Burnham-on-Sea railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Burnham-on-Sea
Location
Location Burnham-on-Sea
Area Sedgemoor
Grid reference ST305488
Operations
Pre-grouping Somerset Central Railway
Post-grouping SR and LMS
Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms 1
History
3 May 1858 Opened (Burnham)
12 July 1920 Renamed (Burnham-on-Sea)
29 October 1951 Closed to passenger traffic
8 September 1962 Closed to excursion traffic
20 May 1963 Closed to goods traffic
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom

Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D-F G H-J K-L M-O P-R S T-Z  
Portal:Burnham-on-Sea railway station
 UK Railways Portal

Burnham-on-Sea railway station at Burnham-on-Sea was the terminus of the Burnham branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Opened as Burnham by the Somerset Central Railway on 3 May 1858, it was renamed in 1920.

The station, situated behind Abingdon Road, was a terminus although a through platform allowed services to travel on to a 900ft pier on the river. For a few years railway run steamers ran across the Bristol Channel to Wales.[1] Railway operations onto the pier in 1888 although the pier continued in use for vessels until the 1950s. Perhaps the strangest use of the railway along the pier was by lifeboat, which was pushed on rails from the old lifeboat house (behind the current Somerfield store) and onto the "main line", across the esplanade, and down the pier where the lifeboat could be launched if the tide was right[2]

Burnham-on-Sea closed when passenger services were curtailed at Highbridge on the 28 October 1951. Excursion traffic continued until 1962, and the goods depot remained open until 1958. The former GWR station is now known as Highbridge and Burnham.

Contents

[edit] The Site Today

The site is now occupied by a playschool, the new RNLI station and a Somerfield supermarket and new road which has helped to ease the traffic flow into the town.[3]

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Highbridge Stations
Line and station closed		   Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway
LSWR & Midland Railways		   Terminus

[edit] Further reading

  • R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd.  ISBN 1 85260 508 1

[edit] References

  1. ^ Burnham
  2. ^ Smith, John (15 March 2007 - 11 April 2007). "Storms close 'last' section of S&D in regular use". Heritage Railway (96): pp26–27. Horncastle: Mortons Media Group. ISSN 1466-3560. 
  3. ^ Burnham

[edit] External links

 This article on a railway station in South West England is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.