Eardington Halt railway station
Encyclopedia
Eardington Halt is a closed railway station on the Severn Valley Railway
near Eardington
, south of Bridgnorth
, in Shropshire
.
Eardington opened as one of the original stations on the Severn Valley line, with a brick waiting room and single platform, but was not readily accessible from the nearby villages of Chelmarsh and Eardington and was demoted to a halt
.
In the later years under British Railways control, Eardington Halt had much of its custom from fishermen at weekends and during the summer months. Although mistakenly thought by some people to have been closed as part of the Beeching axe in 1963 Eardington's planned closure pre-dated his report.
Eardington reopened when reached by preservationists in 1970 reaching up from Bridgnorth. Several attempts were made to restore the halt but Eardington was deleted from the timetable in 1982 because of poor custom, land slippage and the fact that the station is situated on a 1 in 100 gradient. Another problem is the combination of the shortness of the platform face, normal SVR practice of marshalling the guard's compartment in the centre of the train and the arched overbridge immediately to the north of the platform, which would prevent the traincrew from being able to see the guard if the train was stopped with the guard's van on the platform, as is correct practice.
The siding is now used for the storage of permanent way
vehicles. A small band of volunteers have occasional "work-ins" to keep the station environs tidy.
There have recently been calls to restore the station for use on gala weekends and such. This has happened previously, during the Autumn 1998 steam gala, when the Hampton - Bridgnorth local called in each direction, despite not being booked to stop.
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...
near Eardington
Eardington
Eardington is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is near the A442 road and is two kilometres south of the town of Bridgnorth, along the B4555 road...
, south of Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...
, in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
.
Eardington opened as one of the original stations on the Severn Valley line, with a brick waiting room and single platform, but was not readily accessible from the nearby villages of Chelmarsh and Eardington and was demoted to a halt
Request stop
In public transport, a request stop or flag stop describes a stopping point at which trains or buses stop only on an as-need or request basis; that is, only if there are passengers to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, infrequently used stopping points can be served efficiently.Trains save...
.
In the later years under British Railways control, Eardington Halt had much of its custom from fishermen at weekends and during the summer months. Although mistakenly thought by some people to have been closed as part of the Beeching axe in 1963 Eardington's planned closure pre-dated his report.
Eardington reopened when reached by preservationists in 1970 reaching up from Bridgnorth. Several attempts were made to restore the halt but Eardington was deleted from the timetable in 1982 because of poor custom, land slippage and the fact that the station is situated on a 1 in 100 gradient. Another problem is the combination of the shortness of the platform face, normal SVR practice of marshalling the guard's compartment in the centre of the train and the arched overbridge immediately to the north of the platform, which would prevent the traincrew from being able to see the guard if the train was stopped with the guard's van on the platform, as is correct practice.
The siding is now used for the storage of permanent way
Permanent way
The permanent way is the elements of railway lines: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on the sleepers embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway...
vehicles. A small band of volunteers have occasional "work-ins" to keep the station environs tidy.
There have recently been calls to restore the station for use on gala weekends and such. This has happened previously, during the Autumn 1998 steam gala, when the Hampton - Bridgnorth local called in each direction, despite not being booked to stop.