Closest unvisited railway line

[Ken H]

Me neither. Probably closest station/stretch of line (Romiley->Rose Hill) that I've never ever had the need or occasion to visit. Have done Manchester Victoria -> Stockport via Reddish South a couple of times though.

I suppose that area was close to me on 95 when i was B&Bing it in Glossop for work for a few months. I never did the lines through Marple incl the Hope Valley. Never did Hadfield -Broadbottom direct either. But a decade earlier i did do the Glossop line when the DC units were still going. Think Glossop still used the trainshed then, now the Co-op

 

[317 forever]

Strangely that exactly matches my line visits in the south/east Manchester area too*. Or perhaps not so strangely, given that the Reddish South line barely has any services and you probably wouldn't go to Rose Hill unless you had a specific reason.

(*actually not sure if I've done Hadfield. Definitely Glossop. Depends which way round the triangle the service went in December 1996 and April 1998, if anyone has that info...)

Me neither. Probably closest station/stretch of line (Romiley->Rose Hill) that I've never ever had the need or occasion to visit. Have done Manchester Victoria -> Stockport via Reddish South a couple of times though.

What doesn't help is that I keep forgetting when the Stockport-Guide Bridge line runs. I seem to keep hearing Friday or Saturday.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What doesn't help is that I keep forgetting when the Stockport-Guide Bridge line runs. I seem to keep hearing Friday or Saturday.

Believe the "Denton Flyer" ran in both directions, as currently scheduled, yesterday (Saturday).

Realtime Trains | 0846 Stalybridge to Stockport | 15/10/2022

Real-time train running information for 0846 departure from Stalybridge to Stockport on 15/10/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 0942 Stockport to Stalybridge | 15/10/2022

Real-time train running information for 0942 departure from Stockport to Stalybridge on 15/10/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Ken H]

Believe the "Denton Flyer" ran in both directions, as currently scheduled, yesterday (Saturday).

Realtime Trains | 0846 Stalybridge to Stockport | 15/10/2022

Real-time train running information for 0846 departure from Stalybridge to Stockport on 15/10/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 0942 Stockport to Stalybridge | 15/10/2022

Real-time train running information for 0942 departure from Stockport to Stalybridge on 15/10/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It used to be a useful link for Journies like Leeds - Crewe. Ran hourly to connect with Trans Pennine trains. I went for an interview at the college in Stafford in 1974 and changed Stalybridge and Stockport. Also did that line using the Leeds - Crewe TPO to get to N Wales about the same time. Killed off by rerouting Trans Pennine to go vis Piccadilly rather than Vic.

 

[mlambeuk]

living in York, nearest line I've never done is Castleford to Knottingley.

 

[satisnek]

I've covered all currently existing passenger routes (and some others!) in the Midlands, although I never did get to ride the Sinfin branch. However, the rarest for me will be the Colwich-Stone line - I did this once, some 30 years ago, on a day when I specifically set out to cover it when I had a week off work and a Heart Of England Rover. It's the one bit of the network that those living and travelling in the Midlands have absolutely no need to use, and I don't think it's even possible to do it on a local Rover/Ranger ticket these days.

Ironically, I'm now quite familiar with the route having cruised the parallel Trent & Mersey Canal several times.

 

[weepingwillowb]

I've lived in Lancaster around 9 years, and haven't yet travelled on the line to Morecambe.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Although I live near Reading I can't ever recall going west from the station (except for the mile or so to get to the Reading - Basingstoke line).

 

[D6975]

I live in Bristol and despite having covered most of the heavy rail network, I still haven't done the Westbury main line avoider as it isn't on the way to anywhere for me. The fact that the only valid rover is the ALR means that I'm unlikely to do the main line avoider anytime soon. I have done Hawkeridge Jn several times though as it's a regular Sunday detour. The same applies to some lines in SWT land also without regional rover coverage. Other than those, almost all the lines I need are recent reopenings and PSULs.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

However, the rarest for me will be the Colwich-Stone line - I did this once, some 30 years ago, on a day when I specifically set out to cover it when I had a week off work and a Heart Of England Rover. It's the one bit of the network that those living and travelling in the Midlands have absolutely no need to use, and I don't think it's even possible to do it on a local Rover/Ranger ticket these days.

Appears as if it can be done in that direction only on a West Midlands Day Ranger, but presume you'd need to be on one of the handful of services calling at say Rugby or Nuneaton, then Stoke-on-Trent.

 

[Ken H]

I've covered all currently existing passenger routes (and some others!) in the Midlands, although I never did get to ride the Sinfin branch. However, the rarest for me will be the Colwich-Stone line - I did this once, some 30 years ago, on a day when I specifically set out to cover it when I had a week off work and a Heart Of England Rover. It's the one bit of the network that those living and travelling in the Midlands have absolutely no need to use, and I don't think it's even possible to do it on a local Rover/Ranger ticket these days.

Ironically, I'm now quite familiar with the route having cruised the parallel Trent & Mersey Canal several times.

did you ever get the north curve at Hatton? I failed that one when i lived nearby.
I am not sure I got all the 4 curves Soho - Perry Bar.
Never did Lifford Curve.
Never did Small Heath - New Street tho I did do Saltley - Kings Norton when they rebuilt a bridge on the New St - Stetchford line, so only a couple of curves.
I did get the Sutton park line on a midlands Network Day. Was it in a Hastings DMU. Late 80's I think???

 

[NorthOxonian]

For me it's the Bishop Auckland line. It faces south towards Darlington which makes it pretty useless from the Newcastle direction - and the few times I've actually wanted to go from BA to Darlington I've had a bus day ticket anyway and therefore just got the bus!

 

[LancasterRed]

I've never done the Heysham branch or Settle-Carlisle...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Live in Batley, nearest line I haven't done is Sheffield to York via Pontefract Baghill... which is probably in the lead on this thread now!

Also haven't done Knottingley to Goole which is only a little further away.

 

[gg1]

Currently living in Halesowen, closest line I've definitely never travelled on is Worcester to Oxford.

I'm not sure about the Camp Hill line, I must have travelled between New Street and Bristol Parkway 30-40 times in the mid-late 90s but had completely lost all interest in trains at that point so didn't pay any attention to the route.

 

[317 forever]

Believe the "Denton Flyer" ran in both directions, as currently scheduled, yesterday (Saturday).

Realtime Trains | 0846 Stalybridge to Stockport | 15/10/2022

Real-time train running information for 0846 departure from Stalybridge to Stockport on 15/10/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 0942 Stockport to Stalybridge | 15/10/2022

Real-time train running information for 0942 departure from Stockport to Stalybridge on 15/10/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

If I have a tour of east Manchester in the new year I shall try it then.

 

[dan4291]

For me it's the Bishop Auckland line. It faces south towards Darlington which makes it pretty useless from the Newcastle direction - and the few times I've actually wanted to go from BA to Darlington I've had a bus day ticket anyway and therefore just got the bus!

You can thank Dr. Beeching for that, closing the Bishop Auckland - Brandon line to connect to the ECML at Durham which would be handy nowadays (slightly biased with living in Bishop Auckland and working in Newcastle!).

Back on topic, for me it's the York - Leeds via Harrogate line that's the nearest one I've never travelled on.

 

[SussexSeagull]

Live in Worthing and was going to say the Oxted line but it is possible I have got on one at London Bridge or Victoria and changed at Clapham Junction or East Croydon for a train home.

Conversely have a couple of collector's items while not really trying. I presume when we got the train to get a ferry from Newhaven when I was a kid we went to Newhaven Harbour and went through Berney Arms when travelling from Great Yarmouth to Norwich one Sunday.

 

[zero]

I guess it's the Dudding Hill line for me since I've travelled on all lines in the UK that have a regular service, and almost all the ones with an irregular service.

If curves count then it's the ones between South Acton and either side of Kew Bridge

Otherwise it's some line around Calais

 

[Halish Railway]

Oh dear this thread brings up some bad experiences.

I’m living in Selly Oak as a student and I haven’t been on the Camp Hill line as it would either involve going all the way to Cheltenham Spa and back or take the early Weekday morning Great Malvern to Birmingham New Street via Camp Hill service from Bromsgrove which I’ve had little time to do as it would mean not making a lecture on time.

Yesterday I tried to ride the extension of the West Midlands Metro to Edgbaston Village, only to find that there was only a reduced Bull Street to Wolverhampton service on offer due to Industrial action.

I also tried to be on a train that stopped at Perry Bar as it was the last station in the West Midlands I needed to call at, as well as riding a train from Tame Bridge Parkway to Wolverhampton, only to find that there was disruption caused by a points failure at Bescot.

The previous time I tried to do the Wolverhampton to Birmingham via Tame Bridge Parkway journey was on a Shrewsbury to Birmingham service that I don’t believe is in the timetable anymore, only to get on and find that the driver didn’t sign the diversionary route.

Having said that I have been on the Wolverhampton avoider on what I believe is a Saturday only early-morning Birmingham to Crewe ‘wobble’ service that goes non-stop from Birmingham to Penkridge via Aston and the aforementioned Wolverhampton avoider.

 

[Cambus731]

Depending on the criteria of this thread, the nearest piece of passenger line to my flat that I haven't been to is the Barking Riverside extension of the GOBLIN. Or if the idea is a complete line, then it's probably the Oxford to Worcester line.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Definitely the Bo'ness and kinneil. Blame lack of integrated public transport for that one

 

[satisnek]

Appears as if it can be done in that direction only on a West Midlands Day Ranger, but presume you'd need to be on one of the handful of services calling at say Rugby or Nuneaton, then Stoke-on-Trent.

It does indeed seem to be possible nowadays with a couple of services calling at Nuneaton or Lichfield TV, but I can remember checking a few years back and finding just one Euston-Manchester service at stupid o'clock in the morning which called at Nuneaton (and that was assuming it was a weekend when the West Midlands Day Ranger was valid at that time). All other trains ran non-stop Milton Keynes-Stoke, as they do today. Incidentally, for how long has the line been included on the West Midlands Day Ranger validity map?

did you ever get the north curve at Hatton? I failed that one when i lived nearby.
I am not sure I got all the 4 curves Soho - Perry Bar.
Never did Lifford Curve.
Never did Small Heath - New Street tho I did do Saltley - Kings Norton when they rebuilt a bridge on the New St - Stetchford line, so only a couple of curves.
I did get the Sutton park line on a midlands Network Day. Was it in a Hastings DMU. Late 80's I think???

Hatton north curve? Piece of cake, there's an hourly Stratford via Solihull service these days I'm sure I did it before then, but can't remember what on.

As for the bits at each end of the Camp Hill line, do these carry a timetabled passenger service? So do they count?

There was a DMU tour in the late 1980s ('Midline' era) which started from New Street and covered a whole load of non-passenger routes in the area, but I don't remember the Hastings unit, which would have probably been a railtour starting from 'down south'.

 

[DeRobeck]

I live in Chester but have never done Bidston - Wrexham

 

[xotGD]

Living in Airedale:

The curve avoiding Leeds Station is my nearest bit of non-yellow-penned track.

For lines with regular service, probably the Colne branch.

 

[PeterY]

In my quest to cover the UK rail network, living in Hemel Hempstead, it's now Gainsborough to Doncaster or Gainsborough to Barnetby.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Lived in Bristol since 2009. Nearest lines would be the Ebbw Vale line, Bargoed - Rhymney, Pontypridd- Treherbert and Bridgend - Maesteg. In England it'd be Worcester - Oxford.

Only time I did the Westbury avoiding line was on a Bristol - Weymouth service when Westbury was largely shut down in December 2018 (I think). Train went into the station, reversed using the Paddington line to join the avoider, then reversed again, crossing over onto the Exeter bound line, and continued on its way to Frome.

 

[nw1]

As an aside, is there any software which allows you to plot your own personal visited lines? And arrange them by year, so you plot lines first visited in 1982, 1983, 1984, etc, in different colours?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

As an aside, is there any software which allows you to plot your own personal visited lines? And arrange them by year, so you plot lines first visited in 1982, 1983, 1984, etc, in different colours?

Failing that, you could always get hold of an old copy of a Baker Rail Atlas, together with a multi-pack of differently coloured felt tip pens!

 

[Dai Corner]

I don't think I've done the Down Relief Severn Tunnel Junction to Cardiff in its entirety. I've done part of it Newport Pl 1 to wherever we crossed to the Main.

As far as routes are concerned I think it would be the Swansea District Line and Swansea station avoider.