List your 3 most interesting and most boring parts of your local line

[PTR 444]

Railways, like many things in life, can be very varied. One moment you might be passing over some very picturesque hills on a viaduct, only for the next ten minutes to be stuck in a seemingly never-ending tunnel or cutting. Based on train journeys you have made, if you had to list your most interesting and most boring parts of your local railway line, what would they be?

I will nominate the SWML. My 3 most interesting sections are:

• The section over Holes Bay between Hamworthy and Poole. This has stunning views of Poole and the Purbecks and feels like you’re riding on water at one point.
• East of Totton to Southampton Central. Crossing the River Test signals the transition from rural to urban, and getting up close to the activity at the docks is something you can’t normally do outside of the train.
• The approach to London Waterloo. As soon as Big Ben and the London Eye come into sight, you can’t help but feel the anticipatory excitement of knowing you are about to set foot in the capital.

Most boring

• East of Branksome viaduct to Bournemouth. While not the most boring overall, this stretch is rather slow with not much to see while the phone reception isn’t great. Also being held at a signal west of Bournemouth can be a pain.
• Just west of Hinton Admiral to Ashurst. Most of this long section is in a cutting with not much in sight, not to mention the loss of 4G signal throughout. The bit around Beaulieu Road is not so bad with some nice views of the New Forest, but the phone reception is still diabolical until you are east of Ashurst.
• Winchester to Worting Junction. With only one station and several tunnels on this lengthy stretch, the journey feels a lot longer than it ought to.

 

[Runningaround]

Every structure that's been built since 1990 from Stations to Signal Boxes, Sheds P-Way depots and even bridges. all plain and dull and look temporary, how NR get away with this on a line that skirts Snowdonia National Park on what's considered a ''picturesque'' line has baffled many.
Welshpool, Bow Street Stations are as ugly and plain and in Welshpools case has what they used to build nearby to put the designer to shame and aren't more than a Bus Shelter.
The new sheds at Mach are plain sheds perhaps they are functional but put a bit of imagination The old Crossville garage looks similar. And how on earth did the get planning permission to put the portacabins in the yard which includes the signalling centre? They blend in so well with the construction site for the new bridge the contractors there have similar looking facilities. If the National Park was 500 meters further South they'd surely have to adhere to stricter criteria.
Train Sim creators have created better.

 

[telstarbox]

Ashford International to London Charing Cross is on average my lifetime "local line" and maybe for @yorksrob too

Best bits:

Ashford is quite interesting railway-wise with lots of sidings and the Eurostar flyover
Some pleasant scenery from Headcorn to Paddock Wood
The urban section from New Cross to Charing Cross, including the final approach over the Thames where you can see the City, the South Bank and Parliament.

Worst bits:
Around Grove Park is pretty uninspiring with a cemetery and cash and carry
Sevenoaks tunnel is very long
The Lewisham down loop because I've been stuck on a train there too many times!

 

[TXMISTA]

Severn Beach is my local and for a suburban/inner-city branch line, I’d say it’s pretty interesting overall.

Most interesting:
Avonmouth - Severn Beach stretch by the Severn Estuary
Approach into Temple Meads and St. Phillip’s Marsh
Sea Mills and Shirehampton stretch by the Avon Gorge

Most boring:
Clifton Down - Montpelier is mostly repetitive, suburban Bristol apart from the Redland Viaduct
Clifton Down tunnel because it’s the only section with no scenery

The line is only 16 miles long so there’s not many other boring parts I can think of.

 

[yorksrob]

Well, I guess mr local line would currently be the Hallam line.

The most interesting bits I find are:

- Horbury Junction - always like to see the signal box.
- South of Horbury Junction you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the wonderful Crigglestone Viaduct on the old Royston Junction - Dewsbury freight line (depending on the vegetation).
- The section between Meadowhall and Sheffield has some interesting trackwork and the remains of various disused stations.

Boring bits:

- Normanton to Leeds - seen it too many times on my commute.
- Barnsley - station is a bit Brooksidey for me.
- The section around Chapeltown is a bit boring.

Ashford International to London Charing Cross is on average my lifetime "local line" and maybe for @yorksrob too

Best bits:

Ashford is quite interesting railway-wise with lots of sidings and the Eurostar flyover
Some pleasant scenery from Headcorn to Paddock Wood
The urban section from New Cross to Charing Cross, including the final approach over the Thames where you can see the City, the South Bank and Parliament.

Worst bits:
Around Grove Park is pretty uninspiring with a cemetery and cash and carry
Sevenoaks tunnel is very long
The Lewisham down loop because I've been stuck on a train there too many times!

It was indeed for many years. Highlights for me are:

- The countryside between Ashford and Paddock Wood - very beautiful and back in the day you could still see the old K&ESR platform at Headcorn (since had a freight loop put through it).
- Another great stretch of countryside between Sevenoaks and Orpington, particularly around Polehill Tunnel
- The approach to London, particularly along the viaduct with the view of the London skyline and the erotic gherkin.

Lowlights are:

- The section between Paddock Wood and Tonbridge always seems a bit dull.
- Chart Leacon looks a lot less interesting now that they've flattened it - been to two good open days there previously.
- Can't think of any other lowlights - it's quite an interesting line really !

 

[Strathclyder]

The North Clyde/Argyle Lines have long been my local lines, so I'll be drawing examples from both for this list.

Most interesting

• Hamilton Central to Airbles (Argyle): the view of Motherwell from Camp Viaduct headed towards Airbles always manages to break up the visual monotony that is the Hamilton Loop
• Whifflet/Bellshill to Motherwell (Argyle): Similar to the above, the sprawling view of Motherwell from Braidhurst Viaduct headed towards the former is more than sufficent relief for the monotony that is the Uddingston - Motherwell via Bellshill and the Rutherglen - Whifflet via Carmyle sections of the Argyle Line
• Dalreoch to Craigendoran & Kilpatrick to Dumbarton East (North Clyde): Let's just put it this way: I wish I were around to have been able to ride the unrefurbished 303s along these sections

Least interesting

• The underground sections of both lines in Glasgow City Centre proper or in it's immediate urban areas: Seemingly never-ending tunnels to say nothing of the stations themselves. The Argyle Street - Bridgeton section of the Argyle Line does have some interest, namely the track-level remains of the abandoned Glasgow Cross & Glasgow Green stations, but that's about it
• Dalmuir - Hyndland (both branches via Singer and Yoker): nothing inherently boring or wrong with either of these sections, it's just that I've personally travelled on both branches that often over the years that they've become 'meh' to me. Nothing particularly stands out to me anymore on either. Plus slowly rolling up to a red signal at Hyndland East Junction coming from Anniesland is the height of tedium when it happens (and it does fairly often)
• Rutherglen to Whifflet via Carmyle: just plain dull

 

[birchesgreen]

Cross City North

3 most interesting:
- heading through the Gravelly Hill Interchange aka Spaghetti Junction
- the contrast once you enter Staffordshire, from housing estates to farm land
- Sutton Coldfield station with it's architecture and the tunnel

3 least:
- the samey stations on the majority of the trip
- the suburban sprawl
- apart from the odd XC ecs or diversion the rolling stock is pretty much the same all day

 

[Neptune]

- Barnsley - station is a bit Brooksidey for me.

Brilliant

My local line is the Airedale line Leeds - Skipton.

Interesting:-
- The scenery north of Keighley is the beginnings of the ‘S&C look’ in places.
- The operations around Shipley station where 4 routes meet each other.
- Shipley (station buildings only), Bingley, Keighley (with the adjacent K&WVR) & Skipton still with their old Victorian look and mainly sympathetically restored.

Not so interesting:-
- The awful 1980’s wooden stations (Saltaire, Crossflatts and Steeton & Silsden). I guess that was all that the budget would stretch to back then though.
- The tedium of travelling on the same route for nearly 50 years. It has had many changes but it soon grows old hat once those changes are bedded in.
- Saltaire village. Why oh why do people think Saltaire is nice. Collapsing houses the residents aren’t allowed to tamper with (ie improve) with back alleys full of wheelie bins and dog sh*t which sell for far more than a nice 3 bed semi with a decent garden in a much nicer area, a canal full of wellies and shopping trollies next to a mill that was built by a tyrant who had hired thugs breaking peoples arms in the gates if they were 30 seconds late for work yet somehow it is a ’UNESCO world heritage site’ and Titus was such a ‘nice man’ (laughable to say the least when you live in the area and know people who worked and lived there and can tell you the true history of the place). Anyone who wants to see a nice model village just go to Port Sunlight or Bourneville.

 

[D821]

Wirral line

Best bits:
- Looking at the fields and horses between Meols and Moreton, always cheers me up on a bright sunny morning
- Around Birkenhead North, seeing what's going on around the depot. Seeing the merchant navy ships in the docks, if they're not obscured by the smoke from a burning 230.
- James Street station, looking at the disused platform and wondering what the station was like when it opened over 130 years ago

Bad bits:
- Travelling through Birkenhead and seeing all the rubbish the locals think is fine to throw over their back wall.
- Going round the loop under Liverpool in the summer on a 507 / 508 with the windows open and having to put up with the loud screeching

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Penistone Line:
Top 3: Penistone viaduct; Denby Dale viaduct; the views up the Holme Valley from Lockwood viaduct.

Bottom 3: the crawl through darkness into Huddersfield P2; the approaches to Sheffield station; the industrial wasteland just outside Meadowhall on the Barnsley side.

 

[Peter0124]

The Argyle and Newton branch of Cathcart Circle lines for me:

In my opinion:

Most interesting:
•Newton to Glasgow Central (low level)
•Kings Park to Glasgow Central (via Mount Florida)
•Hamilton Central to Whifflet (passing Airbles and Mossend yard)

Least interesting:
•Kirkhill-Kings Park

 

[Gloster]

Most interesting:

Going along Ryde Pier
Passing the depot
The old signal box at Brading

Least interesting:

Ryde Tunnel
Most of the line south of Smallbrook
And (by a long way) the tedious small-talk of other passengers.

 

[AGH]

Chat Moss

Best-
Sankey Viaduct - Victorian engineering at its best.
Earlestown triangular station (one of 2 in England?)
Huyton junction taken at speed - smooth

Worst
Astley crossing - everyone slows for it
No platforms at Salford Central - 2 min walk from the office.
Whiston Station - Grim.

 

[Dave Beeching]

Most boring

• Winchester to Worting Junction. With only one station and several tunnels on this lengthy stretch, the journey feels a lot longer than it ought to.

Whaaaaaaaaat? Yeah, the in and out of the tunnels makes it fun no? Plus the loops with various freight trains being overtaken, the randomness of whatever has been dumped at the old oil terminal at Micheldever station and then the sun shimmering off a misty morning over the River Dever. If you're lucky you get to see teeing off at Test Valley or a wicket being taken at Oakley CC. Deffo more interesting than say further up towards Farnborough (well, I think so).

 

[D6130]

The Calder Valley Line:

As I can't think of anything boring about my local line, may I be permitted to have six good things instead?

(1) The station cafe at Hebden Bridge....and the beautifully-restored Victorian station in general.
(2) The two triangles (Hall Royd Jn-Stansfield Hall Jn-Todmorden Station Jn and Milner Royd Jn-Greetland Jn-Dryclough Jn)
(3) The magnificent George Stephenson-designed viaducts and canal bridges.
(4) The amazing George Stephenson-designed Summit Tunnel....the longest in the World when opened and survivor of the great fire of 1984.
(5) The many other tunnels (long, medium and short).
(6) The wonderful scenery....especially between Sowerby Bridge and Littleborough.

 

[Western 52]

My local line is Swansea to Carmarthen.

Best bits are stunning coastal scenery (especially around Ferryside), some nice signalboxes (2 with semaphores) and we still have some oil trains with class 60s.

Worst bits are the rather infrequent service, overcrowding on some trains and the rather basic state of some stations.

 

[mlambeuk]

York to Leeds Via Harrogate
Knaresborough Viaduct.
Crimple Viaduct (especially when you approach from the Leeds direction).
Bramhope Tunnel.
Boring Bits.
Skelton Junction, the York bound train always seems to get held there
Between Skelton Junction and York is a bit boring until you get to the railway museum
Between Burley Park and Horsforth.

 

[AlastairFraser]

My local line nowadays is Manchester to Preston via Bolton ( I often go through Wigan as well, but the most interesting bits are on the Chat Moss and that's been done already.)
Most interesting bits:
1) The fast section down the Irwell Valley from Farnworth to Salford, pretty amazing views going onto the first glimpses of Mcr at Salford Crescent.
2) Momentous approach to Preston over the Ribble and the views from the railway at that point across Avenham Park.
3) The views across from the Adlington to Horwich section towards Winter Hill and the rest of the West Pennine Moors. Especially good in Summer.
Less interesting bits:
1) The long slog through warehousing and suburbs around Penwortham, Buckshaw Village and Leyland South of Preston.
2) Chorley Tunnel misses out some quite good views eastbound towards Blackburn on the top.
3) Agecroft cement works just north of Salford Crescent is the exception to my comment about Bolton to Salford above, mostly because it's 1) super industrial and 2) Southbound services often spend ages waiting there because there's so much pathing time added Bolton-Salford.

 

[Taunton]

Most dreary :

Piccadilly Line going to Heathrow to catch a plane. Commonly a signal stop outside Acton Town for a couple of minutes, when you wonder if there has been some issue, then all those stops down the Heathrow branch just seem to go on and on. Are we only at Northfields? On we go. Stop again. Stop again. Oh, it's still only Hounslow EAST.

 

[Ianigsy]

Leeds to Ilkley:

Highlights:

The ruins of Kirkstall Abbey a couple of miles outside Leeds
The area just before Apperley Junction where the railway is parallel to the canal and at the same level
The platform extensions at Guiseley where Leeds and Bradford to Ilkley and Harrogate trains used to exchange portions in Victorian times- must have been manic at times!

Lowlights:

Not many original station buildings left- only Menston and possibly one or two shelters
Operational inflexibility - there are only two sections between Guiseley and Ilkley so it’s quite common for a peak journey home to be held at Guiseley waiting for the previous train to clear Burley
Similarly, the station throat at Leeds is at capacity- I used to take the 1732 Leeds-Ilkley home, but if the 1729 Harrogate or 1726 Skipton were at all delayed, the controllers had a nasty habit of letting those go, then letting the 1735 Bradford FS out on time and leaving the Ilkley to find its own way.

 

[adamedwards]

+
Digswell Viaduct
Hitchin Flyover
Roof at Kings Cross

-
Too many tunnels!
Shabby stations like New Barnet or New Southgate
The annoying speed limit at Brookmans Park on the slow lines.

 

[satisnek]

The Worcestershire leg of the Snow Hill Lines for me. Simply, south of Stourbridge most interesting, north of Stourbridge most boring. The most interesting highlights I would pick are:

• The countryside between Hagley and Kidderminster, the 'green belt' which separates Kidderminster from the West Midlands (so, therefore, it's not "Kiddiminster"!).
• Hoobrook Viaduct, the west-side vista including Falling Sands Viaduct on the SVR.
• North of Droitwich, around the A442 bridge, where it's possible to see right across the Vale of Severn to the Abberley Clock Tower on the hills beyond.

Meanwhile north of Stourbridge it's slow, twisty, steeply-graded, lots of station stops and industrial/low-end residential sprawl all the way. I couldn't possibly select three lowlights from this, it's awful, just awful.

 

[WessexRails]

Another for the the SWML.

Best
1) going through the New Forest spotting horses, cows, and deer
2) shipping containers and docks at Soton
3) Vauxhall and Waterloo area, feels exciting and a complete contrast to earlier in the journey

Worst
1) area around Christchurch is a little boring
2) Fleet / Farnborough area isn't the most interesting
3) I can't say my local station Branksome is very inspiring!

 

[Some guy]

WCML:
Best
.The line between oxenholme and Penrith has the best scenery in the whole country
.The line from Carlisle the carstairs
.The full tilt past rugby station is quite a nice experience
Worst parts
.From Wolves to Coventry the passengers seem to be very rude on this part
.Fact most of the north WCML is double track so isn’t good when disruption or a broken down freight train blocks the entire route for hours
.Always gets way too much engineering works which ruins weekend plans

 

[lkpridgeon]

• Winchester to Worting Junction. With only one station and several tunnels on this lengthy stretch, the journey feels a lot longer than it ought to.

I love this stretch of line however I might be a tad bias. It's got nice views worting junction is a tasteful bit of grade separation, the "cliffs" of Micheldever Station are nice to stare at whilst waiting for the train.

The bit I dislike is the section between Farnborough end of Pirbright Jn and hook rather boring as that's not all that much going on.

 

[Bletchleyite]

WCML:
Best
.The line between oxenholme and Penrith has the best scenery in the whole country
.The line from Carlisle the carstairs
.The full tilt past rugby station is quite a nice experience
Worst parts
.From Wolves to Coventry the passengers seem to be very rude on this part
.Fact most of the north WCML is double track so isn’t good when disruption or a broken down freight train blocks the entire route for hours
.Always gets way too much engineering works which ruins weekend plans

I was going to do the WCML as it's mine too but I literally can't think of a single uninteresting bit of any of it in terms of the actual route (which is where the thread is I think aimed). It's a line that literally tells the story of the whole UK, incorporating elements of all the types of scenery you can get in the UK (other than I guess rocky coastlines, but you do see the sea at Hest Bank).

Best 3 bits, then:
- Top has to be Shap (as you say). An utterly stunningly scenic piece of railway (made all the better by being populated by "proper trains" at high speed and not little DMUs) that in my view beats the S&C though probably not the Conwy Valley (close, though) or the Highland Mainline. Very much an unsung hero of the railway that hardly anyone knows about. Even beats some Swiss routes (though not all; my favourite railway in the world is I think the Montreux Riviera line...but I digress!)
- Second I reckon the bit through the north Chilterns around Cheddington/Tring. Utterly stunning at sunset, though I've never managed to get a photograph to come out well. Classic Home Counties scenery on the way home from a day in London!
- Third probably the West Midlands via New St. It's not scenic in a traditional sense, but it again is a key part of telling the story of Britain, in this case our industrial heritage and equivalent of the Ruhrgebiet.

The ECML is utterly and totally drab except Durham and about the last hour into Edinburgh by comparison. I'd always say tourists should choose the WCML - you can literally see Britain in one 5-hour train ride if you do London-Glasgow/Edinburgh via Birmingham.

 

[sussexbythesea]

Oxted line. Regularly use it to and from London.

Best 3 bits (in no particular order):

1. Hurst Green - Sanderstead (in the up direction): Passing over the town of Oxted on the viaduct, before (especially on an Uckfield train) speeding through suburban south London and watching as the scenery becomes more and more urban. Seeing the Caterham line and surburbia lain out in the valley below.
2. Eridge station. Always exciting seeing what's running on the Spa Valley Railway, and Eridge's lovely restored station is always a treat.
3. Crowborough to Uckfield: Very rural railway, passing across a few viaducts and then alongside the river Uck and the nature reserve as the train slows for Uckfield.

Worst 3 bits:

1. South Croydon junction: I have lost count of the number of times I have been held at a red signal staring at nothing but houses whilst waiting for a late Thameslink train to traverse the junction
2. Oxted Tunnel southbound: Often crawling through this tunnel behind a stopping East Grinstead service makes it feel like this tunnel goes on forever.
3. Cowden - Hurst Green: There just isn't much to see!

 

[_toommm_]

I'll do one of my regular commutes in the past, which is the Hope Valley Line:

Best bits:
- The view on the left travelling towards Manchester Piccadilly, or the right travelling towards Sheffield. I'm still not sick of it and on a gorgeous day or a snowy day I'll still take the time to look at it for a while.
- Stockport (surprisingly) - seeing the redevelopment of Stockport Bus Station and bits of the town centre. I'm not over that way that much anymore so there's always something different, and passing the two very large signal boxes there and seeing the glimpses of movement inside them.
- Earles Sidings - I've only ever once seen their resident white Class 20 in the sidings, so I'm always on the lookout to see it again.

Worst bits:
- The slog from Dore into Sheffield, especially if you're on a service stopping at Dore. It feels really slow and like you're always either getting delayed by something, or delaying something else.
- Seeing just how many MK5a sets are not in use at Longsight because of lack of training.
- Just how bad the signal is on Vodafone - I'll have useable signal at Grindleford, Hope, and approaching Hazel Grove.

 

[Bletchleyite]

- The view on the left travelling towards Manchester Piccadilly, or the right travelling towards Sheffield. I'm still not sick of it and on a gorgeous day or a snowy day I'll still take the time to look at it for a while.

Curiously I actually prefer the left hand side towards Sheffield!

- Stockport (surprisingly) - seeing the redevelopment of Stockport Bus Station and bits of the town centre. I'm not over that way that much anymore so there's always something different, and passing the two very large signal boxes there and seeing the glimpses of movement inside them.

That's another one to add to the WCML list, it's a bit like the West Midlands but with mountains too! Always love going across there.

 

[Efini92]

Chat Moss

Best-
Sankey Viaduct - Victorian engineering at its best.
Earlestown triangular station (one of 2 in England?)
Huyton junction taken at speed - smooth

Worst
Astley crossing - everyone slows for it
No platforms at Salford Central - 2 min walk from the office.
Whiston Station - Grim.

Couldn’t agree more with Astley, I’m sure the signaller deliberately holds the signal on.
It also happens to be one of only a few places in the north west where you can see all of the 4 aspect signal sequence at once.