Station Name: WASSAND

[Source: Mark Dyson]

Date opened: First in timetable in September 1864
Location: Platforms were probably on either side of an unnamed minor road with the station house on the south side.
Company on opening: Hull and Hornsea Railway
Date closed to passengers: 14.9.1953
Date closed completely: 31.10.1960
Company on closing: British Railways (Eastern Region)
Present state: The station house is a private residence.
County: Yorkshire
OS Grid Ref: TA188445
Date of visit: 25.5.1975 & August 1998

Notes: This station served the village of Goxhill, and was a market day only station with only a few trains calling here on market days. Originally the service was Tuesdays only and from 1936 it was Mondays only. Originally named Goxhill, it was renamed to Wassand in 1904 to avoid confusion with Goxhill in North Lincolnshire. Wassand was an early closure on 14.98.1953.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HULL & HORNSEA RAILWAY
A line connecting the Hull-Scarborough branch at Arram to a site near Hornsea Mere had been proposed in 1846/7 by the York and North Midland Railway but never built due to the downfall of chairman George Hudson amidst a financial scandal.

A new line connecting Hull and Hornsea was promoted by Hornsea resident and Hull timber merchant Joseph Armytage Wade, the aim of such a line being to develop Hornsea as a fashionable Victorian seaside resort.

The first sod was turned by Wade on 8.10.1862. Problems were encountered during construction due to the nature of the local soil; there were further issues with poor workmanship and materials used by the contractors. A late change of plan saw the line extended from the proposed terminus at Hornsea Bridge to the seafront; this meant construction of an embankment which required the ground to be piled adding substantially to the already escalating construction costs.

Opened on 28.3.1864, the line ran in a fairly direct North Easterly direction from Hull, the original Hull terminus was Wilmington station, though after 1st June 1864 trains ran via the Victoria Dock branch into Hull's Paragon station. Due to lower than expected receipts and consequent financial difficulties, the Hull and Hornsea Railway merged with the North Eastern Railway on 16.7.1866.

The line was constructed as a single track but was doubled throughout in the early 1900s. Diesel railcars were introduced from 71.1957 and operated local services from that date. Centralised Traffic Control (automated signaling and level crossings) was proposed in the early 1960's, but this was overtaken by the 'Beeching Report'. Closure to passengers came on 19.10.1964, with Goods services to Hornsea Bridge continuing until 3.5.1965.

Today, the trackbed of the railway forms the 'Hornsea Rail Trail', also part of the 'Trans Pennine Trail'- the majority of station buildings still exist and the trackbed is virtually complete throughout.

Further reading 'The Lost Railways of Holderness' by Peter Price (Hutton Press)
ISBN 0 0907033 86 5. Route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see the other stations on the Hull & Hornsea Railway click on the station name: Sutton-on-Hull, Swine, Skirlaugh, Ellerby (1st station),
Ellerby (2nd station), Whitedale, Sigglesthorne, Hornsea Bridge & Hornsea Town

 

Wassand Station in May 1975
Copyright photo from Nigel Mundy collection




Wassand Station house looking towards Hull in August 1998
P
hoto by Mark Dyson


 

 

 

:[Source: Mark Dyson]


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