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South Croydon Junction is where the five tracks heading south from East Croydon split into two tracks to East Grinstead and four tracks to Purley. From east to west there’s the down slow, the slow reversible, the up slow and two fast line tracks which aren’t part of this discussion. There’s a...

All today platforms 9-11 at London Victoria have been closed. All Gatwick Express trains cancelled as are some suburban services. The station is closed from 23:00. It’s described as a points failure. Does anyone have any more details?

Bad things happen but Southern have compounded them. Lots of disruption; stern announcements not to join trains not advertised and then Southern does advertise the 18:08 departure in good time. The train is on the platform. At 18:15 the driver is announced to be at Clapham Jct. Didn’t they...

At about 19:40 this evening a blue Class 153 passed Purley Oaks northbound on the slow line. Assume a Network Rail train of some kind but there’s nothing on Real Time Trains. Can anyone help?

As a companion to the stations which have lost their previous higher status are there stations which are now as grand as they have ever been? My candidates would be Stratford, King’s Cross and London Bridge. Stratford has trains to places never contemplated in olden days - Heathrow, Reading...

There is a footbridge about half way along the platforms at London Charing Cross which allows in the morning rush hours only, direct access to Northumberland Avenue. It has Oyster/contactless readers but no barriers. Does anyone know if the readers come in automatically at 07:30, the official...

A thread in the History and Nostalgia section mentioned drivers being told to accept via Herne Hill or via Catford routes at Shortlands Junction so long as their train was not scheduled to stop at any intermediate stations before London Victoria. Are there any other locations where drivers are...

They’ve been around for a long time and are among the oldest units on National Rail services. I’ve not heard of plans to replace them; have I missed something?

It looks like this service https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L80263/2021-11-05/detailed is going to use the down fast to down slow cross-over at Forest Hill on a few early mornings in November. Don’t know if any track bashers are interested in rarely used, in passenger service...

Has anyone else seen this Tom Scott YouTube video of the most useful model railway in the world Apologies if I can’t get the link to work. 1632762221 Sorry, maybe I get advance notice as a subscriber of his (or maybe my linking talents are very limited).

Allegedly this forum has lots of contributors from the North-West. I’m not one of them, but I have just bought Joe Brown‘s Liverpool and Manchester Railway Atlas. It’s a splendid book and so highly recommended. Incredible historical detail (for example on tramways and detailed inserts going back...

Are there any semaphore signals left on overhead electrified routes? I have this vague recollection of there being a box and semaphores in Willesden Yard in the 1980s, but can’t recall others. For this discussion Block signalling with colour lights such as at Stockport does not count. If none...

I’ve been wiling away some hours watching German cab-ride videos. While the sheer extent of the infrastructure continues to impress I remain surprised that mechanical boxes still seem quite prevalent. For example Hanau, east of Frankfurt-am-Main still seemed to have three, maybe four mechanical...

Deliberately excluding services through the Channel Tunnel what’s the longest, by distance, freight train journey in the UK? I’d like a regular (one a fortnight) service or better.

Having spent some of lockdown looking at cab ride videos from Germany, and following them on a map, there see to be plenty of cities there with freight avoiding lines. So my question is how many exist(ed) in the UK. My candidates are, Doncaster (south west to north east), York, Crewe, Carlisle...

I was wondering whether there are any stations which have a six or seven days a week service which are busier on a Saturday or Sunday rather than any one of Monday to Friday. So stations served only at the weekend don’t count. So to be extra clear the highest daily passenger count must be on a...

Is there a timetable thread looking at line timetables which have remained unchanged for the longest time? If not my rules are. 1. A to B timetable must not have changed for the longest period. 2. By A and B I mean end points of a service as opposed to two intermediate stations on a through...

Are there any counties where all the stations are normally only served by electric trains? National Rail only, trains passing through but not stopping don’t count. Possible candidates Hertfordshire and West Sussex. Ceremonial counties please

Other than the International Train in Ireland are the Mk 2 coaches in New Zealand the only ex British Rail coaches/stock in use anywhere? I have some grab shots of the NZ ones leaving Wellington for Palmerston North, still with Sxxxx numbers.

Are they running from/to Lower Hutt/Waterloo? I ask because a banner in the Metlink website mentions no trains at Wellington station, but the journey planner has taking the train on the sat into the City Centre?