Trivia - Largest town to have NEVER had a railway service?

[Snow1964]

Fetcham in Surrey (population about 8000) has a railway, but has never had a station (although Bookham and Leatherhead either side have stations).

 

[30907]

New Addington wasn't a New Town, it was London overspill and purely residential... a distant suburb of Croydon and Bromley.

Only Croydon - you needed your own transport for Bromley until the 314 was introduced relatively recently.

 

[ChrisC]

Nottingham station is a good couple of miles away, and on the other side of the Trent, so West Bridgford (being a separate town) is reasonable shout, I would have thought.

If for any reason West Bridgford does not count, being so close to Nottingham, does Arnold to the north of the city count? Arnold is almost 5 miles from Nottingham Station and has a population of almost 40,000. There was a station at Daybrook just to the south of Arnold, but never a station in Arnold itself.

 

[edwin_m]

Daybrook station is within the Arnold borough boundary on the 1921 map.

 

[d9009alycidon]

An interesting one is Ballantrae on the South Ayrshire coast, it has a small population of 800 and has never had a railway or station, but it is the unlikely location of the head office of one of the largest rail maintenance companies, McCulloch Rail!

 

[Calthrop]

An interesting one is Ballantrae on the South Ayrshire coast, it has a small population of 800 and has never had a railway or station, but it is the unlikely location of the head office of one of the largest rail maintenance companies, McCulloch Rail!

I have long entertained a fantasy of a narrow-gauge line linking Ballantrae with the Ayr -- Stranraer line at Pinwherry; have always thought it a shame that Scotland virtually never had public narrow-gauge railways of the classic kind.

 

[d9009alycidon]

I have long entertained a fantasy of a narrow-gauge line linking Ballantrae with the Ayr -- Stranraer line at Pinwherry; have always thought it a shame that Scotland virtually never had public narrow-gauge railways of the classic kind.

Right through Sawney Beans Cave!

 

[Calthrop]

Right through Sawney Beans Cave!

If it had survived to the present day, as part of the national network; would they be marketing it as the Cannibal Line ?

 

[Bungle158]

Woodley a suburb of Reading, which however lies in the neighbouring borough of Wokingham, apparently has town status and a population of over 35000. On some maps, the platforms at nearby Earley station appear to just squeak in to the town area, but the station approach road does not.

 

[brstd4260]

Deleted

 

[brstd4260]

Earley Station was built in the 1860's when Woodley was a tiny village, it did not start to expand until Miles Aviation built an aircraft factory and aerodrome there on a greenfield site in c1935. It did not become a town until 1974, so perhaps not surprising it doesn't have a station of its own since Earley Station serves both towns perfectly well

 

[Bungle158]

Earley Station was built in the 1860's when Woodley was a tiny village, it did not start to expand until Miles Aviation built an aircraft factory and aerodrome there on a greenfield site in c1935. It did not become a town until 1974, so perhaps not surprising it doesn't have a station of its own since Earley Station serves both towns perfectly well

Absolutely! I was being slightly mischevious in mentioning Woodley, although Earley station is on its extreme southern boundary and can't really be said to serve the whole town. However, Reading Buses provide a comprehensive link with Reading Station.

 

[dan4291]

Would Peterlee in County Durham count? New town, population of approx 20k, nearest station is in Horden, a village just outside. It is getting a new Horden Peterlee station though, opening imminently, global pandemics aside.

 

[Journeyman]

I have long entertained a fantasy of a narrow-gauge line linking Ballantrae with the Ayr -- Stranraer line at Pinwherry; have always thought it a shame that Scotland virtually never had public narrow-gauge railways of the classic kind.

After visiting the Harz mountain railways a few years ago, I had some interesting fantasies about building something similar in Scotland - you'd be on to a winner with something like that taking a corkscrew route up the side of a mountain somewhere in the Highlands.

 

[GusB]

After visiting the Harz mountain railways a few years ago, I had some interesting fantasies about building something similar in Scotland - you'd be on to a winner with something like that taking a corkscrew route up the side of a mountain somewhere in the Highlands.

Maybe not a large town as the thread title suggests, but Tomintoul might be a potential candidate. The roads are fairly horrendous, so it'd probably make an interesting railway project

 

[Calthrop]

After visiting the Harz mountain railways a few years ago, I had some interesting fantasies about building something similar in Scotland - you'd be on to a winner with something like that taking a corkscrew route up the side of a mountain somewhere in the Highlands.

Ben Macdhui? -- counterpart of the Brocken, as regards the latter's Spectre, and the former's Big Grey Man !

 

[Trackbedjolly]

Maybe not a large town as the thread title suggests, but Tomintoul might be a potential candidate. The roads are fairly horrendous, so it'd probably make an interesting railway project

If there was a time when Tomintoul might have had a railway then it would have been in the 1860s-there was iron ore fever in them thar hills (the Ladder Hills to be exact) but neither the lairds nor the railway companies wanted to make the first move. A trial shipment of iron ore was carted from the Lecht to Ballindalloch station on the Speyside Line but there was no further development- in any case it is doubtful if any passenger railway would ever have got to TT as the only very remote prospect was a tramway (goods only line) from either Alford via Strathdon or north from Bridge of Gairn on the Deeside Line neither of which were practicable let alone economically viable but there was speculation at the time.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Norden*?

A former mill village North West of Rochdale. Now a suburb of said town and subsuburb of Manchester, but was originally in the open countryside.

A branch from the Rochdale to Bacup line was proposed in the late 19th century, but never built.

2011 population 9766, so probably over 10k now.

Possibly "cheating" to combine the earlier status as an independent settlement with the current population.

(*Not to be confused with Norden in Ostfriesland, famed for its role in "The Riddle of the Sands" as the junction where Carruthers of thr foreign office interrupted his shack-scratching on the Esens line in order to thwart the baddies )

 

[Calthrop]

(*Not to be confused with Norden in Ostfriesland, famed for its role in "The Riddle of the Sands" as the junction where Carruthers of thr foreign office interrupted his shack-scratching on the Esens line in order to thwart the baddies )

Prior to which he called in at Sonderburg (now Danish Sonderborg) in North Schleswig -- mostly-Danish area taken off Denmark by Prussia in the 1860s -- to bag its charming metre-gauge line, one of many such in the region promoted and opened by the insidious Germans with a view to strengthening their hold on the territory...

 

[Jamesrob637]

Easy walking distance to Nottingham station, so I’m not sure that counts.

Doesn't the tram go to its fringes too? Someone has mentioned something about the tram up thread.

 

[edwin_m]

Doesn't the tram go to its fringes too? Someone has mentioned something about the tram up thread.

That was me, in a post close to the one you quoted. The tram runs along the western boundary of West Bridgford but from its centre the nearest tramstop isn't much nearer than Nottingham station.

 

[MontyP]

Roehampton in London has never had a tube or rail station - population of 16000 according to Wikipedia. It must be one of the biggest distinct districts of London in this regard.

 

[NBC Soap Oper]

Withernsea in East Yorks/Humberside could be a candidate - I am thinking!!

 

[Bevan Price]

Withernsea in East Yorks/Humberside could be a candidate - I am thinking!!

It, and Hornsea both had stations, closed by Marples/Beeching policy.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Roehampton in London has never had a tube or rail station - population of 16000 according to Wikipedia. It must be one of the biggest distinct districts of London in this regard.

True: but it was only a tiny village until the mid-1950s, when the big housing estate was built. It's also on the top of a pretty steep hill.

Roehampton is one of the few settlements around London that has never had a station named after it. I'm working on a list of Greater London settlements that never had a station, and will hopefully be starting a 'Trivia' thread on this when it's ready. So far, I've not found that many.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Roehampton in London has never had a tube or rail station - population of 16000 according to Wikipedia. It must be one of the biggest distinct districts of London in this regard.

A very good point and one which TfL has completely ignored. Roehampton has a university and a major hospital - plus a small, very expensive private hospital - but no railway. In my very rare crayonist moments, I fantasize about the Hammersmith & City Line being extended through Barnes and Roehampton to Wimbledon.

 

[MontyP]

True: but it was only a tiny village until the mid-1950s, when the big housing estate was built. It's also on the top of a pretty steep hill.

Roehampton is one of the few settlements around London that has never had a station named after it. I'm working on a list of Greater London settlements that never had a station, and will hopefully be starting a 'Trivia' thread on this when it's ready. So far, I've not found that many.

The geography of the area is difficult clearly, and nowhere obvious for any line to go afterwards. I’ve often pondered whether Kingston should have a more direct line into central London but the obvious route for this would be via the university and then via Roehampton Vale towards Wandsworth /Clapham Junction (apologies for the crayonista view and clearly this is not a real suggestion!)

 

[Dr_Paul]

The geography of the area is difficult clearly, and nowhere obvious for any line to go afterwards. I’ve often pondered whether Kingston should have a more direct line into central London but the obvious route for this would be via the university and then via Roehampton Vale towards Wandsworth /Clapham Junction (apologies for the crayonista view and clearly this is not a real suggestion!)

I've just remembered that we had quite a discussion about Roehampton here a couple of years back. I fear that its inhabitants will continue to rely upon the various buses to reach a railway or underground station, rather than be provided with one of their own.

 

[edwin_m]

I suggest the issue is that coming from central London, any service through Roehampton would have to continue across Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common, or make a sharp turn to avoid these open spaces which would result in a less direct and slower route to places that already have rail service. Any railway builder would face major opposition to going on the surface across these areas, which would generate no significant revenue, and there would be little point in doing so because Kingston and Teddington immediately beyond already have frequent and reasonably quick train services into London. The amount of built-up area that isn't within a mile of at least one existing railway or Underground station is quite small, and served by buses on the A3.

 

[S&CLER]

At the peak of the railway system the largest towns without a station were said to be Ambleside, Clun (Shropshire) and Painswick (Gloucestershire). I'm not sure if the steamer pier at Ambleside was considered a station in the same sense as Dartmouth, but I think not; I suppose the test would be, could you buy a ticket to it?

I've just found through fares from Liverpool to Ambleside quoted in the July 1946 edition of the Liverpool ABC Railway Guide. They were 24s 10d 1st class, 14s 11d 2nd class for 84 miles via Windermere (apparently by bus from there); and oddly cheaper fares of 23s 6d 1st, 14s 8d 2nd for a longer 94 mile route to Ambleside Pier via Lakeside (all singles). These fares are about 4s and 2s more than the fares quoted in the September 1935 edition of the same guide (and a lot more than the Ribble coach which in 1935 was 7s 9d single, 11s 9d return). The Sep-Oct 1963 edition just refers you to trains for Windermere, and buses from there.