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Which is your favourite railway line in the UK and why?

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backontrack

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Two lesser known routes

Blackburn - Hellifield. The scenery in the Ribble Valley is very pleasant.

Whitland - Milford Haven. I love the West Wales lines after spending many of my childhood holidays down there
They both sound lovely.
 
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nw1

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Not necessarily my favourite, but I'll single out the Dorking-Horsham line (or at least the Ockley-Horsham section, which is what I've used) for having a certain old-school charm that you don't get much in the southeast these days. Also some isolated country stations like Ockley which are literally deep in the countryside yet (at least on Mon-Sat daytimes) have an hourly service to London.
 

SteveyBee131

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So many to choose! But I'll start with 2 nobody's mentioned yet: firstly, Cleethorpes to Retford on the Saturdays only via Brigg. The scenery through the Lincolnshire Wolds is very pleasant and the times are quite good to have a few hours in a lovely market town with lots of railway interest, or in the other direction for a day at the seaside. The other is the Island Line, in it's own way beautiful, and where my dear wife and I had our honeymoon!

Any of the Cross-Pennine routes are breathtaking with beautiful scenery and I never tire of them, I only wish I had time and resources to sample them more often!

The Cumbrian Coast is also up there for me but I think top spot for a railway day out goes to a Welsh scenic circle as follows: Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Conwy Valley), Ffestiniog Railway to Porthmadog, Cambrian Coast line to Barmouth (break for lunch and pics of Barmouth Bridge), continue to Shrewsbury, loco-hauled to Llandudno Junction via Chester then back to Llandudno in the evening. I did that a few years ago as part of a 4 in 8 days rover there which was absolutely brilliant!
 

underbank

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Settle & Carlisle - a no brainer.

Close second would be the Carnforth to York line (same area, similar scenery), just a shame that it's infested by awful Pacers and Sprinters which absolutely ruin what would be a good ride.
 

Big Tim

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I've done the route to death, but the ECML as it passes the Northumberland coast is spectacular (especially on a summer evening with a glass of something pleasant to drink). The two major crossings north of Edinburgh are brilliant too (Forth & Tay) ... you often can tell the "first timers" on this route as they get out of their seats to get a better vantage point. (I actually like the whole journey through Fife, as there is a huge contrast of landscapes / activities going on).

I also love the N.Y.M.R., being a place we visited regularly when growing up, the scenery through the North York Moors is amazing - everything else that goes with it is a wonderful bonus!

I agree with Randyrippley above, the Manx Electric Railway is excellent - I've only done the section between Douglas and Ramsey (not the "Mountain Railway" to the top of Snaefell), but the views are absolutely breathtaking, particularly between Onchan and Laxey.
 

al78

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Not necessarily my favourite, but I'll single out the Dorking-Horsham line (or at least the Ockley-Horsham section, which is what I've used) for having a certain old-school charm that you don't get much in the southeast these days. Also some isolated country stations like Ockley which are literally deep in the countryside yet (at least on Mon-Sat daytimes) have an hourly service to London.

That is quite a nice section of line, I've used it when wanting to knock a few miles off cycling or going to/from my workplace to London. My only minor bugbear on that line is the ride quality. Sometimes it feels like I am in a magnitude 8 earthquake with the amount of shaking.
 

mlambeuk

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Leeds to York via Harrogate nice scenery
York to Hull especially when it runs along side the Humber and under the Humber bridge
 

Crawley Ben

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St Ives Branch down in Cornwall is up there for me. Only travelled on it once before (last year) but absolutely loved the stunning coastline scenery .

Settle and Carlisle is on my list of lines to travel on as not done that one yet.

Is the Dartmouth Steam Railway paticuarly scenic does anyone know/think? The pics of it passing along a stretch of coastline always makes me think so (another line I wish to travel on at some point)

Cheers

Ben
 

Cowley

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Is the Dartmouth Steam Railway paticuarly scenic does anyone know/think? The pics of it passing along a stretch of coastline always makes me think so (another line I wish to travel on at some point)

Cheers

Ben

It’s very scenic Ben, with some good climbs on it too.
The section from Goodrington up to Churston has great sea views and the run into Kingswear along the River Dart is pretty stunning really.
 

SwindonBert

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St Ives Branch down in Cornwall is up there for me. Only travelled on it once before (last year) but absolutely loved the stunning coastline scenery .

Settle and Carlisle is on my list of lines to travel on as not done that one yet.

Is the Dartmouth Steam Railway paticuarly scenic does anyone know/think? The pics of it passing along a stretch of coastline always makes me think so (another line I wish to travel on at some point)

Cheers

Ben
Dartmouth line is very much worth doing (have done this a couple of times & would do it again) - if you have the time, have a look at the Round Robin as it's a great day out & lovely scenery
 

Altfish

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I personally love the WCML from Oxenholme up to Carstairs, a lovely bit of high speed engineering through stunning scenery (the M6 up there is glorious too!).
Agreed, although I'd start a bit further south. Lancaster, then you get the coastal stretch passed Hest Bank too.
 
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