Clapham railway station, Adelaide

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Clapham Railways in Adelaide - Commuter Railway Station
Station overview
Train Services
Belair
Location
Street	Springbank Road
Suburb	Clapham
Distance from Adelaide	10.0km
Access by	Station closed
Frequency
Hi-Frequency Station	unknown
Peak Frequency	unknown
Weekday Frequency	unknown
Weekend Frequency	unknown
Night Frequency	unknown
Facilities
Real Rail Time Display	No
Real Rail Time Speaker	No
Number of Platforms	2 (Neither in use)
Platform Layout	2 Side Platforms
Toilets	No
Car Parking	No
Bike Storage	No
Lounge	No
Kiosk	No
Wheelchair access	No
Other facilities	None
History
Opened	1910s
Rebuilt	unknown
Closed	1995
Transfers
Train transfer	None
Bus transfer
Adjacent Stations
« Previous Torrens Park	Next » Lynton

Clapham railway station (34°59′S, 138°36′E) was a railway station on the Belair railway line, Adelaide, which was closed in April 1995. Its remains are located on the north side of the Springbank Road overpass in the inner southern Adelaide suburb of Clapham. It was located 10.0km by railway from the Adelaide Railway Station. The station consisted of two earth-filled concrete faced platforms, with a small shelter (the seats are gone though) and disused speaker on the down track. The platform on the 'up' track may be on the ARTC's 'Hit list' of disused platforms to be removed.^{[citation needed]}

On all Adelaide Metro rail network maps (in most carriages), you can still see the gaps on the Belair line map where this, and other closed stations on the Belair line, have been removed.

Clapham had an interesting history. The suburb was presumably named after the Clapham area of South London. The station was originally the terminus of the Clapham branch line, which began at Mitcham station, and the original station was to the west of the more recent platforms (which were on the main line); this explains the unusual layout of the intersection of the local roads west of the Springbank Road overpass (opened 1924). At that time, Belair Rd, known as Bull's Creek Rd, ran on the west side of the railway line from Wattlebury Rd to McPherson St. (The then main road to Belair, now called the Old Belair Rd, was via Blythwood Rd). The Clapham branch line, and the old station, were abandoned formally in 1917. Presumably, the newer station was built a little before that.

The Clapham passenger service, typically a P class locomotive and a couple of passenger cars, was known as the 'Clapham Dodger': this service must have ceased when the branch line was closed.

[edit] See also

• Clapham branch line
• Old Clapham station

[edit] References

• Callaghan WH. The overland railway. ARHS NSW, St James. 1992.
• Eardley, G. "The P class locomotives of South Australia." ARHS bulletin 416, June, 1972.
• Jennings R. Line clear: 100 years of train working Adelaide-Serviceton. Mile End Railway Museum, Roseworthy. 1986.