Chiltern Green railway station

Chiltern Green
A local goods train near Chiltern Green in 1950
General information
LocationNew Mill End, District of Central Bedfordshire
England
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Key dates
13 July 1868Opened as Chiltern Green
1 December 1891Renamed Chiltern Green for Luton Hoo
7 April 1952Closed [1]
Railways around Luton
Leagrave
Luton
Luton Bute Street
Luton Airport Parkway
Luton Hoo
Chiltern Green

Chiltern Green railway station was built by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its extension to St. Pancras.

The station was located in New Mill End but took its name from the small hamlet of Chiltern Green about a mile away. Adjacent to it was the GNR station of Luton Hoo also located in New Mill End. The small hamlet of New Mill End is unique in having two railway stations (Chiltern Green and Luton Hoo) neither of which, after 1 December 1891, were named after the village they served. The two lines ran side by side at this point: the Midland into Luton Midland Road and the GNR from Hatfield into Luton Bute Street.[2]

The station closed in 1952 due to competition from Luton Hoo station, only 600 yards (500 m) away. Ironically, the branch line between Welwyn Garden City and Leighton Buzzard, which Luton Hoo was on, closed in 1965, meaning that New Mill End was no longer served by a local railway station.

The station buildings survive to this day as a private home. The platform on the station building side partly survives but is overgrown and difficult to see when passing in a train. The other platform was removed when the line was electrified.

Stationmasters

[edit]
  • W. Barker 1870 - 1873[3]
  • F. Christian 1873 - 1875
  • G. Evans 1875 - 1881[4]
  • W.H. Higginson 1881 - 1888[4]
  • R. Cotterill 1888 - 1890[4]
  • David Gilliver 1890 - 1893[5]
  • George William Bland 1893[5] - 1922[6]
  • F.J. Aldridge 1922 -
  • F. Butler until 1933[7] (also station master at Luton, afterwards station master at Walsall)
  • A.J. Hawkrigg until 1937[8] (afterwards station master at Doe Hill)
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Luton
Line and station open
  Midland Railway
Midland Main Line
  Harpenden
Line and station open

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  2. ^ Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
  3. ^ "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 566. 1871. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 745. 1881. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 844. 1881. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Midland Railway Staff Changes". Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal. England. 24 June 1922. Retrieved 6 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Walsall Station Chief". Birmingham Daily Gazette. England. 14 November 1933. Retrieved 6 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Stationmaster retires". Sheffield Independent. England. 15 July 1937. Retrieved 6 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.

51°51′0.9″N 0°22′10″W / 51.850250°N 0.36944°W / 51.850250; -0.36944