Station Name: LETTERSTON[Source: Nick Catford]
Letterston Station Gallery 1 c1906 - July 1974
Letterston station looking north-west before September 1906; station staff pose for the photographer. When Letterston opened it only had one platform (right); the second platform opened with the extension to Goodwick on 1 August 1899. The signal box opened at this time as well. Another building is seen beyond the station building; this is the stationmaster's house. The goods yard and engine shed are out of view behind the down platform. Coronation Terrace is seen in the background to the left of Station Road bridge.
Copyright photo from John Alsop collection 1907 1:2,500 OS map shows the layout of Letterston station after the opening of the extension to Fishguard. The original platform is on the north side of the line. The station building is seen with a small canopy over the platform. The building to its left is the stationmaster's house; the signal box (SB) is at the other end of the platform. The down platform has a waiting shelter opposite the station building. The GWR engine shed is seen opposite the signal box; the two sidings running past the shed probably served the 2-road carriage shed that was moved to Whitland in 1901. There is a large goods yard with four sidings, one of which passes through a goods shed. The siding opposite the goods shed was probably for livestock. Click here for a larger version.
1953 1:10,560 OS map. The layout of the goods yard has been simplified with only two sidings now remaining. The engine shed has gone as has the goods shed. For some reason the WW2 concrete huts are not shown.
Whitland locomotive shed seen here in a somewhat dilapidated form in 1921. The building had been a 2-road carriage shed at Letterston until 1901 when it was dismantled, taken to Whitland and re-erected as a single-road locomotive shed. The dilapidation, piles of clutter and the locomotive bufferbeam on an accommodation trolley paints a scene reminiscent of a Colonel Stephens railway. To the left stands an 0-6-0PT while beyond the shed stands what appears to be one or other of the 2-6-2T types and, to its right, a water column. In the right distance another locomotive faces towards the camera with, to its right, Whitland's water tower. The shed area is provided with adequate light by the provision of incandescent mantle gas lighting.
Photo from Roger Griffiths collection This view of Whitland locomotive shed shows the opposite end to that seen in the 1921 view. This view was thought to date from circa 1904 but is actually somewhat later. The locomotive on the right is difficult to identify and is probably one or other of the 2-6-2T types. That in the shed, peeping out at the turntable, is one of the relatively little-known and somewhat ungainly 3901 class 2-6-2Ts. The class comprised 20 examples which were rebuilds of Dean Goods 0-6-0s. The rebuilding, which took place between 1907 and 1910, was a cheap answer to the need for a more powerful tank type for Birmingham area suburban traffic. A Swindon Works drawing of the 3901 class has survived and it would appear little more than the running gear of the Dean Goods donors was reused. From 1923 the 3901 class began to drift away from the Birmingham area, with many ending up in South Wales and the West of England but cannot have been particularly useful as the class became extinct by the end of 1934. At the time of writing details of Whitland's turntable remained elusive. Whitland shed closed to steam in September 1963 and finally in January 1966, by which time its allocation was just a handful of diesel shunters of the type which became Class 03.
Photo from Roger Griffiths collection Letterston station looking towards Letterston Junction sometime in British Railways days. The station was located about one mile from the village centre and today it is ironic that postwar development has seen the village stretch eastwards to the site of the former station. Letterston signal box had stood on the up platform but had been abolished as early as 1926. Wartime reinstatement of the loop, presumably the track on the left, saw ground frames installed in connection with excursion trains for troops encamped in the area. One would assume that this was for relatives to visit troops rather than the other way around. RNAD Trecwn was nearby but served by its own spur which branched off between Letterston Junction and Letterston station. The goods yard, left, maintained a healthy amount of business when photographed and there was a facility for handling tank wagons. The crane looks suspiciously like a standard GWR 6-ton example although records up to 1956 maintain it was of 30cwt (1-ton 10-cwt or 1½ imperial tons)
Photo from John Mann collection A general view of Letterston station and good yard in British Railways days and looking towards Puncheston. The photograph was taken from the bridge which can just be seen in the background of the view looking along the platform and probably taken at the same time. The road on the left goes to Little Newcastle and Puncheston. The house behind the station, on Station Terrace, still stands and is still recognisable today. The sheds on the right, erected during WWII and standing on staddle stones (stilts to raise the buildings from the ground, an anti rodent measure) also still stand but the rest of this scene is little more than an open tract of grassland. No trace of the bridge remains today. The two-bay building on the platform was in later years known as 'Station Bungalow' and is assumed to be the stationmaster's house. The house behind it is one end of Station Terrace.
Photo from John Mann collection
Letterston station looking south-east towards Puncheston in July 1974, ten years after the station closed to all traffic. The station building has been demolished but the adjacent house survives in private occupation.
Photo by John Mann Click here for Letterston Station Gallery 2:
|