Farlington railway station
Encyclopedia
Bedhampton railway station
Bedhampton railway station serves the former village of Bedhampton, now a suburb lying a mile west of the centre of Havant, in Hampshire, England.-History:...
and Hilsea
Hilsea railway station
Hilsea railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, England with a limited service. It serves the northern end of Portsea Island, including a large industrial estate nearby....
on the Portsmouth Direct Line
Portsmouth Direct Line
The Portsmouth Direct Line is the route of a railway service operated by South West Trains which runs between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour, England...
.
The station was originally built to serve Portsmouth Park racecourse
Horseracing in the United Kingdom
Horse racing is a popular spectator sport in Great Britain, with hundreds of years of unique heritage. Gambling on horseraces is also considered the cornerstone of the British betting industry....
, opening as Farlington Race course on 26 June 1891. On 23 July 1894, it was the scene of an accident when a brake van
Brake van
Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard...
next to the engine hauling the 6.35pm from derailed and the first two coaches overturned. The guard on the train was killed and seven passengers were injured, one of whom seriously.
The racecourse was closed during World War One
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but the station was retained to serve the ammunition dump put in its place. The station closed in 1917. Reopened in 1922 until 1927, it was used to serve the industrial estate situated that developed in the Railway Triangle. Under the Southern Railway, it reopened as a general public halt in 1928 named Farlington Halt; however, this was short-lived as the station closed due to insufficient customers on 4 July 1937. The road next to the old site still retains the name Station Road and a footbridge over the railway to the industrial estate was in use for many years but is now behind fences.