Trouble House Halt was a small station on the
Tetbury branch line between
Kemble and between 1959 and 1964, when the line closed as part of the
Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...
.
History
Diesel
railbus
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 ...
services were introduced by
British Railways Western Region
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex-Great We ...
on the Tetbury branch line on 2 February 1959, and on the same day two halts were opened on that line, at
Church's Hill and at Trouble House.
It was built to serve a 17th-century
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, the Trouble House Inn, which had originally called the Waggon and Horses, but was later renamed because it had been built on flood-prone land known as "The Troubles" and also for the difficulties which beset a series of innkeepers in the 18th and 19th centuries, including being taken by a
press gang
''Press Gang'' is a British children's television comedy drama consisting of 43 episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993. It was produced by Richmond Film & Television for Central, and screened on the ITV network in it ...
.
It was the only station in England built specifically to serve a pub, although
Berney Arms station in Norfolk has much the same function.
The station itself consisted only of a wooden platform and was known locally as "Beercrate Halt". Late night travellers had to flag down a train by showing a lighted match. The line and station closed on 6 April 1964,
but the station was immortalised in that year in the song "
Slow Train" by
Flanders & Swann.
On 4 April 1964, the last day of operation, when the last passenger train from arrived at Trouble House Halt, a coffin was loaded onto the train by bowler-hatted mourners. It had been made by the landlord of the pub together with his brother, covered with inscriptions and filled with empty whisky bottles. On arrival at , the coffin was transferred to a train for , addressed to
Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the e ...
. The last passenger train to Tetbury found its approach to Trouble House Halt blocked by burning hay bales.
References
External links
Disused stations
Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire
Railway stations opened by British Rail
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1959
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964
Beeching closures in England
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