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Added Arley station history on www.svrlive.com
===Station buildings===
The main station building at Arley dates from the opening of the Severn Valley Railway in 1862. The station was considerably smaller than it is now, passenger facilities being limited to the present waiting room with a partitioned booking office in the corner of the room and the gentlemen's toilets. Facilities were completed by a weighbridge on the site of the present day refreshment kiosk in the station yard. Extensions were later added, consisting of a Ladies' waiting room authorised in 1892 and an additional bedroom in the Station Master’s house added in 1901.
From opening, there was no passing loop and the single platform was very much shorter than the two the station has today. If you look at the face of the main platform from the down platform (or garden side) it is possible to see the shape of the original short, stone-faced platform which you can see was also more than a foot lower than the one in use now. The passing loop and a signal box were installed in 1883 together with a second platform, the existing platform being raised and lengthened. The shelter on Platform 2 is also original, dating from the opening . In 1907 both the platforms were further lengthened, since then the only significant change to the layout was the laying of that platform in 1883a second siding behind the signal box sometime before the 1930s.
The café building behind the station was built during the summer of 1992 on the site of the former weighbridge. It replaced a similar building known as 'Tom’s Cabin' (named after volunteer Tom McGee who ran the cabin and did much restoration at Arley over many years) that had become dangerous.
In 2018 an [[:Category:SVR fundraising lotteries|SVRA raffle]] raised over £7,000 for new facilities including a workshop and storage for Santa equipment to replace a small corrugated metal shed next to the gift shop.<ref>SVR News 200</ref> In late 2019 construction started on the new building at the north end of the station, with the roof coming from part of the old [[Bewdley]] platform canopy. It was also partly funded by the [[Arley Station Fund]]<ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/epfeb20 Express Points, February 2020] (Retrieved 4 February 2020)]</ref>.
===Restoration===
By 1972 the restoration had begun in earnest with much vegetation clearance, platform repairs, mains water and electricity installed for the first time, GWR gas lamps erected and new running-in boards erected. A summer camp school party gathered up the surfacing bricks on the down platform to facilitate its levelling and re-laying. The station was repainted in the early 1930s GWR style.
By spring 1973 the platform awning had been repaired, the former weighbridge converted into 'Sid’s Café' and the future car park to the rear of the down platform levelled. Further work saw the painting of the toilets and installation of new sinks, work in the gardens and the opening of the station shop.
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">
File:S0635 Arley Station 1972.jpg | Rebuilding platform 2 in 1972 (David Cooke)
*1862: Arley station opened with the rest of the Severn Valley Line on 1 February, but had only one platform and no facility for crossing trains. Control of train movements was by single needle telegraph only
*1883: A second platform, authorised in August 1882, was brought into use in June 1883. Installation of a signal box and interlocking of points and signals were completed around this time.
*1891: ‘Train 'Train staff and ticket’ ticket' working in conjunction with a single-needle block telegraph was introduced throughout the line, replacing the earlier simple telegraph working arrangements. Henceforth drivers could not enter a section without possession of a physical staff, or a paper ticket stating the staff would follow on a succeeding train. Those used at Arley were for Arley to [[Bewdley North signal box|Bewdley North]] (hexagonal staff, yellow ticket) and Arley to [[Hampton Loade]] (square staff, red ticket). The 1893 Working Timetable noted that the persons authorised to exchange the staff and ticket were the Station Inspector J. Pugh (see below) and the Porter-Signalman on late duty.
*1894: ‘Electric staff’ working replaced staff and ticket working. [[Highley]] also became a staff station, breaking the long section to Hampton Loade.
*1898: An [[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership#Accidents | accident]] occurred when a train overran signals when entering the station and was derailed.
*1938: A GWR [[Arley Camp Coach|camping coach]] was based at Arley.
*1950: By this date, [[ETT | Electric Train Token]] working had been introduced, becoming the fifth method of train control.
*1960: The loop capacity, for the purpose of crossing trains, was 27 wagons, plus engine and brake van.<ref>Sectional Appendix to the Working Time Tables and Books of Rules and Regulations, Birmingham Traffic District, October 1960</ref>
*1963: Through passenger services ceased on 9 September, with through freight services ending at the end of November.
*1964: The signal box closed on 28 June. The up line and sidings were lifted, and the edge of the down platform was removed to give greater clearance for coal trains from [[Alveley Sidings|Alveley]]. The original signal box was later demolished by SVR volunteers, and parts used to reinstate [[Bridgnorth signal box]] in 1969.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books | Marshall (1989), p. 200.]]</ref>
===Early Station Masters at Arley===
The first description of 'Station Master' in GWR records is in 1897.
{| class="wikitable
|William Pearson||1835, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire|| September 1865||Retired ca.1885||Died 7 March 1886.
|-
|Joseph Pugh||28 September 1830, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire||January 1886||Resigned October 1900||Joined West Midland Railway December 1855. Formerly Booking Porter at Linley (1864 - 1880) Described as Station Inspector in the 1893 WTT (see above).
|-
|George Batchelor||1 April 1860, Honeybourne, Worcestershire||20 October 1900|| Retired 1920?|| Formerly Signalman at Hartlebury (1882) and Kidderminster (1887). Died 23 December 1942.
|}
George Batchelor and Joe Hill both won numerous [[Awards#Prior to preservation|awards]] for the gardens at Arley. Joe Hill was the last resident Station Master; after he left the station came under the supervision of [[Bewdley]] and the house was occupied by Fred Jones and his wife Diane who both served as Porter/signalman. Their son David became a fireman and regularly worked on the line, exchanging tokens with his mother for the last time on the final passenger train to run on the branch on 7 September 1963.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Geens (1985)]] p. 18.</ref>After closure, the station house was still the home of Mr and Mrs Jones, who had staffed the station for many years. ===Traffic statistics===
{| class="wikitable"
X: Information not recorded <br>
(a): Information recorded under Bewdley
==Historic maps of Arley station==
==References==
[https://www.svrlive.com/ay-history Arley station history on www.svrlive.com]<br>
<references />
