Smallford railway station

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Smallford
Image:Smallford67frombridge.jpg Smallford in 1967 as seen from the station Rd bridge
Location
Place	Hertfordshire
History
Opened by	H&StAR
Platforms	1
Key dates	Opened 1866 Closed 1969
Replaced by	none

[edit] A brief history of Smallford and the Hatfield & St Albans Railway.

There were several early proposals to provide St Albans with a rail service, with the LNWR being the first to receive parliamentary approval on 4th August 1853 to construct a line from Watford; the single track branch opening on 4th May 1858. In 1861 the GNR lent its support to a proposal to build a branch line from Hatfield in order to attract some of the lucrative commuter revenue. Authority was obtained on 30 June 1862 and the line was built by the Hatfield & St Albans Railway with the support of the GNR. The branch was opened on 16th October 1865 and eventually absorbed into the GNR on 1st November 1883.

There was initially only one station, at St Albans (the current St Albans Abbey railway station). Further intermediate stations opened at St Albans (London Road) in 1865, Springfield (renamed Smallford on 1st May 1879) in 1866, Sanders Siding (later renamed Salvation Army Halt) in 1897, Hill End in 1899, Nast Hyde in 1910 and Lemsford Road in 1942.

The Hatfield - St Albans branch was an early casualty under British Railways, closing throughout to passengers on 1st October 1951; freight traffic lingered into the 1960s, with Smallford being the last station to close on 1st January 1969 honouring a contract with a scrap dealer at the station.

The former line now forms a 6½ miles long cycle path, the Alban Way, which opened in 1985 as part of National Cycle Route no. 61 between Hatfield and St Albans. The route is owned by the City & District Council of St Albans, managed by the Parks & Leisure Department, and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. The route acts as a 'wildlife corridor' within two busy urban areas of Hertfordshire. The section along the old 'Smallford Trail' is also a County Wildlife Site.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Hill End		British Rail St Albans Branch		Nast Hyde Halt