Trivia - Furthest away you can see a train?

[Peter0124]

Just wondering anyone for example who is high up in a flat or office tower etc whether they can see trains from miles away (with a zoom lens or naked eye) and what the furthest distance is?

 

[EuxtonNeutral]

Just wondering anyone for example who is high up in a flat or office tower etc whether they can see trains from miles away (with a zoom lens or naked eye) and what the furthest distance is?

Views of the wcml from ivinghoe beacon; the Pennines (Lancashire) and the howgill fells (Cumbria) are pretty far-reaching.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I could see trains in Wakefield Westgate from Sandall Castle (1.8 miles).
Up in Sky Garden in London I could see c2c trains what I estimate to be just over 2 miles away (longer views may be available for South of the river)

I think the ultimate answer to this question is going to be somewhere coastal, where a train can be seen with a heavy zoom.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Much of the line between Headcorn and Tonbridge (Kent) is relatively straight and even with the naked eye, I could spot a train approaching from over a mile away with the naked eye. And this was long before headlights became standard

 

[jfowkes]

The tallest publicly accessible point in the UK is the viewing area of 22 Bishopsgate in London, which is 254m high. Roughly speaking, the distance to the horizon from there is 19.5 miles.

This is presumably the upper limit for how far away you could theoretically see a train in the UK.

With good weather conditions, no haze (good luck getting that in London) and a very stable and good quality optical platform, I reckon this would be possible to achieve.

 

[Iskra]

You can get good views from Arnside across the estuary as far as Kents Bank, which I think is pretty decent from almost sea level.

 

[aw1972]

It's possible to see trains at St Ishmael (between Ferryside and Kidwelly) from the car park in front of Laugharne Castle, about four miles away (or 22 by road). You are looking straight down the estuary towards the point where the Taf, Towy and Gwendraeth meet Carmarthen Bay

It helps if it's a clear day and the train is wearing TFW grey and red livery.

 

[miami]

> The tallest publicly accessible point in the UK is the viewing area of 22 Bishopsgate in London, which is 254m high.

My village shop is 250m and it's not even a particularly hilly place

> This is presumably the upper limit for how far awayyou could theoretically see a train in the UK.

From Blackpool, I suspect that on a clear day you could see trains crossing the Leven viaduct 26 miles away. Blackpool tower observation deck claims to be 412 foot ASL, so about 25 mile horizon, but the viaduct is 26 foot above sea level, which would allow a combined distance upto about 31 miles, with no obstructions.

 

[trainmania100]

Newhaven harbour beach footbridge you can see over a mile to trains departing Bishopstone
.
If you stand on mount caburn (beddingham north of southerham junction you can see 2 miles down into southease if it's a clear day

 

[jfowkes]

My village shop is 250m and it's not even a particularly hilly place

Ok yeah fair enough, I interpreted the question as literally being about buildings rather than hills/mountains.

 

[johnr57]

Maybe not the furthest but quite probably one of the most scenic, dent head viaduct car park to dent station , just over 1.5 miles

 

[Peter0124]

Ok yeah fair enough, I interpreted the question as literally being about buildings rather than hills/mountains.

I should have clarified that it can be from anywhere, a building was just an example

 

[Skiddaw]

Views of the wcml from ivinghoe beacon; the Pennines (Lancashire) and the howgill fells (Cumbria) are pretty far-reaching.

I'll second that one! You get a good distant view of the WCML from some of the eastern Lake District fells too. Tarn Crag and Grey Crag between Shap and Haweswater for example.

 

[ThirteenArches]

Assuming a visual angle of about 1 arc minute, and a train height of 4 metres, I make the ultimate distance at which you can see a train about 4.5km, or nearly 3 miles. Of course, a good plume of steam and a brass dome glittering in bright sunshine might help. And having decent eyesight will help too. Do Specsavers sell beer goggles?

 

[Spartacus]

There's certainly places in the Pennine where you can see a LONG way down valleys to railways. I can't remember where but I can firmly remember walking someone and a coal train in the far distance being tiny, barely perceptible.

Then again another possibility is Emley Moor Mast. Not normally accessible to the public but the viewing area up it is over 1000ft from the ground, so anywhere you can see it from should be visible from it, so....

 

[norbitonflyer]

I used to work in a skyscraper near Earls Court, and could clearly see trains moving in and out of Clapham Junction, which is quite remrakbakle for a built up area
From a train on either side of the Exe estuary, you can see trains on the other side
From the Military Road on the west side of Rannoch Moor, you can see trains negotiating its eastern fringes, about ten miles away.
Lincoln Cathedral can be seen from the East Coast Main line near Tuxford about 15 miles away, so it should be possible to see trains on the ECML from the cathedral

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The tallest publicly accessible point in the UK is the viewing area of 22 Bishopsgate in London, which is 254m high. Roughly speaking, the distance to the horizon from there is 19.5 miles.

That's only a little bit higher than the Shard's viewing platform ( 244m ) isn't it? What sort of angle do you have to the railway from Bishopsgate? The Shard being right next to the line through London Bridge and with a fairly neutral horizon to the south east might have the edge for seeing trains?

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I've been walking the Malverns today and from the summit of North Hill you can see the line running straight towards Worcester, a distance of around 8 miles

 

[miami]

I reckon you might be able to see the southern half of the Forth Bridge from the summit of Beinn Each, about 65km, and a lot of the bridge from a point a little south around 56.2955N 4.2496W, about 62.5km. Obviously you'd need a very good camera or binoculars, at least 25x magnification, but ideally more like 100x, based on line of sight from https://radioreferenceuk.co.uk/losmap.php.

A reasonable quality viewing should be possible with the right atmospheric conditions at 65km, the wind turbines in the photo from winter hill at https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...ent/heres-why-this-picture-is-not-fake-813195 are further than 65km

 

[fishwomp]

https://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm would give you a distance to horizon for specific height above sea level.

Atop Snowdon (1085m), the range would be 117.7km - which is alas 13km too few to be able to see the Wicklow to Dublin line. Were that line to reach 30+m at any point , you would just see it - but alas it's pretty close to sea level.
In theory, you can see Blackpool trams from Snowdon, and some parts of the Isle of Man Steam Railway.

 

[Mat17]

Then again another possibility is Emley Moor Mast. Not normally accessible to the public but the viewing area up it is over 1000ft from the ground, so anywhere you can see it from should be visible from it, so....

Emley Moor was the first thing I thought of. You can see it from the Penistone Line and the Hallam Line. Definitely viewable from a number of stations on the Penistone line.

 

[Halish Railway]

You can just about make out trains crossing Arthington viaduct from a couple of points on Ilkley Moor.

 

[brad465]

From Lodge Hill in Castle Cary there is a long range view westward allowing trains travelling to/from Taunton to be seen for several miles. I haven't pin-pointed exactly how far, but Lydford-on-Fosse is probably the limit, which is 5-6 miles off.

 

[johnr57]

There is a brief moment when travelling on the A1 towards Edinburgh, just before Haddington if I remember correctly where you get a glimpse of the Forth Rail Bridge , this is about 20 miles

 

[Essexman]

Varying the question a bit - places you can see the train from or close to the station where you are going to catch it, long before it arrives -

Starcross - across the Exe Estuary (~1.5 miles) to just after it leaves Exmouth. Doesn't arrive at Starcross for about 40 minutes.
Barmouth - to well before it arrives at Fairbourne. Maybe 3 miles? Perhaps 15 minutes before it arrives at Barmouth.

 

[Taunton]

We discussed previously, but I've never had a chance to try it, there being some hilltop point near Wincanton, East Somerset, where you can see both the Paddington line near Castle Cary and the Waterloo line near Templecombe at the same time. Crew from both routes said the point was visible.

It surprised me once from the Sevenoaks line south of Polhill tunnel to see the lights of a train on the Maidstone East line near Otford, winter only I think with leaves off the trees.

From Calton Hill in the middle of Edinburgh, having good binoculars, we once could make out trains moving over in Fife near Burntisland.

From West Kirby in the Wirral I can youthfully recall not only seeing the lights of trains on the North Wales coast line near Point of Ayr, but in the mid-1960s faintly hearing a steam loco whistle come across the sea.

 

[Tetchytyke]

With good enough binoculars anda clear day you should be able to see the Cumbrian Coast railway near Sellafield from the top of Snaefell. That’s about 45-50 miles.

 

[unlevel42]

In Eryri, from Carnedd Llewelyn you can see without aid, the steam from the locos on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) about 10 miles away.

 

[PeterY]

Views of the wcml from ivinghoe beacon; the Pennines (Lancashire) and the howgill fells (Cumbria) are pretty far-reaching.

I live near Ivinghoe beacon the the trains look smaller than N gauge.

 

[Starmill]

With good enough binoculars anda clear day you should be able to see the Cumbrian Coast railway near Sellafield from the top of Snaefell. That’s about 45-50 miles.

That's pretty good. Do you know the elevation for completeness?