Whetstone railway station
Encyclopedia
Whetstone was a station on the Great Central Railway
(GCR), the last main line to be constructed from the north of England
to London
, which opened in 1899 to serve the Leicestershire
village of Whetstone
.
Whetstone station was built by the Great Central as part of its London Extension, and opened to passengers on March 15, 1899. It was a conventional London extension station, common in towns on villages on the GCR, and was equipped with a single island platform
. Access was had from beneath the railway bridge, which once spanned Station Street near the centre of the village. The platform was on the south side of the bridge on an embankment that was particularly wide to accommodate the goods yard. All the station's buildings were situated on the single platform and comprised a porter's room, a booking office, general and ladies waiting rooms, plus a gentlemen's toilet block.
The station was one of the earlier closures on the line closing to passengers in 1963; it, like nearby , served a relatively sparsely populated area and had always struggled to attract sufficient revenue.
Since closure, the railway embankment has been removed, along with all station buildings and platforms; only the stationmaster's house remains today. A new housing development has been constructed on the old trackbed formation..
Great Central Main Line
The Great Central Main Line , also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway , is a former railway line which opened in 1899 linking Sheffield with Marylebone Station in London via Nottingham and Leicester.The GCML was the last main line railway built in...
(GCR), the last main line to be constructed from the north of England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which opened in 1899 to serve the Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
village of Whetstone
Whetstone, Leicestershire
Whetstone is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 6,000 and largely acts as a commuter village for Leicester, five miles to the north...
.
Whetstone station was built by the Great Central as part of its London Extension, and opened to passengers on March 15, 1899. It was a conventional London extension station, common in towns on villages on the GCR, and was equipped with a single island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...
. Access was had from beneath the railway bridge, which once spanned Station Street near the centre of the village. The platform was on the south side of the bridge on an embankment that was particularly wide to accommodate the goods yard. All the station's buildings were situated on the single platform and comprised a porter's room, a booking office, general and ladies waiting rooms, plus a gentlemen's toilet block.
The station was one of the earlier closures on the line closing to passengers in 1963; it, like nearby , served a relatively sparsely populated area and had always struggled to attract sufficient revenue.
Since closure, the railway embankment has been removed, along with all station buildings and platforms; only the stationmaster's house remains today. A new housing development has been constructed on the old trackbed formation..