- Challow railway station
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Challow Challow station today, with very little remaining of the original station Location Place Childrey Area Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire Grid reference SU355905 Operations Original company Great Western Railway Pre-grouping Great Western Railway Post-grouping GWR
Western Region of British RailwaysPlatforms 2 History 20 July 1840 Opened 7 December 1964 Closed 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–ZChallow railway station is a former railway station 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the village of Stanford in the Vale on the A417 road between Wantage and Faringdon. It is named after the villages of West Challow and East Challow, which are 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast respectively of the former station.
When the Great Western Railway extended its main line from Reading through the Vale of White Horse in 1840 it opened the station as Faringdon Road station. After the Faringdon Railway between Uffington and Faringdon railway station opened in 1864, the GWR renamed Faringdon Road "Challow" to avoid confusion.[citation needed]
On 7 December 1964 British Railways withdrew passenger services from Challow and all other intermediate stations between Didcot and Swindon.
The station today
Not many parts of the station survive. The northern platform has almost disappeared completely and the southern platform is used by Network Rail, although no buildings remain and the buildings used by Network Rail are only small portable cabins. New buildings have been built around the site. The most noticeable is the bail depot on the site of the northern platform. The nearby public house, the Prince of Wales, was burnt down in 1999 and the site has been levelled.
Freight trains now use a passing loop on the site of the station to wait for High Speed Trains to overtake them.
Bibliography
In this omnibus edition of his memoirs, Vaughan describes his time in the early 1960s as a Lad Porter at Challow station. Appendices show track layout and signalling.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station Wantage Road
Line open, station closedBritish Rail
Western Region
Great Western Main LineUffington
Line open, station closedCoordinates: 51°36′44″N 1°29′19″W / 51.61222°N 1.48872°W
Closed railway stations in Oxfordshire Great Western Main Line Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway Cherwell Valley Line Abingdon Junction · Abingdon Road Halt · Bletchington · Fritwell & Somerton · Hinksey Halt · Kidlington · Wolvercot PlatformWitney Railway; East Gloucestershire Railway Alvescot · Brize Norton and Bampton · Carterton · Cassington Halt · Eynsham · Kelmscott and Langford · South Leigh · Witney · Witney (goods) · YarntonWycombe Railway Horspath Halt · Iffley Halt · Littlemore · Morris Cowley · Thame · Tiddington · Towersey Halt · WheatleyWatlington and Princes Risborough Railway Aston Rowant · Chinnor · Kingston Crossing Halt · Lewknor Bridge Halt · Wainhill Crossing Halt · WatlingtonChiltern Main Line Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway Great Central Main Line Varsity Line Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line Blenheim and Woodstock Branch Line Blenheim and Woodstock · Shipton-on-Cherwell HaltShort branches Categories:- Disused railway stations in Oxfordshire
- Former Great Western Railway stations
- Great Western Main Line
- Railway stations opened in 1840
- Railway stations closed in 1964
- Beeching closures in England
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