Witney railway station (goods)

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Coordinates: 51°46′38″N 1°28′50″W / 51.77722°N 1.48056°W / 51.77722; -1.48056
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Witney (Goods)
General information
Location
Witney Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
14 November 1861Station opens
15 January 1873Station closes to passengers
2 November 1970Station closes to goods

Witney goods station served the Oxfordshire town of

East Gloucestershire Railway in 1873, the station became a goods depot, with passengers using the second station
situated to the south. The original station remained open to goods traffic until 1970.

History

The station was opened by the

engine shed and water tank.[4][5][6][7] The shed, which lost its locomotive allocation when the new Witney station opened, was demolished during November 1905 after having been used for storage purposes.[8][6]

When the

Second World War.[8][19] The station canopy was boarded in to increase the storage space for parcels.[7]

The station remained busy right up until the later years of the line.

British Railways began deliberately running down the Witney Railway to ensure its closure; it offered the Witney Blanket Company a cheaper rate if it agreed to transfer its goods to road.[21][22] Staff at the station was reduced to a single person as the service was cut back to a coal train on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and subsequently only Tuesdays and Fridays.[21] The sidings in the goods yard were lifted in Winter 1968, leaving the large goods shed and siding to fall derelict.[21] The remaining traffic was dealt with behind the station building or in the coal sidings.[21]

Witney goods station was closed along with the Witney Railway on 2 November 1970.[1][2][23] The last train to traverse the line was the "Witney Wanderer" on 31 October, but this did not actually enter the Witney terminus.[24][22]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Terminus  
Witney Railway

   South Leigh
Line and station closed

Present day

The station building survived into the 1980s engulfed by an industrial estate constructed on the site of the former goods depot.[25] It was accidentally damaged in 1980 when a chimney stack was brought down after a tractor-mounted loading shovel became caught up in an electric cable attached to the chimney.[26] The station building was subsequently moved to Wallingford on the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.[27][28] The goods yard, weighbridge and parcel shed continued to be used by Marriott's coal merchants until May 1995 when they were demolished and subsequently replaced by a Sainsbury's supermarket.[29][30][23]

The former goods shed was converted into a club known as "Sidings" which used a 1955

British Railways Mark 1 coach as its entrance.[31] Both the goods shed and the stationmaster's house remain.[23]

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Butt (1995), p. 253.
  2. ^ a b c d Quick (2009), p. 416.
  3. ^ a b c Jenkins (1985), p. 17.
  4. ^ Jenkins (1985), pp. 91–92.
  5. ^ Simpson (1997), p. 175.
  6. ^ a b Waters (1986), p. 25.
  7. ^ a b Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 48.
  8. ^ a b c d Jenkins (1985), p. 92.
  9. ^ "Witney Junction". The Fairford Branch Line. Martin Loader. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  10. ^ Simpson (1997), p. 177.
  11. ^ Simpson (1997), p. 172.
  12. ^ a b Clark (1976), p. 176.
  13. ^ Clinker (1988), p. 177, note 3795.
  14. ^ a b Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 44.
  15. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 32.
  16. ^ Awdry (1990), p. 25.
  17. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 34.
  18. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), figs. 50-51.
  19. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 52.
  20. ^ a b c Jenkins (1985), p. 109.
  21. ^ a b c d Jenkins (1985), p. 115.
  22. ^ a b Waters (1986), p. 28.
  23. ^ a b c "Closure". The Witney & East Gloucestershire Railway. David M Howse. 11 February 2007. para. 2. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  24. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 119.
  25. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 147.
  26. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 54.
  27. ^ Simpson (1997), p. 176.
  28. ^ Stretton (2006), p. 86.
  29. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 49.
  30. ^ Waters & Doyle (1992), p. 97.
  31. ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 53.

Sources

External links
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