| "Powerstock Station - All Change" by Diana P. Read. Posted by Mark A at 19:25, 14th April 2026 |     |
I'm wondering if others have met with this readable book. With a struggle, the author and her husband bought the station building at Powerstock from British Rail in 1968 and proceeded to do it up, start a family, and live there as the line's existence as a railway was brought to a close. The book isn't directly focussed on the railway, it's more that the railway runs through it and to a lesser extent the afterlife of the building's original purpose - eventually they ran it as a b&b. One rail-related gem of a quote, hopefully not fanciful, comes from before the days of the b&b, and a visitor, name of Chase, from New Zealand:
"At Paddington, he asked for a ticket to Powerstock, but was told the line was closed. It wasn't (it had three years to go) and Chace insisted. Very unwillingly, the booking clerk wrote out a ticket for him and told him, loudly and clearly, as if to an idiot, that he travelled at his own risk. Having just come right round the globe, Chace found this highly diverting, as did the crew on the train that brought him here."
If you're moved to read it, and are in Librarieswest's area, they have a copy available for loan.
Mark
