Cowes Station (Steam)

The station was closed in the early 1970s, and served as a mid-town parking lot for many years. The actual station has since been dismantled, although a supermarket owned by Marks and Sparks has since been constructed on the land, with a portion of the parking lot still being left intact. The footbridge however was given a new lease of life and disassembled and then reconstructed at the Medstead and Four Mark Station on the Watercress Line in the state of Hampshire.

The original station included of two island platforms with three platform faces, all of which were connected to a back concourse. The fourth platform face was reserved exclusively for the movement of goods. On the northern side of the station, there was an additional pair of sidings. The footbridge did not connect the two platforms; rather, it preserved public access between Terminus Road and Cross Street after that access had been eliminated during the reconstruction of the station in 1891. In 1918, further changes were  made to the track configuration.

It was suggsted that the station was never able to generate the volume of foot traffic that its creators had anticipated due to its location, which was some distance from the ferry port. However, it has been said that this may have been just an excuse as in reality its not that far.

• http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/c/cowes/index.shtml

• Images courtesy of Nick Catford.