Talk:Port Meadow Halt railway station

Opening dates
I note what Waters has to say about the opening/reopening dates of this station, but is there a chance that he has got it wrong? Both Butt and Little have it opening and closing 1 year earlier, although Mitchell follows Waters. Lamberhurst (talk) 21:18, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Regarding the six Halts on this route (Port Meadow Halt, Wolvercote Halt, Oxford Road Halt, Oddington Halt, Charlton Halt, Wendlebury Halt), the sources give variant dates and also variant names. Ignoring previous stations on the same sites, I note the following:
 * Butt: Summertown Halt op 20 Oct 1905 (ren Port Meadow Halt 1 Jan 1907); Wolvercote Halt, Oxford Road Halt, Oddington Halt op 20 October 1905; Charlton Halt, Wendlebury Halt op 9 Oct 1905.
 * Little states that the railmotor service began on 9 Oct 1905, but doesn't give any opening dates for the actual halts; their names match Butt except that the suffix "Halt" is omitted.
 * Mitchell & Smith: Summertown (ren Port Meadow Halt Jan 1907), Wolvercot Halt, Oxford Road Halt, Oddington Halt, Charlton Halt, Wendlebury Halt, all six opening 9 Oct 1905.
 * Waters: Port Meadow halt 20 Aug 1906; Woolvercot halt, Oxford Road halt, Oddington halt, Charlton-on-Otmoor halt, Wendlebury halt all op 9 Oct 1906.
 * Bill Simpson chucks a curveball; he states "The service between Bicester and Oxford was improved further with the introduction of a steam railmotor service on October 9, 1905. ... Part of the new service was the opening of six low platform timber Halts between the termini. ... They were at Wendlebury, Charlton, Oddington, Oxford Road, Wolvercote and a year later a Summertown Halt (renamed Port Meadow)."


 * Now, I have a problem with Simpson; his books all look like they were self-published, without being submitted to another person for copyediting, checking or proofreading. It might just be that his last sentence quoted above had some words in the wrong order, since it can be rearranged to state "... and a Summertown Halt (renamed Port Meadow a year later)" which then fits with Little and with Mitchell & Smith. -- Red rose64 (talk) 12:33, 19 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Whilst I agree that Simpson's books published by Lamplight Publications leave much to be desired in terms of the editorial input, I would like to think that his OPC works are up to their usual high standards. If you have a copy of the first volume of his Oxford to Cambridge book, he reproduces at page 62 the LNWR flyer to commemorate the start of the rail motor service on "20 October" (year omitted); it mentions all the halts given above with the exception of Summertown/Port Meadow. Lamberhurst (talk) 08:15, 21 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Note that Waters seems to contradict himself (p. 68) when he gives 1905 as the start date for rail motor services. Lamberhurst (talk) 20:21, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes; and on p. 76 he states "October 1905". I think we can safely assume the 1906 dates on p. 128 are all errors. -- Red rose64 (talk) 20:41, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Hmmm. The caption from the Wendlebury photograph seems to suggest that 5 October may have been the day of the "test run", with full public opening taking place on 20 October (which would tie in with the LNWR flyer). Are we sure that there were two platforms? Lamberhurst (talk) 20:58, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Which Wendlebury photo? The one on p. 76 of waters states both "October 1905" and "test run", but does not give actual dates.
 * Mitchell & Smith show a map, fig. III, which appears to show two platforms at P.M. Halt. Given that it's a double-track line, the photo at fig. 24 clearly shows the a platform outside the down line, so passengers using an up service must have used a separate platform - it's unlikely that they would use the ballast between the up Bletchley and the up Chester. -- Red rose64 (talk) 21:32, 22 April 2010 (UTC)