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Unusual Station Layouts

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gnolife

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Surely these are real Termini. If you went any further at Kyle or Milford Haven you would be in the sea! Hadfield was part of the Woodhead route and thus a through route in its heyday.

I'm just trying to say that there's nothing unusual about single line termini, no matter what the reason for them being single line is (Rose Hill is exactly like Hadfield though - it used to have through service to Macclesfield via Middlewood)
 
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12CSVT

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Anniesland - although there is nothing unusual about the station itself, the track layout is unusual in that there is no connection between the Westerton line and Maryhill line.

Already mentioned is Dunbar, there is a similar layout at Maryport.

Ardrossan South Beach and Malton are both single platforms on double track lines.

Carlisle (bay platform 2), Ascot and Norwood Junction are in the "too many platforms" category.
 
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LE Greys

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Rhyl was built oddly. Through lines for non-stopping trains (though relatively few passenger trains didn't stop). Two down platforms, but only one up platform. Prestatyn had more platforms even though it had far fewer passengers.

Hatfield has a similar oddity, one up, two down. This was the result of a rebuild in the 1950s (I think) when the line ran parallel with the Hatfield-St Alban's route, but was rebuilt as a conventional four-track route and they demolished the old up platform to ease the curve. I think the current up slow platform was the up main, the down main ran where the up fast does now and so on.

Peterborough is also a double station. The current up side is the original GNR station and used to have an overall roof. The down side used to belong to the Midland and the GER (originally Peterborough West). It was modified several times, the current layout being the result of rationalisation in the 1980s. Before then, the through lines were extremely slow, now they are 105mph.
 

4SRKT

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Also looking at your list, as a southern softie (Cornish), where is Triangle?

Cornish? Not Kentish then?

Triangle is what we call the electrified lines from Leeds to Ilkley, Skipton and Bradford Forster Square.

It is also a village near Sowerby Bridge, but that doesn't have a station, let alone one with junctions to seven different places! It may have had one once being on the branch from Sowerby Bridge to Rishworth.
 
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OwlMan

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Maryport is an odd station.
One platform on a loop on the down side. All up trains have to cross over the down line both in and out of the platform loop.

Also Shipley only has 5 platforms (only one on the Bradford - Keighley side)

Peter
 

Kentish Paul

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Thanks for the Triangle explanation.

As for me, born in Wales, 30 years in Cornwall, now in Kent since 1988. So basically a GWR man but Southeastern (as it is now) grows on me. (shock horror) !
 

Railsigns

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How about stations with permanent right hand running? Muir of Ord is certainly one and there is one on the West Highland. it's either Ardlui or Arrochar?

The stations on the West Highland Line that have right-hand running are Garelochhead, Ardlui, Bridge of Orchy, Rannoch, Spean Bridge and Taynuilt.
 

4SRKT

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Maryport is an odd station.
One platform on a loop on the down side. All up trains have to cross over the down line both in and out of the platform loop.

Also Shipley only has 5 platforms (only one on the Bradford - Keighley side)

Peter

There were two on that side until the mid-1980s, although I recall that because the curve was so tight trains could not be in both platforms simultaneously. This must make Shipley unique even before it became a triangular station in 1979. When the Bradford > Skipton side was singled it was slewed into the best alignment available and the former up platform extended out to meet it.

It's gone from its pre-1979 incarnation as a Y layout with two platforms on each Bradford end arm (although only three trains could call or pass at once), to a 5 platform layout with one extra one added on the direct Leeds > Skipton line (down side only), then from 1986 a different 5 platform layout with the addition of an up platform on the Skipton > Leeds side, and the singling/removal of the down platform on the Bradford > Skipton side. Sometime in all that it lost its wonderful canopies and glasswork. <(
 

Liam

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"Permanent right-hand running" Layout - Stations with permanent right-hand running
Muir of Ord
Axminster
Ardlui (?)
Arrochar (?)

Most island platform stations on the West Highland Line have right had running.
 

LE Greys

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Most island platform stations on the West Highland Line have right had running.

Tablet exchanges were easier with island platforms before RETB. Most tablet-catchers were mounted on the left, and the WHL style is to have the signal box on the platform.
 

142094

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Hartlepool is also one like Maryport where only one platform is in use and trains running south towards Middlesbrough have to crossover to serve the platform.
 

Railsigns

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Tablet exchanges were easier with island platforms before RETB. Most tablet-catchers were mounted on the left, and the WHL style is to have the signal box on the platform.

To clarify: The right-hand running was introduced in conjunction with RETB at certain stations to allow easier access into the sidings and reduce derailment risk on the train-operated crossing loop points. It had nothing to do with manual token exchanges or island platforms.
 

LE Greys

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To clarify: The right-hand running was introduced in conjunction with RETB at certain stations to allow easier access into the sidings and reduce derailment risk on the train-operated crossing loop points. It had nothing to do with manual token exchanges or island platforms.

Aha! I thought it pre-dated RETB. Thanks for clearing that up.
 

blakey1152

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Would Grove Park be classed as "A bit on the side layout"?

The shuttle service on Platform 1 to Bromley North is actually fenced off from the rest of the station over a footbridge which I recall is lower than the rest of the station.

Blakey
 

LE Greys

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Reading would as well, with the 'Southern' station a bit away from what used to be Reading General. Perth is more of a Y layout than that. And I suppose Folkestone Central might count as having too many platforms. Then there's Exeter St David's, where up trains to London can leave in opposite directions from the same platform.
 

fireftrm

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Trains can depart from each of the through platforms to north, or south, destinations from Newcastle Central and from the North facing bay Platform 1. The north facing bay clearly departs north, for northbound, or southbound, whereas the through platform trains can depart south for southbound and north for northbound, or southbound. This is due to the two bridges linking the ECML, Durham coast line and Newcastle with the Gateshead link lines. It is rare for main line trains to depart north for southbound ECML, but Cross Country have done so and local trains for the Newcastle-Carlisle line often do. It is also used to turn EastCoast sets which are the wrong way round, I have been on just such a Mk4 set recently. Very confusing for regular travellers!
 

stuart

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The other oddity about Shipley, if I recall correctly, is that the Bradford -> Leeds platform is actually bidirectional for the sake of the EC sets that use it, the normal Leeds->Bradford platform not being long enough. They're platforms 3&4 but can't recall which is which.

Having read through this thread, Shipley definitely gets my personal vote for the most bizarre layout, in regard to its size/use. It confused me when I first encountered it and still does, not least because most possible destinations have a choice of two totally unrelated platforms to wait on.

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Trains can depart from each of the through platforms to north, or south, destinations from Newcastle Central and from the North facing bay Platform 1. The north facing bay clearly departs north, for northbound, or southbound, whereas the through platform trains can depart south for southbound and north for northbound, or southbound. This is due to the two bridges linking the ECML, Durham coast line and Newcastle with the Gateshead link lines. It is rare for main line trains to depart north for southbound ECML, but Cross Country have done so and local trains for the Newcastle-Carlisle line often do. It is also used to turn EastCoast sets which are the wrong way round, I have been on just such a Mk4 set recently. Very confusing for regular travellers!

This goes back about 12 years, but I was onboard the northbound HST Chieftain one day when they decided to turn it at Newcastle - not sure why, it was in the normal orientation, but maybe the power unit at the "A" end had failed - so we went round the loop and entered the station from the north. No problem until we started to depart in the direction we had arrived from - widespread panic amongst passengers who thought the train had terminated and was going back to London. It was interesting to complete the journey with the "H" end leading (told you it was an old story) and the first class single seats on the left hand side of the train.

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Unless I've just missed it, surprised no-one's mentioned Birmingham NS yet. Prior to the 1960s reconstruction, it was really two stations side by side, with a limited amount of cross-over pointwork at each end. There was even a road running through the middle between the two sets of platforms. I can recall catching a train from there, entering via the old Stephenson Street entrance (on the north side) and being told my platform was "on the other side" - I think there was just one bridge link over the roadway to the "other side".

The 1960s reconstruction muddied the appearance (in more ways than one) but there are still some platforms only accessible from one of another of the two main routes east and west.
 
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4SRKT

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The other oddity about Shipley, if I recall correctly, is that the Bradford -> Leeds platform is actually bidirectional for the sake of the EC sets that use it, the normal Leeds->Bradford platform not being long enough. They're platforms 3&4 but can't recall which is which.

Having read through this thread, Shipley definitely gets my personal vote for the most bizarre layout, in regard to its size/use. It confused me when I first encountered it and still does, not least because most possible destinations have a choice of two totally unrelated platforms to wait on.

All destinations except Ilkley, Morecambe and Carlisle go off more than one platform. Leeds off 1 and 3, London off 1 and 3, Skipton off 2 and 5, Bradford off 3, 4 and 5 (although you can't strictly board the one daily train that uses 3 because it's set-down only). All Ilkleys use 3 and all 'beyond Skiptons' use 2.

Platform 2 is also bi-directionally signalled, a legacy from when it was the only platform on the north side of the triangle. The signal at the east end of Saltaire station has two feathers, the lower one (which is the only one used normally) to cross over and then take the Bradford road, and the other to just cross over and take platform 2.
 

Bevan Price

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I was thinking about all the different station layouts in the country today, and there are some odd ones. Please add to this list and comment if I have missed any. What is the most unusually layed out station in the country that you have come across? :P

"Back to Back" Layout - Stations with terminal platforms at both ends with some
Preston (?)



Please add to this list with more layouts/examples of these layouts.
Adam :D


Preston has only ever had passenger terminal bays at the south end. The "bay" at the north end of Platform 3 is only about long enough to hold a locomotive, or maybe a parcels van.

(It was once a Y-type layout when the former "East Lancashire" platforms still existed.)
 

MidnightFlyer

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London off 1 and 3,

Unless it's changed, I thought only the EC Bradford service called at Shipley, with the EC Skipton service being Keighley only between Skipton and Leeds?]

Edit - Ah, calls southbound, but not northbound.
 
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p123

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Excellent list! :)

Also, Fort William could be in your 'artificial terminus' category, as Mallaig trains enter, stop for a few minutes and then leave the same way they came in towards a junction outside the station.
 

IanD

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All destinations except Ilkley, Morecambe and Carlisle go off more than one platform. Leeds off 1 and 3, London off 1 and 3, Skipton off 2 and 5, Bradford off 3, 4 and 5 (although you can't strictly board the one daily train that uses 3 because it's set-down only). All Ilkleys use 3 and all 'beyond Skiptons' use 2.

The NRE website station plan is very difficult to follow. Apparently, it's not a triangle but has a single track line passing over the other lines.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/sjp/SHY/plan.html?rtnloc=SHY
 

martinsh

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Wolverhampton has bays at both ends.

Matlock has two platforms, one used by NR, and the other by a preserved line !

Duffield is a strange one. An island platform which was between the centre tracks when the route was 4 tracked (outer lines were freight so no platforms there), now plus a completely unconnected platform on a preserved branch.

Do we have a category for for stations with only 1 platform on a double track line ? (e.g. Hartlepool)
 

Cherry_Picker

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Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill both have multiple through platforms with bi directional working. It is a fairly common sight at Snow Hill, with each of the three platforms getting multiple departures in each direction (either towards Moor Street or towards Stourbridge) over the course of a day. It's less common at Moor Street, but it can happen. Moor Street also has bay and through platforms which get used regularly.
 

yorkie

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The north facing bay clearly departs north, for northbound, or southbound, whereas the through platform trains can depart south for southbound and north for northbound, or southbound....
Like Birmingham New St, and various other stations on predominantly north-south routes, the station is actually west-east. Trains regularly head South in either direction, though the Middlesbrough ones are much more likely to depart Eastbound (High Level Bridge) and the others are much more likely to depart Westbound (King Edward Bridge). I am not sure it's that confusing for regular passengers as they will surely know about it and get used to it! The 1343 Hexham - Middlesbrough uses the High Level Bridge twice, reversing at Newcastle, when it could use both bridges and avoid a reversal.

Sheffield does confuse people though when you take the "old road" via Darnall. The station does genuinely face north-south, so if a train toward Derby goes via Darnall it has to initially go north for a short distance. This happened on a Glasgow-Penzance HST I was on a few years ago and caused some alarm to an enthusiast didn't know about the Darnall route!
 

hluraven

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Loughborough Junction is a very odd one, it fits the "Half-Y" with the main line (with platforms) running north-south, disused platform on the curve making the "half-Y" on the north to east curve, no platforms on the curve that makes a half-Y on the north to west curve, and an east to west line running over the top of the lot.
 

142094

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There are a quite a few booked services per week that use a different route to normal to get into Newcastle Central for route knowledge retention. It is also very handy to have if there is a problem on either the High Level or King Edward bridges, as you can easily divert around it, then reverse in the station (such as a few years ago when a coal train derailed on the King Edward).
 

martinsh

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How about a "bays at the wrong end" category ?

Both Oxford and Northampton have most terminating trains coming from the south, but the only bays are north facing ...
 

4SRKT

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How about a "bays at the wrong end" category ?

Both Oxford and Northampton have most terminating trains coming from the south, but the only bays are north facing ...

Scunthorpe also has this problem. As did Middlesbrough once which had an east-facing bay in the days when all Saltburn, Nunthorpe and Whitby services went through to Darlington or Bishop Auckland.
 

steamybrian

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Wolverhampton has bays at both ends.

Matlock has two platforms, one used by NR, and the other by a preserved line !

Duffield is a strange one. An island platform which was between the centre tracks when the route was 4 tracked (outer lines were freight so no platforms there), now plus a completely unconnected platform on a preserved branch.


Do we have a category for for stations with only 1 platform on a double track line ? (e.g. Hartlepool)

Eridge was originally 4 platforms- now one face of one island platform used by NR trains. One face of the other island platform is used by the preserved Spa Valley Railway trains although the second face is used as a siding with proposals to extend the track around the disused face to form a run round loop.
A similiar layout exists at Barry Island but perhaps the experts for that area can give the details.

One platform on a double track line I nominate- Ware ,Maryport plus Limerick Junction in Ireland
 
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