Croft Spa railway station

Former railway station in England

54°28′59″N 1°33′01″W / 54.4830°N 1.5504°W / 54.4830; -1.5504Grid referenceNZ292099Platforms2Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyGreat North of England RailwayPre-groupingNorth Eastern RailwayPost-groupingLondon and North Eastern RailwayKey dates30 March 1841Station opened as Croft1 October 1896Station renamed Croft Spa3 March 1969Station closed

Croft Spa railway station was a railway station serving the settlements of Croft-on-Tees and Hurworth-on-Tees in County Durham, England.

The station was located on the East Coast Main Line between Northallerton and Darlington. It was served by local trains on the East Coast Main Line, and also trains operating the Eryholme-Richmond branch line.

History

The first railway to Croft-on-Tees was built by the coal-carrying Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) as one of its many short branches to serve collieries. The Croft branch left the main line to the South, near Darlington Bank Top station.^[1] A passenger station opened on 27 October 1829.^[2]

The section of the Great North of England Railway (GNoER) between Darlington and York opened (for goods traffic only) on 4 January 1841;^[3] and passenger trains along the line were introduced on 30 March 1841,^[4] when a station at Croft was opened by the GNoER, which allowed the S&DR passenger station to be closed on the same day.^[2] The GNoER, after a series of amalgamations, became part of the North Eastern Railway (NER) when that was formed in 1854.^[5] The NER renamed the station Croft Spa on 1 October 1896;^[6] after it gained popularity for its spa waters, the site of which was very close to the railway station.^[7] At the start of 1923, the NER amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping. Passing on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. In 1958 local trains between Northallerton and Darlington ceased stopping and it was then served only by trains to and from the Richmond branch until its closure by the British Railways Board on 3 March 1969.^[8]

The station was demolished in 1970 leaving no trace of its existence except for the ramps from a railway bridge down to the remains of the platforms but trains still pass the site on the East Coast Main Line.

References

^ Allen 1974, p. 32
^ ^a ^b Butt 1995, p. 71
^ Allen 1974, p. 68
^ Allen 1974, pp. 68, 69
^ Allen 1974, p. 107
^ Butt 1995, pp. 71, 72
^ Lloyd, Chris (25 May 2018). "Looking Back". Darlington & Stockton Times. No. 21–2018. p. 67. ISSN 2516-5348.
^ Butt 1995, p. 72

Allen, Cecil J. (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0495-1.
Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.