Trivia:Obsolete stations names

[Mcr Warrior]

Doesn't the ferry to Dieppe go from right next to the station?

Which of the Newhaven stations, just to be clear?

 

[trainmania100]

Doesn't the ferry to Dieppe go from right next to the station?

Yes it does, but no it doesn't. It's completely separated by a tall fence to prevent illegal immigrants.

Access to the ferry port is Newhaven town. 60 second walk.

If you want the ferry, you get off at Newhaven TOWN.
If you want the houses and football pitch you get off at newhaven HARBOUR.

If you want the port and you get off at Newhaven harbour , you can't access it without going back to Newhaven town first either by train or walking because of the anti immigrant fence.

I can't see why they even still need Newhaven harbour station, most peak trains no longer call anyway as of the latest timetable

 

[Haywain]

See also Micheldever Station, Ratho Station, and possibly others.

There are many more of these - one such is Carstairs, around which the village of Carstairs Junction has grown.

Yes it does, but no it doesn't. It's completely separated by a tall fence to prevent illegal immigrants.

Access to the ferry port is Newhaven town. That's why it could do with renaming, easy mistake to make given the ferry berths right beside it

If the station was called Newhaven Ferry, you might have a point, but it's adjacent to the Harbour and the ferry will be a very visible boat when it's there.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@trainmania100. Thanks for clarifying. Can't see the point of renaming 'Newhaven Harbour' to 'Newhaven Marine' which latter name has only fairly recently finally been discontinued following the station's official closure.

 

[Haywain]

If you want the ferry, you get off at Newhaven TOWN.

That may be so, but it's also where you get off if you want the town of Newhaven.

 

[vic-rijrode]

The Midland Railway (and Bradshaw) insisted on "Hemel Hempsted" for the station on the Harpenden to Hemel ("Nickey Line"), whereas the LNWR (and Bradshaw) more correctly referred to Hemel Hempstead - even if they put "Boxmoor and" as a prefix. Berkhamsted has never to my knowledge, been spelt with a "p" or an "a".

 

[DelW]

(After some while.)
When the original Birmingham New Street opened in 1854 it could only sensibly be accessed from New Street through a station approach that was called, err, Station Approach. I suppose that a pedant would say that it should have been called Birmingham Station Approach.
The area next to the station was soon re-developed as Stephenson Place and Stephenson Street, giving a clearer distinction from New Street.

The name "New Street" should itself have long been obsolete when the railway arrived, since that road is thought to date from the fourteenth century (first recorded in 1397 according to Pevsner's Architectural Guide to Birmingham).

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That may be so, but it's also where you get off if you want the town of Newhaven.

So how about:
Newhaven Town ---> Newhaven International
Newhaven Harbour ---> Newhaven South.

 

[Haywain]

So how about:
Newhaven Town ---> Newhaven International
Newhaven Harbour ---> Newhaven South.

How about leaving it as it is?

 

[plugwash]

...although it is in the Network Rail North West & Central region (but then again, so is Wallgate!)

And both Wigan North Western and Wigan Wallgate stations are on Wallgate, with Wigan North Western being south of Wigan Wallgate.

Has to be one of the more confusing pairs of station names out there.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Maybe 'Wigan North Western' could be amended to the slightly more descriptive (if less than snappily-monikered) 'Wigan West Coast Mainline'?

 

[norbitonflyer]

Exactly - so in other words, it was the intended port for Ellesmere.

Shame the original route was never built, other than a short branch... it would have been spectacular.

The part that was built includes the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which is spectacular enough for most!

It's still officially known as St Albans Abbey, though (as are several other former abbey churches).

Such as York Minster (the word is a contraction of monastery)

 

[61653 HTAFC]

How about leaving it as it is?

The main issue with the status-quo is that the station which is best for the ferries has a name which doesn't give any clues... and the one named as if it was ideal for the harbour isn't.

My suggestion was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but renaming Harbour to South would remove the ambiguity.

 

[hermit]

Strome Ferry. There is a well-known road sign pointing to ‘Strome Ferry - no ferry’.

 

[Dr Hoo]

The name "New Street" should itself have long been obsolete when the railway arrived, since that road is thought to date from the fourteenth century (first recorded in 1397 according to Pevsner's Architectural Guide to Birmingham).

Sorry, but Pevsner was well behind the pace. The 17th Century historian, William Dugdale (arguably the 'Father of Mediaeval History') had noted that William Fitz-Ansculf ruled the Birmingham area from his seat in Dudley Castle.

The Novus Vicus - essentially 'New Street' in Latin - probably dates back to the late 11th or early 12th Century. It was built to connect the original settlement of Bermingham, around the marshes of the River Rea, with Dudley. The oldest bit of current Brum takes its name of 'Digbeth' from the 'Duck's Path' through the swamp.

So New Street is certainly getting a bit long in the tooth after over 900 years. I suppose that re-naming it Old Street would risk confusion with the eponymous station on the Northern City Line to Moorgate.

 

[frodshamfella]

Bexleyheath....no heath

Rockferry...don'e know if it means there was a "ferry" once.

 

[PeterC]

Whittlesey’s railway station also still uses the older spelling Whittlsea.

That one was a trap when I worked as a magazine editor. There was a small festival there and I always had to go back to the press release to check.

The Midland Railway (and Bradshaw) insisted on "Hemel Hempsted" for the station on the Harpenden to Hemel ("Nickey Line"), whereas the LNWR (and Bradshaw) more correctly referred to Hemel Hempstead - even if they put "Boxmoor and" as a prefix. Berkhamsted has never to my knowledge, been spelt with a "p" or an "a".

The station was originally just Boxmoor and didn't get Hemel added to the name until 1912.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Rockferry...don'e know if it means there was a "ferry" once.

If we are talking about the 'Rock Ferry' area near Birkenhead, there was a ferry operating there for several centuries, until 1939, just before WW2. The disused ferry landing stage went in 1957 apparently.

So, whilst there's no longer a ferry, the locality is still known as 'Rock Ferry', so seems entirely reasonable to me to continue to name the Merseyrail Wirral line railway station as is.

 

[vic-rijrode]

The station was originally just Boxmoor and didn't get Hemel added to the name until 1912.

Yes, although my Bradshaw's from the mid 1880s always refer to it as Boxmoor for Hemel Hempstead.

 

[frodshamfella]

If we are talking about the 'Rock Ferry' area near Birkenhead, there was a ferry operating there for several centuries, until 1939, just before WW2. The disused ferry landing stage went in 1957 apparently.

So, whilst there's no longer a ferry, the locality is still known as 'Rock Ferry', so seems entirely reasonable to me to continue to name the Merseyrail Wirral line railway station as is.

Yes it is, I just didn't know there was such a ferry link.

 

[Trackman]

Maybe 'Wigan North Western' could be amended to the slightly more descriptive (if less than snappily-monikered) 'Wigan West Coast Mainline'?

I like the Wigan North Western name.
If they built the stations now I wonder what they would be named as they both on Wallgate? (one for the speculative thread) I think Wigan WCML is a mouthful.

 

[xotGD]

I like the Wigan North Western name.
If they built the stations now I wonder what they would be named as they both on Wallgate? (one for the speculative thread) I think Wigan WCML is a mouthful.

Wigan Hauptbahnhof

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I like the Wigan North Western name.
If they built the stations now I wonder what they would be named as they both on Wallgate? (one for the speculative thread) I think Wigan WCML is a mouthful.

If you were building them now, you'd probably put the Southport/Kirkby platforms the other side of Wallgate (the road), with a shared ticket office & concourse between the two sets of platforms. Thus you'd have just one station simply called Wigan.

 

[plugwash]

I like the Wigan North Western name.
If they built the stations now I wonder what they would be named as they both on Wallgate? (one for the speculative thread) I think Wigan WCML is a mouthful.

I'd hope that if a new build was being designed it would be just one station rather than two.

 

[Djgr]

If we are talking about the 'Rock Ferry' area near Birkenhead, there was a ferry operating there for several centuries, until 1939, just before WW2. The disused ferry landing stage went in 1957 apparently.

So, whilst there's no longer a ferry, the locality is still known as 'Rock Ferry', so seems entirely reasonable to me to continue to name the Merseyrail Wirral line railway station as is.

Ditto Bebington and New Ferry station before the name was shortened, although New Ferry ferry ceased earlier.

 

[AndyW33]

(After some while.)
When the original Birmingham New Street opened in 1854 it could only sensibly be accessed from New Street through a station approach that was called, err, Station Approach. I suppose that a pedant would say that it should have been called Birmingham Station Approach.
The area next to the station was soon re-developed as Stephenson Place and Stephenson Street, giving a clearer distinction from New Street.

And of course the Midland's side of the station (in the final pre-electrification state) could have been called Station Street Station, and indeed both sides could have been called Queens Drive Station as people could and did access it from Stephenson Street, Station Street, and Queens Drive. There were ticket offices at all three points, though those at Queens Drive were eventually closed as an economy measure, possibly by the LMSR.
Then the "new" 1960s concrete dungeon probably did most justify the name New Street as most people got to it from a pedestrian ramp at the junction of New Street, Corporation Street and Stephenson Place, passing through the shopping centre and down a set of escalators into the concourse. But the concourse main doors led out onto an access road off Smallbook Queensway, used mainly by taxis and rail replacement buses. There was also a rather worrying way into the shopping centre up a staircase from Station Street (worrying because the amount of broken bottles on the staircase suggested significant anti-social-behaviour)

 

[WesternBiker]

I'd hope that if a new build was being designed it would be just one station rather than two.

Hear, hear. It's a real pfaff with luggage and if it is raining - as I found recently.

And then one could presumably call it just "Wigan"!