Filey Holiday Camp Railway Station

[102 fan]

I was looking at the disused stations website and I came across the one for Filey Holiday Camp. It seemingly had only two buildings, a ticket collectors hut and a small concrete building. It got me thinking, were there any other sizable stations with very little in the way of buildings?

Disused Stations: Filey Holiday Camp Station

www.disused-stations.org.uk

 

[30907]

I was looking at the disused stations website and I came across the one for Filey Holiday Camp. It seemingly had only two buildings, a ticket collectors hut and a small concrete building. It got me thinking, were there any other sizable stations with very little in the way of buildings?

Disused Stations: Filey Holiday Camp Station

www.disused-stations.org.uk

I can't think of anything with quite such limited facilities for its size (presumably everyone had return tickets?) but some racecourse stations must have been just as basic.
Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner come immediately to mind - vast expanses of platform with no canopies, making Skegness seem luxurious - but they did at least have a building behind the bufferstops.

 

[Cletus]

Vlogger AdventureMe was searching for remains of Filey Holiday Camp station last year.

 

[Harpers Tate]

The arrival of the last ever loco-hauled passenger train in 1977. DMUs continued for another couple of weeks afterward.

 

[Willerby Halt]

Great shot

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It got me thinking, were there any other sizable stations with very little in the way of buildings?

Probably nowhere near as big as the relatively short-lived Filey Holiday Camp station, but Mallaig station platform in Scotland has in recent years been fairly windswept and bereft of facilities once you've passed beyond the old station building at this location.

Believe the one-time station / platform roof at Mallaig was rationalized away / demolished over 45 years ago.

 

[swissrailpassion]

Great photo and not one I've seen before. I went there for a mid-week day out behind a Class 40 in 1976. Other transport included the excellent lake railway, the big wheel, a cable car to the beach and a 9 car DMU on the way home.

 

[Taunton]

I was looking at the disused stations website and I came across the one for Filey Holiday Camp. It seemingly had only two buildings, a ticket collectors hut and a small concrete building. It got me thinking, were there any other sizable stations with very little in the way of buildings?

Disused Stations: Filey Holiday Camp Station

www.disused-stations.org.uk

Until very recently, couple of years ago, Londonderry station, all year round terminus rather than summer holiday only, had zilch on the platforms :

Disused Stations: Londonderry Station (disused-stations.org.uk)

Well, it did have platform lighting. Then so did Filey it appears. I wonder if the latter's ever needed to be switched on though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Well, it did have platform lighting. Then so did Filey it appears. I wonder if the latter's ever needed to be switched on though.

Probably depends on what the typical timetable was. Would imagine that the station was probably busiest on a Saturday changeover day with departing holiday camp patrons boarding the various morning departures, and then the following week's holidaymakers arriving from maybe Saturday midday onwards. A further question might be how early and late in the season that the Butlin's holiday camp was actually open for business.

 

[swt_passenger]

The date of closure (17 July) seems odd to me, given it coincided with the start of the school holiday period, which even in 1977 would have presumably been the peak period for bookings at Filey? I think back then most people with children tended to limit their holidays to the 6 weeks in the summer, I suspect Filey was a bit of a ghost town outside those dates.

 

[yorksrob]

Westenhanger racecourse station had two long Island platforms and a concrete footbridge but not much in the way of buildings (one of the islands still exists alongside the SEML).

 

[pdeaves]

The date of closure (17 July) seems odd to me, given it coincided with the start of the school holiday period, which even in 1977 would have presumably been the peak period for bookings at Filey? I think back then most people with children tended to limit their holidays to the 6 weeks in the summer, I suspect Filey was a bit of a ghost town outside those dates.

Michael Quick's book 'Railway Passenger Stations In Great Britain A Chronology' suggests closure (last train) was 17 September 1977. It also says 'Generally Saturdays only during season, but experimental Wednesday service, locally advertised, ran to/from Hull 21 July to 25 August 1976'.

 

[swt_passenger]

Michael Quick's book 'Railway Passenger Stations In Great Britain A Chronology' suggests closure (last train) was 17 September 1977. It also says 'Generally Saturdays only during season, but experimental Wednesday service, locally advertised, ran to/from Hull 21 July to 25 August 1976'.

Yes that would be far more likely, wouldn’t it. 17th July was a Sunday in 1977, 17th Sept a Saturday.

 

[Taunton]

Another one would be Billingham. Opened in the 1960s on a new site, I used it around 1980 expecting a station of the normal type, only to find nothing, no shelter, no phone. A station building had been built for the opening, off to one side of the platform access, but was completely boarded up. I look at Google now and find the same building is still there, but has been rented out so is not part of the station, whose only access to the island platform is an open 1960s concrete footbridge. So there's still nothing - except it has gained a bicycle rack, of course. Does one of those count?

 

[ainsworth74]

Probably depends on what the typical timetable was. Would imagine that the station was probably busiest on a Saturday changeover day with departing holiday camp patrons boarding the various morning departures, and then the following week's holidaymakers arriving from maybe Saturday midday onwards. A further question might be how early and late in the season that the Butlin's holiday camp was actually open for business.

Looking at my North Eastern Region timetable for June to September 1953 shows there being no Monday to Friday service (indeed the station doesn't even appear in the timetable on those days!) nor is there a Sunday service. On Saturdays however it shows departures from the Camp at 0855 (to Newcastle), 0920 (to King's Norton), 0932 (to York), 0950 (to Sheffield Victoria), 1035 (to King's Cross*), 1137 (to Leeds) and 1222 (to Manchester Exchange). All departures went south via Bridlington.

Arriving at the Camp you have 1149 (from Leeds), 1229 (from York), 1253 (from Manchester Exchange), 1331 (from Sheffield Victoria), 1343 (from King's Cross^), 1352 (from Worcester Shrub Hill), 1445 (from Newcastle) and 1707 (from York). All arrivals came from the south via Bridlington.

Many of the above are marked as only running during the height of summer. The end of June to the first week of September typically. Interestingly the service to King's Cross appears to run through the whole timetable whereas the service from appears to change to a Hull service on the last Saturday in the timetables period.

Obviously I don't have any extras that may or may not have run on top of what was in the more long term plan represented by the timetable.

*calling at Bridlington then non-stop to Doncaster before continuing to Grantham and King's Cross arriving at 1607 with refreshment car throughout.

^departing King's Cross at 0820 and calling at Hitchin, Peterborough, Doncaster then non-stop to Bridlington again with refreshment car throughout.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

The date of closure (17 July) seems odd to me, given it coincided with the start of the school holiday period, which even in 1977 would have presumably been the peak period for bookings at Filey? I think back then most people with children tended to limit their holidays to the 6 weeks in the summer, I suspect Filey was a bit of a ghost town outside those dates.

Michael Quick's book 'Railway Passenger Stations In Great Britain A Chronology' suggests closure (last train) was 17 September 1977. It also says 'Generally Saturdays only during season, but experimental Wednesday service, locally advertised, ran to/from Hull 21 July to 25 August 1976'.

My spreadsheet has it as 17 July. Not a definitive source but that date has come from a proper source somewhere. My best guess is the list of 'recent' station closures (with dates) prepared by DfT (possibly a freedom of information response) but I cannot find it at the moment.

Modern Branch Line Album (Ian Allan, 1980, page 76) has a photo taken from the opposite angle of that provided above #4 by @Harpers Tate. The photo shows the second 'station building', quite a few passengers but not massive crowds and two trains - eight car and six car DMU combinations in platforms 1 and 2 respectively. The book merely states closed in 1977.
Photo caption includes: "in this July 1977 photo dmus form the 0900 ex Leeds arriving and the 1156 to Liverpool departing."

Probably nowhere near as big as the relatively short-lived Filey Holiday Camp station, but Mallaig station platform in Scotland has in recent years been fairly windswept and bereft of facilities once you've passed beyond the old station building at this location.

Believe the one-time station / platform roof at Mallaig was rationalized away / demolished over 45 years ago.

Here you go. 1975, photo taken from the internet, sorry I don't have a source.

 

[Gloster]

Railscot has a couple of photos dated 27 August 1977 and also states in a caption that the last departure was the 12.40 to Leicester on 3 September that year. There were possibly no arriving trains on the last day due to a lack of arriving visitors.

EDIT: hunmanby.com also says September.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

"Disused Stations (Lost Stations of Yorkshire - Part 2 - The North and East Ridings)" by Alan Young (2015) has the last train using the station as 17 September 1977, closure announced on 26 October 1977, effective 26 November 1977.

"Lost Railways of North & East Yorkshire" by Gordon Suggitt (2005) also states the last trains as running on 17 September 1977.

The (presumably?) duff info on Wikipedia, which others have subsequently made reference to, seems to have been there since 2006.

 

[Spartacus]

Not in the same league in terms of size, but certainly in lack of facilities, as well as just a shelter or two for ticket inspections Aintree Racecourse station had a very curious arrangement of the only platform actually being ON the eastbound line. There was no room for a wide platform for race crowds so the eastbound line was raised to platform level and made into the one single platform. On race days trains the westbound line was bi-di, and used by all stopping trains with passengers boarding or alighting onto the eastbound/platform line. The platform was mere ballast and cinders.

Disused Stations: Aintree Racecourse Station

disused-stations.org.uk

 

[pdeaves]

had a very curious arrangement of the only platform actually being ON the eastbound line

Or... had the eastbound line ON the platform! Either way, the photo of a 'black 5' on the linked page is 'just wrong' and ably illustrates why it might be unwise to provide much facility on the platform itself.
"The train now arriving on platform 1...!"

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not in the same league in terms of size, but certainly in lack of facilities, as well as just a shelter or two for ticket inspections Aintree Racecourse station had a very curious arrangement of the only platform actually being ON the eastbound line. There was no room for a wide platform for race crowds so the eastbound line was raised to platform level and made into the one single platform. On race days trains the westbound line was bi-di, and used by all stopping trains with passengers boarding or alighting onto the eastbound/platform line. The platform was mere ballast and cinders.

Disused Stations: Aintree Racecourse Station

disused-stations.org.uk

In a sense not really much different from the very common European practice of having a very narrow Nebenbahnsteig reached by walking over one of the lines. But an odd station either way, because it's further from the Racecourse than the current Aintree station, despite there being locations on that line where it could have been closer.

 

[Spartacus]

In a sense not really much different from the very common European practice of having a very narrow Nebenbahnsteig reached by walking over one of the lines. But an odd station either way, because it's further from the Racecourse than the current Aintree station, despite there being locations on that line where it could have been closer.

I can't really see how it could have been much closer, given it's the line from Wigan. Yes, there's places that might have been a bit closer physically, but people would then have needed to walk further to the main gate and stands.

The set up does make some sense, with trains arriving from the east and departing to the east. Trains to and from elsewhere would have used other stations. It then falls down because the line was primarily used for freight to and from the docks, running all the time, then the risk, particularly after races, of racegoers returning to the station very much in drink, with a loose, uneven surface and numerous trip hazards. Even for the standards of the day I'm surprised it wasn't paved.