Small stations that retained their freight sidings into the 70s-80s

[montyburns56]

I was just looking at some pictures of East Kilbride station in the 80s and I believe that the station sidings were still in use as a coal depot. It got me wondering how many other small stations still retained their public sidings for use for freight unloading (i.e. not for S&T/Departmental storage etc.) well into the 70s/80s.

I know that Clayton West kept it's sidings for the nearby colliery, although that may be stretching my parameters a little bit, but I'm sure there must have been quite a few others?

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Is Purley a small station? Still has a stone terminal.

 

[CarltonA]

I recall helping to unload a baggage van at Oban station sidings in 1976. We had come up from Winchester via Glasgow Central/Queen Street which required an early morning stroll through the city centre. Our stuff had been sent off a day or two earlier.

 

[dk1]

Cantley if you can count the sugar factory. It still had freight right up to 1987.

Eccles Road & Brandon are still served today with aggregates traffic. The latter almost daily.

 

[sharpley]

Melton Mowbray sidings were used by Pedigree Petfoods on their short-lived 'piggyback' freight services.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/piggyback-freight-melton-mowbray.172194/

One of the sidings ran into the factory itself, plus the goods loop just outside the station had a crane for intermodal containers from the factory. All long since disused but were busy in the 80s

 

[AndrewE]

All the railheads for nuclear flask traffic, like Southminster and Bridgwater.

 

[Highlandspring]

Leuchars (MoD), Montrose (lime/fertiliser/tatties/MoD), Errol (tatties/fertiliser), Laurencekirk (lime/tatties/fertiliser/pipes), Inverurie (timber/calcium carbonate), Huntly (timber)

 

[OuterDistant]

Longport?

 

[thenorthern]

Nethertown in Cumbria had sidings for a long time not sure when they were removed.

 

[realaledrinker]

I'll second Longport. many hours spotting there in the '60s. Has had an up and down history since then in a city scandalously neglected by the railways.

 

[MadMac]

I think West Calder was still getting coal into the 80s.

 

[bishdunster]

Is there still sand / M.O.D. traffic from Wool?

 

[class 9]

Menston, on the Leeds - Ilkley line had a short siding serving a coal yard, closed in early to mid 80s.

 

[Greetlander]

Sowerby Bridge still had a few coal sidings into the early 80s. Greetland actually had two oil sidings put in after the station and other sidings closed.

 

[Saperstein]

Hove had coal sidings.

 

[Cowley]

Lapford station. Recently talked about here:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/lapford-station-yard.178017/

But also Whimple (between Exeter and Honiton). It had a great little yard into the 1980s serving Whiteways Cider.
Here’s a photo taken by Roger Winnen in 1979:

 

[341o2]

Barnstaple presumably retained sidings for the Meeth clay trains until their withdrawal in 1982.

Totton still has pw and sidings for the Marchwood branch

 

[Cowley]

Barnstaple presumably retained sidings for the Meeth clay trains until their withdrawal in 1982.

Yes and a bit later for cement, and other things.
Crediton still has a few sidings for PW storage too.

 

[montyburns56]

Is Purley a small station? Still has a stone terminal.

I'd say it was more a medium sized station, but interestingly enough on old maps it says that the goods yard was originally a quarry and not the virtual type either!

 

[montyburns56]

Melton Mowbray sidings were used by Pedigree Petfoods on their short-lived 'piggyback' freight services.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/piggyback-freight-melton-mowbray.172194/

One of the sidings ran into the factory itself, plus the goods loop just outside the station had a crane for intermodal containers from the factory. All long since disused but were busy in the 80s

Thanks, I found a nice picture on Flickr that shows the rather quaint setup at Melton in 1987, although it does look semi abandoned.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jason...RHc-9wSbZH-awmbXB-8PB6mr-QSAdWW-7JUwsS-oEc69Z

 

[montyburns56]

Leuchars (MoD), Montrose (lime/fertiliser/tatties/MoD), Errol (tatties/fertiliser), Laurencekirk (lime/tatties/fertiliser/pipes), Inverurie (timber/calcium carbonate), Huntly (timber)

Wow, there's seem to have been more of them in that part of Scotland than the whole of some other regions.

 

[montyburns56]

Longport?

Thanks, although Longport looks like a goods yard that someone plonked a small station next to!

 

[montyburns56]

Sowerby Bridge still had a few coal sidings into the early 80s.

I'm guessing that's what is shown in this picture?

https://flic.kr/p/7MkPFC

 

[montyburns56]

Lapford station. Recently talked about here:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/lapford-station-yard.178017/

But also Whimple (between Exeter and Honiton). It had a great little yard into the 1980s serving Whiteways Cider.
Here’s a photo taken by Roger Winnen in 1979:
View attachment 66180

Wow, thanks for showing me that thread as Lapford station just screams out to be modelled and it looks like you've listened to the screaming.

And Whimple not only has a good shed, but also a delightful covered loading dock and wickham trolley to complete the scene.

 

[Cowley]

Lostwitheal

Wow, thanks for showing me that thread as Lapford station just screams out to be modelled and it looks like you've listened to the screaming.

And Whimple not only has a good shed, but also a delightful covered loading dock and wickham trolley to complete the scene.

You are a man of impeccable taste Mr Burns!

 

[Carlisle]

Gillingham station, Dorset still had fertiliser trains serving its sidings into the 1990s

 

[Journeyman]

Selsdon had an oil siding that outlived the station. It closed to passenger services in 1983 when the Elmers End to Sanderstead service was withdrawn. The oil siding was attached to the Oxted line, that also passed through the remains of the station, and it was served until sometime in the nineties.

 

[brstd4260]

Earley (Reading - Waterloo line) certainly had the "main" station sidings in place (if not in use) into the 90's. A second siding just off the end of the down platform served a small oil depot. That was in use until the mid, maybe late 80's

 

[sharpley]

Thanks, I found a nice picture on Flickr that shows the rather quaint setup at Melton in 1987, although it does look semi abandoned.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jason...RHc-9wSbZH-awmbXB-8PB6mr-QSAdWW-7JUwsS-oEc69Z

Thanks for that link. From that photo, the sidings were later tarmac'd around to allow lorry trailers to be loaded onto the piggyback wagons. The right hand siding was extended into the factory you can see in the distance. The tarmac'd sidings are now a car park (rails still present though I believe), the siding to the factory is still there but long since disused. Rail freight operations from Melton stopped in the early 90s, I believe now that loaded containers travel by road from the factory to DIRFT for onward rail travel

 

[dgl]

Does Yeovil Pen Mill count, still has sidings although not as small as some stations as it does have three platforms but one and two are either side of the same line.