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Station name suffix

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Highlandspring

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The station name that always raised a smile with me was Fairlie High so named to distinguish itself from the Harbour station, it was for a while Fairlie Town and has dropped the suffix altogether. It was not the only "high", the other being at Falkirk, and there was also an "Upper" and "Lower" at Whifflet, and to access the Lower station the passenger had to enter the Upper station, walk the length of the platform then descend one of two flights of stairs to access the Lower Platforms
There was also Neilston High (the current Neilston, suffix dropped in 1974) and Neilston Low (on the Barrhead line).
 
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On the Tyne and Wear Metro West Jesmond is north of Jesmond. Moving up the line South Gosforth is the only station for Gosforth but it's north-east of where most people would consider the centre of Gosforth to be. I believe the reason is that the centres of both communities have migrated over time, in part at least due to the building of the stations! (as heavy rail, not the Metro conversion).

Regent Centre and Wansbeck Road are also in Gosforth (and possibly Fawdon, formerly named Coxlodge). Regent Centre is as close to Gosforth's retail centre as South Go's.
 

341o2

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I had to use Google to find out that it is now Ashurst New Forest.

Owes its location due to landowners in the New forest being hostile to the railway. Note how it turns south, then almost slightly east before regaining its intended course at Woodfidley

Seaton Junction and Halwill Junction gained their names following the coming of the railway, while at Plymouth there was Ford (Devon) Devonport (Kings Road) to distinguish it from Devonport (GWR), St Budeux Ferry Rd and Victoria Rd, while what is now Plymouth was Plymouth (North Rd)
 

Requeststop

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Upper Tyndrum and Tyndrum Lower has always amused me. The positioning of the descriptors always makes me smile.

I imagine staff calling out the name "Upper" Tyndrum brightly and cheerfully and "Lower" Tyndrum with a degree of gloominess and dread.
 

kevjs

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I stand to be corrected bur wasn’t it only the GWR who used road in that context... Bodmin Road, Grampound Road, Gwinear Road, Wantage Road, Cemmaes Road etc."? Other railways named roads to signify the location of a station within a town, ie London Road in Brighton, Nottingham Road in Derby, Mauldeth Road in Manchester (is there such a place as Mauldeth?) and Wandsworth Road, Edgware Road etc in London, although admittedly these roads had generally previously been named after the places that they ultimately led to.
Nottingham London Road Low Level and Nottingham London Road High Level at the edge of the city and somewhat distance from London!
 

swt_passenger

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Regent Centre and Wansbeck Road are also in Gosforth (and possibly Fawdon, formerly named Coxlodge). Regent Centre is as close to Gosforth's retail centre as South Go's.
I often go back to NLS old maps for this sort of question. Before the Ponteland branch ever opened, the whole rural area including Gosforth village centre is referred to on maps as South Gosforth, with North Gosforth extending out well past the racecourse, but the Disused Stations website reckons the station was known as simply “Gosforth”. So it is possible the name was prefixed South when West Gosforth opened? But then it could still be considered reasonable for the wider surrounding area. The future Regent Centre station was named West Gosforth but Wansbeck Road was new with the Metro.

I never thought West Jesmond was that out of place, it is after all on the western edge of the overall area known as Jesmond, which extends well to the east, if anything it is Jesmond that should probably have a “South” prefix, or perhaps it should have been Sandyford in the first place...
 

eastdyke

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Perhaps Hull Paragon was meant to be Polygon?
I always thought that it was so named as being the best thing that had ever happened in Hull?

Have never heard of another 'Paragon' station apart from the one in Salt Lake City, but that has no railway, it's just a condo complex.
 

swt_passenger

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I always thought that it was so named as being the best thing that had ever happened in Hull?
Named after the pre-existing Paragon St, which was runs east-west outside the station, various websites reckon the street was so named in 1802. Opened as Hull Paragon St. There was also a Paragon Hotel in the vicinity.
 

eastdyke

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:)
'Paragon' is quite unusual as a street name too. Can only find 4 in the country: Hull, York, Bishop Auckland and Ramsgate! There might of course be others ....
 

edwin_m

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Upper Tyndrum and Tyndrum Lower has always amused me. The positioning of the descriptors always makes me smile.

I imagine staff calling out the name "Upper" Tyndrum brightly and cheerfully and "Lower" Tyndrum with a degree of gloominess and dread.
Wasn't it "Tyndrum Upper" until it was reversed to reduce the risk of confusion when referring to it over the RETB radio?

Nottingham London Road Low Level and Nottingham London Road High Level at the edge of the city and somewhat distance from London!
But next to a road called London Road, as with the station of the same name in Guildford and the former one of the same name in Manchester (now Piccadilly). This is another form of station naming - named after a local street which in turn is named after a distance place - Oxford Road in Manchester is another one.

But confusingly Brighton has a station called London Road but as far as I can see there isn't a road of that name, and it isn't even on the railway to London!

I never thought West Jesmond was that out of place, it is after all on the western edge of the overall area known as Jesmond, which extends well to the east, if anything it is Jesmond that should probably have a “South” prefix, or perhaps it should have been Sandyford in the first place...
Wikipedia does indeed suggest that Jesmond originated near the Dene, and Jesmond station would have been the nearest to that. Jesmond parish church is close to Jesmond station, but post-dates it and Wikipedia implies it was located close to the city centre for theological rather than geographical reasons.
 
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Lucan

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:)
'Paragon' is quite unusual as a street name too. Can only find 4 in the country: Hull, York, Bishop Auckland and Ramsgate! There might of course be others ....
There is one in Clifton, Bristol (simply called "The Paragon"), off the west end of the Royal York Crescent, high above the Clifton Gorge. It is a cul-de-Sac terrace in the Bristol Regency style, with wrought iron verandas, turret front doors, small private park in front, terraced gardens behind. It is one of the choicest residential locations in Bristol, or any city : expect to pay ~£2 million for one :s
 
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Wikipedia does indeed suggest that Jesmond originated near the Dene, and Jesmond station would have been the nearest to that. Jesmond parish church is close to Jesmond station, but post-dates it and Wikipedia implies it was located close to the city centre for theological rather than geographical reasons.

Jesmond station opened in advance of the development of most of modern Jesmond (1840s onwards). West Jesmond should rationally be called Jesmond Central, and Jesmond 'South Jesmond', but the station (West Jesmond) opened largely to serve a newly-built housing estate on the former lands of West Jesmond farm.
 
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I often go back to NLS old maps for this sort of question. Before the Ponteland branch ever opened, the whole rural area including Gosforth village centre is referred to on maps as South Gosforth, with North Gosforth extending out well past the racecourse, but the Disused Stations website reckons the station was known as simply “Gosforth”. So it is possible the name was prefixed South when West Gosforth opened? But then it could still be considered reasonable for the wider surrounding area. The future Regent Centre station was named West Gosforth but Wansbeck Road was new with the Metro.

I never thought West Jesmond was that out of place, it is after all on the western edge of the overall area known as Jesmond, which extends well to the east, if anything it is Jesmond that should probably have a “South” prefix, or perhaps it should have been Sandyford in the first place...

The map naming probably refers to the township name 'South Gosforth', and the original name of th he post 1895 urban district was South Gosforth, changed quickly to plain Gosforth.

The area now called South Gosforth, close to St Nicholas' church, was for most of the C19 known as Gosforth Colliery; what is now the main centre of Gosforth was from its foundation in f2f he 1820s until the late C19 known as Bulman Village.
 

Springs Branch

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I often go back to NLS old maps for this sort of question....
Those National Library of Scotland maps are very handy. In the past I was always perplexed by the old suffix for Great Yarmouth station – Yarmouth Vauxhall, since maps I had to hand seemed to show it's located in the town’s Runham district.

Now with the benefit NLS’s old Ordnance Survey maps and a Google search, I can easily find out that the station is in the 19th Century parish of Runham Vauxhall.
 
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Bedpan

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But confusingly Brighton has a station called London Road but as far as I can see there isn't a road of that name, and it isn't even on the railway to London!
London Road is the main A23 road running north out of Brighton, starting at Old Steine, opposite the Palace Pier. The section where it runs alongside Preston Park - and a bit either side - is however called Preston Road. BUT - 1) I'd say that Brighton Station is as near to or nearer to London Road that London Road Brighton station. 2) London Road station is closest to the section of the A23 which is known as Preston Road (but could this have been renamed since the station was built?) and 3) The viaduct immediately to the west of London Road Station, whichcrosses the A234, is known as Preston Viaduct.
 

swt_passenger

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Those National Library of Scotland maps are very handy.
...especially the 25” to the mile series, when viewed side by side with a modern version, or satellite view. You’ve practically got a national track layout diagram at the turn of the 19th/20th century.
 

d9009alycidon

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The new series that is currently being digitised is even better, it will be the equivalent map scale for the years 1944-1967. Initially covering urban areas of Scotland, it has recently been extended to cover London and Littlehampton to Hastings on the South Coast.
 

DelW

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Micheldever was origonally called Andover Road by the LSWR to signify its location on the Winchester to Andover road. Once the route through Andover was opened it was renamed. However, it's not actually in the village of Micheldever itself and the hamlet that grew up around the station is called Micheldever Station!
Similarly with Ratho Station west of Edinburgh, a quite separate settlement from Ratho which is around a mile to the south and on the other side of the M8 motorway. In one respect it's even more of an oddity than Micheldever Station, since that still has a working station, whereas Ratho Station does not.

Your explanation of Micheldever's origin as Andover Road explains something that puzzled me when I lived near there, that being why the LSWR hadn't built the station much closer to the original village, which it passed within half a mile of. Presumably when the railway reached Andover proper, there was no wish to relocate the station, and there weren't really any closer villages to rename it after.
 

Lucan

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Interesting fact about Micheldever Station is that it was the starting point of the first ever car journey made in the UK (the destination was Windsor). I don't know much about it, but it seems that the car was imported from France (Renault perhaps), put on a flat wagon at Southampton and unloaded at Micheldever Station. I guess the driver wanted to start his journey in a quiet country area rather than in the middle of Southampton.
 

d9009alycidon

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Similarly with Ratho Station west of Edinburgh, a quite separate settlement from Ratho which is around a mile to the south and on the other side of the M8 motorway. In one respect it's even more of an oddity than Micheldever Station, since that still has a working station, whereas Ratho Station does not.

Your explanation of Micheldever's origin as Andover Road explains something that puzzled me when I lived near there, that being why the LSWR hadn't built the station much closer to the original village, which it passed within half a mile of. Presumably when the railway reached Andover proper, there was no wish to relocate the station, and there weren't really any closer villages to rename it after.

The Ratho situation was not unique, and one survives as Carstairs Junction village is separate from Carstairs Village. I have always wondered why Holytown station is so called and not New Stevenson, as this is the village that it is in???
 

Highlandspring

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The Ratho situation was not unique, and one survives as Carstairs Junction village is separate from Carstairs Village. I have always wondered why Holytown station is so called and not New Stevenson, as this is the village that it is in???
Similarly Errol and Errol Station are two seperate settlements, the latter having been without a functioning station since 1985. As for Holytown was it not named after a nearby colliery?
 

Springs Branch

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The Ratho situation was not unique, and one survives as Carstairs Junction village is separate from Carstairs Village......
Rainford is another example.

The small but significant settlement around today's Rainford station is known locally as Rainford Junction (despite the station losing its suffix in 1973) and is marked as such on OS maps. Rainford Junction village is separated by about a mile of fields from the main part of Rainford (which had its own Rainford Village station until 1951).

A past work colleague of mine lived there and always seemed at pains to point out he lived at "The Junction", rather than in Rainford itself. Not sure whether it's supposed to be the posh end of town.
 

Nick Nation

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Not unusual suffixes in themselves, but odd in their application, Canterbury East and Canterbury West, for stations which are almost exactly north and south of each other.

There was a 'South Canterbury' (aka 'Canterbury South') which shut in 1940.

Farningham Road.
 
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How many "A for B" station names are there? I can only think of the recently-introduced 'Alnmouth for Alnwick' - what might in the past have been Alnwick Road had there not already been an Alnwick station.
 
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