Atherstone Station

LMS Route: Trent Valley Line

Atherstone was one of the original Trent Valley Railway (TVR) stations opening with the line in 1847. The TVR had been authorised in 1845 with the line being originally scheduled to be opened on 26th June 1847. However, as with Polesworth, a faulty bridge design over the River Tame at Tamworth followed by the strengthening of a further five bridges along the route, resulted in the line opening in stages. The line through Atherstone, which was exactly 102 miles from Euston, was opened 15th September 1847 with two local passenger services each way and through goods trains only. The Trent Valley Railway fully opened on 1st December 1847 which was the same day that Greenwich Mean Time was adopted throughout the LNWR. Located between Polesworth and Nuneaton, Atherstone was originally built with two tracks passing through the station and remained as such for many years. Periodic additions were made to the station's layout during the nineteenth century, most notably in 1887 when the up platform was extended and the up yard enlarged.

In the LNWR (Additional Powers) Act 1892 permission was obtained to quadruple seven miles four furlongs between Tamworth and just north of Atherstone level crossing. The main station building was located on the up line and was retained when the line was quadrupled. The level crossing which carried the A5 over the railway, lay immediately to the north of the station's platform and was a bone of contention between Warwickshire County Council and the LNWR resulting in the former obtaining an injunction to prevent trains passing over the level crossing at speeds above 4 mph. The Tamworth to Atherstone quadrupling came into use on 1st July 1901, and powers for the Atherstone to Nuneaton section were obtained in the LNWR Act of 1902. The Act also authorised the company to divert and carry Watling Street over the railway and the Coventry canal, by means of a bridge, and to close the old level crossing. The LNWR subsequently built an overbridge which opened in September 1903.

Entrance to the station and goods yard was via Watling Street, between the Post Office and Station Street. The 1887 Ordnance Survey Map shows the goods yard was principally acessed by rail traffic via wagon turntables from both the up and down running lines. This resulted in wagons from the down line requiring access to the goods yard and sheds to be rotated 90º and then to be moved across both running lines. Two refuge sidings were built adjacent to the down running line to accommodate both goods trains requiring to be moved out of the paths of passenger trains but also to gain access to a short spur, a continuation of the line crossing the running lines at 90º, which served to store several wagons prior to crossing the running lines when the timings of traffic permitted. The 1901 Ordnance Survey Map shows this convoluted method of working replaced by conventional sidings with the goods yard now accessed from refuge sidings built adjacent to the up running line. These refuge sidings (which were also evident on the 1887 Ordnance Survey Map) were also the destination of goods trains travelling on the down line. Trains requiring access from the down line did so by travelling through the station, with some of the train passing over the level crossing causing road traffic to be halted, and then reversing via trailing points across the up line and into the refuge siding before drawing forward into the yard.

The original signal cabin sited at the north end of the station, together with the down platform, was swept away during the quadrupling, and a new timber building and signal cabin erected. A 1909 stage work sketch for the quadrupling is reproduced in image 'lnwr_ath1737'. The new signal cabin was centrally located between the up and down and fast lines, and was carried on girders, one set of supports being on the down platform, the other set in a slightly enlarged 'six foot' between the up and down fast lines. Access to the signal cabin was via a catwalk from the down side. The Preston & Powell Hendrys wrote, 'Any girder cabin was of interest, but what made the Atherstone example even more remarkable, was the superstructure, which possessed the extended roof and barge boards of post-1904 LNWR boxes, but the shallower windows reminiscent of earlier designs.'. Another unusual aspect of the station was the short awning on the up platform which was part of the original structure. The columns supporting the awning was very close to the platform edge, well inside the regulation minimum six foot and also inconveniently very close together.

The Railway Clearing House's 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations states Atherstone station provided the general public and businesses with a full set of services: Goods traffic; Passenger and Parcels traffic; Furniture Vans (including Carriages (Horse-drawn - Ed), Portable Engines, and Machines on Wheels; Live Stock; Horse Boxes and Prize Cattle Vans; and Carriages by Passenger Trains (GPFLHC). Cranage facilities were also provided, thought to be within one of the goods shed, via a fixed manually operated 5 ton crane. The 1894 edition of The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations did not provide information to the same detail e.g. the number of categories listed, and only recorded (GPFL) and the 5 ton crane, however its reasonable to assume that the same facilities recorded in 1929 were offered from the outset. As was the case across the country, post-Second World War railway goods traffic decreased rapidly in the face of the competition from road transport. This resulted in Atherstone station's goods yard closing in May 1964 and whilst the station remains open, it has been an staffed halt since 2nd October 1972.

Ref: lnwr_ath3108 Anon A contemporary drawing showing the exterior of Atherstone station as first seen when it opened in 1847

Ref: lnwr_ath1076 LGRP Vew of Atherstone station showing the Livock structure which was Elizabethan or Jacobean in style

Ref: lnwr_ath1275 WoW View looking towards Stafford showing Watling Street level crossing and the original signal cabin on the left

Ref: lnwr_ath1079 Postcard Looking towards Rugby across the level crossing as the down Irish Mail passes Atherstone's Signal Cabin

Ref: lnwr_ath3111 LNWR Society View of Atherstone station looking towards Tamworth with the up goods yard on the right on 9th April 1960

Ref: lnwr_ath1734 Postcard Looking towards Rugby from Watling Street bridge showing the quadrupling of the lines still under construction

Ref: lnwr_ath1734a Postcard Close up of part of the goods yard and shed on the left and the incomplete lines adjacent to the new down platform

Ref: lnwr_ath1069 HC Casserley Looking in the direction of Rugby showing Atherstone station and the original station building on the left

Ref: lnwr_ath1069a HC Casserley Close up of the original 1847 station building and platform complete with Livock's platform canopy

Ref: lnwr_ath1069b HC Casserley Close up of the replacement down platform built in the early 20th century when the line was quadrupled

Ref: lnwr_ath1735 Powell-Hendry View looking towards Stafford showing the entrance to Atherstone's Signal Cabin and part of the down platform

Ref: lnwr_ath3109 Britain from Above An aerial view of Atherstone station with the down platform and Coventry canal nearest to the camera

Ref: lnwr_ath3110 Britain from Above An aerial view showing the station with the bridge carrying the A5 over the railway on the left

Ref: lnwr_ath366 WoW Aerial view of Atherstone showing part of the station and the now demolished goods shed and yard

Ref: lnwr_ath1277 WoW View of Atherstone station after electrification showing the original Livock building but with new platform canopy

Ref: lnwr_ath1276 WoW An unidentified ex-LMS 4-6-0 'Black 5' is seen at the head of an up express train as it approaches Atherstone station

Ref: lnwr_ath2668 J Alsop An unknown ex-LNWR 0-6-0 goods engine is running wrong road during the replacement of an overbridge

Ref: lnwr_ath2668a J Alsop Close up of the unidentified 0-6-0 'Cauliflower' locomotive standing wrong road blowing off steam

Ref: lnwr_ath2668b J Alsop Close up showing the small rail mounted crane being used to lift the beams into placefrom the adjacent train

Ref: lnwr_ath3937 WoW A lineside view of Atherstone station after closure and the removal of the platform canopy circa 1975

Ref: lnwr_ath3938 WoW An elevated view showing the Coventry Canal on the left and the railway on the right pass beneath the A5 by-pass

Ref: lnwr_ath3939 WoW An elevated view of Atherstone station's goods yard and shed seen from the Silo Tower circa 1960

Baddesley Colliery

Ref: lnwr_ath1307 Anon View of Baddesley Colliery's managers house, engine shed, steam engine, pump house, shaft and sidings

Ref: lnwr_ath3940 WoW Another turn of the 20th century view of Baddersley Colliery showing many coal wagons standing in its sidings

Ref: lnwr_ath1305 WoW Later view showing the mine's extensive buildings and MR open wagons in the sidings in front of the engine shed

Locomotives seen at or near Atherstone station

Ref: lnwr_ath1077 HL Salmon LNWR 4-6-0 2P Experiment class No 496 'Harlequin' at the head of an up Stafford to Rugby local passenger train

Ref: lnwr_ath1075 HL Salmon LNWR 0-8-0 7 F No 2562 is at the head of a long up goods train travelling on the fast line near Atherstone

Ref: lnwr_ath1072 WL Good LMS 4-6-0 Royal Scot class No 6109 'Royal Engineer' at the head of the up Manxman near Atherstone in May 1928

Ref: lnwr_ath1071 WL Good LMS 4-6-0 No 6111 'Royal Fusilier' on the down 'Mid-day Scot' with a train of ex-LNWR and early LMS coaching stock

Ref: lnwr_ath1080 6201 Society Ex-LMS 4-6-0 5XP Patriot class No 45515 'Caernavon' at the head of an up express near Atherstone

Ref: lnwr_ath2667 B Brooksbank Ex-LMS 6P5F 'Horwich Crab' 2-6-0 No 42811 is seen approaching Atherstone on a down fast freight service

Ref: lnwr_ath1274 H Ballatyne Ex-LMS 4-6-0 Jubilee class No 45737 'Atlas' waiting to depart on the 11 45am Liverpool to Rugby semi-fast express

Schematic plans and maps of Atherstone station and adjacent sidings

Ref: lnwr_ath1733 P Lee View of the layout of the connection between Baddersley Colliery Sidings and the Trent Valley Railway

Ref: lnwr_ath1737 Powell-Hendry Stage work plan of September 1909 showing the old down platform replaced by a new platform two tracks away

Ref: lnwr_ath1736 Powell-Hendry A complete 1887 plan of Athestone station prior to be quadrupled showing the level crossing, station, goods yard

Ref: lnwr_ath1736a Powell-Hendry Close up of map showing the Stafford end of the station and the underpass adjacent to the level crossing

Ref: lnwr_ath1736b Powell-Hendry Close up of the approach at the Rugby end of the station and the down refuge siding and goods yard entrance

Ref: lnwr_ath1738 P Lee The original station layout showing the station, goods yard and shed and the level crossing and underpass

Ref: lnwr_ath3941 National Library of Scotland An 1887 25 inches to the mile Ordnance Survey Map of Atherstone station and goods shed and yard

Ref: lnwr_ath3942 National Library of Scotland A 1901 25 inches to the mile Ordnance Survey Map of Atherstone station and goods shed and yard

Ref: lnwr_ath3943 National Library of Scotland A 1922 25 inches to the mile Ordnance Survey Map of Atherstone station and goods shed and yard

Accident at Atherstone on 16th November 1860

The PDF provided below links to an accident report on a rear collision between a mail train and a cattle train, shunting to clear the line, with a long discourse on the contemporary state of brakes and passenger communication on trains. This document was published on 14th January 1861 by the Board of Trade. It was written by Colonel W Yolland. Our thanks to Railway Archive (www.railwaysarchive.co.uk) for providing a copy and Barry Turvin from whose collection Railway Archive sourced it from.

'The collision occurred between a special cattle train proceeding from Holyhead to Lynn, which was permitted to leave Tamworth for Nuneaton Station at or about 1h. 3Om a. m., when the up limited mail, according to the Time Tables, was not due until 1h. 56m. a.m., and the cattle train stopped at Atherstone Station, and was in the act of shunting into the up siding, when the up limited mail arrived and ran crashing into it. The engine of the limited mail is described as baving gone right over the guards van at the tail of the cattle train, over the next van in front of it, in which a party of drovers and their men were sitting, and also over the next waggon filled with cattle, and then fell over on its left side on the embankment. I allude especially to the insufficiency of break power attached to the limited mail and to all fast travelling passenger trains, and to the absence of any means of communication between the guards and engine drivers, and between the passengers and the guards. These are decidedly great blots on the railway arrangements for quick travelling in this country, but they are by no means limited to the London and North-Western Railway Company. Apparently the directors of railway companies prefer, or submit, to pay very heavy sums for damage and compensation rather than to direct their officers to give more attention to the two points to which I have referred, by which it is certain that the number of accidents would be sensibly diminished, and the severity of those that do occur would be materially mitigated'.

Ref: BoT_Atherstone1860 Railway Archive Extract for the accident at Atherstone between a special cattle train and the Mail train on 16th November 1860