Blandford Forum railway station

File:Blandford Forum station, with Up freight, 1963 Geograph-4238170-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg freight train at Blandford Forum station in 1963]]

Originally part of the Dorset Central Railway, the line to Blandford opened on 1 November 1860 to a station at Blandford St Mary, to the south of the River Stour.{{cite book |first1=Robin |last1=Atthill |first2=O.S. |last2=Nock |author2-link=Oswald Nock |year=1967 |title=The Somerset & Dorset Railway |location=Newton Abbot |publisher=David & Charles|isbn=0-7153-4312-2}} The Dorset Central merged with the Somerset Central Railway in 1862 and a new extension connecting the two railways was built. The extension opened on 31 August 1863, requiring a bridge over the Stour and a newly relocated Blandford Forum station to the north of the river.{{cite book |last=Atthill |first=Robin |title=Old Mendip |year=1964 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbott |isbn=0-7153-5171-0}}

The station remained open until 7 March 1966, when the entire line from Bath to Bournemouth closed to passengers. Goods traffic continued for a further three years, but the station was finally fully closed in 1969 and the track was lifted.{{cite web |url=https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/163494/Blandford-Part-5.4-and-5.5-Modern-February-2011/pdf/Blandford_Part_5.4_and_5.5_Modern_February_2011.pdf |title=Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Blandford Forum |format=PDF |accessdate=24 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828030006/https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/163494/Blandford-Part-5.4-and-5.5-Modern-February-2011/pdf/Blandford_Part_5.4_and_5.5_Modern_February_2011.pdf |archive-date=28 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}

The impending closure of the station was lamented by musical duo Flanders & Swann, being one of some 30 stations mentioned in their 1964 song Slow Train ("No more will I go to Blandford Forum …"). The song was written in the wake of the first Beeching report, published in 1963 and was written as a tribute to the lines and stations that were to be closed.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2008/10/03/kings_singers_beeching_feature.shtml |title=The Musical Slow Train |date=3 October 2008 |publisher=BBC Cambridgeshire |accessdate=24 August 2016}}

The site of the station now lies within a housing estate.{{cite web |url=http://www.nevard.com/sdjr/blandford.htm |title=Blandford Forum |work=After Closure: The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717083234/http://www.nevard.com/sdjr/blandford.htm |archive-date=17 July 2012 |accessdate=24 August 2016}}

A working model of Blandford station and its environs is in the process of being built in 1/76th scale at the Blandford Museum in the town centre.{{cite web |url=http://www.blandfordtownmuseum.org/railway_club.html |title=Railway Club |publisher=Blandford Town Museum |accessdate=24 August 2016}}

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• {{Butt-Stations}}
• {{Jowett-Nationalised}}
• {{Jowett-Atlas}}

{{commons category|Blandford Forum railway station}}

• [http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#388,106,1 Blandford Forum station on navigable 1946 O. S. map]
• [http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ Disused stations in the UK]

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{{rail line|previous=Charlton Marshall
Line and station closed|next=Stourpaine & Durweston Halt
Line and station closed|route=Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway
LSWR & Midland Railways|col={{SDJR colour}}}}

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Category:Beeching closures in England

Category:Blandford Forum

Category:Disused railway stations in Dorset

Category:Former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway stations

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966