Oakley (Bedford) railway station

Oakley
Location
Place	Oakley
Area	Bedfordshire
Operations
Original company	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
History
8 May 1857	Opened
15 September 1958	Closed (passenger)[1]
1963	Closed (goods)[2]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

For the station of the same name in Hampshire, see Oakley (Hampshire) railway station.

Oakley railway station was built by the Midland Railway in 1857 on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin.

It was closed to passengers in 1958 closing completely in 1963. The station buildings remain in a dilapidated state though the goods yard is used by a haulage company.

About a mile north of the station is the point where the Midland installed its first troughs to allow locomotives to pick up water. The river valley here is very flat, the line crossing it seven times in the space of about seven miles. The line is elevated because of problems with flooding. Even the local roads have raised walkways.^[3]

Croxhall opened in 1840 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was previously known as Oakley but had been renamed on the 1 December previously^[4]

Route

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Sharnbrook		Midland Railway Midland Main Line		Bedford

References

1. ^ Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
2. ^ Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
3. ^ Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
4. ^ Pixton, B., (2005) Birmingham-Derby: Portrait of a Famous Route, Runpast Publishing

Coordinates: 52°10′23″N 0°31′07″W / 52.17294°N 0.51854°W / 52.17294; -0.51854