Britain's most beautiful railway structure

[AlterEgo]

the cuttings/tunnels approaching Lime Street

Oh yes. Fascinating from an arriving Pendolino!

 

[yorksrob]

The trainshed at Brighton was an early favourite for me (and subsequently a lot of other similar structures around therailway).

 

[Butts]

Oh yes. Fascinating from an arriving Pendolino!

The ones entering Edinburgh Waverley are better anyway ....if you could see owt

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I just have to add support for this one, don't I?


Click to enlarge [1st pic from John Fowler & Benjamin Baker Book Cover, 2nd fron Network Rail website]

But 4 others which haven't been mentioned are:
Killiekrankie Viaduct on the Highland Mainline. Its little castellated refuges are no where near as grand as some of our larger structures, but the way in which it clings to the valley side and hovers over the River Gary below are quite breathtaking - and then the northern end just merges into the tunnel portal, similarly embellished (and with linespeeds dependent on direction of travel).

Westminster Underground Station. I love the post-modern 'unfinished' concrete grey stub walls.

Tyne & Wear Metro Ouseburn viaduct. This sleek wide-span bridge curves between each slender curved support, meaning that between these columns the track curves outwards and back again! There's a footpath between the split base of each column - its a remarkable view from below.

Brunel's Tamar Bridge. Watching a locomotive slowly emerge from either end can be quite exhilharating - the proportions of those portals in relation to the spans is quite unusual.

 

[Whistler40145]

How about Gisburn Tunnel?

 

[Swr28]

Barmouth Bridge,London Paddington and the spiral built at Dduallt by the Ffestiniog Railway.

 

[Whistler40145]

Britannia Bridge

Before they were removed, the Stone Arches near Chorley.

Glasgow Central & Newcastle Central.

 

[Wyvern]

Westminster Underground Station. I love the post-modern 'unfinished' concrete grey stub walls.

Is that the one under Portcullis House? I'd spent the morning at a meeting there - not the place you'd normally find someone like me.

Then I went to catch the tube. Going down the escalators in that dark cavernous pit. I thought I'd got caught up in a science fiction movie.

 

[DarloRich]

Is that the one under Portcullis House? I'd spent the morning at a meeting there - not the place you'd normally find someone like me.

Then I went to catch the tube. Going down the escalators in that dark cavernous pit. I thought I'd got caught up in a science fiction movie.

Thats the one - it does have a stark modernistic idustrial beauty to it!

 

[BestWestern]

I'd have to throw my hat in and go for the Forth Bridge - surely the most magnificent metal railway structure just about anywhere? St Pancras and its Midland Hotel would get my vote for the most awe-inspiring station premises, totally breathtaking. Thank heavens they finally saw sense and restored it all properly!

 

[Whistler40145]

I agree BestWestern.

Who could have imagined how a rundown building be transformed into a top class International Rail Terminal.

 

[Yew]

The headstone viaduct is quite nice.

 

[exile]

Liverpool South Parkway?

 

[pendolino]

Westminster Underground Station. I love the post-modern 'unfinished' concrete grey stub walls.

Is that the one under Portcullis House? I'd spent the morning at a meeting there - not the place you'd normally find someone like me.

Then I went to catch the tube. Going down the escalators in that dark cavernous pit. I thought I'd got caught up in a science fiction movie.

Thats the one - it does have a stark modernistic idustrial beauty to it!

I have heard some interesting things about the rebuilt Westminster tube.

The concrete construction is extremely robust and heavily reinforced, not just because it needs to be (being adjacent to the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, aka Big Ben (albeit incorrectly)), but also to contain any explosion should a modern day Guy Fawkes happen to leave some barrels of gunpowder down there.

The other thing is related to the depth of the station - it's apparently the deepest ever construction in central London. The construction team had to play 'pin the tail on the donkey', as details of any sub-surface structures and services are apparently subject to a very high level of secrecy and no plans were made available by the powers-that-be; rather than ask 'where can we build it?' in effect they had to ask 'can we build it here?' to which the reply was 'no', 'can we build it here then?', 'no', 'how about here?' 'yes, that's fine'. The only way to avoid everything was to go down and down until they were deep enough.

I don't know how accurate this information is, but it makes a good story nonetheless!

 

[futureA]

Another vote for Westminister tube. The first time I visited it was by chance, I was changing trains there and I was awestruck.

Now whenever I am in London I always make sure I pay it a visit.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Is that the one under Portcullis House?

Yes. One other interesting feature about Westminster Underground station is that the old pedestian underpass (under Westminster Bridge Road) is now within the government's staff's side of Portcullis House and the Commons, so its only once you've been cleared through security that you can wander through the familiar London Underground style of underpass. It also removes the risk of our poor MP's from being acosted by hacks and Joe Public while walking between their office, canteen and the Commons.

 

[55Flyer]

The Double Curved viaducts at Chinley\Chapel Milton are enormous and quite spectacular.
but....

the Victorian stone work of stations and viaducts and bridges is being badly let go. The number of small trees, bushes, ivy etc living in the stonework is growing through neglect.
This is an absolute travesty to the workmanship and hard graft of the masons who built these structures over 120 years ago. Its hard to see that anything built today will last any where near as long as the perfect stone structures we have inherited, but those in charge these days are letting this go and the tree growth will eventually blow the stone out or damage it. We will then see some nice patching of the stone (hopefully not in concrete!). Network rail or whoever is in charge of maintenance of the structures is probably saving money short term through a lack of duty, but long term the cost will be far greater.