Minehead Station West Somerset Railway

All the stations along the line are the responsibility

of their local staffs an great credit to them

Always a fine show 

Of course the track and signals are the CE's team

AS\said before Minehead boasts the longest platform 

in preserved railways and of course in its heyday it 

was no stranger to fifteen and sixteen coach trains 

for the Butlins holiday camp. If I remember rightly

the platform is very nearly one quarter of a mile long.  

First opened in 1874 as the terminus and headquarters of the Minehead Railway, it was closed by British Rail early in 1971. It reopened in 1976 and is now the terminus and headquarters of the West Somerset Railway.

The station was originally built with just one platform. The station offices were on the platform and a goods shed was opposite, while an engine shed was provided behind the platform. In 1905 a second track was added on the opposite side of the platform and a new signal box was brought into use. An iron hut was added to provide more accommodation but was removed in the 1920s when the main building was extended towards the town. The next major alterations came in 1934 when the original single track line was replaced by a double line to cope with the heavy holiday traffic, and a new signal box built. The platforms were extended at the same time. They were now 1,250 feet (380 m) long and a 200 feet (61 m) canopy was provided to give extra shelter at the town end.^[2]

The engine shed was closed in 1956, goods traffic ceased in 1964, and the signal box became redundant on 27 March 1966. The railway was closed on 4 January 1971.

The station reopened on 28 March 1976 as a heritage railway by a new West Somerset Railway. The goods shed was converted into an engine shed and extended in 1999. Meanwhile, the station building was altered to be used as offices, and a new ticket office provided. A new level crossing has been laid across the line a little beyond the platform end to carry a new relief road to the sea front, and the former Dunster signal box was moved to control trains at Minehead. A new carriage workshop was opened in 1991 near the Dunster end of the station,^[2]

The original turntable was removed form the station in 1967, after steam trains andGWR Autocoach services were completely replaced by Diesel Multiple Units. The WSR acquired both the 55 feet (17 m) turntable and water tower from Pwllheli railway station in anticipation of reinstalling a facility at the station, but later sold the water tower to the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway in 1999. In 2007, the company agreed plans for a £6M development with Somerset Council, to provide a new site for the turntable, together with a viewing area, extended car parking and some ancillary buildings.^[3] The turntable was extended using genuine-GWR engineering pattern drawings to 65 feet (20 m),^[4] and then installed at its new location, brought into use in May 2008.

Many thanks to Wikipedia for the above information