Disused Stations: Marchwood Station

[Source: Nick Catford & Darren Kitson]

Marchwood Station Gallery 3: 18 April 1978 - 1978

Marchwood station from the forecourt on 18 April 1978. The scene is somewhat desolate but, ironically, Marchwood was not as desolate and decrepit as many other still-open stations were at this time, especially those demoted to 'unstaffed halt' status when train services had been converted to conductor-guard operation. The two Southern Railway concrete huts had replaced the grounded van body and would have been relocated from elsewhere. The British Rail yellow van was once a very familiar sight across the country and British Rail ran a huge fleet of small car-derived vans such as that seen here. Many were Bedford HA, based upon the Vauxhall Viva HA saloon car, but a wide range of makes was purchased. The HA van was instantly recognisable by its distinctive waistband which continued across the rear doors. The vehicle seen here at Marchwood, TGW 583M, would appear to be a Morris Marina van, based upon the car of that name. The industrial buildings seen in a number of earlier pictures in the goods yard have been demolished.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

Marchwood on 23 April 1978 with one of the British Young Travellers’ Society 'Fawley Flyer' shuttles passing through, apparently heading for Fawley on this occasion. The line had been freight-only for many years, but Fawley station had still been BR property. The DEMUs on this date were the last specials advertised to reach the old station; after this date boundary changes saw the refinery area change, and it was no longer possible to reach the station which was then inside the Esso complex. There were two shuttles in total; scheduled times were 10.45-11.45 and 12.10 -13.19.

Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

Marchwood on 23 April 1978 with one of the British Young Travellers’ Society 'Fawley Flyer' shuttles passing through on its way to Totton.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

Marchwood on 23 April 1978 with one of the British Young Travellers’ Society 'Fawley Flyer' shuttles passing through on its way to Totton. This view shows the rear of DEMU No.1128 with the black triangle telling us that this is the driving motor car. The train would have been signalled through the station by the right hand signal on the gantry. It has already been reset to the 'On' (stop) position. The signalman would be very 'on the ball' as it would be necessary to reset the signal in order to release the level crossing interlock, after which the signalman would walk from his box to open the gates. A number of pedestrians, some of whom are probably just there to watch the train pass, wait patiently as does 'white van man' in his Ford Transit Mk1 panel van.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

On 23 April 1978 one of the British Young Travellers’ Society 'Fawley Flyer' shuttles enlivens the scene at Marchwood. It would appear that this particular shuttle stopped at Marchwood; some apparently did not, if the token exchange clearly undertaken on the move as seen in other views is anything to go by.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

On 23 April 1978 with one of the British Young Travellers’ Society 'Fawley Flyer' shuttles exchanging single line tokens at Marchwood en route for Totton. Visible here is the cooler group side of the power car of DEMU 1131. The double doors are the brake compartment. On the right and beyond the level crossing can just be seen the trap siding on the main line, opposite which, but out of view here, was another on the goods loop and both with points facing in the up direction.

Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

On 23 April 1978 one of the British Young Travellers’ Society 'Fawley Flyer' shuttles passes over Marchwood level crossing, but the direction is unclear. The cars parked by the station were no doubt there in connection with the shuttle trains. One of the cars, that parked to the left opposite the station building, appears to be a Wolseley 18/85. This was a semi-poshed-up version of the Austin 1800.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

A quiet moment at Marchwood on an otherwise brisk 23 April 1978, the day of the 'Fawley Flyer' shuttle trains. The view is looking towards Totton. The track ballast on the left appears quite oily, no doubt owing to locomotives moving slowly at this point to effect the token exchange. This view clearly shows the shortening of the platform and the site of the now-demolished industrial buildings that appeared in the goods yard after closure in 1967.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

Marchwood level crossing and signals on 23 April 1978. The modern girder-construction signal gantry, left, is in complete contrast to the LSWR pattern dollies and finials mounted upon it. The signals beyond the crossing are of the same type but mounted on a Southern Railway gantry. As can be seen, the level crossing has four gates and each is operated independently. It is quite a task for the signalman who has to leave his box, operate the gates, return to his box, operate the signals and, if necessary, the points, then reverse the procedure once a train has passed. Much of what is involved can be seen here. Following cessation of the Fawley Esso trains in September 2016, quite what will happen at Marchwood is unclear at the time of writing.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

Marchwood station building, platform side, on 23 April 1978. Switch boxes further along the platform and red 'No Smoking' sign excepted, the station is still very much Southern Railway. The 'No Smoking' sign was absent at one point and had possibly been relocated from a side door adjacent to the concrete huts which are out of view to the left. This photograph offers a reasonably close-up view of one of the rather nice hexagonal lamp shades. The lamps themselves appear to have been twin bulb types. The origin of the signal box is a little unclear. The exposed brickwork is out of keeping with the rest of the station and was probably added when the original gate box was upgraded to a signal box on 28 November 1943. The small building on the left is the lamp room.

Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

Marchwood station looking from the level crossing towards Fawley on 23 April 1978.
Photo by Ian Nolan from his Flickr photostream

A scene typical of any rural railway station in the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries with luggage and flowers waiting to be loaded onto a train but is it genuine? Giveaways are the concrete structures, the electric lighting and the flat bottom rails. The scene in fact dates from 1978 and is from the Southern Television adaption of the 1948 Enid Blyton novel 'Five Go Off to Camp', one of the 'Famous Five' children's adventure series. The 'five' actually comprised four children and a dog. The plot revolved around mysterious ghost trains supposedly seen operating on a stretch of disused railway through remote moorland and which transpired to be a train used by smugglers which, between smuggling duties, was hidden inside a tunnel.

Click here for Marchwood Station Gallery 4:
5 November 1988 - 1 September 2016 .