History
On 2 July 1866, the Wallingford & Watlington Railway was opened from a junction with the GWR main line at Moulsford (hitherto known as Wallingford Road) to Wallingford, where a station was constructed on the south side of Station Road, at grid reference SU602895 (51°36′06″N 1°07′55″W / 51.6017°N 1.1320°W / 51.6017; -1.1320 (Wallingford railway station (original))). The line never proceeded beyond, so did not reach the second-named town in its title.
For such a short line and a small station, the location was well patronised by commercial freight customers. The original Wallingford creamery was taken over by the Co-op Wholesale Society, and had its own private siding access from the goods yard to allow access for milk trains, which then took product to London until the late 1950s. There was also a Malting plant with rail access.
In 1969 the line was shortened by 500 metres (1,600 ft), back to the location of the malting plant on Hithercroft Road, which was the only remaining goods customer. When traffic from this source stopped in 1981 the line was closed. The new Wallingford station was built at this location, on the south side of St. Johns Road, at grid reference SU600891, when the line reopened as a heritage railway.
Read more about this topic: Wallingford Railway Station
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