Lines you never did but now regret

[pinkpanther]

What closed lines did you never do but now regret.For me it has to be the Somerset & Dorset although to be fair it closed 6 years before i was born.Other lines i would like to have done are the whole of the Great Central and the Woodhead line.

As I'm down that way now I'm starting to take more of an interest in the Somerset & Dorset, and I have to say that looking at the modern rail map it is an absolutely glaring omission in terms of route coverage and flexibility - unfortunately an all too common story in the UK since the 60s.

There's now a group aiming to re-open the Somerset and Dorset - not as a heritage line (sensible given that it's 80 miles long!) but as a working railway. A good start has already been made at Shillingstone and Midsomer Norton (we visited Shillingstone the other week and took a walk along part of the old line) but that's just the start, really.

It's a huge project but if the reaction among the public in Blandford is representative of the areas served by the rest of the line it's one which is sorely needed. Good luck to them!

The Woodhead line - now that brings back memories of visiting Wath depot on a summer day and seeing all of the EM1s/76s (the only time I encountered them apart from the one at the NRM)!

At the time I was fascinated to learn that the Shildon-Newport line (just though the tunnel from my home in Bishop Auckland) was electrified at 1500V DC until the mid-30s. Who knows - had history been slightly different I could have been chasing LNER EM1s up in the North East in the 1980s instead of BR 31s and 37s....

But it digress (lots!)....

 

[tripleseis]

The Epping to Chipping Ongar branch of the Central Line. I was around when it was operational but too young to ride it on my own at the time. It closed when I was 12.

 

[tbtc]

At the time I was fascinated to learn that the Shildon-Newport line (just though the tunnel from my home in Bishop Auckland) was electrified at 1500V DC until the mid-30s. Who knows - had history been slightly different I could have been chasing LNER EM1s up in the North East in the 1980s instead of BR 31s and 37s....

But it digress (lots!)....

I'd no idea; that's the line past my in-law's house

(and I digress even more, sorry!)

 

[37401]

Templecombe-Bath green (time machine required for haulage), after doing it on Railsim I found it to be a really nice line, would be great as a heretage/pres line

 

[NSEFAN]

I wish I'd been much more interested in trains from a younger age. Even though I was too young to go and see all the regular loco haulage and slam door units of the early 2000s by myself, I could have put more pressure on my dad to take me (had I'd been more keen at the time).

I would have gone to all the Oldham loop stations if I had had the money, so I regret not saving up for it now! I also regret no going on the Stratford - North Woolwich earlier, as there are stations on the route which I never went to.

 

[furryfeet]

marple to macclesfield would have useful if it had been kept.
would have been used as a diversion when macclesfield tunnel was being "gauge enhanced"
new mills to hayfield would now provide a handy link into the peak district as well, for probably very little cost as it could have been operated as a simple siding.

 

[pinkpanther]

I'd no idea; that's the line past my in-law's house

(and I digress even more, sorry!)

No apology necessary - it's a fascinating digression.

Sir Vincent Raven (the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the NER) was behind the scheme, which went live in 1913 using EF1 locomotives built at Darlington.

Unfortunately the depression of the 1920s and resultant drop in coal traffic rendered renewing the infrastructure uneconomic and the line reverted to steam in 1935. However, the Woodhead line used technology developed as a result of that trial - the EM1s (BR class 76) being direct descendents of the original EF1 design.

Raven was quite the visionary - he even had a mainline electric locomotive (the EE1 2-Co-2 design) built for use on the ECML York-Newcastle route, so had the world not slumped into depression in the 1920s the ECML may well have been electrified well before BR came into existance.

The whole story is told in Shildon - Newport in Retrospect by the RCTS. It's a fascinating book, and I can't recommend it enough.

 

[fgwrich]

Not a closed line but i wish id done most of Ireland before IE 'went DMU mad' and replaced everything but the Enterprise and Dublin to Cork & DART with DMU's...

How id loved to have gone from Rosllare to Dublin with a 071 & Mk2's...And not one of those 2700's:cry: A Intercity Commuter Unit...

As for lines in this country, id love to see the Padstow line re-opend and the Southern Mainline from Exeter to Plymouth aswell as quite a few of the routes in north devon...Steams not my thing but id still love to go back 40 years before my time to do them before closure...

rich

 

[33011]

For anyone interested in the Somerset and Dorset there is a very good website that gives you miles and chains, station opening and closing dates and gives you map refs to where the stations are/were etc etc

www.sdjr.net/index.html

It also gives you links to other sites including The Shillingstone Project

 

[pinkpanther]

For anyone interested in the Somerset and Dorset there is a very good website that gives you miles and chains, station opening and closing dates and gives you map refs to where the stations are/were etc etc

www.sdjr.net/index.html

A very useful and interesting site - thanks!

 

[furryfeet]

werneth incline !

if the solum of that route had been mothballed instead of being built on ( some was used for goods up until 1989 ) then there would be still a rail route into Oldham, whilst the southern part of the Oldham loop was converted for tram use.

GMPTE are now going to find it very hard to win back passengers from this line once the conversion is complete, in TWO YEARS time. I would have thought that they would have learned from the nine month shutdown of the Bury line in 1992 when that route was converted.

 

[tbtc]

GMPTE are now going to find it very hard to win back passengers from this line once the conversion is complete, in TWO YEARS time. I would have thought that they would have learned from the nine month shutdown of the Bury line in 1992 when that route was converted.

As I've said elsewhere, they should have kept the Oldham - Rochdale section open whilst they built the tram, to ensure that Oldham kept a direct link to Manchester at all times

They can't work on all sections at the same time, so wouldn't it be best to do a "rolling" programme of a couple of miles at a time?

(off topic, I know)

 

[yorksrob]

I'd love to have done the New Romney Branch, simply because it was the local Beeching cut where I grew up when getting into railways. I've also always found the Romney and Denge Marshes a beautiful landscape so it would be nice to see more of them from the train.

 

[Bish Boy]

Any of the lines leaving from Bishop Auckland (eg Stainmore line or up to Crook on the Stanhope tyne line to consett and beyond) also to use the leamside line. Sadly i'm far too young to remember the old network (pre Beeching) and i fear none of the great branchlines will ever re-open for my generation to enjoy:cry:

 

[Kernowfem]

The lincolnshire lines. In particular grimsby-louth. louth-bardney. I recently walked the former track beds on these lines. It fair broke my heart, what i wouldnt give to see these lines reopened (with the exception of the lincs wolds railway who seem to be doing a great job!) to their former glory.