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Historic station name changes

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Springs Branch

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Is Parbold Station anywhere near Parbold?
Yes - in the middle of the village
I read somewhere that when the railway first opened, Parbold was quite an insignificant place and the biggest local settlement was Newburgh, hence the original station name.

As middle-class commuters began to build and live close to the railway station, Parbold became the bigger and more dominant of the two. Hence the name iterations: Newburgh → N for P → P for N → Parbold.
 
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krus_aragon

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A number of Welsh stations have had their spellings altered (corrected some would say). Memorably it is said that Dolgellau once featured three different versions on different nameboards shortly before closure.

But have any actually lost their English versions in favour of the Welsh form (by which I mean a different name, rather than a spelling change)?
Barmouth Junction (now Morfa Mawddach) is the stand-out example that comes to mind. When the line to Dolgellau closed it was no longer a Junction, and Barmouth station already existed on the other side of the bridge, so a renaming was certainly on the cards.

If you want to dig really far back in time, I seem to recall that early Taff Vale Railway timetables initially described Pontypridd as Newbridge.
 

nw1

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Coulsdon North and South were previously Coulsdon West and East following the Grouping (but only for 22 days). That must be some of the shortest periods for re-naming. Prior to that they had other names. Coulsdon North was originally Stoats Nest and Cane Hill - which sounds a lot more interesting .

Cue classic 80s-style recorded station announcement had it still been called that in the early 80s just before closure:

"The train at Platform 5 is for Stoats Nest and Cane Hill. Calling at: Battersea Park, Clapham Junction, ...., South Croydon, Purley, and STOATS NEST AND CANE HILL".
(Sorry if such trains never left Platform 5 at Victoria, I'm not that up on the platform numbering...)
 

Ken H

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Was that linked to the station being promoted for InterCity services? I recall a lot of the emerging CrossCountry services from Scotland stopping there in the 1980s, as well as Euston Wolverhampton services.
Local authority funding. The name reflects the funding, not the location.
 

Ken H

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Was giggleswick called settle until they built the settle-carlisle line? Or urban myth?
 

delt1c

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How about Edinburgh Waverley, now just Edinburgh. This was always locally as Waverley and Princess Street ( before closure ) was The Caley.
like wise ( going a bit of topic ) the Hotel at Waverley will always be known as The North British
 

Calthrop

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If you want to dig really far back in time, I seem to recall that early Taff Vale Railway timetables initially described Pontypridd as Newbridge.

There was in that general part of the world -- some way eastward -- a Newbridge station which, I think, lasted longer under that name: on the GWR route north-westward out of Newport, to Ebbw Vale and Nantyglo. Reason would seem to suggest that Pontypridd's alias as above, referred to a different community named -- in reality or putatively -- Newbridge; or was that in fact not so?

Cue classic 80s-style recorded station announcement had it still been called that in the early 80s just before closure:

"The train at Platform 5 is for ... STOATS NEST AND CANE HILL"

Busy little stoats :smile: ...
 

Lloyds siding

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Marsh Lane and Strand Road reflected that there were entrances to the platforms at one end form Marsh Lane, and from the other end of the platforms, from Strand Road.
Renamed Bootle New Strand in 1968 when the adjacent New Strand Shopping Centre opened. (Entrance now on Washington Parade after a rebuild.)
 

SargeNpton

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Regarding Sandwell & Dudley, it briefly carried the "Parkway" suffix. As is common, Parkway stations tend to be away from the settlements they purport to serve.

Not mentioned yet, as far as I can tell, is Watlington. Originally opened as Magdalen Road.
 

Calthrop

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Not mentioned yet, as far as I can tell, is Watlington. Originally opened as Magdalen Road.

Dons "annoying pedant" hat: this station in fact -- when opened, with the main line into King's Lynn, in 1847 -- began its life with the name Watlington; was renamed Magdalen Road in 1875 (after the village of Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen, fairly close by, but further away than Watlington) to avoid confusion with Watlington in Oxfordshire, to which the branch from Princes Risborough, had opened. With the Oxfordshire branch having lost its passenger service in 1957, the confusion-potential was removed; and in time, the Norfolk station went back to the name of Watlington.
 

YorksLad12

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Was giggleswick called settle until they built the settle-carlisle line? Or urban myth?
Giggleswick opened as Settle on 1 August 1849. It was renamed Settle Old on 1 May 1876, the same day that Settle New (now just Settle) opened. It was renamed Giggleswick on 1 November 1877, the same day that Settle Junction closed (that station was only open for around 13 months). Settle New became Settle on 1 July 1879.

All assuming that the Internet is correct, of course... ;)
 

Tomos y Tanc

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If you want to dig really far back in time, I seem to recall that early Taff Vale Railway timetables initially described Pontypridd as Newbridge.
And Abercynon was Navigation Road.

There was in that general part of the world -- some way eastward -- a Newbridge station which, I think, lasted longer under that name: on the GWR route north-westward out of Newport, to Ebbw Vale and Nantyglo. Reason would seem to suggest that Pontypridd's alias as above, referred to a different community named -- in reality or putatively -- Newbridge; or was that in fact not so?



Busy little stoats :smile: ...
Pontypridd was known as Newbridge or Newbridge-on-Taff for a brief period. The English name was dropped precisely because of confusion with the other Newbridge (Trecelyn in Welsh)
 

Ken H

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Thanks
Giggleswick opened as Settle on 1 August 1849. It was renamed Settle Old on 1 May 1876, the same day that Settle New (now just Settle) opened. It was renamed Giggleswick on 1 November 1877, the same day that Settle Junction closed (that station was only open for around 13 months). Settle New became Settle on 1 July 1879.

All assuming that the Internet is correct, of course... ;)
 

Lloyds siding

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A number of Welsh stations have had their spellings altered (corrected some would say). Memorably it is said that Dolgellau once featured three different versions on different nameboards shortly before closure.

But have any actually lost their English versions in favour of the Welsh form (by which I mean a different name, rather than a spelling change)?
Caergwrle opened as Bridge End in 1872, the became Caergwrle Castle in 1898, later becoming Caergwrle Castle and Wells, becoming Caergwrle in the 1970s.

However, the next station along the line: Hope opened in 1866 as Caergwrle! It then became Hope Village in 1899 and finally Hope in 1974.
Just to confuse the issue, there was then another station (now closed) further along the line called Hope Junction which opened in 1867, then the railway company (the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway) opened a new station in 1877 only 25 chains to the south which they called Hope Junction (and this time it really was at the junction between the WM&CQR) and the LNWR); the existing Hope Junction was then renamed Hope (WM&CQR) before being renamed Hope Exchange (even though there was already a Hope Exchange on the LNWR) but it was indeed an exchange for passengers between the two lines. In 1953 the original Hope Junction was renamed Hope High Level.
Meanwhile the LNWR station opened as Hope Passenger Exchange in 1867 and then became Hope Exchange, and finally Hope Low Level in 1953. It closed in 1958.

The Hope Junction station that opened in 1877 became Penyffordd for Hope later in 1877, then Penyffordd for Leeswood, and finally becoming the existing Penyffordd in 1974.


However the LNWR railway to Mold predated all of these and had a station in Penyffordd called Hope (of course!), which opened in 1849, it became Hope and Penyffordd in 1912, then closed in 1962.
 
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Calthrop

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Pontypridd was known as Newbridge or Newbridge-on-Taff for a brief period. The English name was dropped precisely because of confusion with the other Newbridge (Trecelyn in Welsh)

Thank you -- this is interesting. And there was also, of course, Newbridge-on-Wye on the Cambrian's Mid-Wales line; and in Ireland we have Newbridge, Co. Kildare: on the Dublin -- Cork main line, station still open today.

I hope I've managed to understand this!:D

And the local saying, so I gather: "It is better to live in Hope than to die in Caergwrle".
 

SargeNpton

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Dons "annoying pedant" hat: this station in fact -- when opened, with the main line into King's Lynn, in 1847 -- began its life with the name Watlington; was renamed Magdalen Road in 1875 (after the village of Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen, fairly close by, but further away than Watlington) to avoid confusion with Watlington in Oxfordshire, to which the branch from Princes Risborough, had opened. With the Oxfordshire branch having lost its passenger service in 1957, the confusion-potential was removed; and in time, the Norfolk station went back to the name of Watlington.
I must admit that I was looking at the 1975 re-opening of Magdalen Road rather than it's previous history up to the closure in 1968.
 

krus_aragon

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And the local saying, so I gather: "It is better to live in Hope than to die in Caergwrle".
I'm not local to the area, but the version I've heard is " ... than to die in Cefn-y-bedd" instead (which translates literally to "back-of-the-grave").
 

Calthrop

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I'm not local to the area, but the version I've heard is " ... than to die in Cefn-y-bedd" instead (which translates literally to "back-of-the-grave").

That sounds "more like it" -- my Caergwrle version, was from essentially "Saxon" family members. My parents were English: mother born, and grew up in, Chester; father, of English (west Cheshire) stock; but around decade of 1910s, his parents and family moved to Pen-y-Ffordd, a little way across the border. Seemingly, they got along fine with their Welsh neighbours; but one figures that they wouldn't have got all the subtleties that there, locally, were.
 
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24Grange

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Exeter General - could it have been for a film or advert? That would explain why it didn't appear in timetables and notices as well as possibly only affecting a few signs that would be on camera ( the rest untouched) that would only be visible on tight camera angles etc?

Fenition/Sidmouth Junction seems to have changed names a few times, as did Plymouth North Road, to just Plymouth when Friary closed. Did Tavistock North revert to just Tavistock in the short time between when Tavistock South closed and its self closed in 1968?
 

Strathclyder

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A few from Strathclyde:

Lambhill - situated on the Maryhill Line and opened in December 1993 - became Gilshochill in May 1998, presumably to better reflect the area it serves.

A few stations on the Glasgow Subway were renamed as part of the 1977-80 refurbishment project. These were:

  • Copland Road became Ibrox
  • Partick Cross became Kelvinhall
  • Govan Cross simply became Govan

Am not counting Merkland Street/Partick here for obvious reasons. For those not in the know, Merkland Street was replaced by a new-build station 25 meters (or roughly 82 feet) to the north-east, this simply being called Partick. This was done to enable a direct link with the heavy rail suburban network at erm, well... Partick (itself a replacement for Partickhill and part of the wider Argyle Line project).
 

Monarch010

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How many stations have lost the suffix "Junction"?
I can think of two, Waterloo Junction became Waterloo East and Lewisham just dropped Junction.
 

davetheguard

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How many stations have lost the suffix "Junction"?
I can think of two, Waterloo Junction became Waterloo East and Lewisham just dropped Junction.

I think Didcot -later renamed Didcot Parkway- was known as Didcot Junction in the very early days of railways; the town didn't exist, it was just a village of 200 or so people, and the station was opened purely to allow interchange with the line to Oxford.
 

Helvellyn

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'Road' is another suffix that has been mentioned as either removed, or leading to renamings. One interesting one is Micheldever, originally opened as Andover Road but renamed after the village it is approximately 2.5 miles from. However, after the station opened a small village developed around the station and this village is... Micheldever Station!

Have any other villages (or suburbs) gained their name from a railway station?
 

Ianigsy

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How many stations have lost the suffix "Junction"?
I can think of two, Waterloo Junction became Waterloo East and Lewisham just dropped Junction.
Barnstaple - Barnstaple Town was the next station heading towards Ilfracombe.
 

steamybrian

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How many stations have lost the suffix "Junction"?
I can think of two, Waterloo Junction became Waterloo East and Lewisham just dropped Junction.
Tooting was Tooting Junction
Aldrington was originally Dyke Junction Halt
Staines Central was Staines Junction
Purley was Caterham Junction
Redhill was Redhill Junction
Swanley Junction station closed in 1939 replaced with resited present Swanley station
Tonbridge was Tonbridge Junction
Wivelsfield was Keymer Junction
 
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