Cassington Halt railway station
Cassington Halt | |
|---|---|
 Site of the halt in 1987. | |
| General information | |
| Location | Cassington, West Oxfordshire England |
| Coordinates | 51°47′25″N 1°20′09″W / 51.79038°N 1.33575°W |
| Grid reference | SP458104 |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Great Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 9 March 1936 | Station opens |
| c. 1948 | Resited |
| 1962 | Station closes |
Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cassington Halt was a single platform halt opened by the Great Western Railway on 9 March 1936 on the Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway to serve the village of Cassington, Oxfordshire, just south of the A40.
History
[edit]Cassington Halt was opened by the Great Western Railway on 9 March 1936.[1][2] It had a single 100-foot (30 m) platform and was unstaffed.[3] As the platform could not accommodate a full train, passengers alighting here had to travel in the last coach (in the case of Down trains) or the front coach (in the case of Up trains).[3] The halt came under the responsibility of the stationmaster at Eynsham and passengers joining trains had to be booked at either Witney or Oxford.[3] An instruction was issued to guards to travel in the front coach of Up services between Eynsham and Yarnton so that fares could be collected from passengers joining the train.[3]
The halt, which was the penultimate station to be opened on the Witney Railway, had a precast concrete platform on which was a traditional wooden shelter with a saw-tooth awning.[4] It was lit by oil lamps which were trimmed and extinguished by the guards of trains calling at the halt.[4] The station was located on the south side of the A40 road which was carried over the line by a traditional Cotswold stone bridge.[5] Following the Second World War, the halt was resited to the north side of the A40 bridge to allow passengers to reach it via a private road rather than having to cross the busy road.[6][7]
British Railways closed the station on 18 June 1962.[1][2][8] Full closure of the line did not come until Monday 2 November 1970.[9]
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eynsham Line and station closed |
Great Western Railway Witney Railway |
Yarnton Line and station closed |
Present day
[edit]The trackbed has been concreted over to provide an access road to the sand extraction sites in the area.[10]
Reopening the railway
[edit]There is a strong case to reopen the railway given the severe traffic congestion on the roads to and from Oxford. [11]
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Butt (1995), p. 55.
- ^ a b Quick (2009), p. 116.
- ^ a b c d Jenkins (1985), p. 57.
- ^ a b Jenkins (1985), p. 80.
- ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 20.
- ^ Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 21.
- ^ Simpson (1997), p. 171.
- ^ Clinker (1988), p. 26.
- ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 120.
- ^ Waters & Doyle (1992), p. 94.
- ^ "Bid to reopen Witney train track ahead of key rail summit | Oxfordshire Guardian". Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
Sources
[edit]- 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.
- Clinker, C. R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.
- Jenkins, Stanley C. (1985) [1975]. The Fairford Branch. Headington: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-853613-16-8. LP86.
- Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith; Lingard, Richard (April 1988). Branch Line to Fairford. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-52-5.
- Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
- Simpson, Bill (1997). A History of the Railways of Oxfordshire; Part 1: The North. Witney: Lamplight Publications. ISBN 978-1-89924-602-1.
- Waters, Laurence; Doyle, Tony (1992). British Railways Past and Present: Oxfordshire. Wadenhoe: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 978-0-94797-187-8. No. 15.