Waterhouses railway station (Staffordshire)
Waterhouses | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Staffordshire Moorlands |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| Pre-grouping | North Staffordshire Railway Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway |
| Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1 July 1905 | Opened |
| 12 March 1934 | Closed to all traffic (L&MVLR) |
| 30 September 1935 | Closed to passengers (LMS) |
| 1 March 1943 | Closed to freight (LMS) |
Waterhouses railway station was a railway station that served the village of Leek, Staffordshire. It was opened jointly by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) and the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) in 1905[1] and closed in 1943.[2]
Construction and opening
The station was the terminus of two separate railway lines; the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge NSR branch from Leekbrook Junction and the 30 narrow gauge L&MVLR from Hulme End. Both lines were authorised on 1 March 1899 by the Leek, Caldon Low, and Hartington Light Railways Order, 1898.[3][4]
From Leekbrook junction, Waterhouses station was 8 miles 68 chains (8.85 miles, 14.24 km) distant. The branch rose until it reached a summit of 1,000 feet (304.8 m) near Ipstones making that the highest point on the NSR.[5] From there the line fell to until Waterhouses was reached at an elevation of 725 feet (221.0 m). The descent necessitated a steep gradient of 1 in 40 (2.5%) that ended only at the end of the station platform.[6] The station itself was on a falling gradient of 1 in 260 (0.38%).[6]
The other end of the L&MVLR at Hulme End was 8 miles 11 chains (8.14 miles, 13.10 km) away but construction of the L&MVLR proceeded faster than that of the NSR line and Waterhouses was reached in 1904 but until the joint station was ready the L&MVLR used a temporary station located slightly to the east between its opening on 27 June 1904 and 1 July 1905 when the NSR line opened.[7]
Station layout
The two lines approached the station from opposite directions; the NSR from the west and the L&MVLR from the east. Each served a single platform which were back to back to each other but at different heights; the L&MVLR platform being lower than the NSR one. This resulted in the platforms being separated by railings to prevent passengers and staff falling off one onto the other.[8]
The goods facilities were very basic and the main interest was the three interchange sidings allowing standard gauge wagons to be rolled off the end of the siding onto the transporter wagons used, uniquely in the United Kingdom,[9] by the L&MVLR.[8] The signal box, situated at the Leek end of the NSR station controlled all the points and signals on the NSR line but only the home and starting signals on the L&MVLR. All the other signals and points on the L&MVLR were hand controlled.[8] Apart from water columns on both lines, there were no other locomotive facilities.[10] On the L&MVLR platform the platform sign simply read "Waterhouses" but only the NSR side they read "Waterhouses, alight for the Manifold Valley and Froghall Quarries"[8]
Services
Passenger services were never high and the NSR ran three trains between Leek and Waterhouses, increasing to five on market days in Leek. These services were all matched by a L&MVLR service to Hulme End and in publication such as Bradshaws services were shown as through services, without mentioning the interchange at Waterhouses.[11] On Sundays there was a single train each way.
Freight services were equally sparse, the main interchange of traffic between the two lines being milk from the creamery at Ecton. Initially all the milk was carried in churns which had to be manhandled across the platforms but after the First World War the churns were loaded into standard gauge vans taken to and from Ecton on the transporter wagons.[8] Eventually milk tankers were also used, again being transferred between Ecton and Waterhouses on the transporters.[12]
Closure
The L&MVLR was never a financial success and with the closure of the Ecton creamery in 1932[12] the line became even more uneconomic and closed on 12 March 1934,[13] although the last train ran two days earlier.[12] The passenger service to Leek lasted until the following year but was withdrawn on 30 September 1935.[13] The station remained open as a goods station until 1943 when the line between Caldon Junction and Waterhouses closed entirely.[14]
The site today
The site is now the location for a cycle hire business located at one end of the Manifold Way - a trail constructed on the trackbed of the L&MVLR.[15]
Route
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldon Low Halt | North Staffordshire Railway Waterhouses branch |
Terminus | ||
| Terminus | Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway | Sparrowlee | ||
Notes
- ^ Butt p. 242.
- ^ Christiansen & Miller p. 304.
- ^ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1899/mar/21/light-railways-act-1896. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 21 March 1899. col. 1552.
{{cite book}}:|chapter-url=missing title (help) - ^ "No. 27062". The London Gazette. 14 March 1899.
- ^ Christiansen p. 54.
- ^ a b Manifold p. 54.
- ^ Manifold p. 20.
- ^ a b c d e Manifold p. 55.
- ^ Ranson p. 258.
- ^ Manifold p. 56.
- ^ Bradshaw June 1922 table 605
- ^ a b c Manifold p. 28.
- ^ a b Christiansen & Miller p. 258.
- ^ Manifold p. 29.
- ^ "Waterhouses (Manifold Way)". Retrieved 18 November 2010.
References
- Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide for Great Britain and Ireland. Manchester: Henry Blacklock & Co. 1922.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - 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.
- Christiansen, Rex; Miller, Robert William (1971). The North Staffordshire Railway. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 5121 4.
- Christiansen, Rex (1997). Portrait of the North Staffordshire Railway. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen. ISBN 0 7110 2546 0.
- Jeuda, Basil (1999). The Churnet Valley Railway. Lydney, Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 01 899 889 05.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - Jeuda, Basil (1999). The Knotty, an illustrated survey of the North Staffordshire Railway. Lydney, Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 0 1899 8901 9.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - "Manifold" (1965). The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway (2nd ed.). Truro, Cornwall: D Bradford Barton.
- Ranson, Philip J G (1981). The archaeology of railways. World's Work. ISBN 0 437 14401 1.