Cross Country on their Birmingham New Street to Leicester service with a train per hour in each direction. One train per day goes as far as Cambridge, and another to Gloucester.
Bus shelter on platform 1
Preparing to depart
Footbridge, the other platform is beyond
Freshly painted footbridge
View from the footbridge
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Coventry to Leicester (Middleton Press, 2017) Fig. 73
Edgware Road is the terminus of the London Underground District Line branch from Wimbledon and a stop on the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines between Paddington and Baker Street. It is a completely different station to the Bakerloo Line station of the same name (which is about 150m away).
An S7 stock train prepares to depart
Information
Type:
Transport for London (London Underground Circle, District & Hammersmith & City Lines)
Station code:
ZEM
Opened:
1863
Platforms:
4
Edgware Road is one of the oldest stations on the Underground being part of the Metropolitan Railway's original line between Paddington and Farringdon [1]. The station is built in a cutting, east to the station used to be the Metropolitan Railway's engine and carriage sheds [2] before they were moved to Neasden due to a lack of space in the early 1880s.
The station was built with a high arched roof of wrought iron and glass and was unique in being dressed with artificial stone [3]. The station is served by three sub-surface lines with thirty-six trains an hour.
Way down to the platforms
Station entrance
All trains are S7 Stock
On the platform
Down the platform
[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 119
[2] Desmond F Croome, The Circle Line (Capital Transport, 2003) p. 13
The station was opened by British Rail in 1988 to support and eastern expansion of Bracknell. Next to the station is a Tesco supermarket, the access road and car park of the station being on Tesco owned land. The main station building is a brick chalet type affair. The building contains a booking office and a waiting room. The other platform has a shelter. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge.
The platforms were extended in 2016 to be able to accomodate ten-car trains. The station is managed by South Western Railway with a usual train frequency of every half hour in both directions.
The station was opened by the Garston & Liverpool Railway in 1864 as Cressington & Grassendale, later becoming part of the Cheshire Lines Committee. The station was closed in 1972 but re-opened in 1978 as part of the Merseyrail network. The station is Grade II listed with a footbridge between the platforms. The platforms extend beyond a road bridge which crosses the tracks for six-car services, special dispensation had to be granted to allow for narrow platforms under the bridge.
The station has a twenty minute service most days on Merseyrail's Northern Line between Hunts Cross and Southport.
View down the platform
Footbridge to the main station building (and exit)
507 019 departs, the platform continues under the bridge
