Rowsley South railway station

Rowsley South
Rowsley South Station in December 2007, looking northward
Location
Place	Darley Dale
Area	Derbyshire Dales
Operations
Operated by	Peak Rail
Platforms	1
History
Key dates	Opened 1997
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Rowsley South railway station lies approximately a mile short of Rowsley village, the location of the settlement's previous stations. This makes Rowsley South the third station to be built in the area, constructed as it was by Peak Rail volunteers in the latter part of the 1990s.

Opened to passenger services in 1997, the station was for a time referred to as 'Northwood', which is the part of Rowsley settlement that is near to the terminus. This 'connection' can still be observed through the name of the café that stands on the station, which is known as the 'Northwood Buffet'.

The initial station in Rowsley was opened in 1849 and formed a terminus for the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway line from Ambergate. That location became a goods yard in 1862, serving a new station built at that time, which lay on a through deviation. The latter took the line over the present day A6 road and the River Derwent, then into the Duke of Rutland's estate and on towards Bakewell. This later station in Rowsley closed in 1967 when the route itself was rationalised, prior to complete closure early in 1968.

Rowsley South is now the main centre for the activities of preservation and heritage group Peak Rail and its various affiliated societies. The former operate a heritage steam service over some 3.5 miles of the one-time London, Midland and Scottish Railway route to the south, with an intermediate station at Darley Dale a halt at Matlock Riverside and (since 2 July 2011) terminating at Matlock.

Built as it is by the site of Rowsley's former Goods Yard, the station has both good access and extensive space available for future developments. Part of the Goods Yard has been restored as sidings for locomotives and coaching stock, a number of which lead to the sheds that are operated by other societies (see next section).