Washford railway station
| Washford | |
|---|---|
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| Location | |
| Place | Old Cleeve |
| Area | West Somerset |
| Coordinates | 51°09′42″N 3°22′08″W / 51.1618°N 3.3690°WCoordinates: 51°09′42″N 3°22′08″W / 51.1618°N 3.3690°W |
| Grid reference | ST043411 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Minehead Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Operated by | West Somerset Railway |
| Platforms | 1 |
| History | |
| 1874 | Opened |
| 1971 | Closed |
| 1976 | Opened in preservation |
| 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 | |
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Washford railway station is a station on the West Somerset Railway, a heritage railway in England. The station is situated in the village of Washford, which is itself within the civil parish of Old Cleeve in the county of Somerset.
The station was opened on 16 July 1874 by the Minehead Railway. The railway was operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway which was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway in 1876. The Minehead Railway was itself absorbed into the GWR in 1897 which, in turn, was nationalised into British Railways in 1948.
The signal box was closed in 1952, goods traffic ceased in 1964, and the station was unstaffed from 1966. The line was eventually closed on 4 January 1971, but was reopened by the West Somerset Railway on 28 August 1976.
Washford is the second highest station on the line and is situated in a gap between the coastal cliffs and the Brendon Hills. It is accessed by two very steep inclines for steam trains – climbing up from Blue Anchor trains face a 1 mile (1.6 km) section at 1 in 65 (1.5%), the steepest on the line. The station has a single platform on the south side of the line, although there is an extensive yard on the opposite side of the line from the platform which is where the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust is housed.
The Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust Museum contains relics of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), including station nameboards, lamps, tools, signalling equipment, tickets, photographs, handbills, rolling stock and steam locomotives. The Trust's Peckett and Sons 0-4-0ST No. 1788 "Kilmersdon" is normally based here.
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