Four Crosses railway station

Four Crosses railway station was a station on the former Cambrian Railways between Oswestry and Welshpool.

Four Crosses
The former creamery at Four Crosses, which once sent milk trains to London, has now been converted into flats.
General information
Location	Four Crosses, Powys Wales
Coordinates	52.7586°N 3.0813°W / 52.7586; -3.0813
Grid reference	SJ271184
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Oswestry and Newtown Railway
Pre-grouping	Cambrian Railways
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1 May 1860	Opened[1]
18 January 1965	Closed[1]

The Dairy Crest Four Crosses distribution centre now occupies the former mainline of the Cambrian Railways south for the station

History

Opened in 1860 as part of the Oswestry and Newtown Railway (O&NR), it served the village of Four Crosses in Powys, Wales.

The O&NR line south of Llanymynech to Newtown (Powys) was single track, with passing loops at each intermediate station. Four Crosses was the main crossing point for passenger trains from Oswestry to Newtown, and so was re-configured by the Great Western Railway in 1925, when a private sidings was also laid to the nearby creamery, giving milk trains direct access. The GWR improved the up platform, installed longer passing loops of 1,116 feet (340 m) in length, and reconfigured the 1896 signal box to cope with additional traffic.^[2]

In 1963, the former CR mainline was vested to the London Midland Region of British Railways, who decided to keep the parallel former Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway open. The line from Welshpool to Oswestry was hence closed in 1965, including Four Crosses station.

The station was immortalised in 1964 in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.^[3]

References

1. "Station Name: Four Crosses". Disused Stations. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
2. "Llanymynech sgnal box". CambrianRailways.com. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
3. "Site of Four Crosses creamery". historypoints.org. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Arddleen Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Oswestry and Newtown Railway		Llanymymnech Line and station closed