Stafford Common railway station

Stafford Common railway station was a former British railway station on the outskirts of Stafford.

Stafford Common
Stafford Common station site, in 2017
General information
LocationStafford, Borough of Stafford
England
Coordinates52°49′17″N 2°07′01″W / 52.8214°N 2.1169°W / 52.8214; -2.1169
Grid referenceSJ922248
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyStafford and Uttoxeter Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1874Station opened
1882resited
4 December 1939Station closed

It was opened by the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway in 1874 about seven years after the line opened. There was a single platform with a stationmaster's office and waiting room, but it included a goods yard and an engine shed. It became the headquarters of the line, to reduce dependence on the LNWR at Stafford station.

The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway was purchased for £100,000 by the Great Northern Railway in July 1881 and the line subsequently passed into LNER ownership with Railway Grouping in 1923.

The original station was to the southwest of the Marston Road bridge (now Common Road). When the GNR doubled the line, the station was rebuilt on the other side of the bridge and bordering on Aston Terrace. It had two platforms and opened in 1882.[1] The station buildings were on the bridge, timber throughout, with covered steps to the platforms where there were small shelters.

Passenger services finished in 1939,[2] though it remained open as Stafford Common Air Ministry Sidings until 1952. Both of the station's platforms remain in situ, albeit under vegetation, and the line through the station has been converted into a public footpath.

From there the line climbed steeply at 1 in 70 before falling at 1 in 75 to Salt and Sandon.

Route edit

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Line closed, station open
Great Northern Railway
Line and station closed

References edit

  1. ^ Jones P (1981). The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway. Salisbury: The Oakwood Press.
  2. ^ Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 400. OCLC 931112387.

Further reading edit