Dean Station

Dean Station. . The line from Bishopstoke (Eastleigh) through Chandler's Ford, Romsey, Dunbridge and Dean to Milford (Salisbury) opened for goods traffic on 27 January 1847. Passenger traffic began on 1 March 1847 and this is when the Station opened. The engine pulling these trains was a small steam locomotive called Firebrand., By 1881 the station employed eight staff including the public telegraph operator. Until the advent of the telephone it was this telegraph by which all telegrams and urgent information such as the announcement of the 1918 Armistice reached the village., When Dick Hann arrived as a signalman in 1947 he recorded that the staff then comprised the stationmaster, clerk, two porters, three signalmen and the lampman. The lampman's duties were to care for and light ten lamps on each platform, those in the signalbox, the station and the booking office, those on the level crossing gates and those on the signals (mains electricity did not reach the village until 1948). In the 1960s steam engines were replaced with diesel., The public part of the Station House consisted of a large hall with wooden flooring and a coal stove with the booking office opening off it to the left and the waiting room and toilet and the stationmaster's door to his living accommodation opening to the right. In the early years of the 20th century there was also a penny in the slot chocolate bar machine. Regrettably this did not continue!, The Station was staffed and operating until 1984 when the decision was taken to close it and leave passengers thereafter to buy their tickets from the conductor on the train and to shiver in the cold while they waited for it to come. In 1997 the 150th anniversary of this line was celebrated. The Station was decorated with bunting and flags and people, some in Victorian costume, lined the platforms to greet the special commemorative train.