Whitacre Junction railway station

Whitacre Junction railway station was opened in 1864 by the Midland Railway. It served the village of Whitacre Heath, Warwickshire, England.

Whitacre Junction
The One Engine and the One Carriage on the Hampton-in-Arden to Whitacre branch of the Midland Railway at Whitacre, from The Sketch, 28 August 1907
General information
LocationEngland
Coordinates52.5200°N 1.6795°W / 52.5200; -1.6795
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyBirmingham and Derby Junction Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
10 February 1842Station opens as Whitacre Junction
1 November 1864closed and replaced
1 October 1904renamed Whitacre
4 March 1968Station closes[1]
Lines around Whitacre Junction

History

The line had been opened in 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway from Derby, to a south-facing junction with the London and Birmingham Railway just north of Hampton-in-Arden.

Due to increasing traffic, and the inconvenience of having to reverse trains at Hampton-in-Arden to reach Birmingham Curzon Street, a branch was built in 1842 west from Whitacre to a new Midland Railway passenger station at Birmingham Lawley Street. The station opened to serve this junction.

The Midland Railway generally used the London and North-Western Railway Trent Valley Line and Great Northern Railway tracks to reach London, so the line south to Hampton faded into obscurity. By 1907 the 6½ mile route to Hampton-in-Arden was used by only 1 train per day.[2]

In 1864, the Midland built a new line eastwards to Nuneaton. It is not clear when the original station was built, but it was moved 60 chains further south at this time.[3]

In 1909 a cutoff line was built between Water Orton and Kingsbury.

The station closed on 4 March 1968.[4]

Stationmasters
  • John M. Shelly ca. 1850
  • Charles Broad ca. 1859[5] - 1872[6]
  • Joseph Brindley 1872[6]- 1888[7] (formerly station master at Wichnor Junction, afterwards station master at Widmerpool)
  • George Lambert 1888[7] - ca. 1914 (formerly station master at Widmerpool)
  • H.J. Turner until 1948 (afterwards station master at Selly Oak)
  • S.W. Jamieson 1956 - 1958[8] (formerly station master at Peplow, afterwards station master at Lakeside, Windermere)
  • Mr. Peake from 1958[9] (formerly station master at Endon, Stoke-on-Trent)

Route
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Coleshill
Line and station open		   Midland Railway
Birmingham to Leicester Line		   Shustoke
Line open, station closed
Kingsbury
Line open, station closed		   Midland Railway
Stonebridge Railway		   Maxstoke
Line and station closed

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  2. "Our Wonderful Railway of Ones". The Sketch. England. 28 August 1907. Retrieved 24 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. Pixton, B., (2005) Birmingham-Derby: Portrait of a Famous Route, Runpast Publishing
  4. "Local station amongst 20 axed". Burton Observer and Chronicle. England. 7 March 1968. Retrieved 24 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "1859-1866". Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts: 94. 1914. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  6. "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 296. 1871. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  7. "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 295. 1881. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  8. "Personal Link". Coleshill Chronicle. England. 20 September 1958. Retrieved 24 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Shustoke". Coleshill Chronicle. England. 20 December 1958. Retrieved 24 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.


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