Introduction

The railway station at Shillingstone was located in the county of Dorset, on the southern part of the main line of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) from Bath to Wimborne. The southern end of the S&DJR was constructed originally by the Dorset Central Railway (DCR), which was opened on 1-November-1860 as a single-track line from Wimborne to a temporary station at Blandford St Mary. In 1863 the DCR was extended northwards to join with the Somerset Central Railway (SCR) and Shillingstone was the first station on the new line north of Blandford. The DCR and SCR had merged in 1862 to form the Somerset and Dorset Railway, which became the S&DJR in 1875 when the line was leased jointly by the Midland Railway (MR) and London & South Western Railway (L&SWR). After the Grouping of the railways of Great Britain in 1923 the S&DJR remained a Joint line, but now under the control of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and the Southern Railway (SR), who were the successors to the MR and L&SWR respectively. When the railways were nationalised in 1948 the Joint line came under the control of British Railways (Southern Region) (BR(SR)), but by January 1963 control as far south as Shillingstone had passed to BR(Western Region) (BR(WR)) until the S&DJR closed on 6-March-1966.

Shillingstone station looking south in the 1960s

Outline Signalling Chronology

It is unclear exactly what the arrangements were at Shillingstone station when it was opened in 1863, but it is probable that there was only one platform provided on the Up side of the line. There may have been goods sidings provided on that side of the line as well at that time. It would appear that a proper passing-loop (with two platforms) and signal-box (SB) were not provided until 1878.

Signal Diagrams

Signal diagram 1878 (old frame)		Signal diagram 1901 (old frame)
Signal diagram 1902 (new frame)		Signal diagram 1930 (extended frame)
Signal diagram circa-1960		Signal diagram mid-1965
Click any diagram thumbnail for a larger image

Single-line Tablets

Single-Line Electric Train Tablets from Shillingstone
Sturminster Newton - Shillingstone				Shillingstone - Blandford
Tyer's No 1 Tablet		Tyer's No 6 Tablet		McK&H Tablet		Tyer's No 6 Tablet (see Note)
1886-1951		1951-1966		1905-1951		1951-1966
Click thumbnails to see larger images
Note: the Tyer's No 6 tablet for Shillingstone - Blandford has been re-engraved on the right-hand side because previously it was used for the Shillingstone - Stourpaine 'short section'.

In 1905 the signal-box at Shillingstone (along with those at Stourpaine and Blandford) was one of the first S&DJR SBs to be equipped with the No 6 pattern of Tyer's ETT after the opening of the passing-loop at Stourpaine. In 1951 it became also one of the last S&DJR SBs to have a No 6 ETT instrument installed when the section to Sturminster Newton was upgraded from the original No 1 pattern.

Postscript...

On 6-March-1966 passenger services ceased on the whole of the S&DJR. Although a few sections remained open for goods traffic for a few more years most of the line was closed, including all of the ex-DCR north of Blandford and hence the station at Shillingstone. Although the track was lifted and most of the buildings demolished in due course, the main station building and both platforms remained as the only surviving ex-DCR station. The site is now an active preservation/restoration project under the North Dorset Railway Trust. In the mid-1990s Dorset County Council established a path along the former S&DJR trackbed for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders, and today this forms part of the North Dorset Trailway.

© CJL Osment 2017-23
Acknowledgements to the late Dr Peter Cattermole for relevant S&DJR material, and to John Creed and the Signalling Record Society for information from their archives. Tablet photographs courtesy David McGhie.