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I've been looking at pictures of Cleethorpes station and what was the original platform 4 seems to have been de-tracked and abandoned at least forty years ago and I was wondering if anyone knew why? I know that what was P5 was later renumbered to become P4, but even that seems to be only used...

Looking at pictures of Hull Paragon it amazes me that there has never been any rationalization of the whole excursion platform/bay platform area of the station. I know that the lines around the excursion platforms are regularly used for stabling stock, but I'm surprised that Network Rail has...

I was looking at a picture of one of those little 4 wheel railbuses that BR used in the 1950s for small branch lines and it got me wondering, were they a total flop? By that I mean did rail users like them, hate them, not mind them? Did they actually improve the services in any way i.e...

I've been looking at pictures of Rhymney station and I notice that it has quite a sizable number of DMU stabling sidings, but I'm wondering why does a station with a single platform at the end of a single line have so much stabling capacity? The service doesn't seem to be that intense and I...

Now that the Blackpool electrification is complete are the DMU servicing sidings at Farington still being used? If not has anyone stated what the future of it is?

Was there a reason why these two lengths of coach seem to have become the standard coach length (later coaches notwithstanding)? Was it something that occurred during the Big Four years and was it a joint decision that they came up with? And broadly it seems that the 63' length was for mainline...

I came across this picture of a COBRA train which used containers to carry coke and it got me wondering if BR ever thought about using the container concept for all/most freight trains? I know that there have been steel coil flats/tanktainers/open wagons etc. used on container wagons, but did BR...

...would it have helped to retain more traffic or was it a lost cause anyway? I believe that LWB wagons can generally run at a faster speed and presumably have a better cost/capacity ratio than shorter wagons, but would it have made any difference to traffic retention? I believe (possibly...

I came across this picture of a Class 47 pulling a single HEA wagon down the Pensnett Branch and it made me wonder if BR or private companies have ever considered using road rail vehicles to pull short freight trains on short freight only branch lines? I know that they have been used as shunters...

I know that you could question the wisdom of a lot of the Beeching closures, but looking at a map it strikes me as bit surprising that this line was closed. I say that because both towns seem to be quite heavily populated with a largish town in between (Willington) and other sizable ones such as...

I asked a question about Bridlington's excursion platforms on another thread, but it got me thinking about how many other stations had them? I believe that Blackpool, Scarborough, Hull Paragon and possibly Skegness had them, but I'm sure that there were plenty of others, especially at seaside towns.

I was looking at Bridlington station on Google Maps and I noticed that it still retains it's excursion platforms including other associated trackwork and sidings. I can't imagine that they have been in been in regular, if only seasonal usage, since the 80s?? so have they been retained for some...

I didn't realise until recently that Morecambe station was another one of those where BR abandoned the original station and built a new one further up the line, so I wonder which other ones are there? The ones that I know of are... Bradford Exchange to Bradford Interchange 1971 Fort William...

I've been looking at maps of some of the former lines around Billingham and I'm a bit curious about this one branch line, specifically if it has a name? It goes from Haverton Hill, Portrack, Mount Pleasant and rejoins the main line north of Stockton On Tees station. I believe that it closed in...

I recently stumbled across some pictures of the Butlins Filey branch and I was surprised that it only lasted about 30 years (1947-1977) and I wonder if there were many others? The only other one that I'm aware of is the second line to the ICI Winnington work at Northwich.

I started a thread on the RMweb forum of pictures of industrial steam still in use in the 70s, but what surprised me was how many places were still using it into the early 80s as well. I've managed to compile a list of approximate dates of when they stopped being used, but I was wondering if...

I was just looking at some pictures of Sutton Park station which lost it's passenger service in the 60s, but stayed open for parcels/freight for another twenty years and I was thinking about what others were there? There's quite a few big ones in Manchester such as Liverpool Road and Oldham Road...

I was just looking at some pictures of East Kilbride station in the 80s and I believe that the station sidings were still in use as a coal depot. It got me wondering how many other small stations still retained their public sidings for use for freight unloading (i.e. not for S&T/Departmental...

I've just been looking at the Corby Freight Branch both on Google Maps and Quail Maps and I'm wondering how much usage has it seen in recent years? I believe that Tata Steel still get regular trains, dispatching tube?? steel I presume, but there is also a former scrap yard??, a Wincanton...

I'm currently putting together a N gauge model of the MK3 + 47/7 Glasgow Edinburgh push/pull trains and it got me wondering if BR ever considered using similar trains on services outside of Scotland? I know that they may have only been suitable for certain types of services and that BR didn't...