Whitacre Junction railway station explained

Whitacre Junction
Status:Disused
Country:England
Coordinates:52.52°N -1.6795°W
Original:Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
Pregroup:Midland Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Years:10 February 1842
Events:Station opens as Whitacre Junction
Years1:1 November 1864
Events1:closed and replaced
Years2:1 October 1904
Events2:renamed Whitacre
Years3:4 March 1968
Events3:Station closes[1]
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:13

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

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

External links

Notes and References

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