Disused Stations: Lidlington Station

Lidlington Station Gallery 2 1977 - 2014

A 2-car Cravens DMU has just left Lidlington station bound for Bedford St John in February 1977 a few days after the station took on British Rail's Corporate Identity. The Marston Valley brickworks seen in the distance would close the following month.
Photo by Alan Young

Lidlington station entrance and level crossing in February 1977. The station sign high on the building was fitted a few days earlier.
Photo by Alan Young

The 11.00am service from Bedford has just left Lidlington station in October 1979. The passengers from the 'Paytrain' look uncomfortable standing on the damp and narrow ramp. The station has been unstaffed for over 10 years and the building is out of use. The crossing keeper is just unbolting
the right hand gate.
Photo by Geoff Dowling from his Flickr photostream

Dwarfed by the tall Chimneys of the London Brick Company’s brickworks a Cravens DMU approaches Lidlington. The class 105 unit is working the 11.00 Bedford - Bletchley service in October 1979. The brick works closed 2½ years earlier and was demolished in the early 1990s.
Photo by Geoff Dowling from his Flickr photostream

Lidlington up platform in July 1985. The LMS toilet block is no longer available for passengers to use as the station is now unstaffed.
Photo by Alan Young

By the late 1980s new high lighting had been installed and the station sign has been removed from the front of the station building and replaced by a Network SouthEast sign on one of the new lamp posts. Other signs have also been replaced. The windows of the station building appear to be boarded up. Note the door onto the platform from the booking office has been replaced with a window. The original wooden level crossing gates have now been replaced with metal gates.
Photo from John Mann collection

L127 Class 121 'bubble car' leaves Lidlington station on 16 July 1994 with the 12:40 Bedford to Bletchley service, and the crossing keeper wastes no time in closing the gate behind it.
Photo by Martin Loader from his Railway Photography web site

During a blockade of the Thameslink line over Christmas 2003, the only way to get class 319s from Bedford to Selhurst was to drag them via the Marston Vale line; on 31 December 2003 British Transport Police class 47 47829, in its unique police livery, drags a 319 past Lidlington in the hazy sunshine.
Photo by Richard Allen from his Flickr photostream

A Silverlink class 150 'sprinter' has just left Lidlington station in June 2004. The new up platform has been completed but has not yet beem brought into use. Later that year the line was resignalled and the crossing gates were replaced with lifting barriers.
Photo by Roger Gurney from his Heritage Rail & Travel Scenes web site

A Bedford to Bletchley service passes the old up platform at Lidlington before stopping at the new platform on the far side of the crossing in May 2009.

Photo by Roger Marks from his Flickr photostream

70013 'Oliver Cromwell' is seen hauling 'The Yorkshireman' steam excursion through Lidlington. This regular service runs from London Victoria to York and back and includes the Bletchley to Bedford line.
Photo by Mike Phillips

Lidlington station looking north-east from the level crossing in February 2014. The original down platform on the left is still in use but the up platform on the right was replaced with a new platform on the other side of the level crossing in 2004. The platform edge along the whole length of the old platform has been removed to allow trains to pass at speed.
Photo by Nick Catford

The station building at Lidlington has been extended but the original building in yellow brick with red brick dressings can still be seen. The bay window from the booking office overlooked both platforms. There was a door onto the platform next to the window. This was replaced with a window in the 1970; this window has now been removed and the hole bricked up. The site of the door and the later window are both clearly visible. The original low platform is still there although the later paving
slabs have been removed.
Photo by Nick Catford

Lidlington station looking south-west from the down platform in February 2014. The new up platform can be seen in the distance on the far side of the level crossing. The LMS toilet block is seen on the old up platform sandwiched between the new housing. With the help of a community artist and local young people, the Friends of Lidlington Station commissioned a colourful mural depicting village events. The work was funded by a grant from the Designated Community Rail Development Fund (a joint initiative of the Department of Transport, Network Rail and ACoRP).

Photo by Nick Catford

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