Barking (BKG)

Barking is an interchange station in east London between West Ham and Dagenham Dock on the London, Tilbury & Southend Line. It is between Woodgrange Park and Barking Riverside on the London Overground and between East Ham and Upney on the London Underground.

London Overground 710 273 at Barking

Information
Type:	National Rail (London, Tilbury & Southend Line) Transport for London (London Overground GOBLIN, District Line and Hammersmith & City Lines)
Station code:	BKG
Opened:	1854
Platforms:	9

The station was opened by the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway in 1854. The station was rebuilt in 1889 due to the increased demand with the existing platforms extended and a new third platform added. District Railway trains started using Barking in 1902 [1], the line being electrified in 1908. In 1932 the Metropolitan Line also began to use the station.

In the 1950s the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway was electrified (overhead instead of the Underground's fourth rail). The station was rebuilt in 1961 [2] as part of the electrification and upgrade of the LTSR line, the current booking hall dates from this rebuild. The goods yard was replaced by sidings used by London Underground trains [3]. London Overground GOBLIN (Gospel Oak to Barking Line) services were electrified in 2018.

The station is managed by c2c. The station is the eastern terminus of the London Underground's Hammersmith & City Line.

An S7 Stock train stands at Barking

View across the platforms, the station retains extensive canopies

BR era signage alongside trains of more recent vintage

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 102

[2] J.E. Connor, St Pancras to Barking (Middleton Press, 2005) Fig. 120

[3] Dr Edwin Course, Barking to Southend (Middleton Press, 2002) Fig. 7

Shildon (SHD)

Shildon is a stop on the Tees Valley Line in County Durham between Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland.

Back in Pacer days, Northern 142 014 waits at Shildon

Information
Type:	National Rail (Tees Valley Line)
Station code:	SHD
Opened:	1842
Platforms:	2

Shildon has been described as the "cradle of the railways" as it was located on the pioneer Stockton & Darlington Railway (indeed was one of the line's termini), the first train was hauled by Locomotion No. 1 (the first locomotive to haul a passenger carrying train on a public line) at Shildon in 1825 [1]. However, the current station dates from 1842 when it was re-located from the original site at Masons Arms [2].

Shildon was the engineering hub of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and home to the Soho Locomotive Works where the early steam locomotives were built for the S&DR and elsewhere. Later Shildon became an important centre for wagon construction and repair through into the British Rail era, the works finally closing in 1984.

The current station is located next to the National Rail Museum's Shildon outpost and was re-built in 2003 at the same time the museum was built on land formerly used by the Shildon Railway Works. The station is managed and served by Northern. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge and ramps.

View from the footbridge

Modern bus shelter style accommodation

Semaphore signal, the signalbox controls access to the museum site

The APT-E, one of the exhibits at NRM Shildon

Station entrance

[1] Charlie Walton, "Bishop Line: A short history of the route" <https://www.bishopline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/A-short-history-of-the-route.pdf>
[2] Roger R Darsley & Dennis A Lovett, Shildon to Stockton (Middleton Press, 2023) Fig. 23

Headcorn (HCN)

Headcorn is a stop on the South Eastern Main Line in Kent between Staplehurst and Pluckley.

Southeastern 375 613 arrives at Headcorn

Information
Type:	National Rail (South Eastern Main Line)
Station code:	HCN
Opened:	1842
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 1842 by the South Eastern Railway. In 1905 the Kent & East Sussex Railway made Headcorn it's northern terminus. An extra platform was added for KESR services who called the station Headcorn Junction [1]. The station was partially rebuilt in the late 1920s when two new fast running linmes were added through the station. A new platform was built and footbridge. The KESR between Headcorn and Tenterden closed in 1954. The goods yard was closed in 1962.

The station was rebuilt in 1988, the original SER building was replaced by a new structure. The station is managed by Southeastern with usually two trains per hour in each direction.

View down the platform

Station building

View from the footbridge

Preparing to go

Down the platform

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Redhill to Ashford (Middleton Press, 1990) Fig. 96

Upper Greenock

Upper Greenock was a stop on the Inverclyde Line in Inverclyde between Ravenscraig and Port Glasgow.

The station just after it's rebuilding, it had an island platform [1]

Information
Type:	National Rail (Inverclyde Line)
Opened:	1865
Closed:	1967
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 1865 by the Greenock & Wemyss Bay Railway, later becoming part of the Caledonian Railway. The station was rebuilt when the line to Wemyss Bay was doubled in the early 1900s. The station was closed in 1967 though the line remains open and is nowadays the Inverclyde Line. Traces of the old station remain including a bricked up entrance.

Station entrance, parts of this entrance survive though nowadays bricked up [1]

[1] Arthur B. Tatlow, "The Doubling of the Wemyss Bay Line of the Caledonian Railway", Railway Magazine (June 1903) p. 460

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury (ASC)

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury is a stop on the Birmingham to Bristol Line in Gloucestershire between Worcester Shrub Hill and Cheltenham Spa.

GWR 158 750 stops at the station

Information
Type:	National Rail (Birmingham-Bristol Line)
Station code:	ASC
Opened:	1840 (Closed 1971)
Re-opened:	1997
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Ashchurch in 1840 by the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway later becoming part of the Midland Railway. The station was closed in 1971 though the line remained open. The station was re-opened on the same site in 1997. The station was completely rebuilt with very little from the old station now surviving though the water tank does [1]. Next to the station was a large goods yard which closed in 1964. A short line continues to be used by a nearby army base.

The station is managed by Great Western Railway who provide most of the services though there are some Cross Country services which stop during the peak hours. The station is unstaffed with access between the platforms via a footbridge. At the end of one platform is a small heritage area.

View down the platform, the footbridge has ramp access

Station entrance

Heritage area

Another look down the platform

GWR 158 959 departs

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bromsgrove to Gloucester (Middleton Press, 2006) Fig. 48