Midgham railway station, formerly known as Woolhampton railway station, is 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 ...

in the English county of Berkshire. It is located in the village of

Woolhampton Woolhampton is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. The village straddles the Bath road between the towns of Reading, to the east, and Newbury, to the west. Geography The village homes are clustered on the northern side o ...

, but takes its current name from the village of Midgham that lies some away. The station is on the Reading to Taunton railway line and is from .

History

The line from to was planned by the

Berks and Hants Railway The Berks and Hants Railway comprised two railway lines built simultaneously by the Great Western Railway (GWR) south and west from in an attempt to keep the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) out of the area that it considered to be its ...

, and before it was opened, it was absorbed by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The station at Woolhampton was opened with the line on 21 December 1847; it was originally named "Woolhampton" but on 1 March 1873 was renamed "Midgham". The station appeared in a 1943

World War 2 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 opposing ...

information film for US service personnel titled '' A Welcome to Britain''. The station was subsequently renamed twice by British Rail: on 2 November 1964 it became "Midgham Halt" but on 5 May 1969 it reverted to "Midgham".

Description

Midgham station is near the centre of Woolhampton village, on an unclassified road just south of its junction with the

A4 road This is a list of roads designated A4. A4 is the name of several roads: * A004 road (Argentina), a road connecting Buenos Aires-La Plata highway with the Juan María Gutiérrez circle * A4 motorway (Austria), a road connecting Vienna and Nickels ...

. There are two flanking platforms on each side of the double track line. The Reading bound platform has a small shelter and a small car park. The unclassified road crosses the railway line at the eastern end of the station by means of a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

, and this crossing also provides the only access between the platforms.

Services

The station is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway from to . Trains run hourly in both directions on Mondays to Saturdays, and every other hour on a Sunday. Typical journey times are about 12 minutes to Newbury and 20 minutes to Reading. Passengers for must normally change trains at Reading (except on Sundays, when services run to & from the capital).

Incidents

On 10 August 1927, the leading bogie of the then new King class locomotive, 6003 ''King George IV'', became derailed at speed approaching Midgham. This led to the suspension arrangement of the unusual bogie being improved.

References

External links

Brief moment at Midgham Station in 1943 WW2 US Induction ilm (youtube) at starting at 22mins 27secs in.

Midgham - Least Used Station in Berkshire
2017 YouTube video by Geoff Marshall about the station. {{Railway stations in Berkshire Railway stations in Berkshire DfT Category F2 stations Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations served by Great Western Railway 1847 establishments in England Woolhampton