Halwill Junction Railway Station
The Halwill Junction railway station was in the West Devon in the UK near the village of Halwill and was until the mid-20th century, an important railway junction . In the meantime, the area surrounding the route leading to the west has become a nature reserve and is increasingly being opened up to bicycle traffic.
location
At this point the lines from Okehampton and Plymouth crossed , which led in 1879 from the London and South Western Railway (L & SWR) via Halwill to Holsworthy , and the North Cornwall Railway to Padstow via Ashwater , which had existed since 1886 . On July 27, 1925, the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway was also opened to Great Torrington , where it again met the L & SWR tracks. The station was originally called Halwill for Beaworthy , from 1887 Halwill Junction and from 1923 only Halwill . In parlance, however, the name Halwill Junction has been retained.
Station facilities
The station had two opposite outer platforms, which were located far to the southeast of the extensive track system, directly at the level crossing, and from 1925 another one in the northeast for the trains in the direction of Torrington. The railway systems were otherwise very strange: the station building was not enlarged over the years despite additional connections and correspondingly higher traffic volume. It had no canopy or similar weather protection and no overpass or underpass. The level crossing had to be used to change the platform. There was only one signal box for the station , which is described as probably the most complex in England for single-track routes.
In addition to the four destinations, eight sidings that branched off in different directions also had to be served from here. The greatest challenges arose during the Second World War just before the Allied invasion of northern France , because the station had to handle an enormous volume of transport.
closure
Halwill Junction was closed to passenger traffic on October 1, 1966, after the number of passengers had declined continuously for years. The main reason was that more and more tourists were now arriving by car. Steam locomotives were used on the routes almost to the end , only in the last few years, when the train traffic was already considerably thinned, were these replaced by diesel locomotives .
The area surrounding the former train station is now built with residential buildings. Ironically, a cul-de-sac now at the site of some of the sidings was named after British Railways ' supervisory authority , Richard Beeching , who was responsible for extensive line closures , and is consequently called Beeching Close .
Individual evidence
Web links
- Full description (English)
- Halwill Junction track plan
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 45 ″ N , 4 ° 12 ′ 30 ″ W.