- Olney railway station
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Olney Location Place Olney Area Borough of Milton Keynes Grid reference SP891520 Operations Original company Bedford & Northampton Railway Pre-grouping Midland Railway Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British RailwaysPlatforms 2 History 10 June 1872[1] Opened 5 March 1962 Closed to passengers 6 January 1964[2] Goods facilities withdrawn Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom Closed railway stations in Britain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–ZOlney was a railway station on the former Bedford to Northampton Line and Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway which served the town of Olney in Buckinghamshire, England. It was situated on a busy section of line between Towcester and Ravenstone Wood junction which saw heavy use by freight services running between Wales and north-east England. The station closed in 1964, the various connecting routes to the line having closed one by one from the 1950s onwards.
Contents
History
Olney station was opened by the Bedford & Northampton Railway on 10 June 1872 as part of its Bedford to Northampton Line. This company was absorbed by the Midland Railway (MR) on 16 June 1885. An imposing station building was constructed at Olney, together with a large engine shed equipped with a water tank supplied with water from the nearby River Great Ouse.[3]
By an agreement concluded on 18 April 1889 with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR), the MR granted the SMJR running powers over its line from Ravenstone Junction to Olney, including the right to use Olney station and its facilities.[4] A joint committee was subsequently set up to allow the MR and SMJR to run their respective lines as one single line, creating a 55.5 miles (89.3 km) route from St Pancras to Bristol. The first joint service, a goods train, ran on 13 April 1891. Olney became important as the terminus of SMJR freight operations from Broom and the west. Extra sidings were laid to accommodate the traffic generated.[5] As the SMJR only had running powers over the MR as far as Olney, its locomotives had to be turned here on a turntable.
A passenger service consisting of four daily services was operated between Olney and Towcester from December 1892 to March 1893, being withdrawn as patronage was low.[6] Services ran from a bay platform at Olney. Following the grouping of 1923, the SMJR became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway which, in 1927, reintroduced passenger services between Olney and Towcester in the form of excursion trains on Towcester race days. Following nationalisation, the various routes from Olney began to close, beginning with Banbury to Towcester on 30 June 1951, followed by Blisworth to Stratford on 7 April 1952. The line between Towcester and Ravenstone Wood junction, still heavily used by steel and ironstone traffic from South Wales and north-east England, closed in June 1958 because of the construction of the M1 motorway.[7] The very weekend of its closure an embankment at Quinton Green was breached by the roadbuilders, leaving the rest of the line as two long sidings.[8] Olney station lasted six more years, passenger services being withdrawn in 1962 and the goods yard closing two years later.[2]
Routes
A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Olney
Preceding station Disused railways Following station Piddington London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Bedford to Northampton LineTurvey Salcey Forest SMJR
Stratford-upon-Avon, Towcester and Midland Junction RailwayPresent day
Nothing remains today of Olney station, the trackbed through the site having been obliterated by residential development and a new road named "Midland Road".
References
- ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 178.
- ^ a b Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 104. ISBN 0-90546-619-5.
- ^ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (November 2008). Branch Lines Around Towcester. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press. p. Plate 1. ISBN 9781906008390.
- ^ Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. p. 134. ISBN 0-946537-07-0.
- ^ Riley, R.C.; Simpson, B. (1999). A History of the Stratford-upon-Avon & Midland Junction Railway. Witney, Oxon: Lamplight Publications. p. 87. ISBN 9781899246205.
- ^ Dunn, J.M. (1977). The Stratford & Midland Junction Railway. Blandford, Dorset: The Oakwood Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0853610363.
- ^ Kingscott, Geoffrey (2008). Lost Railways of Northamptonshire (Lost Railways Series). Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. pp. 116–121. ISBN 978-1-84674-108-1.
- ^ Dunn, J.M., p. 26.
External links
Coordinates: 52°09′34″N 0°41′52″W / 52.159441°N 0.697719°W
Closed railway stations in Buckinghamshire Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line Metropolitan Railway Varsity Line Brill Tramway Wycombe Railway Great Central Railway Newport Pagnell branch Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway Other lines Aylesbury High Street · Bledlow Bridge Halt · Olney · Penn · South Aylesbury Halt · Twyford Bridge Halt · CastlethorpeCategories:- Disused railway stations in Buckinghamshire
- Former Midland Railway stations
- Railway stations opened in 1872
- Railway stations closed in 1964
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