Petrockstow railway station

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Petrockstow
Site of old station, now start of Tarka Trail [1]
Location
Location One mile outside Petrockstowe village
Area West Devon
Grid reference SS516106
Operations
Pre-grouping Torrington and Marland Railway(1881 -1925)
North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway (1925 to 1948)[2]
Post-grouping Southern Region of British Railways (1948 to 1966)
Platforms Two
History
5 February 1881 Opened
1 March 1965 Closed
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:Petrockstow railway station
UK Railways Portal

Petrockstow railway station [3] was a station serving the village of Petrockstowe in West Devon, which is about one mile away. The station was, throughout its passenger-carrying life from 1925 to 1965, spelt without the final "e" of the village name.

The railway was originally built as a narrow-gauge freight line to carry ball clay to Torrington from the Marland and Meeth clay pits.[4] The Torrington and Marland Railway then became the basis of the northern section of the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, which opened in 1925 and remained a private line until finally becoming part of the Southern Region of British Railways in 1948[5].

Petrockstowe station in 1969.
Petrockstowe station in 1969.

A victim of Beeching, the line closed to passengers in 1965 but it remained open for freight trains from the Meeth quarries which passed into the rail network through Barnstaple and Torrington until 1982[6]. Occasionally, railway memorabilia connected with the station surfaces [7].


[edit] References

  1. ^ The spelling now follows that of the village (Devon County Council)- see also Langston.
  2. ^ Private, not grouped in 1923
  3. ^ As spelt by Col Stevens original timetable
  4. ^ Petrockstowe Station railway premises in Backtrack magazine (Vol 19 p649) Farmer,R November, 2005
  5. ^ Branch Lines to Torrington Mitchell,V/Smith,K: Midhurst, Middleton Press,1994 ISBN 1873793375
  6. ^ Freight details
  7. ^ See Lot 102


Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Marland Works  
Torrington and Marland Railway (1881-1925)
North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway (1925 to 1948)
Southern Region of British Railways (1948 to 1966)
  Meeth Halt

[edit] See also

50°52′52″N, 4°6′59″WCoordinates: 50°52′52″N, 4°6′59″W