Rail centres that have fallen from grace?

[61653 HTAFC]

Barnsley lost Courthouse Station, along with several suburban stations and routes such as the Midland (now the seldom-used Monk Bretton freight line) and a significant number of rail-served collieries.

 

[Kali]

Taunton - shed, large number of yards, avoiding lines, three diverging routes from the main line all effectively gone. Newton Abbott was also surprisingly complex once.

 

[leytongabriel]

Yes Ore has a special magic. Kind of place lazy film crews might use for an urban wasteland in northern England scene. Except that it's in Sussex.

Hitchin? Former stopping point for East Coast expresses before Stevenage came along.

The old docklands stations in London - North Woolwich, Silvertown etc which were bustling before the docks closed.

Green Lanes Harringay ( formerly Harringay Stadium) which had super long platforms for trains taking people to the dogs. Just the concrete pillars which supported the platforms remain, rather bizarrely.

Wembley Central. Just about clinging on to having a NR service. Everything above ground demolished.

Temple Mills - great marshalling yards, part of the 1950's modernisation scheme. Now Asda's.

 

[sarahj]

Ahhh, Ore, or Beruit with trees as some call it. Whats not to like, the air gun pock marks on the station sign, the lack of glass in the shelter, the fact that trains have been graffiteed(?) while waiting in the turnround siding.
The old yard has just been built on in the last few months with a shop and what looks like a balancing lake. There have been plans to change it to Hastings East.
And dont go there for the Ashford trains. most dont stop. Just 1xph to Vic and 1xph to Brighton. (unit diagramme Btn-ore-vic-ore-btn)

SJ

 

[Marton]

Some more not mentioned yet

Battersby
4 way junction in the middle of nowhere http://*******.com/bap7amm and http://*******.com/b8ekp7m important iron mining junction.

Spalding
http://*******.com/bfwpkme 6 way junction with extensive goods yards now just a through line

Cudworth
Less busy but a significant mining junction in the West Riding http://*******.com/bap7amm

 

[Robert Taggart]

CREWE ! - honest - still a major railway centre, but, from an anoraks perspective it offers nothing but units and the occasional 'shed' - boring.
That said, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster, Preston, Rugby, Swindon... et al !

 

[DarloRich]

CREWE ! - honest - still a major railway centre, but, from an anoraks perspective it offers nothing but units and the occasional 'shed' - boring.
That said, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster, Preston, Rugby, Swindon... et al !

I think you will find I mentioned Darlington some time ago

Battersby
4 way junction in the middle of nowhere....important iron mining junction

Not sure you can sugget a decline in recent years! It was hardly a Clapham Junction even in its heyday!

 

[sheff'd victoria]

But to think that Wath yard has gone completely is just as sad. Not to mention all the jobs that were lost.

Penistone.

A busy "cross roads" with plenty of long distance trains, plenty of freight, electrification...

...now it gets nothing but an hourly Pacer/ 150.

Bit of a comedown?

(not sure if there were any "works" there - before my time)

The closure of the Woodhead Route must be up their as one of BR's biggest mistakes, the number of Yards and sidings it has lost is enormous

 

[saracen43]

As i understand it Saltly has been gone for some time, can anyone tell me whats at that site now.

 

[Wath Yard]

The closure of the Woodhead Route must be up their as one of BR's biggest mistakes, the number of Yards and sidings it has lost is enormous

Why would that be? The amount of trans Pennine freight would suggest the Woodhead route isn't needed, and yards have closed due to the changing nature of railfreight and industry.

 

[Pyreneenguy]

Osset/ Healey Mills yard.

I organised a visit to the yard 30 odd years ago, in my late teens. I was amazed at the size of the place and the complexity of the movements.

We had a signal-man as a guide and had numerous shunter cab-rides on the site. I guess Health & Safety has put a stop to all this.

 

[bladesman123]

I think Tinsley must be the worst. What a sad place that is now. (That is if you exclude my user name - but then there is nothing at all left of that).

Speaking of Tinsley, what ever happened to the rail/road freight terminal that was built? the building is there but I never see anything coming or going from it?

 

[james60059]

Even my local Nuneaton could fall into this category, you had the goods yard and hump yard once upon a time (hump yard where Platforms 6 and 7 are now) and of course Asda now occupies the goods yard :cry: plus as well a small loco shed in between the WCML and the branch to Coventry.

Even the freight isn't as busy as it use to be either, although you still get a good amount on some days

 

[WL113]

The railways of the West Midlands have been decimated over the last fifty years. The GWR Wolverhampton-Snow Hill-Paddington route was a superb piece of railway and perhaps the greatest loss. Snow Hill was a magnificent station.

Dudley had a large station, now it has no railway at all, Walsall station was replaced by a shopping centre with minimal station facilities. Ryecroft Junction was a four way junction with a large loco depot. Now it is a two way junction with no trace remaining of the depot.

Bescot is but a shadow of its past, Saltley shed has gone....

 

[Kneedown]

Always remembered for the Class 76's and the Great Central signal box. I haven't been there in a long, long time. Is there anything left of the catenary?

I did Hadfield to Penistone by bike in the summer with the objective of finding some forgotten artefacts of the electrification (I started a thread!)
Sadly i was unable to find anything apart from a few lengths of rail in vegetation near Valehouse, and set in the road at Thurlstone Crossing. A few signal cable supports were also present at Hazelhead.
The original style masts are still in use on the Manchester - Hadfield section of the route, although obviously energised at 25kv these days.

I think the entire Woodhead route should qualify for mention in this thread.

 

[Manchester77]

Indeed the woodhead line is a great loss to the BR network. It should be running with modern EMUs running on 25KvAC not just abandoned. I know par of it to Hadfield is still operational but it is very sad to see the abandoned Inferstructure rusting

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Hadfield4624.JPG could someone confirm this image from Wikipedia is still the case when looking eastwards from Hadfield station. Thanks

 

[paulb1973]

Even my local Nuneaton could fall into this category, you had the goods yard and hump yard once upon a time (hump yard where Platforms 6 and 7 are now) and of course Asda now occupies the goods yard :cry: plus as well a small loco shed in between the WCML and the branch to Coventry.

Even the freight isn't as busy as it use to be either, although you still get a good amount on some days

Even the OHLE 'wirescape' has been thinned out with those losses, think the sidings now occuped by the Asda store were (part) wired. So too the area immediately east/south of the station - presumably tracks to Hinckley and around the Cemetry Sidings having been removed over the years.

 

[WL113]

Indeed the woodhead line is a great loss to the BR network. It should be running with modern EMUs running on 25KvAC not just abandoned. I know par of it to Hadfield is still operational but it is very sad to see the abandoned Inferstructure rusting

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Hadfield4624.JPG could someone confirm this image from Wikipedia is still the case when looking eastwards from Hadfield station. Thanks

The closure of the Woodhead Route really did discredit British Rail and the Conservative government of the time. The route had been starved of investment for years and when the equipment became so degraded it had become dangerous the line was just closed.

Quite shocking.

 

[455driver]

Speaking of Tinsley, what ever happened to the rail/road freight terminal that was built? the building is there but I never see anything coming or going from it?

To get planning permission it had to be rail connected, there was never a requirement for any trains to serve it though!