Junction Road Halt railway station

Junction Road Halt
Site of halt in August 2011 showing progress made by the Rother Valley Railway.
Location
Place	Udiam nr Bodiam
Area	Rother
Grid reference	TQ771243
Operations
Original company	Rother Valley Railway
Pre-grouping	Kent and East Sussex Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms	1
History
2 April 1900	Opened as Junction Road
May 1901	Closed
June 1903	Reopened
January 1954	Closed to regular services
11 June 1961	Closed to all traffic
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Junction Road Halt, also known as Junction Road (for Hawkhurst), was a halt station on the Kent and East Sussex Railway. It was located on the eastern side of the level crossing across the B2244 Junction Road near the hamlet of Udiam in East Sussex, England. Closed for passengers in 1954 and freight in 1961 with the line, The line through Junction Road Halt may yet be revived as the Rother Valley Railway, a preservation society, is proposing to reopen the line from Robertsbridge to Bodiam.

The Rother Valley Railway opened a small platform at Junction Road in 1900 as an informal private stopping place for the benefit of the tenant of the adjoining fields who enjoyed shooting rights over the land. The station was situated on the eastern side of a level crossing adjacent to Udiam Farm on the turnpike road from Hawkhurst to Hastings called Junction Road (now part of the B2244 road). The crossing was originally gated but cattle grids were later provided. The existence of the platform was discovered by the Board of Trade in January 1903 during an inspection of the line by Major Pringle who had stopped at the site to examine the new cattle grids. After the inspection, Colonel Stephens, the proprietor of the Rother Valley Railway, wrote to the Board of Trade to obtain permission to open the halt to the public. The station would be unstaffed and trains would only call as required. The Board of Trade indicated its willingness to authorise the halt so long as the railway provided suitable lights for trains calling in the hours of darkness. Despite Stephens' reply that guards would be instructed to aid passengers with a hand lamp, the Board of Trade still insisted on lights.