Station Name: ACROW HALT
An unidentified Waggon and Maschinenbau railbus is seen at Acrow Halt on an unconfirmed date. Information with the image (click credit below) states '1958-07-06' and then contradicts this with '16 July 1958'. Certain features of the image are not quite what they seem at first glance; the driver is in the near cab of the railbus yet the tail lamp is also in position on this end. Under magnification the 'driver' does not appear to be wearing a drivers' uniform and he is standing rather than sitting. This suggests the person in the cab is some other railway official who has positioned himself in the cab for what is clearly a deliberately posed official photograph. On the conflicting dates, if we take '1958-07-06' (in other words 6 July 1958) as being the correct version, this was the day prior to railbuses taking over the service and this bears out the suspicion of this view being deliberately posed. The destination blind set to Saffron Walden was probably also deliberate as a subtle way of publicising on which particular line railbuses were being introduced: railbuses also took over the Braintree and Maldon branches on the same day. This view also makes clear the simple and clinical, yet perfectly fit-for-purpose, design of the halt. The sloping concrete ramp up to the factory is seen on the right. Note that there was apparently no form of platform lighting at this time.
Photo from National Railway Museum and SPPL An enlargement of the above map shows the platform shelter and the ramp down from the factory.
Acrow Halt looking north-west c early 1960s. Note the two nameboards, each featuring the Acro logo.
Photo from John Mann collection Diesel railbus E79960 bound for Haverhill speeds through Acrow Halt in April 1963. With the passage of time, some confusion has arisen concerning Audley End - Haverhill services. None called at Acrow Halt; however they called at Ashdon on weekdays, but not on Sunday. Contrary to some reports, all called at Bartlow. By the time of the above photograph, Acrow Halt had been propelled into the modern age by the installation of electric lighting. The arrangement, which can be seen above, was quite crude. One lamp was fixed to each of the running-in boards with power supplied via an overhead cable. This cable was presumably connected to a supply at the factory. Lighting was probably switched on only when services were due to call, and then only during the shorter daylight hours of the winter months. The lighting, and indeed the provision of the halt in the first place, suggests that Messrs Acrow were keen to promote use of the railway. Quite how much use was made of the halt by Acrow staff is not clear; one down Audley End - Saffron Walden service, the 8.11am SX was booked to work forward to Acrow Halt 'if required' and this clause suggests that usage was not especially heavy. Perhaps, however, the previous service to call at Acrow was more convenient for the workers, this being the 7.0am Audley End - Bartlow which called at Acrow 7.7am. The walkway behind the railings leads to the inclined
ramp up to the factory. Photo from John Mann collection Acrow Halt looking north-east from the Ashdon Road underbridge in September 1969; one year after the track was lifted. The junction with the siding is out of view round the bend.
Photo by Nick Catford Acro Halt looking south-west towards Saffron Walden in September 1969.
Photo by Nick Catford Acrow Halt looking south-west in July 1975; nature is gradually taking over the trackbed and encroaching onto the platform.
Photo by Nick Catford Acrow Halt looking
north-east in the early 1980's. By this time the platform was also heavily overgrown.
Photo by John Wells Despite difficulty accessing the platform fly tippers have managed to find a route there to dump their rubbish as seen in this view from August 2005.
Photo by Nick Catford In April 2013 it was a pleasant surprise to find the rubbish had been removed but the graffiti artists had discovered the site. Perhaps they should have been invited to decorate the rather bland waiting shelter when the half first opened!
Photo by John Wells The inclined path up to the factory in April 2013. Some undergrowth has been cut away since 2005 making access to the platform easy.
Photo by John Wells Click on thumbnail to enlarge
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