stations ash vale

[hjburton]

there are two railway stations at ash vale one is called north camp.I told my grandson this was for the army and the other one for civilian use as they were built by two different companies.He doesn,t agree with me so I am hoping someone can tell us why there are two railway stations in ash vale when some places have none Thanks

[Mikkanjazza]

Don't know whether it helps you, but here in the Midlands, most towns of any size used to have two main railway stations - one which serviced the Great Western line, and the other the LMS (London, Midland and Scottish) line. You mentioned two different companies, so maybe somewhat the same situation applied in your part of the world?

[dundurn]

North Camp was named for the Northern of the two main army camps in Farnborough. The station there was built by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The Ash Vale station was on the London and South Western Railway. As competitors they saw no reason to make transfers between them easy!

[dundurn]

Sorry - I meant Aldershot, not Farnborough.

[Lil O'lady]

North camp is unlikley to have been built by the army, but as the nearby barracks would have been a big source of employment the town would have grown towards it, hence the railway. However the original bulk transport route seems to have been the canal.

Wikipedia etc. suggests the barracks date from 1852 onwards, whereas the London & SW railway built the line through aldershot in 1865 as part of the further development of the rail network.

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/museum/aldershot-muse um/local-history-aldershot/barracks.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_and_South_ Western_Railway

[hjburton]

thanks everyone