Whitacre Junction Station

LMS Route: Nuneaton to Birmingham New Street
LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Tamworth
LMS Route: Hampton in Arden to Whitacre

The original Whitacre station was opened on 10th February 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway some thirty-one months after the route from Derby to Hampton was opened, the result of the B&DJR opening their own and more direct line to Lawley Street, Birmingham. This new line diverted Birmingham to Derby traffic away from the more convoluted route via Hampton and the necessity of passengers being transferred to onward L&BR services to Birmingham. The B&DJR's passenger services to London still remained although by this date the Midland Counties more direct route to London via Rugby had resulted in their daily services being reduced to five 'Down' through coaches to London and three 'Up' through coaches to Derby. On 1st November 1864 the line between Birmingham to Nuneaton was opened and the original B&DJR Whitacre station was closed being replaced by a new station of three platforms with an island platform configuration three-quarters of a mile to its south at the junction to this new line. According to Colin Magg's 'the Hampton branch passenger train used the outer face of the Down island platform. The construction of a goods yard for the new station caused the Hampton branch to be re-aligned for a quarter of a mile'. The station was closed to passenger services on 4th March 1968 and was very quickly demolished.

Select an image below to view the larger version with accompanying text:

Ref: mrwj1173 RM Casserley Looking along the Hampton branch platform from the Leicester end of Whitacre Junction on 8th March 1956

Ref: mrwj1164 RCHM Looking towards Derby and Leicester from the Birmingham end of Whitacre Junction's up platform

Ref: mrwj1163 MJ Lewis View of the partly closed station and building seen from the Leicester end of the Hampton branch platform

Ref: mrwj615 A Muckley A view of Whitacre's second station which replaced the 1842 B&DJR structure, seen one month prior to its closure

Ref: mrwj1172 MJ Lewis Another view from the Water Orton end of the station looking towards Derby with the up platform on the right

Ref: mrwj1169 MJ Lewis View from Whitacre Junction's island platform across to the up platform and its small half timber waiting room

Ref: mrwj1170 MJ Lewis Rear view of Whitacre Junction's brick and timber passenger waiting room located on the up platform

Ref: mrwj1157 MJ Lewis View of the lamp post sited at the entrance to the access road leading to Whitacre Junction station

Ref: mrwj1165 RM Casserley End elevation view of Whitacre Junction's 1939 LMS signal box which was responsible for all main line workings

Ref: mrwj1068 B Bill Looking eastwards with the line to Kingsbury curving away to the left and the line to Nuneaton on the right

Ref: mrwj1069 B Bill View looking towards Kingsbury with the line to Nuneaton curving away to the right behind the signal box

Ref: mrwj1065 B Bill View of Whitacre Junction Midland Railway built signal box on 3rd August 1969, one month prior to its closure

Ref: mrwj1161 RS Carpenter Looking north-west with the lines to Derby on the left and the lines to Leicester on the right circa 1949

Ref: mrwj1161a RS Carpenter Close up showing the trio of ex-MR 3F 0-6-0 locomotives being used to haul coal trains to the Birmingham area

Ref: mrwj1162 RS Carpenter Ex-MR 3F 0-6-0 No 43246 is seen shunting open wagons in Whitacre Junction's goods yard circa 1949

Ref: mrwj1155 M Mensing Looking towards Whitacre station with the original line to Derby on the left and the line to Nuneaton to the right

Ref: mrwj1167 MJ Lewis Looking south-east with the line to Water Orton on the right and the old track to Hampton on the left

Ref: mrwj1174 DJ Norton Looking towards Whitacre Junction station from the Hampton branch line on 30th June 1959

Ref: mrwj1166 MJ Lewis Looking towards Whitacre Junction in 1956 with the original B&DJR track bed to be seen on the right

Ref: mrwj1171 R Waring A plate layer's small hand truck is seen standing on one of the sidings at the north east end of Whitacre Junction

Ref: mrwj1158 Warwick County Records General view of the accident between a passenger train and derailed wagons which occurred on 18th August 1903

Ref: mrwj1158a Warwick County Records Close up showing some of the nine derailed and damaged wagons that were involved in the accident

Ref: mrwj1158b Warwick County Records Close up of MR 0-6-0 No 2344 which was being driven by Arthur John Collis at the time of the accident

Ref: mrwj123 Anon MR 0-6-0 No 2641, a member of the 1874 class, on the Hampton to Whitacre one-coach train

Ref: mrwj123a Anon Close up of MR 0-6-0 No 2641 at the head of the single-coach Whitacre to Hampton Parliamentary train

Ref: mrwj126 WL Good Ex-MR 1P 2-4-0 No 19 heads a westward bound local out of Whitacre Junction station, just after the grouping of 1923

Ref: mrwj126a WL Good Close up showing the station building with signalbox on the platform and the footbridge to the opposite platform

Ref: mrwj125 Anon Ex-LMS 2-8-0 8F No 48135 heads a mineral train through the station having just come off the line from Nuneaton

Ref: mrwj1159 RJ Buckley Ex-LMS 8F 2-8-0 No 48619 weaves its way through Whitacre Junction on a coal train for Hams Hall

Ref: mrwj1160 RS Carpenter BR built 4MT 2-6-0 No 43017 at the head of a local stopping train to New Street station circa 1949

Ref: mrwj1168 Warwick Records Office An unidentified ex-MR 3F 0-6-0 at the head of a Derby to Birmingham freight on a wet winters day circa 1960

Ref: mrwj1066 M Mensing D381 approaches Whitacre Junction from Coleshill at the head of the up Ulster Express on Sunday 3rd May 1964

Ref: mrwj1066a M Mensing Close up of the lines leading to Ham Hall's own sidings which were only accessed from the original B&DJR line

Ref: mrwj616 M Mensing Looking towards Whitacre station with the original line to Derby on the left and the line to Nuneaton to the right

Ref: mrwj1070 M Mensing Two sets of DMUs comprise the 09:35am Leicester to Birmingham service on Sunday 5th May 1963

Ref: mr-misc001 J Griffiths Illustration of the variety of the oil lamps employed along the route between Castle Bromwich and Stockingford

Ref: mrwj1067 Ordnance Survey 1924 OS map showing Whitacre Junction and the lines to Leicester, Derby, and Hampton