Powerstock railway station
Encyclopedia
Powerstock was a railway station on the Bridport Railway in the west of the English
county of Dorset
. The station served the villages of Powerstock
, and Nettlecombe, which was nearer the railway. Opened with the branch on 12 November 1857, it was called Poorstock until 1860. Consisting of a single platform and bungalow style building, it had a siding. Operated by the Great Western Railway
, it was placed in the Western Region
when the railways were nationalised in 1948.
The branch was threatened with closure in the Beeching
report, but narrow roads in the area, unsuitable for buses, kept it open until 5 May 1975. In its final years train services were usually operated by single carriage Class 122
diesel railcars.
ISBN(no ISBN)
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. The station served the villages of Powerstock
Powerstock
Powerstock is a village in south west Dorset, England, situated in a steep valley on the edge of the Dorset Downs, five miles north east of the market town of Bridport. The village contains many cottages and 2 inns: The Three Horseshoes near the church and The Marquis of Lorne Inn on the other...
, and Nettlecombe, which was nearer the railway. Opened with the branch on 12 November 1857, it was called Poorstock until 1860. Consisting of a single platform and bungalow style building, it had a siding. Operated by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, it was placed in the Western Region
Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
when the railways were nationalised in 1948.
The branch was threatened with closure in the Beeching
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
report, but narrow roads in the area, unsuitable for buses, kept it open until 5 May 1975. In its final years train services were usually operated by single carriage Class 122
British Rail Class 122
The British Rail Class 122 diesel mechanical multiple units were built by Gloucester RC&W in 1958. Twenty single-car driving motor vehicles, called "Bubble Cars", were built, numbered 55000–55019...
diesel railcars.
The site today
The station building can still be seen from the road although it has been a private home since well before the line's closure. The trackbed and platform are now part of the grounds of the house.http://www.westbay.co.uk/bridport/railway.phpFurther reading
ISBN 1 85260 508 1ISBN(no ISBN)
- Powerstock Station - All Change, Diana P. Read, 1996, ISBN 0 9527522 0 4 (tells the history of the Bridport Branch line and in particular the history and people associated with Powerstock Station)