Old fashioned stations still existing

[urbophile]

Add in Aigburth with that, apart from a lick of paint it feels unchanged from CLC era

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Aigburth_railway_station_%28geograph_3787311%29.jpg

I don't think Cressington has had a lick of paint for some while! Though more recently than CLC I suppose.

 

[yorksrob]

On the subject of the Chesshire Lines Committee, Glazebrook looked fairly retro when I visited last year.

 

[Glenn1969]

Has anyone mentioned Hebden Bridge? Or the station building at Brockholes that is still visible on the disused platform?

 

[D6130]

Yes, my current home station at Hebden Bridge has been mentioned, but I for one have no objection to it being mentioned again. It is an absolute gem, with its original Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway carved wooden signboards, ornamental lamps and platform benches. When the new passenger lifts were installed a couple of years ago, in the shafts of the original goods lifts, they had to been very carefully designed to blend in with the Grade 2-listed buildings and canopies. The signalbox, also Grade 2-listed has been carefully restored following closure in October 2018 and is to become a small museum of local railway history. Mention should also be made of the excellent privately-run cafe in the former parcels office on the Down platform (2), which is sadly closed during the current lockdown, but will hopefully reopen in the not-too-distant future.

 

[jimm]

Charlbury, Cotswold Line, is a lovely example of a GWR wooden station building. I believe it may be have been designed by Brunel? No idea if that's right or not. Moreton-in-Marsh, on the same line, is also a brilliant GWR station building, but a Cotswold stone one. Worcester Shrub Hill, Foregate Street, Great Malvern, and Hereford are all brilliant stations as well (and all on the Cotswold Line too).

-Peter

Charlbury is indeed a Brunel design - the first station at Evesham was also a similar timber 'chalet' structure. There are brick and stone variations of this design in various places, including Mortimer and Pantyffynon.

However, Moreton-in-Marsh is built in standard GWR brick, not Cotswold stone, and was put up as part of a 19th century GWR modernisation programme on the line, with new station buildings at Shipton, Kingham (then known as Chipping Norton Junction), Moreton, Honeybourne, Evesham and Pershore, plus lots of new signalboxes. Of these, Evesham is the last survivor in near-original condition - Moreton was shorn of its chimneys a long time ago and the roof is covered with tar sheet, while the other stations' buildings were demolished in the 1960s and 1970s.

 

[Peter C]

Charlbury is indeed a Brunel design - the first station at Evesham was also a similar timber 'chalet' structure. There are brick and stone variations of this design in various places, including Mortimer and Pantyffynon.

Ah lovely - thanks for confirming and the extra info. Very interesting

However, Moreton-in-Marsh is built in standard GWR brick, not Cotswold stone, and was put up as part of a 19th century GWR modernisation programme on the line, with new station buildings at Shipton, Kingham (then known as Chipping Norton Junction), Moreton, Honeybourne, Evesham and Pershore, plus lots of new signalboxes. Of these, Evesham is the last survivor in near-original condition - Moreton was shorn of its chimneys a long time ago and the roof is covered with tar sheet, while the other stations' buildings were demolished in the 1960s and 1970s.

I never knew all of that - thanks very much! I'm going to have to do a lot more reading on the Cotswold Line as there's quite a bit I didn't know.

-Peter

 

[Strathclyder]

I've not been for a few years but Helensburgh Central managed to retain it's traditional look, does it still, or has it been 'modernised'?

I visited twice in December 2019 (the second time as the last port of call on the Class 314 farewell tour) and it remains largely unspoiled. A overlooked gem of a station if ever there was one.

Wemyss Bay & Helensburgh Central aside, other Glasgow/Strathclyde stations that would fit within the parameters of this thread (if not already mentioned) handily are: Paisley Gilmour Street, Dumbarton Central, Port Glasgow, Bishopton, Fort Matilda, Crosshill, Queen's Park, Maxwell Park, Cathcart, Whitecraigs, Pollokshaws West, Bearsden & Milngavie. All with varying degrees of more modern elements, but all with significant elements that have lasted 70+ years.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Carrickfergus Station in County Antrim is pretty unspoilt from its original 1860s look

 

[Bill_Lestrange]

Matlock (and most of the stations on the Derwent Valley Line) would probably fit the bill. Still in MR colours. Technically an interchange between a preserved line and the mainline, the mainline station still has a very vintage feel!

Beeston station is somewhat original, if you can overlook the rather hideous 1970s road bridge at the end of the platforms that replaced the level crossing. But the wooden panelled station and waiting areas are rather nice. Many memories of waiting for trains home from uni and being blown away by passing HSTs.

 

[plugwash]

Matlock (and most of the stations on the Derwent Valley Line) would probably fit the bill. Still in MR colours. Technically an interchange between a preserved line and the mainline, the mainline station still has a very vintage feel!

Yeah, inside the station has quite a nice vintage look and feel on both sides of the line.

The huge footbridge access ramp outside the mainline station entrance doesn't feel very vintage though :/

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[Ashley Hill]

I spent half an hour at Bramley (Hants) the other day. A lovely country setting and GWR brick buildings on both platforms. Unfortunately the staff had gone home so couldn't venture inside. If only the signal box still existed (c1977) it would have been the icing on the cake. Shame the Bramley Arms was closed.

 

[HSP 2]

A couple of stations that I'm surprised that have not had a mention and both of them grade 2 listed are Grange over Sands and Ulverston. Grange has its full? canopies, but Ulverston's have been cut back. Both still have semaphore signals.
If you want to stretch it to the 1950s Barrow in Furness is worth a look, this is the second station on the site after Harry Hitler decided the the first one needed a makeover. It is also fully semaphore signalled.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Yes, my current home station at Hebden Bridge has been mentioned, but I for one have no objection to it being mentioned again. It is an absolute gem, with its original Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway carved wooden signboards, ornamental lamps and platform benches. When the new passenger lifts were installed a couple of years ago, in the shafts of the original goods lifts, they had to been very carefully designed to blend in with the Grade 2-listed buildings and canopies. The signalbox, also Grade 2-listed has been carefully restored following closure in October 2018 and is to become a small museum of local railway history. Mention should also be made of the excellent privately-run cafe in the former parcels office on the Down platform (2), which is sadly closed during the current lockdown, but will hopefully reopen in the not-too-distant future.

Undoubtedly Hebden Bridge is the most characterful station I've worked at, although Glossop had some similarities. Both used original ticket windows which were not fully glazed, which I rather preferred as my hearing isn't always the best at picking out conversation against background noise. Internally there were some rather handsome sets of wooden drawers at Hebden Bridge, I assume for card ticket stock but perfectly serviceable for most modern needs. I'm thinking there were some similar at Glossop but it's nearly 14 years since I last worked there, since when of course a new ticket office has been provided.

One minor downside of Hebden Bridge's layout is the position of the departure summary CIS display, which is located so that customers entering the ticket hall or stood in the queue can see it easily - fair enough. Unfortunately it is invisible to the member of staff in the office and no repeater was provided, which meant a trek down to open the door into the ticket hall to have a look if anyone queried what it was showing. Possibly an internal repeater has been installed in recent years?

Although its occasional alter-ego as a microbar at weekends was slightly controversial, the cafe D6130 mentions was a real bonus. A bacon and mushroom teacake was my normal breakfast when working there - fortunately for my calorie intake that was generally only two early turns a fortnight!

 

[vic-rijrode]

Depends on your definition of "old-fashioned" I suppose, but Apsley is a quintessential example of a 30s station and the only one of its kind on the WCML out of Euston. If you disregard the newish footbridge and all the knitting above the lines, then it looks virtually the same as when it was opened (for John Dickinson & Co employees mainly) in 1938.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Depends on your definition of "old-fashioned" I suppose, but Apsley is a quintessential example of a 30s station and the only one of its kind on the WCML out of Euston. If you disregard the newish footbridge and all the knitting above the lines, then it looks virtually the same as when it was opened (for John Dickinson & Co employees mainly) in 1938.

Using that definition, Lancaster has barely changed at all - it looks near enough identical to the old photos.

 

[D6130]

Using that definition, Lancaster has barely changed at all - it looks near enough identical to the old photos.

Likewise Skipton.....apart from the reduction in the length of the platform canopies, the replacement in the 1950s of the original footbridge by a mail trolley-friendly ramped underpass; plus the erection of the knitting and associated resignalling.

 

[urbophile]

Likewise Skipton.....apart from the reduction in the length of the platform canopies, the replacement in the 1950s of the original footbridge by a mail trolley-friendly ramped underpass; plus the erection of the knitting and associated resignalling.

There never was a footbridge was there? I can remember Skipton at least from the mid-fifties. It would have to have been a big one to link to the Ilkley platforms.

 

[CunningPlan]

Can I nominate Brading on the Isle of Wight? The lighting may no longer be gas-fired but the fittings still look the part; other than that it's very much as opened by the original Isle of Wight Railway company, with original brick building, canopies (including IWR monograms), rather rickety footbridge and signal box all in situ. Admittedly the main station building is no longer in railway use but that aside it looks very much as it would have back in the Victorian period.

On the same line, Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde St. John's Road would all be decent contenders if seen from the right angle.
Sandown is probably the most-altered as the (former) island platform buildings were removed in the 1980s, but the other side still looks the part.
Ryde St. John's is pretty much all original except for the footbridge, which was replaced around 15 years ago - but the 1960s extension to Ryde Depot that sits right next to platform 3 is a little difficult to ignore!
The bit of Shanklin station that is still in use still look original on the outside, though the booking hall was extensively refurbished by NSE in in early 90s.

Ryde Esplanade station still has some wooden platform but most of the rest is 1960s rebuild.

 

[Crossover]

In West Yorks, both Huddersfield and Dewsbury are worth a mention if you turn a blind eye to the new lifts at the former.

I would agree with both. Dewsbury was my local station for quite a while and although the area may not be much to write home about, the station itself is pleasant enough