Old North Road railway station

Old North Road
Old North Road station in March 2009
General information
Location	Longstowe, South Cambridgeshire England
Grid reference	TL316546
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Bedford & Cambridge Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways (1948-1958) Eastern Region of British Railways (1958-1968)
Key dates
1 August 1862	Opened
19 April 1965[1]	Closed to goods
1 January 1968	Closed to passengers[2]

Old North Road was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the small village of Longstowe near Bourn in Cambridgeshire. As its name suggests, the station was located on the eastern side of the Old North Road, the A1198 road - a major Roman road which linked London with Lincoln. Opened in 1862, the station was located in a rural area and saw little passenger traffic; it closed together with the line in 1968.

History

Old North Road station was opened by the Bedford & Cambridge Railway as part of its line from Bedford, the construction of which began in April 1861.^[3] The line was worked by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) from its opening in 1862, which acquired the Bedford & Cambridge in 1865.^[4]

Simply laid out on the eastern side of the Old North Road which was crossed on the level, the station had two concrete facing platforms. The majority of the station buildings were situated on the northern Up side, including a goods shed and a type 5 LNWR signal box. A coal siding and cattle pens were located on the Down side.^[5]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Gamlingay		British Railways Varsity Line		Lord's Bridge

Present day

The station buildings, signal box and goods shed have survived in private ownership, but 3/4 of the platforms have been filled in.^[6]

References

1. Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 104. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 177.
3. Simpson, Bill (1981). Oxford to Cambridge Railway (Vol. 2). Poole, Dorset: Oxford Publishing Co. p. 16. ISBN 0-86093-121-8.
4. Davies, R.; Grant, M.D. (1984). Forgotten Railways: Chilterns and Cotswolds. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. p. 118. ISBN 0-946537-07-0.
5. Simpson, B., p. 123-125.
6. The Friends of the National Railway Museum, Briefing 26, June 2002.

External links

• "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
• Old North Road station on navigable 1946 O. S. map

52.1738°N 0.0774°W / 52.1738; -0.0774