Saddest Sights on the Railways (Trivia)

[sad1e]

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/saddest-sight-the-decline-of-stockton-station.302117/ inspired by this thread i was wondering what other people thought the saddest sight on the railway was personally.

I'll go first , Personally i think the line-up of class 60s at Toton new Bank is a very sad sight. Many perfectly good freight locomotives which were stored in a perfectly good condition , now have been stored for longer than they ever worked in their service lives , with only one of the Line-up being put out of its misery for scrap thus far and no further disposals in sight.

 

[fandroid]

I don't know its current condition or even location, but the preserved APT at Crewe looked seriously sad with its faded paintwork. Hardly an advert for past UK rail innovation.

 

[birchesgreen]

I don't know its current condition or even location, but the preserved APT at Crewe looked seriously sad with its faded paintwork. Hardly an advert for past UK rail innovation.

It's been largely repainted now, looks a lot better.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Saddest sight on the railway for me - having seen this first-hand - is when an individual's mental state reached the point of perceived no-return; and their final decision was enacted in front of a train at my local station
My memory of that moment, will remain with me for the rest of my life.

 

[Strathclyder]

I don't know its current condition or even location, but the preserved APT at Crewe looked seriously sad with its faded paintwork. Hardly an advert for past UK rail innovation.

It's been largely repainted now, looks a lot better.

The lads at the Heritage Centre do sterling work looking after the APT set (it would be good to get it some undercover storage if it were possible) and if I were a lot closer than I am currently, I'd happily volunteer there. Failing that, I do want to pay a visit sometime in the near future and finally get a good in-person look at one of my all-time favourite trains.

 

[Harpo]

The view from the Barrow line of West Coast’s yard at Carnforth complete with the collapsed Midland signalbox is pretty grim.

On a professional level I find the level of unrestricted tree growth, especially silver birch, inside the railway boundary a very sad sight as it highlights the folly (or foliage?) of maintenance cuts.

 

[Malcolmffc]

Seeing diesel services running under electric wires all over the country

 

[Rescars]

Across the network, sad sights are the visible remains of closed and lifted lines branching off to follow forgotten routes to destinations now only accessible by other means.

 

[Zomboid]

As I said on the other thread, the departures board at Winslow station is a pretty sad sight at the moment.

 

[QueensCurve]

I don't know its current condition or even location, but the preserved APT at Crewe looked seriously sad with its faded paintwork. Hardly an advert for past UK rail innovation.

It ought really to have been kept in working order.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

The view from Doncasters multi storey car park overlooking the virtually deserted Wabtec yard. Seems to be in the final stages of the long drawn out demise of Doncaster works

 

[Parallel]

Going past the abandoned Bradford Peverell & Stratton Halt station between Maiden Newton and Dorchester West on the train is quite sad. The small platform and shelter are still in tact, and now visible after Network Rail cut back some of the undergrowth a few years ago. It is quite similar in style to Thornford and Chetnole stations further up the line, which escaped closure.

Of course, the station never had a large catchment but there is something sad about stations just sitting there unused and decaying away.

 

[Cach17]

Dumpton Park station.

Saddest sight on the railway for me - having seen this first-hand - is when an individual's mental state reached the point of perceived no-return; and their final decision was enacted in front of a train at my local station
My memory of that moment, will remain with me for the rest of my life.

This happened to me on the Piccadilly Line at KXSP in January 2017.

Occurred right as I was entering the platform area; before my brain registered what was happening a woman screamed and the train abruptly stopped with one carriage out of the tunnel. In the immediate aftermath my mum even went over to the driver to (I suppose in some way) offer help.

On that tangent, there's a (now closed) foot crossing just down the road from my house. On one occasion (out of multiple) a train that had come to an abrupt halt was visible from the front window.

Not easy to forget those days.

 

[Narrowgauge725]

Bimodes running on diesel under wires

 

[Islineclear3_1]

The general state of many stations around the network being allowed to deteriorate to rack and ruin.

 

[Harpo]

Dumpton Park station.

This happened to me on the Piccadilly Line at KXSP in January 2017.

Occurred right as I was entering the platform area; before my brain registered what was happening a woman screamed and the train abruptly stopped with one carriage out of the tunnel. In the immediate aftermath my mum even went over to the driver to (I suppose in some way) offer help.

Sounds very similar to me at Hammersmith in 2007 as we were walking down to the platform. A long whistle, a loud yell, an eastbound district stopped very short. Didn’t register with my other half so I just walked her onto an eastbound Piccadilly instead, and said nothing. One less traumatised bystander.

 

[sh24]

Saddest sight on the railway for me - having seen this first-hand - is when an individual's mental state reached the point of perceived no-return; and their final decision was enacted in front of a train at my local station
My memory of that moment, will remain with me for the rest of my life.

Having had the same thing happen to me, I totally agree. Anything else pales into insignificance.

 

[DarloRich]

Crewe. Rotten. Falling apart

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

About a year ago, I passed through Betws-y-Coed station and the state of the narrow gauge railway attraction there was incredibly sad to see. I did some research and seem to remember reading that it was still operational, although it certainly didn't look like it and seemed long abandoned to me.

Attached are some photos I took. Would anybody be able to shed some light on the current state of this attraction?

 

[froggy9]

The Cheetham Hill Road bridge immediately east of Manchester Victoria Station. A reminder of what a huge and busy railway hub it once was.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Crewe. Rotten. Falling apart

I had the pleasure of being on Crewe station during a torrential rainstorm last year and the rain pouring through parts of the roof near platforms 7 and 8. That said, while not what it was Crewe does not make me sad. It is as busy as ever. I find it much sadder to see stations which have seen their service eroded over decades, their purpose gone, one or two platforms of once great hubs now serving a train or two an hour. Crewe is not that. I find stations like March, Skegness, Holyhead, Blackpool North and South, Great Yarmouth far sadder.

I still love Crewe station for its atmosphere, character and history, not to mention sheer activity, and it will be a sad day when they rebuild it to be another soulless stainless steel and concrete monstrosity like Reading.

It's what a railway station should be, not something between a bus station, an airport and a brutalist industrial sculpture. At least HS2 isn't coming along any time soon to ruin it!

 

[duffield]

Across the network, sad sights are the visible remains of closed and lifted lines branching off to follow forgotten routes to destinations now only accessible by other means.

One of the saddest for me is the use by the Skegness branch in the Boston area of a small section of the former main line to Grimsby, symbolising how a large area lost nearly all its railways, not just the branch lines. Another is the buffer stops at Hadfield beyond which you can see an abandoned and rusting OHLE mast marking where the Woodhead line continued towards Sheffield. And a third is the view from the heritage Leicester North station towards Leicester city centre where the dual carriageway marks the end of the line that once continued to Marylebone.

Edit: Added photo, below, of the end of the line buffer stops at Hadfield where the Woodhead main line used to continue to Sheffield. Photo date 24/10/2023.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/saddest-sight-the-decline-of-stockton-station.302117/ inspired by this thread i was wondering what other people thought the saddest sight on the railway was personally.

I'll go first , Personally i think the line-up of class 60s at Toton new Bank is a very sad sight. Many perfectly good freight locomotives which were stored in a perfectly good condition , now have been stored for longer than they ever worked in their service lives , with only one of the Line-up being put out of its misery for scrap thus far and no further disposals in sight.

Agreed. The Toton line up of 60s to me is really sad.

 

[vidal]

Closed relatively recently, sadly before I had the chance to travel on it.

James

 

[duffield]

View attachment 204326

Closed relatively recently, sadly before I had the chance to travel on it.

James
View attachment 204326

Edited my post to add my Hadfield photo - much more overgrown than your view!

 

[DarloRich]

I still love Crewe station for its atmosphere, character and history, not to mention sheer activity,

It is a dump and while busy it is boring. Not like the olden days! Barely a 37 to be seen!

 

[LittleRedTrain]

The big gap in Alton station where there used to be a lovely wooden covered footbridge.
Removed because Network Rail let it get into an unsafe state that made restoration financially unviable.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I had a few ideas but people’s recollections of watching suicides puts that into perspective. I am sorry that happened to all of you, that must be a terrible thing to see.

I don't know its current condition or even location, but the preserved APT at Crewe looked seriously sad with its faded paintwork. Hardly an advert for past UK rail innovation.

I have to say the APT is always a highlight of any Glasgow to London journey on the train for me- the opposite of sad!

I still love Crewe station for its atmosphere, character and history, not to mention sheer activity, and it will be a sad day when they rebuild it to be another soulless stainless steel and concrete monstrosity like Reading.

Seconded. I think it is a nice, colourful, characterful station.

Across the network, sad sights are the visible remains of closed and lifted lines branching off to follow forgotten routes to destinations now only accessible by other means.

The expensive, huge and (any time I’ve been) empty car park at Callander, and the crumbling Glenogle viaduct further up the former Callander and Oban Line. If it was still open I assume it would be served by Edinburgh to Highlands services, full of tourists, through some of the finest scenery in Scotland. As it is the narrow, slow, exasperating A84 is the only route.

 

[xotGD]

A 47 coming round the corner when you were expecting a 37.

 

[Falcon1200]

For me it is the sight of once busy yards now weed-covered and empty, or worse, occupied by rows of rusting wagons which will never work again. Didcot and Southall/Hayes being two such examples.