Shillingstone railway station

Shillingstone
Refurbishment underway at Shillingstone in October 2007
Location
Place	Shillingstone
Area	North Dorset, Dorset
Grid reference	ST824116
Operations
Original company	Dorset Central Railway
Pre-grouping	Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
Post-grouping	Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
31 August 1863	Opened
5 April 1965	Closed to goods services
7 March 1966	Closed to passengers
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

Shillingstone railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), serving the village of Shillingstone in the English county of Dorset. Opened in 1863, the station was located between Sturminster Newton and Blandford Forum stations, although between 1928 and 1956 the next station south was Stourpaine and Durweston Halt. Shillingstone is the last surviving example of a station built by the Dorset Central Railway (one of the forerunners of the S&DJR).

The station closed in 1966, when services were withdrawn from the S&DJR route. Since 2001, enthusiasts have been working to re-open the station as a heritage railway attraction. The main building has now been renovated, and opened to the public as a museum, shop and refreshment room in 2008.

The station was opened on 31 August 1863 by the Somerset and Dorset Railway, although planned and designed by one of its two predecessors, the Dorset Central Railway. Initial train services were provided by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). In 1875, the Midland Railway and the LSWR together took over a joint lease of the line, forming the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.

At the 'Grouping' of 1923, the Somerset & Dorset Railway Company was dissolved, the lease terminated, and the line and stations became the joint property of the Southern Railway and the London Midland and Scottish Railway companies.