Blandford opened on the 31st August 1863 and replaced ‘Blandford St. Mary’ which had opened in 1860 as the terminus of the Dorset Central Railway. Blandford St. Mary was a small hamlet on the south of the river Stour and the station was a temporary terminus until a bridge was built over the river, allowing a new station to be built in the town of Blandford.

In 1919, south of the station, a junction was provided to the Army Camp at Blandford, but regular use ceased in 1921 and the line was removed in December 1928.

Blandford station in 1965. Original black and white photograph by Colin Caddy, colorized by Geoff Cook. The bridge on the left at the far end of the platform is the pedestrian crossing bridge No.194. Blandford was a fairly extensive layout which remained busy and well maintained until its closure with the rest of the railway in March 1966.

Flats and a car park have now been built on the site of the station and former sidings, but at one end of the car park the old pedestrian footbridge No.194 still stands with a short length of track and some buffers under it as a memorial to the railway.

About half a mile south of the station site, these two flood arches are all that remains of the bridge which carried the line across the river Stour.

Following the old trackbed, now a footpath, for about half a mile from the station site you find Bridge No.193.

Steel span bridge No.192 is about a mile north of the station site. Please note that between bridges 192 and 193 there is another later bridge which has no connection with the railway.

The Railway Hotel, just west of the station site still retains its name despite the loss of the railway.

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