Yeovil Junction Railway Station - History

History

The Salisbury and Yeovil Railway (S&YR) opened the final part of its line from Sherborne on 1 June 1860. Near Bradford Abbas it crossed over the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) on a bridge, then ran alongside it and the Yeovil Branch Line of the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) to reach that company’s terminus at Hendford, on the west side of Yeovil. Just a few weeks later, on 19 July, the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) opened its Yeovil and Exeter line. This left the S&YR at Bradford Abbas Junction and crossed over the GWR line to its own station at Yeovil Junction, and then continued on towards Exeter Queen Street. The station was a junction because another line led back to join the S&YR at River Junction, so trains could run from Exeter direct to Hendford (the terminus was moved to a joint B&ER/LSWR Yeovil Town railway station from 1 June 1861). The original eastwards connection from River Junction to Bradford Abbas was closed in 1870, after which most main line trains only called at Yeovil Junction where passengers could change onto a connecting train for the short journey to Yeovil Town. The LSWR operated all trains over the S&YR and bought the smaller company in 1878.

The station at this time had two platforms serving three tracks. The northern side was the track for trains to Salisbury and London Waterloo; the middle track was covered by a train shed and could be used from either platform and was for the trains to Yeovil Town; the southern track was for trains to Exeter. Goods traffic was handled on the north side of the main line, and a turntable was placed on the south side. On 13 June 1864 a new line was opened from the GWR up to a goods station at Clifton Maybank on the south side of the LSWR station. The GWR was, until 1874, a 7 ft 0 1⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) broad gauge line and broad and standard gauge wagons could be brought alongside each other at Clifton Maybank to allow goods to be transhipped between them.

Work started in 1907 to enlarge the station and was completed in 1909. The new northern platform was 590 feet (180 m) long with a track on either side; the northern track was for the Yeovil Town trains and the southern side was for main line services to London. The 510-foot (160 m) southern platform also had two tracks, the northern face for westbound trains and the opposite side was a goods siding. Two through tracks also passed between the platforms for non-stop trains. A footbridge at the west end connected the two platforms and extended over the branch track to the station forecourt. A second footbridge was erected at the east end of the station but was dismantled in 1920 and moved up the line to Overton railway station. The goods yard was also extended in 1908 and new sidings were laid near the GWR exchange siding. The cost of the work was in excess of £47,000.

The LSWR became a part of the Southern Railway (SR) in 1923 as a result of the Railways Act 1921. The GWR’s Clifton Maybank branch closed on 7 June 1937. Wagons would in future be exchanged at Yeovil Town, but the GWR had to build a road for Mr Paul, the owner of a private siding which had connected with their line, so that he could bring his goods to the Clifton Maybank platform instead which was still served by the SR.

A new connection was established between the two companies during World War II to allow trains direct access between Yeovil Junction and Yeovil Pen Mill on the Weymouth line. This was opened on 13 October 1943 and offered a new route for trains of war materials as well as a diversion route in the event of bomb damage.

On 1 January 1948 the Southern Railway was nationalised to become the Southern Region of British Railways. January 1963 saw the all the lines in the area transferred to the Western Region and this was soon followed by the Reshaping of British Railways report. Yeovil Town closed to passengers on 2 October 1966, the branch service then operated to Pen Mill until it was withdrawn entirely on 4 May 1968. The main line had been rationalised on 11 June 1967 – Yeovil was now in the middle of a 15.26 miles (24.56 km) single track section between Sherborne and Chard Junction. This soon proved a rationalisation too far and the double track was restored between Sherborne and Yeovil Junction on 1 October 1967 but all trains had to use the eastbound mainline platform. On 26 March 1975 the former branch platform was reopened as a through line so that two trains could use the station at the same time.

A permanent way depot was established in the old goods yard on the north side of the station in 1965. A small Ruston and Hornsby four-wheel diesel locomotive number DS1169 was kept here for shunting until 1972. In 2001 the area was used by the Somerset and Dorset Locomotive Company as a depot for its fleet of hire locomotives, although this use has now ceased. The turntable has been retained on the south side of the line and is often used for turning the locomotives of steam-hauled excursions. This and the Clifton Maybank site has been the home of the Yeovil Railway Centre since 1993.