West Moors and environs: railway notes
Notes re: London & South Western Railway (L & SWR) & 'local'
railway history
[ LAST ENTRY: 26th January, 2012 ]
.. The London & South Western Railway began life as the London &
Southampton Railway on the 25th July, 1834: renamed 1839. By the
time of the post-World War I 'grouping' [ in 1923 ], by which the L
& SWR became part of the Southern Railway, it had been in existence for 90
years!
.. 12th May, 1838: proving run Nine Elms (the original terminus) to
Woking Common.
.. 21st May, 1838: public trains Nine Elms - Woking Common - first
L&S, later L&SWR scheduled service.
.. 11th May, 1840: line from London to Southampton opened, via
Wimbledon, Woking, Basingstoke & Winchester. Average speed of the fastest
trains was ~25 mph, and the slowest around 12 mph.
.. 1844 (2nd February): Castleman proposes railway between Dorchester
& Southampton (by whatever route) to L & SWR board. Landowners along
the route were keen as it would enhance the value of their rather impoverished
holdings. Farmers wanted the railway to get good prices for foodstuffs. NB:
both Edward & Charles are named on the various notices posted to advertise
the proposed railway, though the former apparently had no hand in the various
negotiations etc. ( Engineer's report [Moorsom])considered that the building of
the railway would be an 'easy' prospect. Broad outline of route was given as:-
Southampton - Brockenhurst - Burley - Ringwood - Wimborne - Poole - Wareham -
Dorchester. One of the important sources of 'goods' traffic was thought to be
wood for the Portsmouth dockyards where of course the Royal Navy was still
building wooden-hulled ships. The change to iron cladding then iron ships did
not take place until later in the century - but all but ruined this scheme to
make use of the woods of southern England.)
.. 1845 (July 21st) - Act authorising the Southampton & Dorchester
railway passed [capital £500 000] - authorised a lease to the L&SWR,
with the latter having permission to appoint four of the twelve directors:
although for a short spell, the line might have been built to the GWR 'broad
gauge', it was to be narrow (or standard) gauge from the outset of construction
- with bridges and other infrastructure capable of handling a double-line once
gross receipts of three consecutive years exceeding an average of £65,000.
.. 1845-47: surveying & subsequent construction of the Southampton
& Dorchester Railway. Bridges built of wood (for speed of construction),
and it was subsequently found that much of the construction was below standard
with severe wear to locomotive wheels due to irregular curves; also, nearly all
the platforms were too short - and this wasn't corrected until doubling began
in 1858.
.. line had to avoid running through the wooded parts of the New Forest (Forest
Commissioners).
First all-line engineer's train Saturday 1st May, 1847, with an
experimental or 'proving' train running on the 25th May: this consisted of
three carriages, a horse-box and three trucks of signal apparatus for
distribution to each crossing lodge (including presumably West Moors) and
stations along the line.
.. line opened between Blechynden (later Southampton West, then Southampton
Central, now just 'Southampton') and Dorchester (South, though not named as
such) on 1st June, 1847, in the same year that the novel 'Jane Eyre' was
published - the train should have left from Southampton Terminus (long closed),
but the tunnel between Blechynden & the Terminus had become unsafe;
Omnibuses linked the two points until repairs could be effected, and a mail
train made the full run on the night of the 5th/6th August, 1847 with a
normal service commencing on the 6th August, 1847.
.. The line initially single throughout, with a branch to 'Poole' (actually on
the other side of Poole harbour from the town of Poole).
.. Southampton & Dorchester Railway (single-line) opens through West Moors
- halt (?) only [ I'm trying to find sources for this 'halt' ]. A new centre of
population (apart from the scattered farms, 'Cob' cottages adjacent to the moor
etc.) clustered around the railway. They probably lived in what were known as
"black cottages", so named because they had mud and tarred walls (as
opposed to wattle & daub/furze walls of the earlier cottagers).
.. L & SWR bought-up the Southampton & Dorchester railway in
1848, and ceased to exist on the 11th October, 1848, just over a
year after the line was open for business. It had always provided the motive
power and rolling stock. Charles Castleman was given a seat on the board, and
eventually would become Chairman for a time.
.. line *west* of Ringwood up to Wimborne [ including route through West Moors
] doubled by 1st October, 1857, just 10 years after opening. This would
have been 'triggered' by traffic receipts specified in the original Act of
Parliament.
.. line *east* of Ringwood (i.e. towards Southampton) doubled (in stages) by
1st September, 1858 [ i.e. 11 years after initial opening ].
.. The remainder of the line to Dorchester was doubled by 1st August,
1863. The spur to the doubling-up of the line was the opening of the
Great Western Railway [GWR] line to Weymouth (in 1857), over which [
using dual-gauge metals ] the L & SWR had running powers. The route
Weymouth - Dorchester - Southampton - Waterloo was just over 20 miles shorter
than the corresponding GWR service (via Yeovil - single line originally, but
doubled-up early 1880s, then singled again late 1960s), and ex-Channel
Islands traffic in particular was considerable - hence the need for additional
running space.
.. branch to 'Poole' (aka Hamworthy Goods) doubled-up in 1863 as traffic
for both Poole, and more importantly the growing town of Bournemouth, grew
dramatically.
.. 1858 [2nd August]: Up until this time, trains for the S & DRly
had to run into Southampton Terminus (i.e. the original station for the London
& Southampton Railway), then reverse back onto the S & D, joining it at
Bletchynden (later Southampton West); on this date, a curve was opened allowing
ex-London trains to proceed direct to Bletchynden and the western line, without
going to Terminus first: eventually of course, Southampton West would become
*the* station for Southampton.
.. Construction of the 18.5 mi line (Salis/Dorset Jc) commenced Feb.
1864: opened 20th December 1866 with a service of four trains
each way daily between Salisbury and Wimborne. The station at West Moors was
not opened until 1st August, 1867. This was originally a single-storey
building.
.. 1866 [20th December]: The Salisbury & Dorset Junction Railway (to
link Salisbury with Wimborne & the south coast through West Moors) opened.
With the opening of the station (1867, 1st August) & associated
goods yard, track maintenance etc., the population increased again with more
pupils for the schools. West Moors then became an important centre for the
distribution of goods and services.
.. 1870-1875: railway profitable, and probably remained so until the
opening of the 'direct' line from Brockenhurst through Christchurch to
Bournemouth & Poole in the 1890s. This means that the 'profitable' part of
the line's life lasted for less than 50 years if that.
.. 1879: plans for link railway Salisbury - Bournemouth via. West Moors:
there was already a line (from 'Ringwood Junction') down the Avon via Hurn to
Christchurch, and this was extended to Bournemouth (East); in the event,
railway developments meant that Bournemouth was connected from east (ex.
Brockenhurst) and west (ex. Poole). It's interesting to speculate what would
have happened if the WM - Bournemouth line had gone ahead - would the later
'Sway' line have been built?
.. 1898: a small waiting room constructed on the 'down' platform [more
like a waiting 'cabin' to judge from the pictures I've seen!].
.. Early 1900s: although passenger traffic was sparse through the
station, West Moors was busy with substantial general (small-packet) goods,
agricultural and horticultural traffic from a fair way around the village.
Although not stopping at West Moors, the 'Old Road' was served by a through
train from Waterloo, calling locally at Brockenhurst, Ringwood, Wimborne &
Broadstone, on the way to Weymouth. However, for West Moors residents, it would
have been more convenient to travel to Salisbury or Brockenhurst to pick up a
London train.
.. 1902: re-inforced concrete (German - the technology wasn't available
in this country at the time) footbridge erected adjacent to the level crossing
to allow pedestrians to cross the running tracks between platforms when the
crossing gates were closed. There must have been considerable demand for to-ing
and fro-ing for the L&SWR to fork out for this - especially as this wasn't,
by this time, the 'main' line in the area.
.. 1904: 4th December: signal box functions moved from the junction to a
new box on the up-platform, adjacent to the crossing: at this time, manual
operation of the gates ceased with a saving of two staff posts (gatemen). I
have a feeling that the crossing lodge was already not in use for this purpose,
though still in railway ownership; the census returns suggests that the
occupants of the original lodge were not the 'keepers'. Presumably the station
porters would also have opened/close the gates as required before the signal
box was repositioned.
.. 1906: Hampreston PC and West Parley PC, both straddling the growing
town of Ferndown, together with other parties, suggested that the name of West
Moors station be changed to 'West Moors for Ferndown'. This was turned down by
the LSWR, but in Southern Railway days, the change did occur, certainly by 1938
(q.v.), and perhaps a few years earlier.
.. 1910/1911: sometime around now, the 'Up' siding connection was moved
into the Salisbury line, rather than onto the main line.
.. 1938 (about): Around this time, the 'official' name of the station
was changed from 'West Moors' to 'West Moors for Ferndown', at least in
timetables & on the main station name board. It may well have been known as
this for some years previous (ref: The Directory of Railway Stations).
.. 1939: Just prior to declaration of war (Poland invaded by Germany 1st
September, UK/Dominions/Empire declared war 3rd September), Britain's railway
networks were brought under government control. One of the first coordinated
actions performed by the railway under Whitehall direction was the evacuation
of children from the larger towns and cities of the UK to country regions -
this action was long in the planning, having been mooted the previous year
during the 'Munich crisis' tension. In this area, children from Southampton
were moved to West Moors (along with other places in rural Dorset &
Hampshire).
.. 1939: Work on the construction of a large petroleum depot began this
year for use by UK forces .. the US of course not as yet having entered the
War. A connection was made with the main line east of the junction was brought
into use on the 14th February, 1943 (q.v).
.. 1940: As is now well known, the Royal Family were particularly active
in visiting areas that contained concentrations of military personnel and
equipment and as part of this, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the
Queen Mother) were carried in the GWR Royal Train over the 'Old Road' in the
early hours of Tuesday 14th May from London to Broadstone, there being taken
north again onto the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway to Blandford (a major
centre for troops); the royal party de-trained, travelling cross-country to
rejoin the train the next day when it had been worked Blandford - Broadstone -
Wimborne - West Moors - Downton, at which latter point it became a 'Royal'
formation again.
.. 1943: upgrade to signal box at West Moors to add additional levers,
which implies that this is when the sidings into the fuel depot became
operational; this would tie in with the lead-up to D-Day and the operations
thereafter. (Fuel & ammunition dump taken over by the US Army) [ I have a
date of 14th February, 1943 for the sidings to the Fuel Depot being operational
.. which sounds sensible. ] The work was completed on 24th July, 1943 and of
course by this time, the United States was fully engaged in the 'European'
theatre and by August of this year, the site was effectively a US facility.
According to BL Jackson ('Castleman's Corkscrew', Oakwood Press), the track
layout within the camp comprised 8.6 miles of track and 41 sets of points. It
was under the control of the 3877th Quatermaster Gas Depot Q328), storing all
the petrol, lubricants etc., for the forthcoming (June 1944) invasion of
France. It is recorded that at the peak of operation, 75000 tons of fuel in
five gallon jerry cans!
.. 1946: As during the war years, in this year the 'Old Road' was still
a busy line with road transport not yet the major threat it was to become just
5 years or so later. Petrol was still severely rationed - but Britain had
abundant sources of coal for steam traction, so although the railways (and
staff) were worn out by 6 years of total war, they bore the brunt of the
attempt to get the country back to peace-time levels of activity. It is a neat
debating point that but for the Second World War and the demands on the
railways etc., the old main line & the Salisbury line might have been
closed before this time.
.. 1954: Traffic still high over the routes through West Moors, though
the numbers of passengers movements was on the decline. The passenger traffic
pattern on the 'Old Road' was based on 'push-pull' operation between
Brockenhurst (junction with the main line) and Bournemouth West, with no fewer
than 8 or 9 workings Mondays to Saturdays, and some 'non-standard' workings,
e.g., early Wimborne to Brockenhurst service and an unusual Weymouth -
Brockenhurst (via Wimborne & Ringwood) train, harking back to days of 1847
and all that. No doubt useful to give drivers route-experience via the
Hamworthy-Broadstone link. On the Salisbury line, also of course running
through West Moors, there were 5 trains (passenger) each way terminating at
Bournemouth (West), so for a small community (estimated population yet to reach
2000) there were at least 13 trains to the major shopping & entertainment
centres of Poole and Bournemouth. However, the buses were still more
convenient, offering late evening return journeys from Bournemouth from a
convenient starting point in the middle of the town.
A large amount of 'assorted' freight still travelled on both lines through West
Moors and to judge by photographs of the time, which show several wagons
berthed in the up-side goods siding, a good portion of goods traffic was
generated here. Goods trains ('pick-up' goods) were a regular feature and would
require marshalling by porter-shunters at least twice a day before running off
to places like Wimborne, Poole, Bournemouth, Dorchester and Eastleigh for re-
marshalling. For more on 'pick-up' goods working, which eventually tailed-off
circa 1960, see:-
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gansg/7-fops/fo-traintype.htm
.. 1956: First serious talk around closing-down both the Salisbury line
and the old 'main line' through West Moors between Brockenhurst &
Broadstone. Shelved. .. 1962/63: As late as 1962, both the 'Old Road'
and the Salisbury line were fully integrated parts of the local railway
network, with the Brockenhurst - Hamworthy Jc. section carrying
'Bournemouth-avoiding' traffic on summer Saturdays (Waterloo - Weymouth and
Waterloo - Swanage) as well as goods workings. The Salisbury line was still
used to carry scheduled services to/from South Wales to the English south
coast; these workings could still be witnessed in the following year (1963) but
no later - it was all soon to end.
By 1963, stations in the area were being 'omitted' from fare's promotions - a
sure sign that the powers-that-be had lost interest. March 1963 will go down as
the date that sealed the fate of our local railways - the publication in that
month of the 'Beeching Report' (strictly ... " The reshaping of British
Railways ", whose lead author was BR Chairman, Dr. Richard Beeching. );
the report recommended the closure of the lines between Lymington Junction
& Hamworthy Junction (part of the original Southampton & Dorchester
Railway main line), the entire Salisbury & Dorset Junction Railway (through
West Moors) and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (which meant everything
north of Holes Bay junction). Despite much opposition to some of these
closures, particularly the last (SDJtRly), the result was never in doubt.
.. latter 1963/winter-spring 1964: Services in the last 8 or 9 months of
the lines running through West Moors were basic 'local' workings: on the old
main line, around seven trains each way between Brockenhurst & Bournemouth
(W), with some short-workings to Wimborne. Curiously, there was also a single
journey from Weymouth to Eastleigh - with other similar workings which
presumably helped to maintain the feed of post along the line until the Post
Office could make alternative arrangements. On the Salisbury line, either 5 or
6 workings (passenger), plus a limited pick-up goods, and the early-hours
'paper' train which divided at Salisbury, reaching West Moors around 4am.
In addition to a general running-down of the service, tractive-power was
problematic. Ever since the decision to abandon steam traction had been taken a
few years before, maintenance of locomotives had become very poor and it was
not easy to find usable push/pull sets to work the line - and often they
reverted (as on the Salisbury line) to 'standard' configuration.
.. 1964 (2nd May - Saturday / actual; 4th May - Monday / nominal): all
passenger traffic ceased. Line to Salisbury closed completely; limited goods
traffic on Ringwood-Wimborne route.
.. 1965 (20th September): all goods traffic ceased - but fuel trains
continued to run into the MoD fuel depot (until 1974).
.. 1967 (8th January): Section of line Wimborne to Ringwood (through
West Moors) re-set for single-line working, and the track lifted over the
coming months.
.. 1967 (7th August): line between West Moors and Ringwood
closed/abandoned and subsequently lifted.
.. 1970 (18th August): Box (effectively a ground frame) closed -
presumably the residual fuel train movements were worked as a 'long siding'
from Wimborne.
.. 1974 (1st June): last 'special' / enthusiasts train worked over the
single line to West Moors.
.. 1974 (14th October): Wimborne to West Moors (military siding) closed
/ abandoned, and subsequently lifted.
.. ~1977/1978: Station building demolished.