The Flickr Whitlandstation Image Generatr

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Sony DSC-HX90V

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Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

Sony DSC-HX90V

In may 1961 the British Transport Commission, the nationalised organisation that ran large components of the country's transport system that included the railways, published a small booklet on the work delivered as part of the Modernisation Programme for Briitsh Railways. The "Modernisation and Re-Equipment of the British Railways" had been published in 1954 and by 1956 much of the report's intentions were underway ; it saw huge investment in the changeover from steam to diesel and electric, re-signalling and reconstruction of tracks, new station buildings and the introduction of newer methods of handling freight.

The jury is still, in some ways, out on the impact and 'success' of the Modernisation Plan. It was intended to eliminate the Railways deficit by 1961 amd patently it did not do that. Some aspects of the scheme, such as the introduction some elements of diesel power for example, were costly failures. Many writers see the Plan as a great missed opportunity in that it did not radically re-evaluate the business in an attempt to re-focus the investment and that this helped lead to the 'Beeching' Report in the early 1960s and the subsequent massive rationalisation of the railways despite the investment that had been made in it. Some argue that the Plan did help lay the foundations for BR's successes of the 1960s such as Inter-City.

Anyhow, the cover of the booklet and the pages relating to Passenger Stations that show the new architecture intended to replace the seemingly 'old-fashioned' Victorian stations BR had inherited and that were often in shockingly bad condition with a huge deficit in maintenance works over many decades. Several of the stations shown, such as Harlow and Chichester, are indeed now "Listed" heritage buildings in their own right. This doubel page spread shows not just a station - that at Whitland in Carmarthenshire, Wales - but also some ancilliary structures. These are the Traffic Manager's offices at Middlesbrough and the rather period car loading depot at Holloway in London that served the Anglo-Scottish 'car carrier service' that became known as Motorail in later years.

When this booklet was produced, in May 1961, the writing was already on the wall for the BTC themselves. The following year would see the Transport Act 1962 that swept the Commission away and set up British Railways as a wholly separate organisation.

Whitland Railway Station in Whitland, Carmarthenshire.

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway on 2 January 1854 as part of their route from Cardiff to Haverfordwest and to Neyland two years later. A branch line to Milford Haven followed in 1863 and the Pembroke and Tenby Railway (P&T) arrived from Tenby in 1866; their route was built as standard gauge, rather than the SWR's broad gauge, and so initially the P&T had to terminate at its own station next to the main line one, which by now was owned by the Great Western Railway.

This separate P&T station had opened on 4 September 1866 and was closed in August 1869. A single line was converted to dual gauge in 1868 to allow P&T trains to reach Carmarthen. Full-through-running trains between the two routes was made possible in 1872 with the conversion of the main line to standard gauge. The network in the area was completed when the Cardigan branch was opened in stages between 1873 and 1886.

From 1957 the station was rebuilt, it had a ticket hall, waiting room with refreshments, ladies waiting room, toilets, stationmaster's office, district inspector's office, parcels office and central heating.

Information source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitland_railway_station

BR (Swindon) Cross Country 2-car dmu (Class 120) No.C604 (consisting of Class 120/1 & 120/2 cars) with Central Wales Line headlamp between cab windows, in BR Rail Blue & Grey with all yellow front end, at Whitland, having arrived on a service from Milford Haven. It will be coupled-up to two 3-car dmus - another Class 120 and a BR (Derby) Class 116 - from Pembroke Dock to continue onto Swansea (High St) - all 8 coaches! Those were the days; 07/75. Scanned slide.

Whitland station on 30 March 1982. Lots going on in this shot with passengers disembarking for onward connections from the class 120 DMU that has arrived from Pembroke Dock. The goods yard is busy with wagons of domestic coal which is being unloaded and bagged by the local coal merchants. A tamping machine sits in the siding next to the DMU while in the background, 37 175 shunts wagons of a mixed goods. Also, a fine selection of road vehicles of the era.

BR (Swindon) Cross Country 2-car dmu (Class 120) No.C604 (consisting of Class 120/1 & 120/2 cars) with Central Wales Line headlamp between cab windows, in BR Rail Blue & Grey with all yellow front end, at Whitland, having arrived on a service from Milford Haven and having coupled up to two 3-car dmus - another Class 120 and a BR (Derby) Class 116 - from Pembroke Dock to continue onto Swansea (High St) - all 8 coaches! Those were the days; 07/75. Scanned photograph taken with a Kowa SET.