Hampton Loade railway station

Hampton Loade
265px Shrewsbury - Worcester train entering the station in 1951
Location
Place	Hampton
Area	Shropshire
Grid reference	SO744862
Operations
Managed by	Severn Valley Railway
Platforms	2
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
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File:SVR-Hampton Loade Station 01.jpg

Down platform looking towards Bridgnorth

File:Hampton Loade Up Platform.JPG

Up Platform

File:Hampton Loade Running in Board.JPG

Up Platform Running-in Board

Hampton Loade railway station is a station on the Severn Valley Railway heritage line, close to the hamlet of Hampton on the western bank of the River Severn; Hampton Loade itself is on the eastern bank, and may be reached by the Hampton Loade Ferry across the river.

History

Hampton Loade station was opened in 1862. It was originally built with one platform and siding; a passing-loop and second platform being added in 1883. There was also a weighbridge located on the river side of the site at one point. The station is actually on the west side of the River Severn in the hamlet of Hampton but was renamed shortly after opening after Hampton Loade, the larger hamlet on the eastern side of the river. Due to the presence of Hampton Loade station in Hampton most residents now refer to their hamlet as Hampton Loade. Most of the local passenger traffic came from the eastern side of the river using the current operated foot ferry to get to the station. The station was always popular with anglers due to the easy access to the river.

Although closed by British Rail during the implementation of the Beeching Axe in 1963, plans for its closure had already been made before Beeching's report was published. Following closure all signalling equipment was removed from Hampton Loade, and the signal box was almost completely demolished after purchase from BR by the residents of Station House for use as a chicken coop.

Preservation

From 1970 to 1974, Hampton Loade was the southern terminus of the SVR, just 4½ miles from Bridgnorth. Although at the time the SVR was said to go from "somewhere" to "nowhere" the terminus was a quaint and peaceful place to end services.

When preservationists first arrived at Hampton Loade from Bridgnorth, signalling was reinstated as a priority during the early days, mainly using equipment from the closed Stourport-on-Severn station. A legacy of Hampton Loade's former guise as the SVR's southern terminus is the now rarely used down starting signal No. 13 at the north end of the up loop. The platforms at Hampton Loade can only accommodate around four coaches at a time, this or less being the norm in GWR and BR days. As the SVR's trains are longer than this plans have been mooted to extend the platforms.

The current Station Master is Steve Dockerty and his Assistant Station Master is Lee Whittaker. Retired railwayman Fred Hughes is Chief Booking Clerk. The station is operated entirely by a volunteer workforce.

There are several rare and unique items of rolling stock in the sidings at Hampton Loade, one is the oldest carriage on the line, the ex-GWR Churchward third coach 2426 built at Swindon in 1910 and converted to a camp coach in 1957, it ended its days in departmental use. The coach is presently being used for staff accommodation but the long term aim is to restore 2426 to its original condition. During 2014 a station volunteer at Hampton Loade has replaced many panels and rotten wood on the exterior of the coach giving it a much needed cosmetic overhaul.

Next to 2426 is British Railways built no. 3467; a 'fruit D' goods van designed by the GWR and built at Swindon in 1955. It is owned by the Hampton Loade Station Fund and is in use as the station fund shop, known on the SVR as a 'treasure trove' for railwayana and books. It is currently painted in GWR freight grey and lettered with the words 'return to Helston'. It later had a number of W3467W and was preserved in 1973.

The station takes part in the annual SVR's 1940s weekends, held over a week with two weekends in June/July. The weekends are a light-hearted look back at the 1940s and also underline the important part Britain's railways played in the Second World War. For this event the station has a 'Dig for Victory' allotment, Bren gun, an ARP warden's post, unexploded bombs, R.T.O. Office and several period vehicles along with a standard 'blast tape and sandbags' appearance.

Since being reopened in SVR preservation the station has also become home to several relocated corrugated huts of typical GWR design. These being a lamp room from Cleobury Mortimer, a larger hut from Bearley and another from Kingham. All are painted in the GWR Stone colours. Also on the down platform is a larger hut original to the station, being installed by the GWR at sometime in the 1920s.

Signalling

Hampton Loade signal box controls three points, two distant signals, three starter signals, three home signals, and a set of catch points with related "Dummy" signal. Two of the points are located at either end of the station, controlling the exits to the loop, the third set of points controls the entrance to the siding, and are protected by the "Dummy" signal and its catch points. There are starter signals on the end of the down and up platforms, as well as an extra starter signal on the Brignorth end of the up platform which permits down trains starting at Hampton Loade to be despatched from the up platform. The home signals are located just before the loop entrance points that they protect, in the up direction a bracket carries two homes controlling entrance to the loop and main line, in the down direction a single home controls entry to the main line. In both directions working distant signals protect the homes.

The Paddock Garden Railway

The station is also the home of the 32mm Paddock Garden railway, which celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2013.

Barry Railway Coach No163

Hampton Loade remains the home of Barry Railway coach 163 undergoing restoration for over two decades. An 1895 6-wheel, 5 compartment first and second class composite built at Ashburys in Manchester, it was scrapped at Swindon on Saturday 24 November 1928, (at that time the Great Western Railway would write off its account assets on Saturdays). The body went to the Clent Hills near Birmingham becoming a holiday home, where it remained until 1992. Re-wheeled onto a 4-wheel ex-Southern Railway Van C underframe on 16 August 2003 some 75 years after being scrapped, it has been in the final stages of restoration back to its opulent Barry Railway condition for several years.

File:Hampton Loade Down Platform.JPG

Down platform looking towards Highley

Film and television

The station has been used as the filming location for many films and TV programmes, including The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, Mad Dogs, a 1970s serial and The ChuckleVision episode Oh Brother.

External links

• Visitor Guide to SVR Hampton Loade
• Panoramamic view of the station
• Severn Valley Railway Official Site
• Hampton Loade Ferry Site
• Aerial view of the Station

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Bridgnorth		Severn Valley Railway		Country Park Halt
	Historical railways
Eardington Halt Line open, station closed		West Midland Railway (Severn Valley Line) Great Western Railway		Alveley Halt Line open, station closed