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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 9 (December 2, 1935)

The Smallest Station in Britain

The Smallest Station in Britain.

Railway stations vary greatly in design and construction throughout Europe. One of the largest passenger terminals is the Milan depot of the Italian State Railways, with its 26 vast platform lines, and a total area under cover of 73,000 square yards. Compare this with the diminutive stations on, say, the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch system, of which the almost match-box like depot at Dymchurch is a typical example! Dymchurch, however, is not actually the smallest Home station. This honour falls to Blackwall depot, in Derbyshire. There the platforms are of just one carriage length, and the passenger service consists of one train per week.

In London, Waterloo is a giant among passenger termini. Waterloo has 21 platforms, covers 24 1/2 acres of ground, and handles approximately 1,550 trains and 120,000 passengers every day. Now travel in imagination down to picturesque Devonshire, and there you find a tiny depot built exclusively to serve a Government prison. This by way of contrast. In connection with big events, such as agricultural shows, flower-shows, and the like, the Home railways often construct temporary passenger stations in their entirety. These are usually of wood, and are erected in a couple of days or so, and dismantled with just as much ease.