Walker railway station
Walker | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Managed by | North Eastern Railway |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1 May 1879 | Opened as Low Walker |
| 13 May 1889 | Renamed Walker |
| 14 August 1967 | Goods facilities withdrawn |
| 23 July 1973 | Closed completely |
Walker railway station, known as Low Walker until 1889, served Walker, a residential suburb of Newcastle, in Tyne and Wear. It was situated on the North Eastern Railway's Riverside Branch from Newcastle to Tynemouth via Carville. The station served as a passenger halt and goods depot for shipping companies such as Armstrong Whitworth and other land-based companies including the Northern Wood Haskinizing Company.
History
Opening
On 13 July 1871, the North Eastern Railway (NER) obtained authorisation to construct a 6.5-mile (10.5-kilometre) branch line running from Riverside Junction, between Manors East and Heaton, to Percy Main. The line, which was actually a loop line,[citation needed] had been proposed as a means of relieving the Newcastle and North Shields Railway from Newcastle to North Shields via Wallsend, which was failing to cope with the growing communities around the River Tyne and in the Walker area.[citation needed] According to W.W. Thomas,[who?] "the route consisted for the most of tunnels, bridges, cuttings, retaining walls and embankments - an exceptionally heavy series of works".[citation needed] In addition, the line was quite indirect in comparison with the Wallsend tracks.[clarification needed]
The Riverside Branch opened in 1879 and served the following stations: Byker(from 1901), St Peters, St Anthony's, Low Walker (Walker from 1889), Carville, Point Pleasant and Willington Quay before rejoining the North Shields line at Percy Main.
Area served
Walker station was on the edge of the south-eastern part of Newcastle. It was located far south of the main line and Walker Gate railway station. It was also very close to the River Tyne. The shipyards and warehouses lay to the east and the sparsely populated surroundings of Walker Road to the west. Despite having tram, bus and trolleybus stops in the locality, Walker became the most booked station on the Riverside branch.[citation needed]
Station facilities
The station had two platforms with a one-storey brick station building at the far south end and a subway under the tracks to connect the platforms.[citation needed] The main two storey brick-built stationhouse was at the northern end of the station.[citation needed] A conservatory was added to the stationhouse at an unknown date.[citation needed] Beyond the southern end of the station is a brick lock-up[clarification needed] and a typical NER signal box. This remained until the closure of the station to passengers.[citation needed] There was also a bricked-up waiting room on the easternmost platform.[citation needed]
The station buildings and lock-up structure survived closure of the station to passengers when one track was removed.[citation needed] However, when goods traffic between St Peters and Carville was withdrawn in 1987, the remaining track was lifted and the buildings were demolished.[citation needed]
Run down and closure
Following the war,[which?] economy measures led to trains being limited to Monday-Saturday peak hours.[citation needed] Then Byker and St Anthony's were quickly closed one after the other in 1954 and 1960.[citation needed] Further economies on the Riverside branch and the main line saw the withdrawal of electric services and a further reduction of trains to a few diesel services.[citation needed]
Although the Beeching Report recommended the complete withdrawal of services on the line, it remained in use despite the construction of roads from Wallsend to Willington Quay and from Carville to Point Pleasant and Willington Quay.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the lack of patronage and costs of upkeep saw the Riverside branch lose £85,000 annually.[citation needed] Thus, in 1973, the line along with Walker station was finally closed.[citation needed]
No special train was run to commemorate the line's passing and the final service was a random 16.24 Newcastle direct, which was also the last ever train on the branch and into Walker.[citation needed]
Present day
The station buildings have been demolished and the site is now under a scrapyard.[citation needed] Such has been the change that there is no real way of ever knowing a station was once here.[citation needed] The trackbed however remains as a cycle path and the station lies under a scrapyard.[citation needed]
References
54°58′19″N 1°32′22″W / 54.9720°N 1.5394°W
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Anthonys Line and station closed |
North Eastern Railway Riverside Branch |
Carville Line and station closed |