Shrewsbury Railway Station and the ghost from Platform Three

Description

The ghost of Thomas Thomas MP and coal merchant

During the terrible winter of 1888 the local coal merchant and MP Mr Thomas Thomas was off to London from platform three. Unfortunately, the ornate glass roof gave way under the weight of the snow and killed Thomas Thomas. He still hangs around platform three after making his eerie way there.

Shrewsbury railway station

Formerly known as Shrewsbury General it is a Grade II listed railway station serving the county town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It is the only remaining railway station in the town; Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town, having long closed. The station was built in 1848 and has been extended several times since. Grade II listed building in 1969. The station is 69 km (43 mi) north west of Birmingham New Street and serves as the rail ‘Gateway to Wales’ as many trains coming from England have to go through the station to reach Wales.

Shrewsbury station is the busiest station in Shropshire and tenth busiest in the West Midlands region (by 2008/09 usage figures).

Shrewsbury railway station was originally built in October 1848 for the county’s first railway – the Shrewsbury to Chester Line. The architect was Thomas Penson Penson of Oswestry. The building is unusual, in that the station was extended between 1899 and 1903 by the construction of a new floor underneath the original station building. The building style was imitation Tudor, complete with carvings of Tudor style heads around the window frames. This was done to match the Tudor building of Shrewsbury School (now Shrewsbury Library) almost directly opposite. The station’s platforms also extend over the River Severn. It was operated jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).

At Shrewsbury in steam days, the GWR regularly turned its locomotives by running round the triangle formed by using the Abbey Foregate loop, which links the Wolverhampton Line with the Welsh Marches Line and enables through running for freight trains, summer Saturday specials and formerly for trains like the Cambrian Coast Express.

The station was given Grade II listed status in May 1969. This applies to the ‘Castle Foregate’ entrance block on the east side of the station.