Ventnor railway station
Ventnor | |
|---|---|
 Ventnor railway station in 1963 | |
| Location | Ventnor, Isle of Wight England |
| Platforms | Two |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Pre-grouping | Isle of Wight Railway (1864 to 1923) |
| Post-grouping | Southern Railway (1923 to 1948) Southern Region of British Railways (1948 to 1966) |
| Key dates | |
| 10 September 1866[1] | Opened (Ventnor) |
| 1923 | Renamed (Ventnor Town) |
| 1953 | Renamed (Ventnor) |
| 17 April 1966 | Closed |
Ventnor railway station was the terminus of the Isle of Wight Railway line from Ryde.
History[]
The station occupied a ledge 294 feet (90 m) above sea level which had been quarried into the hill side. The station was at the end of a 1,312 yards (1,200 m) long tunnel through St Boniface Down. A turntable was used to allow steam engines to runaround their trains. In later years it was replaced by a three way switch. The tracks merged just before the tunnel and the locomotives had to enter the tunnel during runround manoeuvres.
The station had a platform connected to the station buildings and a narrow island platform. There was only one track between the side platform and the island platform. When this track was occupied, an incoming train arrived at the outer face of the island platform and passengers had to pass through the train on the inner track. When this train then departed, a temporary bridge that was a ship's gangway, as used on the Portsmouth to Ryde ferries was manually pushed across the intervening track to allow passenger access to the train on the outside of the island platform. Further away from the station buildings were goods sidings which mainly served coal merchants who operated from caves in the chalk sides of the station cutting.
The station closed to all traffic in April 1966, when the line south of Shanklin fell victim to the Beeching Axe. The track was lifted by 1970 and the station subsequently demolished. The site is now an industrial park and Southern Water runs water pipes through the tunnel.
This station should not be confused with Ventnor West railway station.
Stationmasters[]
- Mr. Crutchley ca. 1867 ca. 1868
- Jeremiah Savage Elgee ca. 1869 ca. 1875
- William Wetherick ca. 1878 ca. 1905 (formerly station master at Brading)
- William Wheway ca. 1908 ca. 1910
- Philip Jenkin 1912 - 1927[2] (formerly station master at Wroxall)
- Percy Hawkins 1930 - 1936[3] (formerly station master at Horsley, afterwards station master at Newport)
- Oliver William Bennett from 1936[4] (formerly station master at Ottery St Mary)
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | British Rail Southern Region IoWR : Main line |
Wroxall |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Southern Region Record by R.H.Clark page 89
- ^ "Death of Station Master". Portsmouth Evening News. England. 13 May 1935. Retrieved 25 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "New Stationmaster for Newport". Portsmouth Evening News. England. 28 December 1935. Retrieved 25 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Promotion for Mainland Chief". Portsmouth Evening News. England. 28 December 1935. Retrieved 25 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
External links[]
Coordinates: 50°35′51″N 1°12′32″W / 50.5976°N 1.2088°W
 | This article on a railway station in South East England is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
- Disused railway stations on the Isle of Wight
- Former Isle of Wight Railway stations
- Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1866
- Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966
- Beeching closures in England
- 1866 establishments in England
- Ventnor
- South East England railway station stubs