Affinity for a particular station

[Greetlander]

My local station was Halifax as a child, which at the time was in danger of falling apart and very boring for a train lover. I did however have a love for Huddersfield - mainly because of the roaring loco hauled trans Pennines that took us on holiday in either the direction of Scarborough or Bangor. If you were there in enough time you’d get to experience at least one loco bursting out of the tunnel too, which is the same reason I retain an affinity with Haymarket. If you were to ask me to name one station that I have an everlasting love for though it would have to be York. So many reasons to fall in love with it and even in this less interesting century I still can’t hear a word against it.

So my question is - who out there has a huge crush on a particular station, and why?

 

[james60059]

My childhood station of Tile Hill near Coventry.

Some weekends I'd go and watch the trains there, of course it was all Intercity and Regional Railways services back then with Class 47's, 86's, 87's and 90's on the main IC services and Class 310 EMU's (think that's what they were anyway ) on the Coventry - Birmingham locals and Class 321's on the Birmingham - London Euston semi-fasts via Northampton. We always knew when a train was due as there was an adjacent level crossing (removed in 2004 or thereabouts)

 

[RichJF]

Tonbridge: Went there with my father when I was very young back in the days of the CEPs, VEPs, CIGs & Eurostars in the very early 90s.
I saw a Eurostar sail through the centre tracks & loved the the sound/size, plus the fact there were 33s/37s/47s/73s in the West Yard.
Also used to change there from Southeastern to Southern when going back & forth from uni before HS1 came into being.

All a bit boring nowadays but still have an affinity for it.

 

[SEClass375]

Tonbridge: Went there with my father when I was very young back in the days of the CEPs, VEPs, CIGs & Eurostars in the very early 90s.
I saw a Eurostar sail through the centre tracks & loved the the sound/size, plus the fact there were 33s/37s/47s/73s in the West Yard.
Also used to change there from Southeastern to Southern when going back & forth from uni before HS1 came into being.

All a bit boring nowadays but still have an affinity for it.

Tonbridge gets a little interesting when engineering works happen; London stoppers terminating on plat. 4 and Country-bound services using plat. 2 when going down the Redhill line fast.

Can remember getting a green (Southern) train from High Brooms to Tonbridge. Must of been 2008.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have good memories associated to Preston, though sadly like everywhere else it's the preserve of ATOS Annie these days rather than some of the more characterful announcers like the female announcer who used to do the evening shift and almost sing the stations.

 

[_toommm_]

Rotherham will always have a place in my heart as it's where I lived for the first 18 years of my life, and I watched the station change from a place that stunk heavily of p*ss to a (semi) electrified route with a new station building and double the platforms!

As for other stations, Berwick-upon-Tweed is such a lovely station and is so quiet to say it's on one of the fastest and busiest routes in the UK. And the Border Bridge just to the south is gorgeous too.

Ormskirk is a really nice station too as it's literally split in half, and the town in itself and the uni is really quaint.

 

[Gathursty]

Apart from Gathurst, Fort William for the feel of it being a home away from home (showers) deep in the Highlands. I also have a fondness for Lancaster from many times waiting for the train to and from uni there. It's architecture and nearby castle really has a Hogwarts feel to it. I would say that Conwy eclipses Lancaster when it comes to stations with nearby castles however.

 

[fowler9]

I'd say West Allerton as I have spent most of my life living right next to it. I have caught trains from or to it hauled by many classes, 31's, 37's, 47's and others. Even 86 and 87. I think my most iconic station is Crewe though. It was my go to place for a cheap day out from Liverpool.

 

[hexagon789]

I can't say I've ever had an affinity first either of my local stations, I have however always liked Ayr station. I used to walk through it on visits to Ayr as a kid (in the days before the barriers) and I remember thinking it was quite a big station what with the foot bridge and overall roof.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Crewe will always be Mecca for me

 

[jj1314]

For me, Penzance. Grew up there and, as luck would have it, lived within spitting distance of the Cornish Main Line. One of my earliest memories involves endless streams of screaming Valentas haring past to and from Paddington. In terms of the station, I remember numerous trips to the capital as a kid, boarding HSTs every summer. I also fondly remember the old DMUs - and enjoyed a regular commute to St Ives each summer!

 

[6Gman]

My local station growing up was Llandudno Junction.

Unsurprisingly given my username on here.

In those days it had 4 through platforms plus bays, carriage shed, loco shed, goods yards.

Always something happening.

Bit different now!

Lots of favourites over the years - Exeter, York, Doncaster, various London termini, Bournemouth when the loco shed was practically in the station, Taunton on a summer Saturday, Liskeard ditto, Preston on Glasgow Fair Saturday with Scottish 37s turning up!

 

[DJames]

I'd have to say the old Birmingham New Street, just from all the memories of turning up there with my Grandad, picking a destination, and heading off for a random day out.

I could say my local station, Tipton, but it was way easier back in the day to get a couple of buses to Sandwell and Dudley.

 

[Iskra]

Carnforth, bit of an underdog of railway stations. It's a unique station layout with some interesting features; the WCML through lines, the tightly curved platforms the pointless electrification, the lines of dilapidated rolling stock, excessive pacer-squeel and the early morning sounds of steam engines being warmed-up which is pretty rare. It has also been pleasantly restored and now features a good pub. There's often something of railway interest going on due it being a significant junction, hosting passing loops and having the WCRC home-base too. Also, I used to live there so I'm biased.

I also have an affinity for Lancaster, Garsdale, Dewsbury, Chapeltown and Leeds (yes, really).

 

[gazthomas]

My local station growing up was Llandudno Junction.

Unsurprisingly given my username on here.

In those days it had 4 through platforms plus bays, carriage shed, loco shed, goods yards.

Always something happening.

Bit different now!

Lots of favourites over the years - Exeter, York, Doncaster, various London termini, Bournemouth when the loco shed was practically in the station, Taunton on a summer Saturday, Liskeard ditto, Preston on Glasgow Fair Saturday with Scottish 37s turning up!

Me too. I grew up on the ‘Junction and remember the shed well, the old signal box and the scrappy area which now has Iceland and Asda (forever Kwikies). Tamworth Castle in the yard. I confess to being a 12 year old who thought his 55p return to Colwyn Bay was valid all day on a Saturday!

Euston always makes me emotional, my first full time job was in London and I joined my train there to go “home” after my mother passed away.

 

[Red Onion]

Despite the fact it’s a very uninteresting station on its own, I’ve a liking for Dyce. I think it stems from being a kid when I used to pop up to watch the aircraft at the adjacent airport and catch a few trains in the mix. I can still remember when freight passed up this way! It’s not a place I come for spotting now unless there’s an interesting movement but it’s still got a draw for me. I’d have loved to have seen it when it was a junction station.

On the same line, I like Keith, it’s a quirky little station with the excursion platform and still standing goods shed, even if most of the track has been lifted. I’m designing a model of the place.

 

[krus_aragon]

I'd have to say my affinity is for Pontypridd railway station, specifically the parts dating from the 1907-1912 rebuild. All built around a single island platform (with bays at each end and recessed along the sides), with lovely red-brick buildings and dark green & cream cast ironworks. Once the busiest station in the UK, with shedloads of coal train rattling through, and a hub of passenger services throughout the nearby valleys.

Cut down to a single bidirectional platform in the second half of the 20th century, it then had a second platform built on the adjacent freight avoiding line in the early 90s, and a footbridge to access it, as well as a footbridge to a car park that was built on top of the northern bays. Redevelopment hasn't been kind to this station, but it's survived better than old Cardiff Queen Street did.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that if I had an unexpected lottery win, I'd reinstate the through track on the eastern side of the old island, abandon the freight-line platform, and send the carbuncle footbridges to kingdom come!

 

[backontrack]

York.

 

[Cowley]

Dawlish for me - Said my first word (“Train” ) on the station, got a photo of me having my nappy changed there in 1973 with a Peak in the background (tried to recreate it recently, but I’m generally toilet trained now so I didn’t get arrested ), had so many interesting locos through it over the years and I just love the feel of the place and the way the waves sometimes hit (or sometimes wreck) the platform overhanging the beach.
There’s just nowhere quite like it.
Love loads of other stations like Kyle of Lochalsh, Paddington, Stogumber on the WSR etc etc. But Dawlish edges them for the above reasons.

 

[XC victim]

I always had a particular affinity with Lancaster station as a child, no idea why.

 

[wimbledonpete]

Waterloo for me - was the terminus we'd use when going into town. So big and exciting with lots going on, different parts to the station and endless underground passageways. And then later was the location of my first railway job, in an office overlooking the Waterloo & City line sidings.

 

[Greetlander]

My local station growing up was Llandudno Junction.

Unsurprisingly given my username on here.

In those days it had 4 through platforms plus bays, carriage shed, loco shed, goods yards.

Always something happening.

Bit different now!

Lots of favourites over the years - Exeter, York, Doncaster, various London termini, Bournemouth when the loco shed was practically in the station, Taunton on a summer Saturday, Liskeard ditto, Preston on Glasgow Fair Saturday with Scottish 37s turning up!

I have a lot of love for the North Wales Coast line - Llandudno Junction is a winner, Conwy for the location and Bangor for the “used to be important and still has character” feel. On that line though I had a great holiday once by dint of staying in a guest house overlooking Deganwy Station back when the Llandudno branch got loco hauled specials in holiday times. Still on my favourite stations list.

 

[DanNCL]

St Pancras because of it's great architecture.

Also the northbound Northern line platform at Embankment, as it's the last platform on the tube that still uses one of the early mind the gap recordings. Not sure why but I much prefer that recording to the more modern mind the gap recordings!

 

[NSE]

East Croydon. For no other reason than that’s where it all started and I love it there. It’s operated by Southern (my favourite operator), plenty of 377’s (favourite train) and I just love being back at the station.

 

[Bwlch y Groes]

At risk of stating the obvious, York. The first came here on holiday when I was about 4 and was utterly captivated by the place. Came back when I was 13, 17, and now I walk through every day on my way to and from work

It's not just the architecture, or the bigger, noisier trains than back home in Wales. The model railway was always a big attraction when it was still there - I distinctly remember looking through a gap in the back wall and seeing a 91 in the station. And obviously the NRM next door was very exciting

The trains are changing, the model railway's gone, and it has a Costa now, but it's still the same station

 

[Parallel]

There are a few stations I particularly like - One of my favourites is Pensarn on the Cambrian Coast - it is a lovely spot in summer being very close to the adjacent harbour. Starcross and Dawlish are also very pleasant.

Some of the West Coastway stations are also very pleasant with their transparent glass pane roofs and light colours, like Hove for example. I’d rather miss a train there than Port Talbot Parkway pre-refurbishment which was god awful.

 

[PeterC]

Liverpool Street before redevelopment.

 

[trainophile]

Carnforth, bit of an underdog of railway stations. It's a unique station layout with some interesting features; the WCML through lines, the tightly curved platforms the pointless electrification, the lines of dilapidated rolling stock, excessive pacer-squeel and the early morning sounds of steam engines being warmed-up which is pretty rare. It has also been pleasantly restored and now features a good pub. There's often something of railway interest going on due it being a significant junction, hosting passing loops and having the WCRC home-base too. Also, I used to live there so I'm biased.

I also have an affinity for Lancaster, Garsdale, Dewsbury, Chapeltown and Leeds (yes, really).

How could you write all that about Carnforth without mentioning the amazing visitors centre and of course all the Brief Encounter memorabilia? I spent a fantastic couple of hours there today and it exceeded all my expectations. Not least the big piles of rail mags for 30p each!

Heartily recommend it, in fact perhaps we should have a forum meet there!

 

[Cowley]

How could you write all that about Carnforth without mentioning the amazing visitors centre and of course all the Brief Encounter memorabilia? I spent a fantastic couple of hours there today and it exceeded all my expectations. Not least the big piles of rail mags for 30p each!

Heartily recommend it, in fact perhaps we should have a forum meet there!

I went there last year and thought it was great too.
I’d only ever sped through it on the fast lines before.

 

[AJM580]

Not a huge crush, but have always had a soft spot for the following :
Norwich - home!!
Dawlish - memories of 50s,Peaks,33s etc
Exeter St Davids - see above, still much as I remember it
Ely, Nice location and has a couple of nice coffee shops
Leamington Spa - Lots of art deco architecture and 68s!!