The best railway moments

[75A]

I always enjoyed the view from the bridge (Chelsea?) on the run from Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia, this turn also allowed me to show my dislike of Chelsea FC as we passed close to Stamford Bridge.

 

[Trackman]

The approach into London Bridge and the crawl around the corner into Cannon Street

I enjoy the Charing Cross approach, so much going on if you know where to look.
Is this the only railway line you can see the houses of parliament from, or in fact Big Ben or the London eye?

Getting off at LlanfairPG and seeing the full name.

Me and Mrs Trackman did this a few years ago, we have a cracking picture of our visit to the station.

 

[Isambard]

The Ouse Valley viaduct between Balcome and Haywards Heath. You also have the famous Clayton tunnel just south of Burgess Hill

Looking as elegant as ever yesterday. Haven’t travelled over it for a while but if I remember right the little pavilion and balustrade give it an air of distinction from that angle too.

 

[HST43257]

A particular favourite of mine is the section from around Lelant to St Ives, and how it just opens up into a view of open water. Could be something out of the Mediterranean on a sunny day, especially with the swimmers and surfers etc

Sort of similarly, the evening light on the 17xx service off Kyle of Lochalsh makes for an excellent view of a rocky bay either side of Plockton from the train

 

[InkyScrolls]

Is that at Eden Brows where the landslide in 2015 closed the northern part of the line for 18 months?

Aye, that's the spot.

 

[Howardh]

Silverdale to Ulverston, especially when the tide's in.

 

[mrcheek]

I enjoy the Charing Cross approach, so much going on if you know where to look.
Is this the only railway line you can see the houses of parliament from, or in fact Big Ben or the London eye?

I'd forgotten this one!

I once spent a day in London trying to see as many of the classic sights as possible, without ever leaving the train or station. The last 2 minutes into Charing cross ticks a lot of boxes.

Depending on how much new building work has happened recently, you can also just about make out parliament from the approach to Waterloo as well. Although they are gradually building in all the gaps!

 

[Mat17]

The huge monolith that is Titus Salt's mill at Saltaire always makes me stop and look up.

 

[Ken H]

The huge monolith that is Titus Salt's mill at Saltaire always makes me stop and look up.

When Salts was still a working mill it had a private siding. Often had 1 or 2 tank wagons delivering fuel oil for the boilers.

 

[rower40]

Returning back to the midlands by train after completing Land's End to John O'Groats by trike in June 2002:
Drumochter pass, southbound, on the HST Highland Chieftain during a storm. Watching the windscreen wipers of the cars on the parallel A9 struggle with the sheer quantity of rain; and the memory of how, two days earlier, there had been not a cloud in the sky as I had cycled that bit.

 

[CPG]

Severn Beach line between Clifton Down tunnel and Shirehampton (Avon Gorge/Rivers Avon and Trym and Horsehoe Bend).

Used to love the view of Battersea Power Station, after crossing the Thames coming out of Victoria. Used to imagine it as a magnificant castle protecting the entrance to south London - before they built those hideously uggly blocks of 'luxury appartments' all around it to ruin the view.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I enjoy the Charing Cross approach, so much going on if you know where to look.
Is this the only railway line you can see the houses of parliament from, or in fact Big Ben or the London eye?


Me and Mrs Trackman did this a few years ago, we have a cracking picture of our visit to the station.

The approach into Waterloo?

 

[Gathursty]

I agree with all the rural stuff mentioned above but will add most of the NR network in London. Most of it was built before the vast urbanisation of the suburbs but to ride one of the lines threading through the city is fascinating. My highlights are the East London Line and the GOBLIN.

 

[12C]

Silverdale to Ulverston, especially when the tide's in.

Agreed, the Furness line is very underrated. Travelling over the Leven and Arnside viaducts is stunning, especially at sunrise/sunset.

 

[Isambard]

Thanks for the various replies. Some brought back memories of a Rover ticket back in 1983, the Liskeard spiral, Plockton, the Cambrian coast with the views out as far as Bardsey, the Furness viaducts. And more recently the classic vista from the St Ives line.

 

[Neptune]

Aye, that's the spot.

Lovely spot but was rather scary when the track was leaning into the valley.

 

[JamieL]

Don't think its been mentioned yet...portions of the North Clyde line where it runs along the river. Near Bowling and Dalreoch to Helensburgh Central.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Lovely spot but was rather scary when the track was leaning into the valley.

As a rule I wouldn't recommend viewing the scenery at what could most accurately be termed 'a jaunty angle'.

 

[Egg Centric]

Sitting outside on the observation car having left Victoria falls bridge at dusk shining a torch light into the bush to look for elephants, before operating the points to get the train into sidings at Livingston was pretty special.

Only cost about £80 a head at the time, imagine it's a bit more now.

Photos show front and back of train. Video shows a 360 view of it on the bridge including a very small part of the falls (that still puts high force to shame lol)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jun 2023 ==

Much closer to home I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Manx mountain railway. I have some similarly incompetently filmed vids of that but they're too big to upload apparently. I actually think the first half of the journey from Laxey is the prettiest bit.

 

[Pigeon]

Lovely spot but was rather scary when the track was leaning into the valley.

I'd have thought that viaduct in the picture Isambard posted would be rather worse

 

[MikeWM]

The brief view of Ely Cathedral and the Great Ouse and all the boats when leaving Ely going north is most pleasant.

 

[zwk500]

Looking as elegant as ever yesterday. Haven’t travelled over it for a while but if I remember right the little pavilion and balustrade give it an air of distinction from that angle too.

There are pavilions at both ends, and the Balustrade is very elegant. I always try to look east when crossing it - you get a lovely view over Ardingly College at it's stately best and if you're looking carefully you can catch the skew abutments for the aborted Ouse Valley Railway and the extant freight connection from the Ardingly aggregates terminal, the last remains of the former double track, electrified branch.

 

[Chris Hamilton]

My personal favourite parts of the railway:

The Channel Tunnel - nothing to see, but sitting in your car and appearing on the other side of a sea and in a different country half an hour later, still amazes me to this day.
Kyle of Lochalsh line around Plockton - absolutely beautiful scenery
Dawlish - skirting along the sea, in any weather, is dramatic

 

[Techniquest]

I've been delaying my response to this thread for a few days now, reading other people's views and trying to find my own answer. The problem there being that I've enjoyed so many trips it's hard to choose. So rather than anything else, for now here's two 'best moments' that have come to mind today. One from 2022 and one from this year, two very different experiences but both enjoyable.

The 2022 instance was on a Gran Fondo ride from Hereford to Llandeilo on my touring cycle. The arrival into Llandovery could easily count as a best moment, as the cycling over the level crossing that I've been over many times in a car was excellent. However, the 'best moment' was a few miles further along the A40. I wasn't that far from Llanwrda, and I heard a Class 153 sounding its horn. Just the sound of the train, out of view, was wonderful as it was a sign that I was close to my goal and I was exhausted. I still had a good distance to go to Llandeilo, but the sound of the train boosted my spirits and helped keep me going at a time I needed a morale boost!

The 2023 'best moment' would have been my journey back from Heathrow Airport to Hereford, following the failed mission in Las Vegas to visit the Grand Canyon (due to strong winds, the sightseeing trip was cancelled). I hadn't really enjoyed the trip to the USA, it has to be said, which considering how much money I'd put on the credit card I was disappointed about. Anyway, despite the horrendous rain that was coming down practically horizontally as we parked on a remote stand at Heathrow Airport, and no I wasn't impressed, the journey back was actually great! The Heathrow Express bit was great as expected, but the 'best moment' came on the London Paddington to Hereford journey. As I raced through the beautiful countryside, as wet and windy as it was, I got a huge appreciation for just how beautiful the UK is. We may have issues in this country, but it's a fantastic landscape and I would much rather be in the UK than the USA.

So yes, two very different moments when the railway has done me proud and moments that have a special place in my heart!

Don't get me wrong, there's a number of places that I enjoy on the railway, there's lots of those special moments. Diving into the Severn Railway Tunnel being one, there's just something magical about it. The engineering marvel that the tunnel itself is, the sense of adventure one gets when passing through from Wales to England, it's pretty great. There's others, like arriving at London Paddington after a lengthy journey, arriving at my favourite station anywhere in the world.

There's the magical moment when the train sets off on a journey you've been looking forward to for ages. There's the brilliance of getting a coffee from the trolley on the train when caffeine levels are low, and the brilliance of discovering something sold on it that you've not had before but it tastes amazing. There's also that moment, on a long journey up the West or East Coast Main Line and you see the coast for the first time on the journey.

I could go on, and with more caffeine in my system I would, but the point I'm making is that I have just so many 'best railway moments' that don't even necessarily have a location. It's the feeling, it's the joy, it's just amazing. Yes the railway does some truly silly things sometimes, that leave us bewildered and wondering how on Earth the decision is justified, but in my experience there's so many more moments that are good. How does one choose even a Top 10 moments out of so many possibilities? As I say, some moments aren't the locations, or the trains, it comes down to the staff. From the really helpful and friendly platform staff who help you find your way at a station you haven't been to before, to the guard on the train who makes the effort to look up your journey and its options when things go wrong, it's the people that make things awesome

 

[Silenos]

As I say, some moments aren't the locations, or the trains, it comes down to the staff. From the really helpful and friendly platform staff who help you find your way at a station you haven't been to before, to the guard on the train who makes the effort to look up your journey and its options when things go wrong, it's the people that make things awesome

Well said, Sir!

 

[SargeNpton]

For me it's an early morning run from Eastbourne to Ore, with the Long Man of Wilmington on the left.
It's a 235 feet tall figure cut into the Southdown's

Can you really see the Long Man on that journey? Certainly visible if you travel west from Eastbourne towards Berwick but I wouldn't have thought it could be seen from Eastbourne heading east.


For my contributions...

In Britain, crossing the viaduct at Knaresborough, looking across to the castle ruins and looking down at the River Nidd.

In Canada, the whole section between Kamloops and Banff on the Rocky Mountaineer.

 

[zwk500]

Can you really see the Long Man on that journey? Certainly visible if you travel west from Eastbourne towards Berwick but I wouldn't have thought it could be seen from Eastbourne heading east.

Certainly wouldn't be able to see it from the Eastbourne-Ore line, it's well west of the town and faces north, in a bit of a hollow so you can't see it from too wide an angle. I used to be able to see it from my School, almost due north on a line passing about halfway between Berwick and Polegate stations. You'd get a lovely view from the cab of a London-Eastbourne train though.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The view to the right from Penistone viaduct heading north towards Huddersfield. Always looks a very long way down!

Personally I prefer Denby Dale viaduct... Lockwood viaduct is also deserving of mention, with the contrast between the view downstream (dark satanic mills and rooftops) and upstream (the tree-lined Holme Valley) being quite striking.

My own list though, in no particular order:

• The stretch of the Aberystwyth branch of the Cambrian between Dovey Junction and Borth. In particular through the dunes at Ynyslas.
• The approaches to London Waterloo from Clapham Junction.
• The spiral at Dduallt on the Ffestiniog.
• The section of the line from Barcelona to Latour-de-Carol between Ripoll and Puigcerdà, as the line climbs into the Pyrenees with the landscape changing from Alpine-style tree-lined gorges to almost Wild-West-style scrubland with terracotta-coloured ground at the summit.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Popping out of Ffestiniog tunnel into the moonscape that is Blaenau Ffestiniog. Best on a dreary, damp day. Takes my breath away every time and I must have done it at least 20-30 times now.

Echo the suggestion of the Lune Gorge, but another bit of the WCML I really like is the Chilterns around Cheddington, particularly at sunset northbound. Also echo Dawlish and the other little coves around there.

I quite like bits above towns/cities - Newcastle, Durham and (slightly bizarrely, as it's not exactly a nice place at times) High Wycombe are favourites.

Also quite like the very brief bit (it does say moments!) when the WCML meets the west coast at Hest Bank.

Another WCML one, passing over the viaduct over the Lune at Lancaster, the view of the cityscape is lovely.

Used to really like the approach cuttings to Liverpool Lime St with the street name signs, but only back when window-leaning was tolerated, you can't really see it with the lights on.

 

[dcbwhaley]

Whaley Bridge to Buxton has some good views.

And the Manchester Sheffield line between Cowburn tunnel and Grindleford has good views of the Peak District hills