Disused Railways

[ACE1888]

As time goes by, and we all get older, the days of trainspotting are long gone(well for me anyway), although I love a day out on the trains as much as ever, my fascination with old railways and investigating/photographing them, is now a favourable past time, or diverting while driving to look at some part of an old building or formation. Am I just getting old??
The peace and quiet, in the modern age, in fine weather, I find most relaxing indeed...just occasionally 'getting away' from everyday life...

 

[justinsteam]

I've been reading a book called "Buckinghamshire's Lost Railways", it has some very interesting pictures.

 

[flymo]

As time goes by, and we all get older, the days of trainspotting are long gone(well for me anyway), although I love a day out on the trains as much as ever, my fascination with old railways and investigating/photographing them, is now a favourable past time, or diverting while driving to look at some part of an old building or formation

One of the beauties of Google Earth, well to me anyway :grin:, is the ability to trace old railway lines and the sites of stations, keeps me amused for hours that does.
I spent a happy weekend a couple of years ago exploring the now long gone railways of Northumberland by car. I tried to follow, with a degree of success, the route from Hexham to Reedsmouth and onto Scots Gap, then back to Reedsmouth and then onto Riccarton Jn. Bit tricky at Kielder though :grin:
From there I followed the Waverley route to Carlisle. Next day was Alnmouth to Alnwick and Alnwick to Wooler & Coldstream.
Wonderful weekend that was.

Am I just getting old??

Well if you are, then so am I. What the heck, should be fun. right.

 

[Kernowfem]

I've been reading a book called "Buckinghamshire's Lost Railways", it has some very interesting pictures.

The lost railways collection is fantastic i'm currently reading the Lincolnshire and Derbyshire one. The east anglia one is also a very good read.

 

[theblackwatch]

Yes you are getting old - I've noticed in recent years, as my age advances, I've become more interested in them too!

As well as the 'Lost Railways' series of books mentioned, there are a series of books by Paul Atterbury which are quite interesting (and you can often find at reduced prices in shops!). 'Along Lost Lines' is one I have - I really need to have a proper read of it some time. Another excellent book which I was given last Christmnas is one published, (ironically) by the AA, called 'The Lost Lines of Britain' which is aimed specifically at those walking or cycling old lines. It covers around 50 lines around wthe whole country.

 

[Blue Pool Halt]

Yes , Google earth and old map sites are great for tracing old lines.

I love walking old lines and the possibility of discovering some old line side furniture . An old Victorian brick arch with blackened roof , or original permanent way fencing - I'm in my element.

 

[60163]

I find that going for a long day out means not actually talking for a whole day...that's strangely relaxing.

 

[Bittern]

Disused lines are my main interest. One book that inspired me was "Lanarkshire's lost railways" which my brother gave to me when I was in hospital. Since, I've used RailScot and other sites to learn more about the long departed in Scotland, with a very special line highlighting my interest. This is none other than the incredibly famous Waverley Line. I've learned so much about this line through books like "The last years of the Waverley Route", RailScot, WRHA, Wikipedia and Scot-Rail, where just recently someone there helped me find out that the song that was piped at Hawick for the final train was "Forest of the Flowers". Eventually plan to walk the Waverley before it partially reopens.

Other smaller lines that have captured my interest are the Hamilton NBR line which I've photographed many times (click), and the East Kilbride - Auchenraith line. Working on other lines around Glasgow, including that through Botanic Gardens, although have to wait for a ned to open a gap in the fence around the tunnel as I refuse to do such a thing myself, and the Larkhall - Stonehouse - Strathaven of the Caledonian, part of which was restored in 2005 as far as Larkhall Central.

It's quite surprising that South Lanarkshire was a hub of railway activity fifty years ago. Much of that railway network has since passed away.

Of course, it's not all gloom and doom. I'm very much for the reopening of these lines. Many have been reopened as main line branches, heritage railways and cycle paths. The first preference for reopening is obviously as part of the main line, and my second is as a heritage railway. Both of these options allow trains to run again, one allows for commuters (which may or may not be a good thing) to use it, and one for tourists, both for enthusiasts. My third preference would be as a cycle path, which would allow exploration of the old trackbed on an easier scale, and increasing the chances of trains returning to the line in the future.

EDIT: For the record, I'm not even 20 yet, so I'm not old.

 

[justinsteam]

The Phoenix Trail is an example of a cycle way on a disused railway line, it covers much of the former Thame Branch of the Wycombe Railway, which is now incorporated into the Chiltern Mainline.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I do own all of Countryside Books' 'Lost Railways' books, same for all non-English Stenlake ones. I also own most of the AA/Paul Atterby books mentioned by TBW, they are all very good reads, sad if you look at it in such a light. The Nostalgia Collections' 'Past and present' books are good for images and short, detailed captions.

 

[43021HST]

I'm only 16 and I like to find out about disused railways, I have many books on various branches. Its certainly not a sign of getting old. Researching and discovering old railways I find is more fun that researching existing modern railways. I also have a fasination for preserved railways as well.

 

[ChrisCooper]

I keep meaning to try and follow as much as possible of the old Charnwood Forest Railway that ran from Loughborough Derby Road. I've done the first part from the old Derby Road station to where it goes onto private land at the edge of Loughborough, as well as walking along the old Grace Dieu viaduct. A fair amount of the trackbed is now footpaths or cycle paths, although the section through Shepshed is almost totally gone. Some structures survive such as the good shed at Loughborough (now part of an industrial estate), the Station at Whitwick, some bridges and the viaduct. There are other signs too, such as "The Railway" pub in Shepshed and roads such as Station Avenue, Station Street, Goods Yard Way and Trackside Close in Loughborough.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Last Christmas, I was bought two copies of "ALL CHANGE" by Paul Atterbury by relatives from different parts of the country, but with two different covers!! One has a GW tank engine 1458 on the cover..the other has a small 2 coach train on the cover. They may be different editions of the same book.

I am a Lancashire and Yorkshire railway enthusiast and my wife, god bless her, went to the Ian Allen shop near Manchester Piccadilly station and bought "MANCHESTER VICTORIA STATION" by Tom Wray. It is A4 size and 132 pages long. It is the most comprehensive book with the full history that I have ever seen about one station.

The "LOST RAILWAYS" set of books by Countryside Books is quite interesting for information on disused railways and they are well worth the money. I have recently managed to get the last one that was missing ....STAFFORDSHIRE...from the bookshop at Peak Rail, Matlock.

 

[Class172]

I find OS maps are excellent for looking for old lines (works best in expired maps). And you can use the internet to look at them

 

[Bill EWS]

Here is a couple of that very kind of railway walks mentioned. You may find these of some interest.....

http://theatreorgans.com/hammond/ke...yle Railway/Dundee & Newtyle Rlwy (Index).htm

http://theatreorgans.com/hammond/keng/kenhtml/Boddam To Ellon/Ellon To Boddam Index.htm

 

[Statto]

I'm fascinated about disused railways & stations. Theres quite a few disused lines & stations in my area & most of them no longer exist. I go onto this site every now & again http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml

 

[yorkie]

Is anyone here interested in cycling disused lines?

The Monsal Trail tunnels open next week!!! See http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/monsaltrail I am going to cycle this route at few times in the coming months (and it's quite cheap to get to Buxton and from Matlock on a Derbyshire Wayfarer!)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

There are quite a few disused railway links to former goods depots that were operated by the constituant members of "The Big Four". Coming north out of Bolton on the line to Blackburn, there is a line on a viaduct that branches off to the left to an old L an Y depot on Blackburn Road. Some features of lines like this are interesting just to see and photograph, if legitimate access is allowed. It also gives you a feeling for the history of the railways in those long-off days.

 

[ACE1888]

Walked the whole of the Maiden Newton-Bridport line last summer, in the middle of no where in Dorset on a Glorious sunny day was wonderful, and a right laugh it was too with the Girlfriend, even in between Maiden Newton and Toller, where the trackbed had become rather 'boggy' in places! One 'shot' of the day, looking towards Toller...

 

[RPM]

I've been fascinated by exploring disused railways for many years. I've built up quite an archive of photos from my explorations and until March this year I had an extensive Fotopic site documenting many disused routes. It died when Fotopic went into administration though.
I think ACE1888 was the provider of photographs for one of the very final sections I added to the site on the Bridport branch.

 

[ACE1888]

I've been fascinated by exploring disused railways for many years. I've built up quite an archive of photos from my explorations and until March this year I had an extensive Fotopic site documenting many disused routes. It died when Fotopic went into administration though.
I think ACE1888 was the provider of photographs for one of the very final sections I added to the site on the Bridport branch.

Indeed I was, your site is 'much missed', wonderful stuff on there, are you going to be 'reinstating' it as some stage soon??

 

[tempests1]

The disused trackbed from Fareham to Bedenham was still in situ complete with rails & sleepers until last year. Obviously that will now form part of the Fareham to Gosport Rapid Transport also known as a Guided Busway. It was quite funny how many Bats/Badgers etc etc came out of the woodwork when the local's were protesting against it. Obviously I would rather it returned to it's original heavy rail useage rather than a concrete busway but I guess it is one step up from having homes built on it. In theory the trackbed is still protected.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Is anyone here interested in cycling disused lines?

The Monsal Trail tunnels open next week!!! See http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/monsaltrail I am going to cycle this route at few times in the coming months (and it's quite cheap to get to Buxton and from Matlock on a Derbyshire Wayfarer!)

There was good local regional television coverage of the opened tunnel.

My wife said she hadn't seen a tunnel before with fluorescent light fittings in the roof.

 

[RPM]

Indeed I was, your site is 'much missed', wonderful stuff on there, are you going to be 'reinstating' it as some stage soon??

Not in the forseeable future but probably eventually. I had seven different Fotopic sites, all quite large, so it will be a mammoth task. I've made a start at rebuilding one of the other ones here: http://railwaystationsuk.weebly.com/index.html
but that is as far as I've got. The problem with the Disused Railways site is I really need to access the original caption data if I am to have any chance of rebuilding it. This may be possible as there is a proposed rescue bid for Fotopic, but it is all up in the air at the moment any may never happen. Just got to wait and see. Sorry your pics were only online for such a short time, they deserved a wider audience.

 

[ACE1888]

Not in the forseeable future but probably eventually. I had seven different Fotopic sites, all quite large, so it will be a mammoth task. I've made a start at rebuilding one of the other ones here: http://railwaystationsuk.weebly.com/index.html
but that is as far as I've got. The problem with the Disused Railways site is I really need to access the original caption data if I am to have any chance of rebuilding it. This may be possible as there is a proposed rescue bid for Fotopic, but it is all up in the air at the moment any may never happen. Just got to wait and see. Sorry your pics were only online for such a short time, they deserved a wider audience.

Kind comments indeed, all the best for the future 'rebuilding' programme!

 

[Bittern]

Was down at the old Crow Raod station in Hyndland yesterday. Didn't make it onto the platform, but got some interesting pics nonetheless along with a scrape on my arm thanks to a 6-foot wall!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Later this year, my wife and I are hoping to see whatever remains of the line formation to Red Wharf Bay near Benllech , which closed in 1930, when we visit Anglesey, I understand very little is now left, but sometimes there are untouched track bed areas to photograph, if permission to access the land is granted.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Now that ^^^^^ has been mentioned, I do remember photoing the old Reepham station in Norfolk in August. I can't remember why circumstances dictated that I was there, but I got a cracking few shots of the old station (platform intact, as is the building, both in good condition) as the sun set in the distance. Would do it again, though of if it were in the middle of nowhere, quiet, and a particularly nice time of day.

 

[Ralph Rawlinso]

Anyone wishing to learn more about disused railways, stations, tunels and bridges etc. are recommended to join Bygone Lines.
The description on the home page is: Notes, history and photos about closed railways in Great Britain and Ireland. Anything concerning bygone lines and tramroads particularly stations and structures. Tracing and walking old railway routes and tracks, personal recollections, maps, etc. In order to prevent unwanted 'spam' applicants are asked to provide their full name and town where they live and, because a large number of photos, maps and timetables are attached to messages, applicants must agree to receive individual e-mails.
To subscribe go to: [URL="Bygone_Lines_UK-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk"]Bygone_Lines_UK-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Not much to do late last afternoon, so my wife and I decided to drive northwards and to see the remains of the line formation south of Bury, where the line left the line now used by Manchester Metrolink and went on to Ringley Road station. The raised embankment near the junction is still in situ and that area still is fallow, but the rest of the walk was not very good.