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

Pershore (PSH)

Pershore is a stop on the Cotswold Line in Worcestershire between Evesham and Worcestershire Parkway.

GWR 802 003 arrives at Pershore

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cotswold Line)
Station code:	PSH
Opened:	1852
Platforms:	1

The station was opened by the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway in 1852, the station is actually nearer to the village of Pinvin, Pershore being around 1.6km away to the south. The station was a much grander affair than it is nowadays with two platforms and a goods yard. There was also a horse loading dock (the station being near a racecourse). The goods yard closed in 1964 [1]. The line through Pershore was singled in 1971 [2], one platform was closed though traces of it can still be seen. The service was greatly reduced with just one train a day in both directions throughout most of the 1970s.

The modern station has the usual bus shelter and information screen facilities of an unstaffed station. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, an hourly service is maintained between London Paddington and Worcester Foregate Street, some trains going onwards to Great Malvern and Hereford.

A road bridge crosses the line at the end of the platform

Heritage style station nameboard

Slightly more modern sign

Remains of the closed platform

Station view from the road bridge

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Moreton-in-Marsh to Worcester (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 79

[2] Ibid. Fig. 84

Kirkby (KIR)

Kirkby is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line in Liverpool between Fazakerley and Headbolt Lane.

A Merseyrail Class 777 stands at Kirkby

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch)
Station code:	KIR
Opened:	1848
Platforms:	1

The station was opened by the Liverpool & Bury Railway in 1848. The station later became part of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and on the main route between the cities. However, after nationalisation the route declined and became mostly a local commuter line. In the 1970s one of the platforms was closed. After the line was electrified in 1977, the third rail stopped at Kirkby. The line was split into two with electric Merseyrail services and diesel services to Manchester, Bolton and Wigan Wallgate beginning on a platform on the other side of a bridge.

Through running returned to Kirkby with the extension of Merseyrail to the new Headbolt Lane station in 2023. However, Merseyrail Class 777 electric multiple units travel to the new station on battery power. The diesel only platform on the other side of the bridge has now been closed. 

The station is managed by Merseyrail with a staffed ticket office. Access to down platform level is via stairs or a ramp.

Station building

Before the closure of the diesel only line, Merseyrail trains terminated here

Merseyrail 507 028 stands at Kirkby

Merseyrail 777 148 prepares to depart