| Watchet | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Watchet |
| Area | West Somerset |
| Operations | |
| Original company | West Somerset Railway |
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Operated by | West Somerset Railway |
| Platforms | 1 |
| History | |
| 1862 | Opened |
| 1971 | Closed |
| 1976 | Opened in preservation |
| Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
Watchet railway station is a station on the West Somerset Railway, a heritage railway in Somerset, England. It is situated in the small harbour town of Watchet.
Contents |
The station was first opened on 31 March 1862 when the West Somerset Railway was opened from Norton Junction. On 16 July 1874 the line was extended westwards by the Minehead Railway Company. Both lines were operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway which became apart of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1876. The Minehead Railway was taken over by the Great Western in 1897,[1] but the West Somerset Railway remained an independent company until 1922 when it too was absorbed by the Great Western.
Watchet station was the original terminus of the West Somerset Railway. The station forecourt originally linked both station building and goods shed, hence the unusual alignment of the station building facing towards Taunton. The footbridge was built to maintain the public right of way when the line was extended across the original forecourt to Minehead.[2] The engine shed east of the station remained until 1882, although faciltiites were now also provided at Minehead. A signal box was also needed to handle the traffic on the new line to Minehead, and this was situated on the embankment above the platform.[3]
The harbour was served by a network of railway tracks that were reached by way of a steep incline down from the goods shed. The harbour was also linked to the independent West Somerset Mineral Railway that linked Watchet harbour to iron ore mines in the Brendon Hills to the south west of the town. The mineral railway tracks roughly paralleled the main line tracks as far as Washford, but were othewise unconnected.
The Great Wester Railway undertook many projects to increase the capacity of the line in the 1930s. Because of the position of the goods shed opposite the platform it was not possible to add a second track and platform at Watchet, so a passing loop was instead constructed at Kentford just 0.75 miles (1.21 km) west of the station. It was opened on 10 July 1933 but the signal box was generally only used during the daytime each summer. [4]
Nationalisation in 1948 saw the GWR become the Western Region of British Railways. On 24 August 1952 the signal box at Washford was closed, and from this time the one at Kentford was permanently open until 7 May 1964 when it was closed for good.[4] Freight traffic was withdrawn on 6 July 1964 and passenger trains on 4 January 1971. The station was reopened by the new West Somerset Railway on 28 August 1976.[3]
The station has a single platform and running line. The platform is located on the opposite side of the track from Watchet town centre and harbour, and is connected to them by a footbridge at the west end of the station, and a pedestrian level crossing at the east end. The station building is situated on the platform, but is unusually aligned at right angles to the platform. The former goods shed is on the opposite side of the track, and is now occupied by the Watchet Boat Museum.[3]
Trains run between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard at weekends and on some other days from March to October, daily during the late spring and summer, and on certain days during the winter.[5]
| Preceding station | Heritage railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washford | West Somerset Railway | Doniford Halt | ||
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