Henlow Camp was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the village of

Henlow Henlow is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The name Henlow is believed to derive from the old English ''henna hlaw'', meaning ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England. Opened in 1857, it gave more than a century of service before closing in 1962.

History

Dunstable, Hertford, Hitchin & St Albans RJD 35

The Midland Railway first opened a station named "Henlow" some distance from the village of the same name, as part of its new line from

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

to Hitchin, part of a larger scheme to allow its

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

a direct route to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

without using rival Great Northern Railway metals. Passenger traffic over the Bedford to Hitchin section was minimal and services were reduced to a shuttle by 1880. The section between Shefford and Hitchin, including Henlow, was single-tracked in 1911. The establishment of

RAF Henlow RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment ...

at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

increased passenger and freight traffic through the station which was located opposite the airbase. The activity continued after the war when the base became the location of the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment, and a depot for the repair and construction of aircraft as well as a training centre for the engineers; it became the School of Aeronautical Engineering in 1924. To reflect this development, the railway station's name was changed in 1933 to "Henlow Camp". The inter-war years saw a decline in traffic with the introduction of buses between Bedford and Hitchin. Traffic picked up again during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

when troop specials were run to enable conscripts to return home from the RAF camps at Cardington and Henlow. The introduction of

railbuses A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

after the war did little to improve traffic, and the line closed in 1962.

Stationmasters

*J. Heath until 1860 *Benjamin Maulding 1860 - ca. 1866 *John Gregory until 1872 *S. Martin 1872 - 1881 *John Johnson 1881 - 1888 *William George Hall 1888 - 1902 (afterwards station master at Flitwick) *Thomas Oliver Baker 1902 - ca. 1911 (afterwards station master at Yate) *Robert Arthur Gill 1914 - 1921 (afterwards station master at Hemel Hempstead) *G.J. Marshall ca. 1937 *Frederick William Booker ca. 1940 (also station master at Arlesey) *John F. Georgeson ca. 1946 (also station master at Shefford)

Present day

No trace remains of the railway at Henlow, a small commercial development having been built on the trackbed.Davies, R and Grant, M.D., p. 114.

References

External links

Henlow Camp station on a 1946 O.S. map
{{Closed stations Bedfordshire Disused railway stations in Bedfordshire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 Charles Henry Driver railway stations 1857 establishments in England Camp railway station