TRIVIA - IF you could travel on a closed line which would it be?

John Luxton · 26 Jul 2017

My choices would be:

Meldon Quarry to Bere Alston
Ruabon to Morfa Mawddach
West Kirby to Hooton

Strange thing is back in the 1980s shortly after learning to drive I walked a section of the Welsh Highland and dreamt what it might be like to travel on it. I also stopped and photographed Woody Bay Station from the road and thought wouldn't it be wonderful if ..

Well with time sometimes dreams do come true .... I am hoping before my time is up that I can travel at least between Meldon and Bere Alston that might just be possible especially if nature takes its course again!

John

RailUK Forums

trevwilliams · 27 Jul 2017

Brunel's Atmospheric and broad gauge between Swindon and Bristol.

61653 HTAFC · 27 Jul 2017

For me it'd be a tour of some of the lost lines of West Yorkshire...
Deighton to Kirkburton; Lockwood to Meltham; Brockholes to Holmfirth; Shepley to Clayton West (though I did travel that one as a "babe in arms"!)... along with the Spen Valley; the Leeds "New Line"; Pickle Bridge; Harrogate via Wetherby; the aforementioned Queensbury lines... The list could go on!

Calthrop · 27 Jul 2017

For myself: as I've posted in previous threads on this kind of theme -- if we can be allowed to extend our scope to the Irish Republic, then; the Listowel & Ballybunion Monorail. That thing has always fascinated me.

3141 said:
The round trip that was possible in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Llandudno to Caernarvon, then the original Welsh Highland Railway (with all the connecting industrial branches) and the Ffestiniog's original route to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and then back to Llandudno.

(My bolding) -- there's an exciting and ambitious idea ! Would have required, I feel, both a great deal of time at one's disposal, and a fat wallet...

Welshman said:
...I would have liked to have been able to explore the GN & LNW Joint lines around Belgrave Rd, John'O'Gaunt and Bottesford - again with the triangular junction, and the ironstone lines in the Vale of Belvior.

This bunch of lines has always interested and tantalised me too -- I spent most of my first twenty years living a little way east of that delightful area, but "born too late" and "never in right place at right time" to see any action on said lines while they were still running in any way or shape. They've always struck me as a product of British old-time rail-private-enterprise at its most delightfully bonkers.

Have recently been reading the memoirs of an enthusiast who, resident in Leicester, saw a good deal of this system in its last decade-and-some. Acute envy ensued...

DarloRich · 27 Jul 2017

TimSYoung40145 said:
Garstang to Knott End

Preston to Longridge

Lancaster to Glasson Dock

Coniston branch

Penrith to Cockermouth

Blackpool Central to Kirkham & Wesham

Harrogate to Northallerton via Ripon

So all of them then! :lol:

You cant hog the tardis like that

ge-gn · 27 Jul 2017

Yarmouth/Norwich/Cromer to Melton Constable, South Lynn, Sutton Bridge, Wisbech and Peterborough.

PeterC · 27 Jul 2017

Not lines but some of the great trains - the Brighton Belle and a Blue Pullman in particular. Also two trips on the Metropolitan Railway in Mayflower or Galatea, one from Chesham and one out to Verney Junction.

70014IronDuke · 27 Jul 2017

Stampy said:
Peterborough to Northampton direct.......

Did the last bit of that a couple of times, and was at Thrapston when trains were still running too.

The line I have some 'feel' for - for no real reason other than nobody ever seems to mention it - is Northampton - Towcester - Woodford Halse - [and Stratford, I suppose] the first bit just never seems to get mentioned anywhere.

However, if I had to choose just one, I suppose it would be the S&D.

70014IronDuke · 27 Jul 2017

yorksrob said:
Hmmm
....

Also an InterCity 125 from St Pancras to Manchester Central via Matlock.

Steady on, that is pure fantasy, and against the rules. We haven't invented the multi-dimensional Tardis yet, you know.

You can plonk for the Peak Forest route with the Blue Pullman, or an HST via Dore south curve.

That's yer lot.

Scouseinmanc · 27 Jul 2017

Liverpool Overhead Railway
Bath Green Park - Bournemouth West
Woodhead Line
Great Central
Ruabon - Morfa Mawddach
Carmarthen - Aberystwyth
Waverley Route
Southport - Preston
Manchester Central - Matlock

PeterC · 27 Jul 2017

People keep pulling out more to add to my list. Certainly Barmouth Junction to Ruabon and Aberystwyth to Camarthen.

I know that some are open as preserved lines but all the passenger carrying narrow guage railways when they were operating as commercial railway.

Not passenger carrying but the chance to follow an operating Padern Railway and some of the smaller tramways with a camera.

yorksrob · 27 Jul 2017

70014IronDuke said:
Steady on, that is pure fantasy, and against the rules. We haven't invented the multi-dimensional Tardis yet, you know.

You can plonk for the Peak Forest route with the Blue Pullman, or an HST via Dore south curve.

That's yer lot.

Fair point, but then again no more than me travelling on it since I'm contemporary with the HST

Martin S Heron · 27 Jul 2017

Purely due to the fact that it's where I grew up I'd have to say the Corringham Light Railway. The track to the old Kynochtown station still exists and is part of the line to the oil refinerys - when I was younger every time I'd get on s train Londonwards I'd see the junction to the LTS line and wish I could get on a train down it. The extant track ran past the lake where I used to go fishing and often the oil trains would trundle past very slowly as if tempting me to climb on.

leightonbd · 27 Jul 2017

Lines in to Edinburgh Princes St. I walk the back streets around there, and have run the old Ed suburban lines many times, and it would be such a thrill to go through the time machine and see the steam trains (and DMUs) working away. Princes St must be one of the great stations to be completely gone.

Also: Swansea Victoria along the sea front and up the Clyne valley. A brilliant video with some shots of this can be found by googling Swansea 1966 on YouTube (best for Swansea viewers, perhaps).

Last choice - Boat of Garten up the Speyside line. BoG is my local up North. Some of you teferred to the lines north of Grantown - a lot of the infrastructure can still be seen.

RJ21 · 27 Jul 2017

Ruabon - Barmouth
Connel - Ballachulish
Manchester Central - Matlock
North Rode - Uttoxeter

And an odd one, Cromford & High Peak

Edgeley · 27 Jul 2017

On the basis of it being near where I now live the Tyldesley loop line from Eccles to Leigh.

Otherwise, Marple - Macclesfield; Taunton - Barnstaple.

Mr Fizz · 28 Jul 2017

Just local ones for me. Bumble Hole branch, Snow Hill to Wolves Low Level (you can of course do most of that on the Midland Metro but i would like to have done it properly), Swan Village to Great Bridge, Wolves Low Level to Dudley, Princes End branch and South Staffs Lichfield to Dudley.

So pretty much all of the closed/mothballed lines round my way!

bramling · 28 Jul 2017

DarloRich said:
IF you could travel on a closed line which would it be? This might well require a journey back in time so i will fire up the tardis.

I think for me it would be the line from Darlington to Tebay via Barnard Castle and Stainmore. Purely personal reasons. I went to school in Barnard Castle and we had a model railway club with the lines around Barnard Castle reconstructed with great accuracy. (A bonus would be to see the area around Darlingotn with the works still open)

Second place would be a Leamside line open to passengers but I traveled that way several times on diverted ECML services. Again purely sentimental as my family are from the area and my grandparents lived right next to line where i spent many happy hours as child.

Over to you.......................

I like the idea of Stainmore, and this would be high on my list, however for me it would probably have to be Borough Junction to King William Street. I've walked most of it on foot, but this isn't quite the same.

Others I can think of:
Scarborough - Whitby
Brent - Kingsbridge
Bath Green Park - Bournemouth West
Cockermouth - Workington
Consett - Stanhope
Lincoln - Louth
Dumfries - Stranraer

Can't see any of these ever re-opening, sadly, except possibly Keswick.

PeterC · 28 Jul 2017

I would like to take a train out of Broad Street again, preferably one that ran round the Eastern Curve and down to the Isle of Dogs and then explore all the passenger lines that ran in the area.

I don't know if I ever used it in my pram but I one of my earliest memories is walking down to Stanmore Village station not long after it had closed. A trip on the branch would be nice.

Not a passenger line but just a stroll down The Battis in Romford when the bewery sidings were in use.

theageofthetra · 29 Jul 2017

Dunton Green to Westerham

DerekC · 29 Jul 2017

If I really have got to pick one (some people are just greedy) I would go for our local - Meon Valley from Fareham to Alton. Plus if I am allowed the Basingstoke and Alton Light.

Oh - and what about the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire? And then again Darlorich has a point - Darlington to Tebay over the Belah Viaduct and down the Eden Valley - fantastic!

Sorry, can't decide!

DerekC · 29 Jul 2017

bramling said:
Borough Junction to King William Street.

Is that as in City & South London Line? Not much of a view. How did you manage to walk it?

bramling · 29 Jul 2017

DerekC said:
Is that as in City & South London Line? Not much of a view. How did you manage to walk it?

Yes indeed the CSLR.

The section northwards from Borough Junction can be accessed via non-public parts of London Bridge station, and can also be accessed via both current Northern Line running tunnels south of London Bridge (but not at Borough Junction itself as this was sealed off I believe in WW2 when two strong rooms were built at the far south end of the air raid shelter). The Northern end of the tunnels can be reached from King William Street disused station. This just leaves the bit in between which comprises the section beneath the river. This is bricked off at the south end, and gated off at the north end, and allegedly nowadays is flooded although I've not seen this with my own eyes.

Springs Branch · 30 Jul 2017

If I had to pick one for atmosphere & scenic splendour, my choice would be the Callander & Oban, including side trips on the branches to Killin and Ballachulish.

However for personal and local interest (and much less glamorous), I would have liked to have travelled on all of the extensive network of lines which criss-crossed south Lancashire and northern Cheshire up until the Beeching era.
Many of these were not "branch lines" in the traditional rural sense, rather alternative or duplicate secondary lines connecting larger settlements which are often still on the rail network today, but were obviously an easy target for Beeching's axe

I have a modest collection of old timetables and sometimes while away a rainy Sunday afternoon using these to work out track bashing trips covering long-closed lines in my local area.

I'm not sure how long Ranger and Rover tickets have been around (weren't they called Runabout tickets back in the day?), but here's one typical example when we set the Time Machine's dial to a weekday in April 1950, pull on the gabardine mackintosh & trilby hat and set out for the day with a pocket full of sixpences, shillings and half-crowns, or a hypothetical Lancashire Runabout ticket valid from 08.45 onwards.....

Positioning move is a Ribble bus from Wigan to Blackburn, then:-
08.46 Blackburn - Padiham - Rose Grove arr 09.12
09.28 Rose Grove - Manchester Vic arr 10.21 (running via Ramsbottom, Bury & Clifton Jn, stopping only at Accrington and Salford)
11.00 Manchester Exchange - Tyldesley - Wigan North Western arr 11.51
12.53 Wigan NW - Red Rock - Chorley - Brinscall - Blackburn arr 13.49
14.03 Blackburn - Preston arr 14.27 (via Todd Lane Junction - none of this Farington Curve malarkey)
15.02 Preston - Hesketh Bank - Southport Chapel St arr 15.46
16.15 Southport Chapel St - Burscough Junction - Ormskirk arr 16.42
17.06 Ormskirk - Skelmersdale - Rainford Junction arr 17.24
17.35 Rainford Junction - St Helens Shaw St arr 17.51
17.56 St Helens Shaw St - Widnes - Ditton Junction arr 18.26
18.48 Ditton Junction - Warrington Arpley - Manchester Oxford Rd arr 20.19
20.30 Manchester Central - Wigan Central arr 21.29

If the dash from Oxford Rd to Central didn't work out, it would be a wait for the 21.40 Manchester Central to Warrington Central, changing at Irlam for the 22.16 to Wigan Central and arriving at 22.52 just in time for the last bus home from the town centre. Or if an earlier night is needed ahead of tackling the Southport Lord St and Glazebrook to Tiviot Dale lines tomorrow, options were available from Exchange to Wigan NW via Tyldesley or Victoria to Wallgate via Atherton.

martinsh · 30 Jul 2017

Top of my all-time list would be

Ashover Light Railway.

It's surprising how many of the lines listed I have actually been on.

I also have another (short) list of lines that I OUGHT to have travelled on - I actually visited the stations and was old enough to travel on my own

Chester Northgate
Liverpool Central (HL) - Gateacre
Wolverhampton LL - Snow Hill
Stratford upon Avon (Racecoruse) - Honeybourne

Calthrop · 31 Jul 2017

martinsh said:
Top of my all-time list would be

Ashover Light Railway.

That one must indeed have been a joy. It seems largely to get overlooked by the narrow-gauge celebrators.

I recall reading an account of an enthusiasts' special on the Ashover, in I think summer 1947 -- open wagons, the last special over the line with steam. O for a time machine...

DerekC · 31 Jul 2017

bramling said:
Yes indeed the CSLR.

The section northwards from Borough Junction can be accessed via non-public parts of London Bridge station, and can also be accessed via both current Northern Line running tunnels south of London Bridge (but not at Borough Junction itself as this was sealed off I believe in WW2 when two strong rooms were built at the far south end of the air raid shelter). The Northern end of the tunnels can be reached from King William Street disused station. This just leaves the bit in between which comprises the section beneath the river. This is bricked off at the south end, and gated off at the north end, and allegedly nowadays is flooded although I've not seen this with my own eyes.

You must have friends in low places! I noticed that the plans for upgrading of Bank include converting at least part of the King William Street station into a machine room of some kind, with a new shaft to the Northern Line. I have a 3D diagram somewhere. Sorry - getting off-topic.

caliwag · 31 Jul 2017

Hi, York to Selby on the Derwent Valley via Wheldrake...

If I can have one other please...Perth to Lochearnhead via Crieff, Comrie, St Fillans and er a very early concrete viaduct!

Cheers, Jim

infobleep · 31 Jul 2017

Brighton to London via Ardingly and East Grinstead would be my first choice. One day, if the Bluebell Railway reopen the line from Haywards Heath to Horsted Keynes as they would like to, I might be able to do that. It probably will require a couple of changes unless someone runs a rail tour from Brighton to London via Ardingly.

Another would be Guildford to Horsham. I'd like to do Marylebone to Edinburgh on the CGL.

I'd also like to go to Portsmouth via Tongham and Alton. I think such a service ran that way on Sundays but I don't have my April 1943 Baedeckers to hand.

On a line that hasn't closed, I'd like to alight at Shap. That station however has closed.

PeterC · 31 Jul 2017

Springs Branch said:
but here's one typical example when we set the Time Machine's dial to a weekday in April 1950, pull on the gabardine mackintosh & trilby hat and set out for the day with a pocket full of sixpences, shillings and half-crowns,

I looked at one of the new fivers this weekend and suddenly thought about this thread and wondered how many stops it would take to change new notes and coins for old before you had the right money for the trip. In the example above it would be no coins later than George VI.

TRIVIA - IF you could travel on a closed line which would it be?

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