Whippingham (Isle of Wight) railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Whippingham railway station


caption = The old Newport to Smallbrook Junction line near Whippingham
gridref = SZ 524915
manager = Ryde and Newport Railway (1875 to 1887)
Isle of Wight Central Railway (1887 to 1923)
Southern Railway (1923 to 1948)
Southern Region of British Railways (1948 to 1953)
locale = Opposite Isle of Wight Crematorium
borough = Isle of Wight
platforms = Two
years = 1875
events = Opened
years1 = 21 September 1953
events1 = Closed

Whippingham railway station was arguably the most underused station on an often sparsely used network [Isle of Wight Railways remembered Paye P: Oxford, OPC, 1984 ISBN 0860932191] . Built solely because of the need to have a station within close proximity to Osborne House Southern Holiday Lines in Hampshire and the Isle of WightBennett,A: Cheltenham, Runpast 1994 ISBN 187075431X] , the only royal ever spotted actually using the station was a young Lord Mountbatten ["Marjorie Smith", daughter of the stationmaster between 1917 and 1925- quoted in Once upon a line (Vol 4)Britton,A Oxford, OPC, 1994 ISBN 0860935132] In its early days its passenger carrying status was ambiguous [ [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/w/whippingham/index.shtml Enthusiasts Web-Site] ] and, although always clean and tidy [Steaming Through the Isle Of Wight Hay,P: Midhurst,Middleton, 1988 ISBN 0906520568] , never very busy. A passing loop was added in 1912 [Hay "Ibid"] and indeed was retained for a further three years after closure in 1953. The station house, now a splendid private dwelling, still stands [ Southern Branch Lines Gammell C.J : Oxford, OPC, 1997 ISBN 086093537X] with the only other building within any sort of close proximity is the Island crematorium [ Isle Of Wight Railways, Then and Now Pomeroy, C,A: Oxford,Past & Present Publishing, 1993, ISBN 0947971629] .

References

See also

* List of closed railway stations in Britain

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