Comberow railway station

Comberow
General information
LocationComberow, Somerset
England
Coordinates51°06′31″N 3°23′16″W / 51.1087°N 3.3879°W / 51.1087; -3.3879
Grid referenceST029352
Platforms1[1][2]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyWest Somerset Mineral Railway
Key dates
December 1857Opened for goods[3]
4 September 1865Opened for passengers[4]
7 November 1898Closed[5]
1907Reopened
1910Closed[6]

Comberow was an intermediate station on the West Somerset Mineral Railway (WSMR), which was built primarily to carry iron ore from mines to Watchet harbour in Somerset, England. The line was unconnected to any other, though it passed under what is now the West Somerset Railway south of the town of Watchet. The station was located at the foot of the line's most striking feature - a three quarters of a mile, rope-hauled incline at a gradient of 1 in 4 (25%).

The line's seven stations were designed by Rice Hopkins.[7] Comberow was one of the five which showed a clear family resemblance. It offered the usual goods and passenger facilities. Although the station nameboard and all published literature refers to the station as "Comberow", passenger tickets were printed "Combe Row".[8][9]

Comberow's situation in a valley at the foot of the incline, together with the happy accidents of having an early railway photographer in the vicinity and exceptional historians interested in the railway has left a rich legacy of photographs of the station in context.[10][11][12][13]

  1. ^ Sellick 1981, pp. 19 & 44.
  2. ^ Sellick 1970, pp. 97–8.
  3. ^ Sellick 1981, p. 5.
  4. ^ Thomas 1966.
  5. ^ Quick 2009, pp. 399 & 459.
  6. ^ Oakley 2002.
  7. ^ Jones 2011, pp. 100-104 & 377.
  8. ^ Sellick 1981, Rear cover.
  9. ^ Jones 2011, p. 400.
  10. ^ Sellick 1970, pp. 16, 32 & 64.
  11. ^ Sellick 1981, pp. 19–41.
  12. ^ Jones 2011, pp. 108–110, 216–257, 308–313.
  13. ^ "Comberow Station and surrounds". West Somerset Mineral Railway Project. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017.