Mutant Lemming
Established Member
I recall staff at Roby station lighting the gas mantles at dusk and wonder what was the last station on British Railways to be gas lit also do any of the preserved railways have stations that are gas lit only ?
I recall staff at Roby station lighting the gas mantles at dusk and wonder what was the last station on British Railways to be gas lit also do any of the preserved railways have stations that are gas lit only ?
I believe Ilkley was the last gas lit station under BR, the gaslamps finally being extinguished in 1988 I think.
Yep, came here to say Ilkley. Sure I've read somewhere that the station became completely unstaffed in order to save money, except for a bloke to light the lamps.
That's sounding like the last one - most of those I recall were late 60's to mid 70'sThe last gas-lit station in London was Selsdon, on the Woodside line, which closed in 1983. I managed to visit it just the once before it closed, but as it wasn't dark I didn't get the effect.
This is just an aside, but Beckenham lay further up that railway line and there were certainly gas lamps still in use in the area (nearer Beck Junction) a quarter century ago, and I'd be surprised if some still didn't exist.That's sounding like the last one - most of those I recall were late 60's to mid 70's
Were those lamp styles that had white, octagonal (?) lamp shades, mounted on horizontal rather ornate concrete arms coming from concrete possibly octagonal pillars, on the Southern, originally gas lit?
I ask as I remember seeing a photo of that style in one of the railway books and they were described as gas lit.
Guildford still has those on the northern end of the platforms through much of the 80s, though at that time the bulbs were electric I suspect as I remember being on the platforms in the dark and the light didn't seem unusual - not to mention no-one went around lighting them! One or two of the intermediate stations to Waterloo had the same style - Walton possibly and Hersham. Maybe Vauxhall too, though not sure if my mind's playing tricks here.
I think Haslemere had the same style in 1982 when I first started using the station but were replaced by the fluorescent style soon after.
The last gas-lit station in London was Selsdon, on the Woodside line, which closed in 1983. I managed to visit it just the once before it closed, but as it wasn't dark I didn't get the effect.
I first went to the Isle of Wight in about 1985, and I seem to remember that Brading station was still gas-lit then, so I guess that may have been one of the last. By the time I next went there in the early 2000s it still had the same lighting columns and fittings but they had been converted to electric.
A quick look through my collection shows similar lamp posts at Brading (by the Nameboard) and Selsdon (by the pallett stack on the Down Platform). Can't make out what was at Tunbridge Wells West.
Interesting photos, what date were these? They "look" old - older than when I first started using the railways regularly in late 1982 - but it's obviously "modern" (blue and grey) BR era from the livery - I'm guessing maybe mid 1970s?
Tunbridge Wells clearly appeared to have quite a big depot for all the Oxted line stock at the time!
The platforms at Kidderminster SVR are as well as the station forecourt. The concourse/canopy is electric though.I recall staff at Roby station lighting the gas mantles at dusk and wonder what was the last station on British Railways to be gas lit also do any of the preserved railways have stations that are gas lit only ?
Yes Edwin it was Dalmeny station, it was light by my dad Charlie Johnston. There was an article in the Edinburgh evening news. I can recall in the last 80s driving him along the line to fill the parafin signals but not sure of the years for either of themI recall staff at Roby station lighting the gas mantles at dusk and wonder what was the last station on British Railways to be gas lit also do any of the preserved railways have stations that are gas lit only ?
I recall staff at Roby station lighting the gas mantles at dusk and wonder what was the last station on British Railways to be gas lit also do any of the preserved railways have stations that are gas lit only ?
Yep, came here to say Ilkley. Sure I've read somewhere that the station became completely unstaffed in order to save money, except for a bloke to light the lamps.
Not necessarily. Every gas lit station I recall had lamps that were manually activated by a balanced chain that the lamplighter had to do with a long pole. I know the remaining ones on streets have time clocks but that is relatively recent automation of them. Quite a number were done during the 1970s-conversion from coal gas supply to natural gas, which required complete new mechanisms, which had to be supplied free by the gas organisation.It had long been the case that street lights lit by gas used to turn themselves on and off using a clock switching system set for lighting up times.
A link to the gas lights at Throop from Dorset Life:It had long been the case that street lights lit by gas used to turn themselves on and off using a clock switching system set for lighting up times. Troop Road in Bournemouth is lit by gas. The clocks just need to be wound once a week, all 28 of them. They can never be repace as they are now listed.
Yep, came here to say Ilkley. Sure I've read somewhere that the station became completely unstaffed in order to save money, except for a bloke to light the lamps.
Throop Road did not get it's Gaslights until the 1930's when Holdenhurst Village and Troop Road became part of Bournemouth. The lamps were installed with time clocks at the start, as the area then was remote, therefore saving money. When the changeover for the remaining Gas Lights to Electricity took place in the 1950's and 1960's, the lights in Throop Road were missed off the list due to I gather as there was no Gas Lighter alcated to Troop Road. A pen-pusher at the Town Hall conclude that the road was lit by electricity. Therefore the changeover was never done.Not necessarily. Every gas lit station I recall had lamps that were manually activated by a balanced chain that the lamplighter had to do with a long pole. I know the remaining ones on streets have time clocks but that is relatively recent automation of them. Quite a number were done during the 1970s-conversion from coal gas supply to natural gas, which required complete new mechanisms, which had to be supplied free by the gas organisation.