Four Crosses railway station explained

Four Crosses
Status:Disused
Borough:Four Crosses, Powys
Country:Wales
Coordinates:52.7586°N -3.0813°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:2
Original:Oswestry and Newtown Railway
Pregroup:Cambrian Railways
Postgroup:Great Western Railway
Years:1 May 1860
Events:Opened[1]
Years1:18 January 1965
Events1:Closed

Four Crosses railway station was a station on the former Cambrian Railways between Oswestry and Welshpool.

History

Opened in 1860 as part of the Oswestry and Newtown Railway (O&NR), it served the village of Four Crosses in Powys, Wales.

The O&NR line south of to was single track, with passing loops at each intermediate station. Four Crosses was the main crossing point for passenger trains from to Newtown, and so was re-configured by the Great Western Railway in 1925, when a private sidings was also laid to the nearby creamery, giving milk trains direct access. The GWR improved the up platform, installed longer passing loops of in length, and reconfigured the 1896 signal box to cope with additional traffic.[2]

In 1963, the former CR mainline was vested to the London Midland Region of British Railways, who decided to keep the parallel former Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway open. The line from Welshpool to Oswestry was hence closed in 1965, including Four Crosses station.

The station was immortalised in 1964 in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Station Name: Four Crosses. Disused Stations. 27 February 2017.
  2. Web site: Llanymynech sgnal box. CambrianRailways.com. 2012-02-10.
  3. Web site: Site of Four Crosses creamery. historypoints.org. 6 April 2022.