Blandford Forum railway station

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Blandford Forum
Blandford Forum Station - geograph.org.uk - 1741908.jpg
Blandford Forum railway station in April 1963
LocationBlandford Forum, North Dorset
England
Grid referenceST888067
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyDorset Central Railway
Pre-groupingSomerset and Dorset Joint Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
31 August 1863Opened (Blandford)
21 September 1953Renamed (Blandford Forum)
7 March 1966Closed for passengers
1969closed for goods

Blandford Forum railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway which served the town of Blandford Forum.

History[]

Originally part of the Dorset Central Railway, the line to Blandford opened on 1 November 1860 to a station at Blandford St. Mary, to the south of the River Stour.[1] The Dorset Central merged with the Somerset Central Railway in 1862, and a new extension connecting the two railways was built. The extension, requiring a bridge over the Stour, and a newly relocated Blandford Forum station to the north of the Stour, opened on 31 August 1863.[2]

The station remained open until 7 March 1966, when the entire line from Bath to Bournemouth closed to passengers. Goods traffic continued for a further three years, but the station was finally fully closed, and the track lifted, in 1969.[3]

The impending closure of the station was lamented by musical duo Flanders and Swann, being one of several stations mentioned in their 1964 song Slow Train ("No more will I go to Blandford Forum …"). The song was written in the wake of the first Beeching report, published in 1963, and was written as a tribute to the lines and stations that were to be closed.[4]

A working model of Blandford station, and its environs, is in the process of being built in 1/76th scale in the Blandford Museum, Bere's Yard, Market Place, in Blandford town centre.[5]

The site of the station now lies within a housing estate.[6]

An Up freight train at Blandford Forum station, 1963











References[]

  1. ^ Atthill, Robin; Nock, O.S. (1967). The Somerset & Dorset Railway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4312-2.
  2. ^ Atthill, Robin (1964). Old Mendip. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5171-0.
  3. ^ "Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Blandford Forum" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. ^ "The Musical Slow Train". BBC Cambridgeshire. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Railway Club". Blandford Town Museum. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Blandford Forum". After Closure: The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2016.

Further reading[]

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.

External links[]

Coordinates: 50°51′35″N 2°09′38″W / 50.85970°N 2.16050°W / 50.85970; -2.16050


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Charlton Marshall
Line and station closed 		  Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway
LSWR & Midland Railways 		  Stourpaine and Durweston Halt
Line and station closed
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