Anyone live beside the railway.

[CW2]

Nowadays I live in a flat just south of Crewe station, so I can see the Shrewsbury line and the back of the LSL depot. I also hear trains passing on the WCML and Independent Lines. Plenty of traction variety. The 56s on the Sandite train have been a welcome Autumn addition.

Back in the 80s I lived in York. My bedroom overlooked the Foss Islands branch. My early morning alarm call was an 08 bringing the box vans to shunt into the Rowntrees factory at about 0630 EWD. There were also 2 trips per day to/from Foss Islands, mostly conveying sand for the local glassworks. There was also limited general traffic onto the Derwent Valley Light Railway, which ran as far as Dunnington by then.

 

[StoneRoad]

Sadly [?] no, I don't live beside the railways.

However, my workshop is next to the Tyne Valley line - and slightly below rail level. Most passing traffic is normal passenger & freight, with the occasional oddity :-

TiG - off to town - {wip} TiG - Rail

By StoneRoad2013. Passing the workshop - on the Newcastle line. Track machine, No DR 77001 : one of two Plasser & Theurer AFM Track Finishing Systems bought in 2005. These provide joint ballast profil…

www.ipernity.com

 

[David Dunning]

1987 House next to Southampton to Fareham line by the River Itchen
1988 Next to the ECML at Copmanthorpe York.
1993 Next to the Cornish Main Line at Scorrier then Grampound Road
1995 Close to Bournemouth Main Line at Ashurst
1997 House by Beningborough Crossing 7 miles north of York. 10 feet from the ECML. Car parked (wheelie bin collected) the other side of railway accessed by foot crossing
Over4 tracks. Now I’m next to Holgate Bridge just south of York station

 

[AGH]

I back onto Chat Moss in Newton Le Willows. Good mix of stuff and quiet on a Sunday.....hmmmm. Only thing I really notice is the empty Drax going at full pelt. Ground shakes a bit then. Get an occasional steam excursion and once I saw a 390 diverted. That was odd.

 

[55002]

I back on to the East and North London Lines and grateful for the variety the NLL brings.

You would be a prime candidate for a popular railcam location!

 

[m0ffy]

A friend of ours used to live in an old signallers cottage on the WCML TV branch, between Atherstone and Nuneaton. I’d say the end wall of the house was about five meters from the down slow at the most.

 

[Recessio]

Live right next to an elevated viaduct on SWR. Don't really notice the noise of the trains (about 10 tph all electric) when the doors and windows closed. But even in summer with them open, it's not too loud. Occasionally there's freight trains or engineering works which are louder, but NR give us plenty of notice of engineering works and again it's not normally that loud at night.

 

[Benjwri]

I live with a very close up view on both the SWML approaching Clapham, and the SouthEastern out of Victoria which is quite cool. Can also see all the stuff going into and out of Stewart’s Lane.

 

[55002]

I live with a very close up view on both the SWML approaching Clapham, and the SouthEastern out of Victoria which is quite cool. Can also see all the stuff going into and out of Stewart’s Lane.

Again you’d be a great host for a railcam camera! That’s some location.

 

[side effect]

Wow so many replies and how lucky some of you are.

When I watch a passenger view cab ride I make it a habit of looking at the balconies and would sit out there for ages.

 

[Benjwri]

Again you’d be a great host for a railcam camera! That’s some location.

I did talk to them and sadly there are some technical challenges that prevent it.

 

[cheekybifta]

200 metres from the North Wales Coast line, only see the trains through the trees in the winter, only hear them if I've opened the window and I'm actively trying to notice

 

[alholmes]

Here’s the view from my window, between Stratford and Liverpool Street. Got used to the noise very quickly, and the stock used now is much quieter than the class 86 that used to operate on the Norwich services - they really hammered over the pointwork. When things are really quiet at night it’s possible to hear the rumble of the Central Line underneath.

 

[Swanley 59]

My back garden looks out onto the ECML just south of Morpeth. I've got quite good at identifying different units and locos from their sounds before the train comes into view, although I can't always tell a 156 from a 158.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I had a friend for a while lived on the hill in Southfields, which had a great view of the SWML in the distance. Always wanted to live next to the railway.

Friend of mine's parents used to live in a bungalow about 60ft from the WCML down fast, which was at ground level at that point. A bit too much of a good thing!

I remember being signal checked right outside a bungalow on the WCML, but I think it was near Weedon. Was on a canted bend as well, interesting getting a snapshot of someone's daily life whilst you're waiting for the train to move again.

 

[JCO1406]

I live next to the DLR on the Beckton Branch

 

[Jimini]

I don't now, but have done a few times in the past:

• Lived in a flat down the Brighton Road in Sutton, overlooking the Epsom Downs branch. Not much action going on down there, particularly in the late '90s!
• Longley Road in Tooting -- we had the Sutton loop at the end of our garden. Could sit in the lounge and watch the old Thameslink trains trundle past
• Down by War Memorial Park in Coventry. 2x XC services per hour, 2x WMT, plus plenty of freight. The occasional train would even set the doorbell camera off there!

If we were to extend the question out to offices, I worked in One Canada Square back in the '00s, so could see pretty much everything from the 26th floor! These days I'm based opposite the entrance to London Bridge, with views across the station and south London, and the lines to / from Charing Cross / Cannon Street etc. stretch round the side of the building, so plenty of distractions there too

 

[Michael B]

Currently living in a first floor flat overlooking the Exeter - Penzance line at Dawlish, about 100 yds from where the 2014 sea wall breach occurred. Still love the variety of trains though I miss the GWR 'Castle' class HST sets as well as the Cross Country HSTs. It's a great spot for watching the summer special excursions, if the wind is right we get the steam exhaust from steam locomotives through the windows. I also like watching the up Penzance to Paddington sleeper come through about 00:50, just love that powerful 'thrumm' noise of the Class 57. Best time though is a good Easterly storm when the sea gets up and spray blows onto the windows!

 

[Discuss223]

Yesterday, I came across this picture. https://flickr.com/photos/uk-railpi...cn-2mtrYYw-qmVfvA-C6qhog-boUQeD-qNbrJR-rJSYq4

156484 Steve Wakefield

This would be a rail enthusiast's dream to live in this house. No location is given but I believe it's somewhere in the far north west of England/Scottish Borders. I wonder if anything has ever fallen out of that window on to the roof of a moving train.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

This would be a rail enthusiast's dream to live in this house. No location is given but I believe it's somewhere in the far north west of England/Scottish Borders

That's the approach to Wigan Wallgate.

The buildings there are combined shops/houses, those windows will also have a view up to the WCML.

 

[JRHurst]

You would be a prime candidate for a popular railcam location!

 

[fowler9]

The Liverpool branch of the WCML is at the bottom of my garden in South Liverpool. Seen lots of interesting stuff over the years.

 

[Thebaz]

My garden backs onto the Brighton Main Line at Purley. It's very high up on an embankment though and most of the year round blocked by foliage.

 

[Discuss223]

Here’s the view from my window, between Stratford and Liverpool Street. Got used to the noise very quickly, and the stock used now is much quieter than the class 86 that used to operate on the Norwich services - they really hammered over the pointwork. When things are really quiet at night it’s possible to hear the rumble of the Central Line underneath.

Is this in Bow?

 

[alholmes]

Is this in Bow?

It is - at the junction where the lines from Temple Mills join the Main, and where the single track curves off towards Fenchurch Street. DLR is on the far side as well.

 

[Wolfie]

I'm over the road from Canonbury station and adjacent to the cutting running between there and Dalston (Mildmay and Windrush lines).

HS1 runs directly underneath and my house vibrates a little each time a train runs through.

Much more vibration and noise when heavy freight trains run through.

 

[ChristopherJ]

I have an uninterrupted view of a particular mixed passenger and freight line in East London.

I have various Overground and Class 66s hauling containers and aggregate trains passed my flat every few minutes. Generally, they don't bother me. However, there's always one type of freight train that wakes me up at 02:00 every bloody morning. It's the GBRf car train from Dagenham. The car carrier wagons have a very distinct sound. I can even hear them through my ear plugs.

At my old place, my bedroom was on the same elevation to the Up Platform of the Chingford Line. Every 15 minutes I had "this is the train to... Liverpool Street!" boomed through my window. It drove me bloody mad. I was having lucid dreams about Class 710s.

 

[Basher]

Not strictly living next to a line, but. My wife bought me an experience to stay in the Flying Scotsman room at The Siding Hotel on the ECML. She could not get to sleep for passing trains during the night, what on earth did she expect being only 6 m from the line.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Henry Casserley, well known railway 'record shot" photographer and author, had a house built at Berkhampstead next to the WCML in the late '30s. It was so orientated that the line could be seen from every room, including the loo! It is still there, but hidden in the vegetation now.

 

[side effect]

Not strictly living next to a line, but. My wife bought me an experience to stay in the Flying Scotsman room at The Siding Hotel on the ECML. She could not get to sleep for passing trains during the night, what on earth did she expect being only 6 m from the line.

Often wondered about staying at the sidings but I would like to sleep out side on the viewing area wrapped up in a sleeping bag but wondering if it has to be vacated at a certain time.