The Dyke railway station was a railway station near Devil's Dyke in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

which opened in 1887 and closed in 1939.

History

The Dyke Station opened as the terminus for the standard gauge railway line which ran from Dyke Junction Station (now known as

Aldrington railway station Aldrington railway station, sometimes known by its former names of Aldrington Halt and Dyke Junction, is a railway station that serves the area of Aldrington in Hove, in East Sussex, England. The station is from Brighton on the West Coastway L ...

) to 200 feet below the summit of Devil's Dyke. The line was opened by the Brighton and Dyke Railway Company to serve what was at the time a very popular tourist destination, boasting two bandstands, an observatory, a camera obscura and fairground rides. The station itself was equipped with basic facilities to accommodate tourists and postcards of the station buildings reveal a converted railway carriage with shack attached bearing the sign "Tea and Cakes". The 1893 August Bank Holiday saw around 30,000 people flock to the Dyke, many of them brought by the railway. Operations continued until 1917 when, in the midst 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 ...

, the line was closed as a wartime economy measure. Services recommenced in 1920 but lasted only a further eighteen years; the line closing in the face of increased competition from motor buses. The Southern Railway purchased a Sentinel-Cammell steam

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

in June 1933 for use on the branch. Although operationally successful, the single railcar was not large enough to meet the needs of the line. The railcar was transferred away in March 1936 and tried in other areas, but was withdrawn in 1940.

The site today

The station was demolished after closure and the site is occupied by a farm. Part of the trackbed of the line remained unused until 1988 when the "Dyke Railway Trail" was created.Dyke Railway Trail
/ref>

Services

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:The Dyke Railway Station Disused railway stations in West Sussex Former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1887 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1920 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1939