Can you name and date this station?
 

Whilst rummaging through one of the files at Eastleigh museum (I volunteer there), I came across a photocopy of a photo. On the back, in pencil, is written "Opening of Eastleigh station June 1841".

Whilst the date is more or less spot-on for the construction of the station buildings, most people that I’ve shown the picture to, place it in the 1870s. That seems about right to me. I can’t see anybody taking a photograph of little Bishopstoke Station in the 1840s (Eastleigh Station used to be called Bishopstoke Station).

I posted the photo on a genealogy website, where a member recalled it was printed in a book called Victorian & Edwardian Railway Travel from Old Photographs by Jeoffry Spence (Batsford, 1977). The caption says it shows London & South Western Railway staff about 1875 at Woking. Intriguing. Thing is, I don’t believe Woking has an overbridge so this identification seems unlikely.

There is no museum reference on it and as we have no scanner, I've attached a mobile phone picture for your perusal.

As the picture is made up of large dots, I guess it’s from a newspaper or book.

What do you think?

Danny

I can't offer any insights into the location, but some of the details – the style of the clothing, the design of the rolling stock and the ballast apparently built up over the sleepers – suggest to me a date much earlier than the 1870s.

If you compare your photo with one on this link (bottom of page)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastleigh_railway_station

then I would suggest it IS the same location.:)

There can't be that many stations on this line with 4 tracks going through the centre of the station; Bishopstoke definitely had them.

1842 a line to Gosport was added. 1847 a line to Dorchester was completed. The L&SWR was only too happy to encroach on GWR territory. Quite the busy junction then.

I tend to agree with you 'pre65'. This is almost certainly a picture of Bishopstoke/Eastleigh.

I wonder 'boilersuit', could this photo have been taken in the 1850s. I've attached a photo of Henry Willmer in old age, stationmaster at Bishopstoke from 1851 to sometime in the 1880s.

Compare him with the gentleman on the far right of of the original photo.

I would be surprised if the photograph dated from as early as 1841. Early photographs required very long exposures - several minutes at least - and I cannot imagine that everyone in the photograph managed to stay totally still for that length of time. I cannot suggest an exact date, but 1850s or 1860s seem more likely than 1841.

That would explain why the person standing second from the left appears to be a ghost! You can clearly see the track running through him.....:) Res.