Hatton Station - Part One
Hatton Station was one of nine intermediate stations on the
Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway (B&O), which ran from Fenny Compton
to Birmingham. This mixed gauge line was owned by the Great Western Railway and
opened on 1st October 1852. Hatton was the site of unfortunate collision on the
day before the public opening, when a special train carrying the director's
party collided with another train injuring six passengers.
The station was on a short section of level track in what
was an unbroken gradient from Warwick to 1 mile north of the station, known as
the Hatton Bank. The majority of this 5 mile climb was 1 in 110 and banking
engines were a frequent sight at Hatton. Another common site here were the slip
coaches for Stratford upon Avon.
On 10th October 1860 Hatton became a junction when a
9½ mile, mixed gauge, single line branch to Stratford upon Avon opened.
On 1st April 1869 the mixed gauge on both the main line and branch was
converted to standard gauge only and in 1883 the nominally independent
Stratford-upon-Avon railway Company was amalgamated into the GWR.
By 1892 traffic demands required the platforms to be
extended and the provision of additional sidings and in July 1897 the
triangular junction was formed by the creation of the north (avoiding) curve,
which allowed trains from Birmingham to proceed to Stratford upon Avon and
beyond without reversing at Hatton. This triangular junction required two more
signal boxes (Hatton North and Hatton Branch), but the turntable was removed a
few years later in 1913.
Station and track improvements continued with the provision
of the down platform and branch bay canopy in 1897, conversion of refuge
sidings to goods loops in June 1901 and the extension of the down goods line
from Budbrook to Hatton in May 1914. This down goods line was 2¼ miles
long and could officially accommodate an engine, 467 wagons and brakevan,
although down mineral trains hauled by group D engines (GW 26xx, 43xx and 49xx
classes) were limited to 36 wagons (increased to 54 wagons with banking engine
assistance) and those hauled by group E engines (GW 28xx and 47xx classes) 44
wagons (66 wagons if banked).
In the winter of 1936/37 the Middle and South Signal Boxes
were replaced with a new South Signal Box on the down platform and this
simplified the operating requirements for trains on the branch bay platform. In
July 1939 the Branch between Hatton and Bearley was doubled and the Branch
Signal Box was renamed Hatton West Junction.
In 1968 the track was rationalised with many loops and
sidings being removed and the North Curve singled. The following year the
branch to Bearley was singled and the three Hatton signal Boxes were closed.
All signalling operations became the responsibility of the Saltley Power Box on
1st September 1969. Hatton Station is still open today although many of the
station buildings no longer exist.
Robert Ferris
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