Coordinates: 50°42′53″N 4°01′55″W / 50.7148°N 4.0320°W / 50.7148; -4.0320

Meldon Viaduct railway station

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Meldon Quarry
Station on heritage railway
The cycle track over the viaduct and station site
General information
LocationMeldon, West Devon
England
Coordinates50°42′53″N 4°01′55″W / 50.7148°N 4.0320°W / 50.7148; -4.0320
Grid referenceSX566926
Managed byDartmoor Railway
Platforms1
Key dates
1890[1][2]Opened
1968Closed by British Rail
2000New station opened by the Dartmoor Railway
2008Dartmoor Railway services temporarily withdrawn during change of ownership
2009Dartmoor Railway services reintroduced
29 September 2019last train ran

Meldon Viaduct railway station was a railway station at Meldon in Devon. It was renamed in 2015 from Meldon Quarry railway station.[3]

History

The station was originally constructed circa 1890 as Meldon Quarry Halt by the London and South Western Railway. This station had no public access and merely functioned as a staff halt for quarry workers, their families and other railway staff working at Meldon Quarry. The quarry originally had no metalled road access and some quarry workers and their families lived in cottages situated near the quarry. They used the halt for access to Okehampton. The halt was not shown in the public railway timetable and local passenger services would only call by special arrangement. A workmen's service from Okehampton also operated using a passenger coach attached to one of the ballast trains. The platforms of the halt were constructed using standard components manufactured at the Railway's own Concrete Works at Exmouth Junction. The platforms were very narrow and short, about the length of a single passenger coach. They were situated at the immediate east end of Meldon Viaduct, between the viaduct and Meldon Quarry signal box.[4]

The Beeching Report in 1963 recommended that the Exeter to Plymouth Line be cut back to Okehampton; and when services ceased between there and Bere Alston in 1968, the Halt became disused. Some time later both platforms were demolished during modifications to the rail layout and access at the western end of Meldon Quarry.

Bow, North Tawton, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton lost their passenger services from 1972. But freight traffic continued on the line thanks to the activities of the British Rail ballast quarry at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The quarry is now owned by Aggregate Industries. The quarry is currently out of use and 'mothballed'.

Lego Meldon is going to be in Torquay work starts in 2024 and it will take us a few years

References

  1. ^ Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick page 310
  2. ^ Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations by G.Croughton
  3. ^ "News Section - Dartmoor Railway Association, Okehampton, Devon".
  4. ^ Nicholas, John & Reeve, George (2001) The Okehampton Line. Clophill: Irwell Press ISBN 1-903266-13-0

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meldon Viaduct railway station.
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