Olton railway station

Olton railway station serves the Olton area of Solihull, in the West Midlands of England. The station is operated by London Midland, and is also served by Chiltern Railways services. The entrance seen in the centre where the station's booking office is located leads into a tunnel which runs under the tracks providing an access staircase and lift to the island platform. The station also has a car park and bicycle racks.

History

Origins

Olton station was opened in 1869 on the GWR's Oxford & Birmingham Branch and its prime role was as a suburban passenger station for Birmingham commuters, explaining why the booking office was located on the down platform.

Olton originally had two signal boxes, the first of which only had 10 levers. It was built by McKenzie and Holland and located at the Leamington Spa end of the up platform which was replaced in June 1913 but was ultimately closed in 1933.

Expansion

Olton station originally had a two-platform configuration with basic facilities, but taking advantage of the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act of 1929, the Great Western Railway continued to quadruple the Birmingham Main Line as far as Lapworth, rebuilding five stations including Olton with two wide island platforms in 1932.

Train station

A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot (see below) is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight.

It generally consists of at least one track-side platform and a station building (depot) providing such ancillary services as ticket sales and waiting rooms. If a station is on a single-track line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as "stops" or, in some parts of the world, as "halts" (flag stops).

Stations may be at ground level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams or other rapid transit systems.

Terminology

In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station. Railway station and railroad station are less frequent; also, American usage makes a distinction between the terms railroad and railway.

In Britain and other Commonwealth countries, traditional usage favours railway station or simply station, even though train station, which is often perceived as an Americanism, is now about as common as railway station in writing; railroad station is not used, railroad being obsolete there. In British usage, the word station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified.

Olton

Coordinates: 52°26′16″N 1°48′21″W / 52.4377°N 1.8058°W / 52.4377; -1.8058

Olton is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands, England. In the 13th century the Lords of the Manor moved their seat and formed a new settlement, in the junction of two major roads, that village has now grown into a big town called Solihull. It was then that Ulverlei was being referred to as 'Oulton' (meaning 'old town') to distinguish it from the 'new town' of Solihull of which it is now a part. It is located on the A41 between Solihull town centre 4 miles (6.4 km), Acocks Green, 2 miles (3.2 km) and Birmingham 5.7 miles (9.2 km), dating back over a 1,000 years, it is a now a residential suburb, though historically in Warwickshire. Many of the large houses built in St. Bernard's Road and Kineton Green Road during the Victorian and Edwardian period form part of one of Solihull's conservation areas.

History

Olton means 'old town' and is the site of the manor of Ulverlei from where Solihull was founded. Ulverlei has been translated to mean Wulfhere's clearing or meadow. Wulfhere was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, from the end of the 650s until 675. Wulfhere's father, Penda, was killed in 655 fighting against Oswiu of Northumbria. Penda's son Peada became king under Oswiu's overlordship, but was murdered a year later. Wulfhere came to the throne when Mercian nobles organized a revolt against Northumbrian rule in 658, and drove out Oswiu's governors. As he was a youth, Wulfhere had been kept in hiding until he came of age.

Olton, Texas

Olton is a city in Lamb County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,215 at the 2010 census.

Geography

Olton is located at 34°11′00″N 102°08′05″W / 34.18333°N 102.13472°W / 34.18333; -102.13472 (34.1834142 -102.1346258). Olton was founded in 1906.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,288 people, 742 households, and 571 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,683.8 people per square mile (649.6/km²). There were 852 housing units at an average density of 627.0 per square mile (241.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 66.56% White, 2.01% African American, 1.31% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 27.49% from other races, and 2.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 64.51% of the population.

There were 742 households out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.47.