Alston railway station

Alston
General information
Location	Eden
Coordinates	54.815°N 2.442°W / 54.815; -2.442
Platforms	1 (1852 - 1976, 1983 -) 2 (2017 -)
History
Original company	Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
21 May 1852	Station opened
3 May 1976	Station closed
30 July 1983	Station opened as narrow gauge terminus

Alston Line
(including South Tynedale Railway)
Alston Alston Railway Bridge over River South Tyne Gilderdale Gilderdale Burn Kirkhaugh Lintley Halt Lintley Viaduct over Thornhope Burn Slaggyford Knar Burn Burnstones Viaduct over Thinhope Burn Lambley Brampton Railway to collieries and Brampton Town Lambley Viaduct over River South Tyne Coanwood Colliery Coanwood Featherstone Park Plenmeller Halt Alston Arches Viaduct over River South Tyne Tyne Valley Line to Newcastle Haltwhistle Tyne Valley Line to Carlisle
The South Tynedale Railway operates between Slaggyford and Alston.

Alston railway station once served the town of Alston, Cumbria, England. The station was the terminus of the Alston Line which ran from the junction at Haltwhistle on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway.

It is now the terminus of the narrow gauge South Tynedale Railway, a heritage line, in Northern England.

History

Alston station, 1954

The station was opened on 21 May 1852 by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. The line was taken over firstly by the North Eastern Railway and later became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923, passing on to the Eastern Region of British Railways during the nationalisation of 1948. It was closed by the British Railways Board in 1976.

The station hosted a camping coach in 1933 and from 1936 to 1939.

The site today

The station is now both the main terminus and headquarters of the Narrow Gauge South Tynedale Railway who added a second platform and metal canopy in 2017.

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Kirkhaugh		South Tynedale Railway		Terminus
	Disused railways
Slaggyford		North Eastern Railway Alston Line		Terminus

Bibliography

• McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
• Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.

Further reading

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
• 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

• A brief history of the Alston branch from the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society
• Station on navigable O.S. map, via npe Maps
• Disused Stations - Alston, via Disused Stations UK
• The station on a navigable Edwardian 6" OS map, via National Library of Scotland