Termini that are really just like wayside halts

[DelW]

I offer these as my suggestions for your consideration:
Barton on Humber
Sheringham
Balloch
Paisley Canal
Blackpool South
Colne
Rose Hill Marple
St Albans Abbey
Sudbury
Aberdare
Maesteg
Severn Beach
Gunnislake

Stourbridge Town?

A lot of these omit the prime criterion that there is a much busier main station further back on the branch.

From the OP (my bold):

stations that really have the feel of quiet wayside halts but are termini, with the much busier main station not being the terminus of the line.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Chessington South - which was, of course, not intended to be the end of the line, but WW2 and then Green belt legislatuion made further extension pointless.

Shepperton: further up the line Sunbury, Fulwell and Hampton all have higher usage stats: Hampton is two and a half times as high. This is partly because until very recently Shepperton (and Sunbury) were outside the contactless zone. Indeed, further towrads London on the same route, Norbiton has as many passengers as all six stations on the branch (Fulwell to Shepperton) combined, and Kingston twice as many. Regardless of this, Control's favourite measure when things are ruinning late is to run fast to/from Shepperton, whizzing past all the crowded stations en route, rather than assist rather more passengers by turning short at Fulwell.

However, I think the terminus that seemed most like a wayside halt was Clayton West. When I visited, a few years before it closed in 1983, it was difficult to see why the branch had been built at all as the statuion appeared to be in the middle of the countryside. As far as I am aware, there was never a Clayton East!

 

[Potatopotato]

nunthorpe

 

[181]

Marlow, Gunnislake to name two

Aren't they just quiet branch lines? I'm thinking of termini where the line itself is busy enough but the terminus is a bit like a wayside halt, with stations with far higher traffic further down the branch?

Marlow doesn't meet the OP's criteria with regard to relative or absolute passenger numbers, but Bourne End looks and feels like a much more substantial station than Marlow.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Chessington South - which was, of course, not intended to be the end of the line, but WW2 and then Green belt legislatuion made further extension pointless.

Shepperton: further up the line Sunbury, Fulwell and Hampton all have higher usage stats: Hampton is two and a half times as high. This is partly because until very recently Shepperton (and Sunbury) were outside the contactless zone. Indeed, further towrads London on the same route, Norbiton has as many passengers as all six stations on the branch (Fulwell to Shepperton) combined, and Kingston twice as many. Regardless of this, Control's favourite measure when things are ruinning late is to run fast to/from Shepperton, whizzing past all the crowded stations en route, rather than assist rather more passengers by turning short at Fulwell.

Chessington South has an air of dereliction about it -- or at least when I last saw it -- with its never-used platform, tired 1930s concrete construction, and the line disappearing into a long-disused, weed-ridden goods yard. Perhaps if the Green Belt land to the south is built upon, as has been recently threatened, there might be a station constructed somewhere down the planned line, perhaps with a pedestrian link to the World of Adventures. Apropos the Shepperton branch, that too was projected to go further than its current terminus of Shepperton, to Chertsey I believe (does anyone know which way the junction would have faced on the Virginia Water > Weybridge line?). Traffic on the branch might also be fairly light because Freedom Passes and Oyster Cards are not valid beyond Hampton.

 

[hermit]

Lymington Pier

 

[mickey]

You’ll probably say it’s far too busy (and fairly), but Hunts Cross always seemed to me to be a bit like this - a runt out beyond the natural end, particularly after the huge South Parkway complex opened. I’m too young to remember the ‘old’ trains into Central.

Bedwyn definitely qualifies. A tiny village just over the Berks/Wilts border that ended up as the NSE boundary because it had space for a small turn back siding, which looks even more ridiculous with an IET idling away.

I’ll die on the hill shouting that the service should extend well beyond Aylesbury North. Completely ridiculous that those plans have been ditched.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You’ll probably say it’s far too busy (and fairly), but Hunts Cross always seemed to me to be a bit like this - a runt out beyond the natural end, particularly after the huge South Parkway complex opened. I’m too young to remember the ‘old’ trains into Central.

It's an interesting point but to me Gateacre is the natural end, though that could well itself qualify!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I wonder if Alton would count, just for the hundreds of times I’ve boarded an empty peak hour Waterloo service at Farnham or Aldershot and it’s left full and standing.

Edit: No actually I’m pushing it big time there. 3 platforms, staffed, and in a decent sized town.

 

[zwk500]

Bedwyn is in a small village.

Does Bedwyn count as a terminus in this context?

Uckfield is a good contender. It is just a very basic long platform. It does have a small ticket office but it is only open for a few hours in the morning. So for the rest of the day all you have is a small bus shelter type shelter for cover. It is an extremely basic station especially for what is quite a large town.

Uckfield is a good shout, especially prior to the station building being put up.
In the same area, you have Seaford where the whole branch has an air of neglect, with the only remaining platform numbered 2.

 

[Timetraveller]

Adwick probably counts with the Adwick > Doncaster > Sheffield Midland hourly stopping service.