Lowdham Station History

Lowdham Station History. . , Station Staff , The staff at Lowdham would have appeared very similar to the staff at Dursley, pictured here., The building of railways inevitably created a temporary boom employment and in many places there was a general turbulence in the local population. The Lowdham census returns record the presence of railway workers who were needed to run the station. In 1851 these were as follows:, . John Gaunt, aged 34, Gate Keeper born at Barrow by Lincs , . Daniel Comer, aged 48. Station Porter born at Hickling, Notts , . Henry Westerman, aged 29, Railway Inspector. born at Hatton, Yorks , . Joseph Reeves, aged 23, Station Master, born at Coleshil. Warwicks , . John Chapman, aged 43, Railway Labourer born at Lowdham, Notts, Typically, the station staff would consist of:, Station Master--lived in the Station House position of respect in the community, Booking Clerk--Sold tickets, Goods Porter--responsible to the goods and parcel traffic, including animals, 2 porters--sometimes qualified as junior signalmen for off-peak times. They helped with goods and parcels as well as passengers' luggage., Additionally there were a number of gangers based at Lowdham who maintained the length from Carlton to near Newark., Carrying the Goods , For many decades a train ran from Nottingham to Lowdham each lunchtime, arriving at 1:10pm and returning at 1:45pm, so that people working near to Nottingham Station could get home for a quick meal. It was affectionately known as the Rice Pudding Train!, Everything you can imagine went by rail in the years before road transport took over in the 1960s. Household coal came into the coal yard at the station, where the local coal merchant was based, and was delivered round the village in a horse-drawn dray. There were stables in the station yard. Mail, newspapers and parcels came and went. Livestock and agricultural produce went out by train, and building materials, timber, food and beer arrived by train, all handled by the goods yard, except for milk churns, which would be put onto passenger trains because of the urgency to deliver it while still fresh., This map from 1915 shows the station as it was from the early days until 1958 when the MacAlpine works was built to the North: It marks the weighing machine (WM) by the entrance, the signal box (S.B.) and three signal posts (S.P.), This view taken from the signal box shows the cattle pens just beyond the station building with the goods yard in the background. There is a dark-coloured wagon in the cattle siding, with the goods shed beyond. The white vehicle is the grounded coach body. The huge white building is the MacAlpine factory, with all their cranes.