Wilton South railway station

Wilton South railway station is a disused railway station which formerly served Wilton in Wiltshire, England. It was situated on the West of England Main Line from London Waterloo station to Exeter and close to the Great Western Railway’s Wilton station on its Salisbury branch from Westbury.

It was opened in 1859 as just Wilton railway station, was renamed as Wilton South in 1949, and closed in 1966.

History

Wilton station was opened with the first section of the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway on 2 May 1859. At first just used for passenger traffic, goods were also handled from 1 September the next year. The Salisbury and Yeovil Railway was amalgamated into the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1878.^[1] In 1923 the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway (SR) in 1923 in turn was nationalised in 1948 to become the Southern Region of British Railways.

This was the second station in Wilton, the Great Western Railway (GWR) having opened one on their adjacent route in 1856. To avoid confusion between the two stations the former SR station became "Wilton South" in September 1949, and at the same time the former GWR station became "Wilton North". The North station closed to passengers in 1955 but goods continued to be handled there until 1965. In the meantime, here at the South station goods traffic ceased on 6 July 1964 and then passenger services were also finally withdrawn on 7 March 1966.^[2]

Fast expresses such as the Devon Belle that were not scheduled to stop at nearby Salisbury sometimes changed locomotives here at Wilton so as to avoid congestion at Salisbury. The stop was not advertised in the timetables and passengers could not join or alight from trains at Wilton.^[2]

Signalling

A signal box was provided at the east end of the eastbound platform. It was kept in use after the station closed as the line westwards was single. Alterations in 1981 saw control of the area transferred to Salisbury signal box. Now redundant, the signal box was taken down and rebuilt at Medstead and Four Marks on the Mid Hants Railway.^[2]

Description

The main station buildings, including a house for the station master and a signal box, were on the northern platform which was served by trains towards Salisbury and London. These are still standing in 2012. A footbridge linked this with the now demolished westbound platform where there was a smaller shelter for passengers. A goods yard was situated on the north side of the line at the Salisbury end of the station.^[2]

Services

The station was served by trains on the London Waterloo to Exeter line.

See also

• Southern Railway routes west of Salisbury

References