Margate Sands railway station served the town of

Margate, Kent Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

, England from 1846 to 1926 on the Kent Coast Line.

History

The station and connection line was first proposed in 1841 by the South Eastern Railway (SER), and surveyed by

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...

. The station opened on 1 December 1846. The line took a convoluted route to reach Margate, running via

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, and requiring a reversal at the latter. To save costs, the line was single-track beyond Canterbury and the original station building was a simple wooden structure. Shortly after opening, a passing loop was added on the line to alleviate congestion. A permanent building opened in 1859, costing £3,900. A chord was built at Ramsgate in 1863, which meant that trains could travel direct to the station from Canterbury without having to reverse. A refreshment room opened in 1873. The station's name was changed to Margate Sands on 1 June 1899.M E Quick, ''Railway Passenger Stations in England Scotland and Wales—A Chronology'', The Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2002, p. 273 The station struggled with competition from rival railways, particularly the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and nor ...

(LCDR), who constructed a line around Thanet to in 1863. The station closed on 2 July 1926, as part of the Southern Railway's plan to connect up and amalgamate the separate railway lines around Thanet built by the SER and others. Goods services were withdrawn at the station on 20 December, but the branch line continued to be used as a goods depot until 1976. The site was subsequently used as a car park, then as apartments and an amusement arcade.

Incidents

In August 1864, a train pulling into the station collided with one already at the platform. A carriage was pulled up during the collision and ended up resting on the station roof. One woman was killed in the accident.

References

Citations Sources * *

External links

{{s-end Disused railway stations in Kent Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1926 1846 establishments in England 1926 disestablishments in England