Alvescot railway station

Alvescot railway station was a railway station between the Oxfordshire villages of Alvescot and Black Bourton, in England. It was Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway between Oxford and Fairford.Template:Sfnp

History

The station was opened by the East Gloucestershire Railway on 15 January 1873Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp as part of its extension of the Witney Railway from Witney to Fairford.Template:Sfnp Situated on the Alvescot-Clanfield road, the station served the village of Alvescot, situated less than to the north, and also the neighbouring village of Black Bourton.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

A small single-platform station was provided without a passing loop or signal box.Template:Sfnp Ground frames controlled the access to the two goods sidings which trailed off the single track line at the western end of the platform to serve coal staithes, cattle pens and a goods shed.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp A single refuge siding on the Down side lay just beyond the western end of the station.Template:Sfnp Next to the station building was a Great Western Railway-type Pagoda shed and to the rear of the building, adjacent to the station forecourt, was a goods lock-up and a brick weigh house.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Unlike the Cotswold stone stations at Lechlade, Bampton, Fairford and Witney, the station building at Alvescot was constructed of red brick.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

In 1923, the station issued 9,046 tickets and handled 424 parcels and 9,616 tons of goods.Template:Sfnp In 1944, Carterton station was opened to the east of Alverscot.Template:Sfnp During the "Arctic" winter of 1946-7, the line was severed at Alvescot when a large snow drift blocked the line.Template:Sfnp An emergency service was maintained with services running from either end of the snow-filled cutting.Template:Sfnp During the final years before closure, a British Railways employee at Alvescot made a proposal for the line's operation using diesel railcars that, he claimed, would save at least £20,000.Template:Sfnp This was to no avail as the station was closed along with the East Gloucestershire Railway on 18 June 1962.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

Template:Disused Rail Start |- | rowspan="1" style="vertical-align: middle; text-align:center; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 1px #aaa solid; border-top: 1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;"| Kelmscott and Langford
Line and station closed | style="background:#8f691e; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" |   | rowspan="1" style="vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; border-left: 1px #aaa solid; border-right: 1px #aaa solid; border-top:solid 1px #aaa; border-bottom:0px none;" | Great Western Railway
East Gloucestershire Railway | style="background:#8f691e; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" |   | rowspan="1" style="vertical-align: middle; text-align:center; border-left: 1px #aaa solid; border-right: 0px none; border-top: 1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;"|Carterton
Line and station closed |}

Present day

The goods yard remains occupied by G.F. Luckett, coal merchant, now supplied by road.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp All the station buildings have been demolished and the remainder of the site is a light industrial area.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp The station house still stands and is called "Station Bungalow".Template:Sfnp Large sections of trackbed between Alvescot and Kelmscott and Langford remain intact.Template:Sfnp

References

Sources

• Template:Clinker-Stations
• Template:Quick-Stations

External links

• Photos and details about the station
• Station on a navigable O.S. map
• Archived page with post-closure details of stations