Stepford railway station | |
Status: | Disused |
Borough: | Stepford, Dumfries and Galloway |
Country: | Scotland |
Platforms: | 1 |
Original: | Cairn Valley Railway |
Pregroup: | Glasgow & South Western |
Years: | 1 March 1905 |
Events: | Opened |
Years1: | 3 May 1943 |
Events1: | Closed to passengers |
Years2: | 4 July 1949 |
Events2: | Closed to freight |
Stepford (NX864815) was one of the minor request stop stations on the Cairn Valley Light Railway branch from Dumfries. It served a very rural area in Dumfries and Galloway. The line was closed to passengers during the Second World War.[1]
The CVR was nominally independent, but was in reality controlled by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.[2] The line was closed to passengers on 3 May 1943, during the Second World War and to freight on 4 July 1949,[3] and the track lifted in 1953.
The station was very basic with just a short wooden platform with a tin shelter and a siding with a loading bank for goods traffic.[4] A station master's house was provided, designed by the company with a pyramid roof truncated by a central chimney stack.[4] The shelter had been demolished by 1949.[4] The station master's house, a simple cottage, rather than the standard company design, survives as a private dwelling.
Morrington Quarry was nearby and was rail connected,[5] however the contract was lost to a road haulier in around 1943.[6]
The siding was worked by down trains only, goods for Dumfries being taken to the nearest station along. The points were unlocked with an Annett's key that was kept in a locked box on a post adjacent to the point.[7]
Trains were controlled by a 'lock and block' system whereby the trains operated treadles on the single line to interact with the block instruments.[2]