Place Widmerpool 2 February 1880 Station opens 1 March 1965 Closed to goods Platforms in use 2 | Area Rushcliffe 28 February 1949 Closed to passengers Original company Midland Railway | |
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Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways Similar Upper Broughton railway st, Kirklington and Edingley, Cottam railway station, Scrooby railway station, Farnsfield railway station | ||
Widmerpool was a railway station serving Widmerpool in the English county of Nottinghamshire. It was situated on the Midland Railway route between London and Nottingham via Corby.
Contents
History
The station was opened for goods (1 Nov 1879) & passengers (2 February 1880) by the Midland Railway. The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.
It was on its cut-off line from Melton Mowbray to Nottingham, which had opened the previous year to allow the railway company's expresses between London and the North to avoid reversal at Nottingham. It also improved access to and from the iron-ore fields in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Local traffic was always minimal, a situation not helped by the station being situated one and a half miles from the village of its name, and it closed to passengers as early as 1949.
According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P†, F, L, H, C and there was a 1-ton 10 cwt crane.
Present day
Following the closure of the line as a through-route in 1968, the track between Melton Mowbray and Edwalton was converted for use as the Old Dalby Test Track. This was used initially for the Advanced Passenger Train project and, more recently, Class 390 Pendolino units. It is currently used for testing London Underground 'S Stock' trains.
The station's Up platform remains in existence, as does the Down platform waiting room although the platform itself was removed during electrification work in 2000. The main station building was converted into a pub and restaurant c1966 before the line closed. It was originally called the Schooner Inn and later the Pullman Inn. Following closure of the business, Network Rail purchased the building and surrounding land in order to secure access to the test track infrastructure. The building is currently unused .
The timber goods shed survived until electrification in 2000. Just to the north of the station site lies Stanton Tunnel, 1,330 yards (1,220 m) long.