Leamington Avenue (LNWR)
The town of Leamington initially was served by Warwick
Milverton station which was at the end of the Coventry to Leamington line which
opened in 1844. The location of this station was at a mid-point between the two
towns of Warwick and Leamington and in many ways could be considered a
compromise that satisfied neither of the two town's citizens.
The Rugby to Leamington single branch line which opened in
1851 in fact commenced at Warwick Milverton and according to Preston Hendry
& Powell Hendry in their book 'LMS Stations' it was February 1854 before
the first station opened in the town of Leamington. This was a small timber
framed and clad structure and was located adjacent to the 1852 GWR station.
The second station was a more substantial and grand affair
and built of brick in, according to Colin Maggs in his book 'Branch Lines of
Warwickshire', the 'Italian' style and opened in March 1860. In 1864 a
connection was made with the GWR at the western end of the LNWR station over
which a considerable amount of goods traffic was exchanged.
A new bay siding was laid at the back of the down (the line
nearest to the GWR) platform in 1884 but was not used as a passenger line until
eight years later in 1892. Additional connections were laid in 1884 on the down
side and the up exchange yard and landing were modified in 1888. The station
had no goods yard as this was located at the Warwick (Milverton) site.
A running connection, Leamington GWR Junction, was laid at
the eastern end of the station opening on July 1908 and was controlled by a new
box. The curvature of this connecting line was so severe that it required a
speed limit of 5 m.p.h..
According to Preston Hendry & Powell Hendry, Leamington
(Avenue) was the terminus for the Coventry to Leamington services whilst
Warwick (Milverton) was the terminus for the Rugby to Warwick services, the two
routes being overlapping services. Therefore, according to the two authors, the
services were effectively treated as separate branches rather than as a through
route.
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