Gamlingay railway station

Gamlingay
Location
Place Gamlingay
Area South Cambridgeshire
Grid reference TL247518
Operations
Original company Bedford & Cambridge Railway
Pre-grouping London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways (1948-1958)
Eastern Region of British Railways (1958-1968)
Platforms 2
History
1 August 1862 Opened
19 April 1965[1] Closed to goods
1 January 1968[2] Closed to passengers
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–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Gamlingay was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the small village of the same name in Cambridgeshire. Opened in 1862, the station was located in a rural area and saw little passenger traffic; it closed together with the line in 1968.

Contents

History

The first station after Potton, Gamlingay marked the start of the distinctly rural section of the Varsity Line, where industrial landscapes gave way to the rolling fields, tall trees and wide-open skies of Cambridgeshire. The station, slightly to the south-east of Gamlingay village, was situated just before a two-mile climb of 1 in 150 to Hayley Wood. The station was equipped with two platforms lit by old lamps right up until its closure[3], the substantial station buildings being situated on the Down platform, whilst a timber and slate waiting shelter was to be found on the Up side.[4] A decent-sized goods yard was located to the west of the station buildings, consisting of three sidings plus a cattle pen and a goods shed. The station layout changed little during its lifetime, yet the community which it served shrank from 1722 inhabitants in 1901 to 1622 in 1961.[5]

Four years after the station's opening in 1862, a brick siding was opened just before the 30 milepost to the west of Gamlingay which was known as "Dennis's Brick Siding" and trailed from the Up line across the Down through a gate to a brickworks. By January 1909, the siding was known as "Belle Vue Brickworks Siding" and remained in service until 20 April 1936. The siding was controlled by a 19-lever signal box named "Belle Vue". The siding was used again during the Second World War for ammunition storage.[6]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Potton   British Railways
Varsity Line		   Old North Road

Present day

The main station building has survived as a private residence, surrounded by other newer houses.[7] An industrial estate has been built on the trackbed immediately to the west, including the former goods yard site.

References

  1. ^ Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 50. ISBN 0-90546-619-5. 
  2. ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 101.
  3. ^ Mitchell, V.; Smith, K. (February 2007). Bletchley to Cambridge featuring Bedford St. Johns. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press. pp. plate 94. ISBN 978-1904474944. 
  4. ^ Simpson, Bill (1981). Oxford to Cambridge Railway (Vol. 2). Poole, Dorset: Oxford Publishing Co.. p. 120. ISBN 0-86093-121-8. 
  5. ^ Mitchell, V. and Smith, K., plate XXV.
  6. ^ Mitchell, V. and Smith, K., plate XXIV.
  7. ^ Closed Stations, page 14.

External links