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The Railway had arrived in Newbury some fifty years before
any perception of a Valley line connecting it with Lambourn.
The opening of the Didcot Newbury Southampton route through from
Didcot in 1882, and on to Winchester in 1885, saw many additional
trains now using the platforms. December 1897 saw the completion
of the Lambourn Valley line - as least far as the outskirts of Newbury.
Pearsons' were engaged by the GWR to continue the branch into the
station, the track running parallel to the main line and into a
bay at the western end of the platform. |
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Rebuilding work at Newbury station -
1906 to 1909 |
The new 'up' side
building after completion |
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The green light for the rebuilding of the station was granted
in 1906 at an estimated cost of sixty thousand pounds. It allowed
for - amongst many other changes - two platform loops either side
of the main line and bay platforms. Those on the 'up' side to
cater for Lambourn, Didcot & Reading services. The re-built
station was furnished with new brick buildings and a covered footbridge,
and completed in the summer of 1909. Within two years of completion
of this project, further additions were added, including the extent
ion of the run around alongside the Lambourn bay to form a van
shoot and horse unloading facility. This new platform was 110
feet in length.
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Diesel railcar number 18
seen from the bay platform |
A later, post 1945 Swindon
built railcar sits on the Lambourn Bay |
| Water
columns were sited in several areas at the station, thus providing
the ability to supply locomotives either on the platforms or the
through lines. Below right, an ex- MSWJ 2-4-0 rattles through
the station in March 1951. Below left, a Dean
Goods hauling un-sheeted straw, coming off the Lambourn branch
about to pass Newbury West signal box. |
| 1950
and a Dean Goods with a Lambourn train leaves the bay. The connection
from the branch ran into the "up" platform loop. To
the left of the last coach can be seen, one of the linesman's
huts. The other building nearby was used by the S &
T Department for the storage of locking gear etc. Both buildings
replacing a single one near to the original East Junction signal
box. |
| Looking
East through Bartholomew Street bridge towards Newbury station. |
The conventional
chaired track work of the Lambourn line on the far side of the
photo, had a much more modern appearance when viewed alongside
the baulk road of the main Berkshire & Hampshire line of the
GWR |
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GWR railcar W18W with tail load, awaits departure
for Lambourn. - Above right and we can clearly see there
was no physical connection between the Berks & Hants and Lambourn
lines beyond the station. This view also shows vividly, the Lambourn
branch climbing steeply away from the main line.
Below, same spot - different years. Left - engine 2007 on
the incline in 1936 - heading an autocoach and two clerestory
coaches. The brick bridge it has just passed under is Rockingham
Road over bridge. Below right Pannier Tank 4609 pulling
a horse box and a single coach, photographed in June of 1957.
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opposing shots of the Lambourn bay taken some thirty years apart.
The left photo shows engine 2007 on the bay in or around 1937.
Above right, David Cannings' study of that same bay in 1968.
This area as we now know eventually evolved into the "Station
Car Park" |
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