From the early-1860s until the mid-1880s, the station was significant in its own right on the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, as well as the point of interchange for other lines.[1] What in 1875-76 became the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway ran from Wimborne Junction, just south of the station on the other side of river, initially (as the Dorset Central Railway) to Blandford (1860), then (as the Somerset and Dorset Railway) to Burnham in Somerset (1863) and finally to Bath (1874). Wimborne was the point of reversal for trains to and from Poole.[2]
The second route was the Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway (1866), a minor line which branched off at West Moors. The station there was not opened until 1867, and goods traffic largely continued to be worked through to Wimborne and later beyond.[3] The final new railway, branching off the original main line at New Poole Junction, was to Poole (1872) and onwards to Bournemouth (1874).
Decline
Bournemouth's rapid development in the late Victorian era as a residential town and holiday resort indirectly led to the decline of Wimborne station. The Somerset and Dorset avoided the awkward reversal there by opening a bypass from Corfe Mullen to Broadstone in 1885 (goods) and 1886 (passengers). A handful of local Southampton and Dorchester passenger trains still ran into Wimborne, as well as some goods trains, because the large yard made for a more convenient point of interchange. Further decline came in 1888, when Wimborne was bypassed by the opening of a direct line to Bournemouth from the east. When that was extended across Poole Harbour in 1893, to join with the original Southampton and Dorchester line at Hamworthy Junction via the Holes Bay Curve - forming an alternative through-route between Southampton and Weymouth via Bournemouth - most main line passenger trains to and from London, Dorchester and Weymouth had no need to run through Wimborne.[4]
Nevertheless, the generally increasing level of traffic on the railways up to 1914 meant that Wimbone was still a busy station, although post-war economies led to the withdrawal of most remaining Southampton and Dorchester passenger trains from 11 July 1920 (just one train probably continued to run until 1922), followed by milk and parcels in February 1932, with freight traffic ceasing completely from 17 June 1933. Loss of the Southampton and Dorchester traffic only left Wimborne with the infrequent pull-push services between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth West, a handful of trains from Salisbury and some long-distance Summer Saturday traffic, when the station was used to relieve Bournemouth. That seasonal holiday traffic built up in the inter-war period and boomed in the 1950s. Goods trains also used the route all year around for the same reason.[4]
Closure
In its final years, the station suffered from an air of neglect, although photographic evidence suggests that the main buildings were kept in a decent state of repair into the early 1960s. An early casualty of the Beeching Axe programme of economies, Wimborne station closed to passengers on 4 May 1964, along with all others on the bypassed original line. Parcels and less-than-wagonload goods ceased from 28 February 1966, and sundries were concentrated on Bournemouth Central. That led to a rationalisation of Wimborne's track and signalling, although traffic was boosted from the late 1960s by the use of the down yard by TrainEx, a company fitting out exhibition trains.[5] From 24 July 1966, siding working was introduced. The down line towards Broadstone was taken out of use and services concentrated on the former up line, although both tracks continued to be used in the Ringwood direction until the closure of the signalbox (which had remained as a ground frame) on 8 January 1967. All remaining signals were removed and points converted to manual operation.[6]
Until August 1967, goods trains continued to serve the station from Poole, running through to West Moors and Ringwood. Thereafter traffic to Wimborne consisted mostly of coal and similar wagon loads, with the continued use of the line for an RAOC fuel depot just beyond West Moors keeping trains running through until the summer of 1974. The track north of Wimborne was lifted from October 1974, back to a point immediately south of Leigh Arch, the dangerously narrow and low bridge over what was then still the busy A31 road. That allowed the bridge to be demolished. For just over another 30 months, the occasional goods train disturbed the peace of Wimborne's decaying station although, by then, the main reason for the line's survival was the use of the yard by TrainEx.
The site today
Until 2021, the site was partly occupied by the weekly Wimborne Market, and industrial and commercial units cover most of the rest. Much of the original embankment was removed in the mid-1980s, although it is not clear where the spoil was taken. Some oral accounts say it was used for construction of the Wimborne bypass (A31), while others suggest it was used forreclamation work in Poole Harbour, near the town's railway station.
