Butlins Holiday Camp Stations

[dunks]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filey_Holiday_Camp_railway_station

I always find these stations quite interesting - am I right in thinking there were others at Minehead & Pwllheli? Judging by the above link, the one at Filey still remains (albeit trackless). Interesting also the services that traversed them such as: (Filey seemed pretty popular!)

London Kings Cross - Filey Holiday Camp through Restaurant Car Express
Manchester Exchange - Filey Holiday Camp
Manchester Victoria - Filey Holiday Camp
Liverpool Lime St - Filey Holiday Camp

Manchester Exchange - Pwllheli Holiday Camp (as I understand it through trains to Pwllheli ran via the now closed line via Carmarthen via Bangor?)
Liverpool Lime St - Pwllheli Holiday Camp
London Euston - Pwllheli Holiday Camp
Birmingham New St - Pwllheli Holiday Camp.

I'm probably missing more through trains, they came from all over, or in the case of Filey, its triangular junction meant London - Scarborough trains could simply reverse into the branch & continue on.

An interesting Filey story to round off: http://www.hunmanby.com/harrycrash.html

 

[gordonthemoron]

There was a railway station for Pwllheli Butlins, not sure about Minehead

 

[175001]

There was a railway station for Pwllheli Butlins, not sure about Minehead

Penychain, still there, as a request stop.

 

[EE Type 3]

Manchester Exchange - Pwllheli Holiday Camp (as I understand it through trains to Pwllheli ran via the now closed line via Carmarthen via Bangor?)

Would that be the line that joined the cambrian at Afon Wen?

Edit: no, silly me, the one that came in at Portmadog?

 

[devon_metro]

Minehead still has a railway!

 

[EE Type 3]

Minehead still has a railway!

10 marks to Liam for observation

 

[djw1981]

And IIRC someone ran speacials to Minehead butlins from Taunton sumemr 07....

 

[The_Rail_WAy]

The minature railways at Butlins holiday camps have always been of interset to me, particuarly the Pwllheli line which served a specific transport need, running holidaymakers some 3/4 mile from the camp to the beach, the most famous locomotive being No. D612 Queen Elizabeth - which is now preserved at the midland railway centre, Derbyshire.

 

[dunks]

My Father went on a Pwllheli Butlins Special in the early sixties - he said the train was absolutley packed. Mind you, those Hi-de-Hi style holidays were still very popular then.

Also if you were lucky to work on the railway, like my Grandad, you travelled for free to most places. I guess that was in the days before mass car ownership.

 

[16CSVT2700]

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/f/filey_holiday_camp/index.shtml

"It is interesting to note that while the station remains largely intact the holiday camp has been razed to the ground"

 

[curly42]

The camp now belongs to Haven Holidays and is named Hafen Y Mor.The nearest station is Penychain but there is a platform in the camp,as the line to Pwllheli runs through the middle of the site,although in a cutting.You can't actually get on the platform as it's all fenced off.The miniature railway also dissapeared when Butlins closed their camp.

 

[The_Rail_WAy]

Can't really understand why they closed the minature line at Pwllheli down, unless it was due to running/maintenance costs. As I mentioned in the previous post it served a specific transport need.

 

[43106]

My recollections are a bit hazy on this, but I THINK there was a dedicated railway station at a holiday camp near Ayr. I think the station was called Heads of Ayr, or something like that.

 

[A60K]

Can't really understand why they closed the minature line at Pwllheli down, unless it was due to running/maintenance costs. As I mentioned in the previous post it served a specific transport need.

It closed, as did the camp to beach cable car, because Butlin's closed the camp. It's now a Haven site, basically a caravan park, much cheaper, and the renewal and running costs of both beach transport routes wouldn't fit the low-budget nature of Haven. It's a shame though

 

[robertclark125]

There was a station at Ayr, the line is now lifted. The station was situated roughly where the Haeds of Ayr Hotel was.