Tuxford North railway station

Tuxford North
Location
Place	Tuxford
Area	Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire
Grid reference	SK 747 714
Operations
Original company	Great Northern Railway
Pre-grouping	GNR
Post-grouping	LNER British Railways
Platforms	2
History
1852	Opened as Tuxford
1 July 1923	Renamed Tuxford North
July 1955	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
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Great Northern Main Line

Legend 188 York (NER) 184 Naburn (NER) 181 Escrick (NER) 179 Riccall (NER) 175 Selby (NER) 170 Temple Hirst (NER) 168 Heck (NER) 166 Balne (NER) 163 Moss (NER) 158 Arksey 156 Doncaster 151 Rossington 148 Bawtry 146 Scrooby 144 Ranskill 142 Barnby Moor and Sutton 138 Retford 132 Tuxford North 131 Dukeries Junction 127 Crow Park 126 Carlton-on-Trent 120 Newark North Gate 116 Claypole 112 Hougham 110 Barkston 105 Grantham 102 Great Ponton 97 Corby Glen 93 Little Bytham 89 Essendine 85 Tallington 76 Peterborough North See below for detail south of Peterborough. 59 Huntingdon 32 Hitchin 0 London King's Cross

Tuxford North railway station is a former railway station in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire.

Ambiguity

There were three Tuxford stations, though none was very near the centre of the village. They were:

• Tuxford North, the subject of this article
• Dukeries Junction, the next station south, about half a mile away, and
• Tuxford Central, about a mile to the south west on a different line.

The positions of the three stations are most easily seen on the "External Links", below.

Context

The station was opened in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) on its main line from Kings Cross to Doncaster. The GNR became part of the LNER in 1923 then British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The station had two platforms and a signal box, originally simply named "Tuxford", which controlled the Lincoln Road level crossing immediately north of the station. The road is now the A6075 and the level crossing has been replaced by a bridge over the busy tracks slightly to the South.

The station was closed in 1955 and has since been razed to the ground.

The tracks through the station site are now primarily used as part of the electrified East Coast Main Line.

A Railway Village

For 45 years from opening until 1897 the GNR station was the only Tuxford station. Local trains called, the next stops being Retford to the north and Crow Park to the south. In 1897 The LD&ECR opened its line from Chesterfield Market Place to Lincoln and turned Tuxford into something of a railway village overnight, by adding two extra stations, a locomotive works, an engine shed, two marshalling yards and a North-to-West connection ("chord") between the two lines. They also built earthworks for a South-to-West connection, but tracks were never laid.

Former Services

Tuxford's three stations were connected, effectively forming a triangle. However, it was only ever possible to catch trains along two sides of the triangle, ie

• from Tuxford Central to the high level platforms at Dukeries Junction and back and
• from Tuxford North to the low level platforms at Dukeries Junction and back.

Traffic along the third side of the triangle between Tuxford Central and Tuxford North was mainly freight, supplemented by Summer weekend excursions from the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire area to the Yorkshire Coast; these passed through both stations without stopping.

In 1922

• five northbound trains a day called at Tuxford (it was renamed Tuxford North a year later) en route from Newark (later renamed Newark Northgate) to Retford, where people could get good connections West, North or East
• six southbound trains called heading for Newark, with connections East, South and West.

Of the five northbound stoppers, only two picked up at Dukeries Junction, except in Fridays when three picked up there. Similarly, three southbound trains called at Dukeries Junction, with a fourth on Fridays.

Only one train in each direction called at Tuxford North on Sundays, on which days Dukeries Junction was closed.

Tuxford North stuttered along until July 1955 and Tuxford Central until September 1955, Dukeries Junction had closed in 1950. The Summer excursions continued to pass until 1964. The "third side of the triangle" which connected Tuxford North and Central was closed in 1969.

Modern Times

Tracks through the site of Dukeries Junction's low level platforms were slewed when the East Coast Main Line was electrified, enabling trains to go faster. This erased any last trace of the low-level platforms. Unusually for those days, the high-level station buildings were removed in the 1950s.

The line through the sites of Tuxford Central and the high level platforms at Dukeries Junction became redundant when High Marnham Power Station closed in 2003, however, the line reopened in 2009 as High Marnham Test Track.

Former Services

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Retford		British Railways GNR		Dukeries Junction

External links

• All Tuxford Stations: old O.S. Map via npemap
• All Tuxford Stations: old maps via Old-Maps
• Tuxford Stations and former signalboxes: via signalboxes