Harby and Stathern railway station

Harby & Stathern railway station is a former station on the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway that served the villages of Harby and Stathern, in Leicestershire, England.

Harby & Stathern
General information
Location	Harby, Melton, Leicestershire England
Grid reference	SK760307
Platforms	3
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway
Post-grouping	LNER and LMS Joint
Key dates
1 September 1879	Opened
7 December 1953	Closed to regular services
9 September 1962	Closed to summer specials
7 December 1964	closed for freight

Harby and Stathern Station 2008

Overview

It was the locomotive exchange station for goods traffic, with GNR engines working to the north and LNWR engines working to the south. Harby & Stathern was chosen due to local opposition in Melton Mowbray.

It was difficult to manage and run. The sidings were insufficient at peak times and the turntable could not be accessed directly so engines had to shunt to gain access through the sidings. The station was not very convenient for local passengers as the approach road was about five hundred yards long. The goods yard was very large and the original warehouse still stands.

Services

The principal services were GNR services from Leicester Belgrave Road to Grantham and LNWR services from Northampton to Nottingham London Road Low Level. Initially the LNWR also ran trains from Northampton to Newark, but in 1882 these were replaced by trains running between Harby & Stathern and Newark which connected with the Nottingham trains. The connecting trains were down to one in 1910 and were withdrawn altogether by 1922. In addition there were many summer excursion trains.

Station masters

• S.C. Drury
• S.C. Gregory 1915^[1] - ???? (formerly station master at Shirebrook)
• Arthur William Pedley 1925 - 1935^[2]
• F.H. Stables ca. 1939 - 1945^[3] (afterwards station master at Bulwell Common)
• G. Watson 1945 - ????

Closure

The station closed to regular traffic in 1953, but summer specials lasted until 1962.^{[4][page needed][5][page needed]}

Former Services

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Long Clawson and Hose		London and North Western Railway Northampton to Nottingham		Barnstone
Long Clawson and Hose		Great Northern Railway Leicester Belgrave Road to Grantham Leicester Belgrave Road to Newark		Redmile

References

1. "Mr. S.C. Gregory". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 4 March 1915. Retrieved 8 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Long Railway Service". Nottingham Journal. England. 14 January 1935. Retrieved 8 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Stathern". Grantham Journal. England. 27 July 1945. Retrieved 8 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Leleux, Robin. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 9 The East Midlands.^{[full citation needed]}
5. Anderson, P. Forgotten Railways, The East Midlands.^{[full citation needed]}

52°52′07″N 00°52′19″W