Humberstone Road station

[lesmond]

Humberstone Road station was a station to the north of Leicester, England, opened in 1875 and closed in 1968.
The line was originally opened by the Midland Counties Railway, which joined the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway which opened Humberstone Road Station.


The station closed on 4 March 1968, probably not that long after this was taken.

Humberstone station, Leicester
The first station from Leicester Belgrave Road heading west was Humberstone, seen here on a very damp day, November 12 1966. Like other stations on the GN and LNWR Joint Line, it was very substantially built, although with wooden platforms. Near here, the joint line's Leicester extension crossed the Midland main line, which had its own local station, Humberstone Road. The Joint Line's Leicester extension was latterly restricted to 25 mph due to the poor state of the track. After the rest of the track was lifted, a link was provided from Humberstone to the Midland line to serve a local coal business, hence the remaining track.


The small village of Humberstone, situated some two miles further north-eastwards was noted for its alabaster mine but, Humberstone Road station alongside what is now the A47, served the northern side of Leicester which was rapidly expanding. Although the line is still a major route (the present-day Midland Main Line), there is now very little trace of the station.

The station building lay derelict for many years after being taken out of service as a passenger station. As a grade two listed building it had to be preserved, but British Rail did not have sufficient funds for such an operation. A buyer was looked for. Eventually it was sold to Leicestershire County Council for £1 plus VAT (15p at the time!).

It was moved brick by brick to its new home at Shenton Station, on the Battlefield Line Railway, where it would serve as an information point for Bosworth Battlefield and a southern terminus building for the railway.


Shenton railway station is located about 0.5 miles from the village of Shenton, Leicestershire, England.