Abbots Ripton railway station

{{short description|Former railway station in Cambridgeshire, England}}

{{Infobox station

| name = Abbots Ripton

| status = Disused

| image = Abbots Ripton station site geograph-3247131-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg

| caption = Abbots Ripton station site

| borough = Abbots Ripton, Huntingdonshire

| country = England

| grid_name = Grid reference

| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|TL222788|25|TL222788}}

| platforms = 2

| original = Great Northern Railway

| pregroup = Great Northern Railway

| postgroup = London and North Eastern Railway

| opened = 1 November 1885 (as Abbotts Ripton)

| years1 = 21 January 1876

| events1 = Abbots Ripton rail disaster

| years2 = 1938

| events2 = Renamed Abbots Ripton

| years3 = 15 September 1958

| events3 = Closed for passengers

| years4 = 5 October 1964

| events4 = Closed for goods

}}

Abbots Ripton railway station was a railway station on the East Coast Main Line in the English county of Cambridgeshire. Although trains still pass on the now electrified railway the station closed in 1958. Due to the position of the station in a cutting, it had two platforms which were staggered. These served the fast lines only, though the goods lines ran around the back of each.

History

The station was opened by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) on 1 November 1885 as Abbotts Ripton.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=11}} The GNR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER)

during the Grouping on 1 January 1923. Renamed Abbots Ripton in 1938,{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=11}} the station then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, and was closed by the British Transport Commission on 15 September 1958.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=11}} Despite the name change in 1938, the signal box nameboards and the lamp casings continued to display the former name throughout the station’s existence

Abbots Ripton rail disaster

An accident occurred at the future site of the station on 21 January 1876, when the southbound Flying Scotsman express train from Edinburgh to London was involved in a double collision during a blizzard. Heavy snow had frozen around the semaphore signal arms, causing them to stick in the "clear" position, as a result of which the driver of the express was not warned of the presence of a coal train which was backing from the main line into a siding. A collision occurred, and not long after, a northbound express from London to Leeds ran into the wreckage. There were thirteen fatalities, and 53 passengers and 6 traincrew members were injured.{{sfn|Tyler|1876}}{{sfn|Rolt|Kichenside|1982|pp=114–120}}{{sfn|Kichenside|1997|pp=183–186}}

Routes

{{Rail line|previous=Huntingdon North
Line and station open|next=Holme
Line open, station closed|route=Great Northern Railway
East Coast Main Line|col={{GNR colour}} }}

Notes

References

{{cite book |first=R.V.J. |last=Butt |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |year=1995 |location=Yeovil |isbn=1-85260-508-1 |id=R508 }}
{{cite book|first=A. |last=Jowett |title= Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas |publisher=Atlantic Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=0-906899-99-0 }}
{{cite book |last=Kichenside |first=Geoffrey |editor-last=Dixon-Spain |editor-first=Charles |title=Great Train Disasters |year=1997 |publisher=Parragon |location=Avonmouth |isbn=0-7525-2229-9 }}
{{cite book |last1=Rolt |first1=L.T.C. |author-link1=L. T. C. Rolt |last2=Kichenside |first2=Geoffrey |title=Red for Danger |edition=4th |year=1982 |orig-year=1955 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0-7153-8362-0 }}
{{cite web |url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_AbbottsRipton1876.pdf |title=The Report of the Court of Enquiry - Double Collision on the Great Northern Railway which occurred at Abbotts Ripton on the 21st January 1876 |first=H.W. |last=Tyler |date=23 February 1876 |format=PDF |access-date=26 May 2008 }}

External links

[http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#521,278,1 Abbot's Ripton station on navigable O. S. map]

{{coord|52|23|35|N|0|12|20|W|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=title}}

Category:Disused railway stations in Cambridgeshire

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1885

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1958

Category:Former Great Northern Railway stations