Help with a possibly true story about a "stolen" station

[BG2024]

I was told this story years ago and for some reason it flashed back in my mind recently:

There was a former industrial site (maybe in the North East?) where the factories had closed down, and so the station that served them did too. Years later some warehouses were built in the area but the station remained closed, until eventually workmen were sent to come and demolish it. Some time after that, some rather confused looking men from Network Rail/Railtrack/BR turned up at the front desk at the warehouse and asked in an embarrassed tone "do you know where our station is?". It turned out that the workmen who did such a great job of demolishing it had actually stolen an entire station for scrap.

Does this ring a bell with anyone, and is there any truth to it?

 

[MadMac]

I was told this story years ago and for some reason it flashed back in my mind recently:

There was a former industrial site (maybe in the North East?) where the factories had closed down, and so the station that served them did too. Years later some warehouses were built in the area but the station remained closed, until eventually workmen were sent to come and demolish it. Some time after that, some rather confused looking men from Network Rail/Railtrack/BR turned up at the front desk at the warehouse and asked in an embarrassed tone "do you know where our station is?". It turned out that the workmen who did such a great job of demolishing it had actually stolen an entire station for scrap.

Does this ring a bell with anyone, and is there any truth to it?

I haven’t heard of this one, but there was an instance in the “North East” some years ago where three miles of “mothballed” track was stolen for scrap. The whole thing was organised by a supervisor who equipped those responsible with the appropriate clothing and got the equipment via companies used by BR/whoever, so it didn’t look unusual.

 

[Acathater]

Quick search of the interwebs finds this story about Cleckheaton

Cleckheaton Central railway station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The passenger station buildings were demolished by British Rail in February 1968 - but the stone-built island platform remained in situ for a few years more.

In 1972 a Dewsbury man appeared at Wakefield Crown Court accused of stealing stone, timber, metal, track, chairs and even the buffer stops from the site; in the words of the prosecution counsel "what the case really comes to is that this man last August in effect stole Cleckheaton station". In August 1971 British Rail had made a contract with another contractor who would clear the site and had the permission to sell and retain the proceeds from disposal of all materials and any scrap. However, on arrival, the firm discovered that the station and most of the material had already gone. It transpired that the defendant had been contracted by another company to clear the site. After he had been given an advanced sum to hire plant equipment, he had spent three weeks clearing the site. Subsequent efforts to trace the second firm failed. The court found the man not guilty deciding that he had been duped and left significantly out of pocket. The case is cited as an example of how the Theft Act 1968 can be extended to cover goods forming part of a property.

 

[starlight73]

I haven’t heard of this one, but there was an instance in the “North East” some years ago where three miles of “mothballed” track was stolen for scrap.

I’m aware ththread is about a stolen station. But on the subject of stolen track, I found this previous thread which mentions stolen track on the Leamside line and Skelton junction to Carrington line (near Manchester)

R.I.P Leamside Line (in use from 1839 to 1991)

:sad:I read recently that the track was finally to be lifted on the Leamside Line and went looking on Saturday but saw no work going on so hoped it wasn't true, but i passed Fence Houses level crossing this morning and saw sleepers piled up , rails gone and JCBs on the line. So after many years...

www.railforums.co.uk

also a BBC article about it from that thread:

BBC NEWS | England | Jail sentence for rail track thief

A railway maintenance worker who stole more than two miles of railway track has been jailed for two years.

[He] hired a crew of workers who used JCBs, a tipper truck, lorries and floodlighting to remove the track from the disused line.

The track - at Leamside Line near Penshaw, on the outskirts of Sunderland - was taken up over a six-day period in January this year.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Cleckheaton was quite famous at the time. The story was in the Railway periodicals.

 

[Merle Haggard]

We had seasonal Train Ferry traffic to a siding somewhere in the North-East, can't recollect where but possibly Tees-side - either for spirits or toys, in the run up to Christmas. In preparation for the re-activation one year we asked the locals to check on the state of it, and they reported that it was not longer there.

It was assumed that it had been stolen - and I requested an update to the sidings list accordingly, which caused some amusement - but it then emerged, disappointingly prosaically, that during the Summer the Engineers had decided unilaterally that it was no longer required and 'recovered' it - possibly to avoid replacement of a worn out connection.

 

[MadMac]

We had seasonal Train Ferry traffic to a siding somewhere in the North-East, can't recollect where but possibly Tees-side - either for spirits or toys, in the run up to Christmas. In preparation for the re-activation one year we asked the locals to check on the state of it, and they reported that it was not longer there.

It was assumed that it had been stolen - and I requested an update to the sidings list accordingly, which caused some amusement - but it then emerged, disappointingly prosaically, that during the Summer the Engineers had decided unilaterally that it was no longer required and 'recovered' it - possibly to avoid replacement of a worn out connection.

Something pretty much identical happened with the line into the Rothes Colliery near Thornton: I saw the memo which followed, which pointed out that it had been left in a condition where “It was perfectly possible to signal a train directly into a ploughed field”…..

 

[Belperpete]

it then emerged, disappointingly prosaically, that during the Summer the Engineers had decided unilaterally that it was no longer required and 'recovered' it - possibly to avoid replacement of a worn out connection.

If the connection had been recovered, then this would have required signalling alterations, which would have needed paying for.

 

[Merle Haggard]

If the connection had been recovered, then this would have required signalling alterations, which would have needed paying for.

Yes, that's interesting. Perhaps they felt that they would be on a 'sticky wicket'...
I remember now it was a Transfesa private siding; in those days, when there was a very low limit on carnets for Spanish road hauliers Transfesa moved a lot of seasonal traffic for Christmas. Even fruit having 'seasons' seems to be forgotten now.
Private siding in this case meant a siding with basic road access alongside. Nothing remarkable looking.

 

[Belperpete]

Yes, that's interesting. Perhaps they felt that they would be on a 'sticky wicket'...
I remember now it was a Transfesa private siding; in those days, when there was a very low limit on carnets for Spanish road hauliers Transfesa moved a lot of seasonal traffic for Christmas. Even fruit having 'seasons' seems to be forgotten now.
Private siding in this case meant a siding with basic road access alongside. Nothing remarkable looking.

In which case, Transfesa would likely have been paying an annual sum for maintenance of the siding. If they wanted to stop paying it, they would have to pay for the recovery costs.

I remember on a number of resignalling schemes that I was involved with in BR days, there were sidings that were clearly long out of use, but had to be kept as the Coal Board refused to pay the recovery costs.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Jan 2026 ==

Something pretty much identical happened with the line into the Rothes Colliery near Thornton: I saw the memo which followed, which pointed out that it had been left in a condition where “It was perfectly possible to signal a train directly into a ploughed field”…..

In that case, it sounds as though the mainline connection and all its associated signalling was left, and only the sidings recovered. Leaving the mainline connection and signalling reading into a ploughed field.

 

[Merle Haggard]

In which case, Transfesa would likely have been paying an annual sum for maintenance of the siding. If they wanted to stop paying it, they would have to pay for the recovery costs.

I remember on a number of resignalling schemes that I was involved with in BR days, there were sidings that were clearly long out of use, but had to be kept as the Coal Board refused to pay the recovery costs.
/snip

My recollection is that private sidings owners were not obliged to use B.R. for maintenance, and a company, possibly Sheffield based with a name I can't fully recollect (???Track Supplies Ltd???) was used quite widely. This may have been a reflection on the service they had received from B.R.. In the maps attached to private sidings agreements the different categories of track maintenance was shown and the sidings after the connections (shown ??? 'Yellow'??) were shown as 'trader responsible for maintenance'. The connections only used by traffic into private sidings but through loops and s&c was shown as 'maintained by B.R. at trader's expense'. I am relying on recollection - I had an involvement with LM private siding agreements in the mid 1970s. Nearly as much fun as 'Standage and Demurrage', another part of the job.


One of the 'beefs' of freight people was that it seemed very difficult to get the Civil Engineers to deal with poor 'condition-of-track' on freight-only lines. Any repairs were always, it seemed, with materials recovered from passengers lines. I coincidentally noticed that the Civil Engineers' own sidings - e.g. on the Up side North of Watford Junction - had concrete sleepers.

 

[Belperpete]

My recollection is that private sidings owners were not obliged to use B.R. for maintenance, and a company, possibly Sheffield based with a name I can't fully recollect (???Track Supplies Ltd???) was used quite widely.

Sorry, I meant that the company concerned would be required to pay towards the mainline connection and associated trap point, and the signalling. So recovery of the siding wouldn't by itself enable recovery of the mainline connection.

As you say, the siding itself could be maintained by the private contractor or their contractors. Some, such as the NCB and CEGB even had their own private signalling systems.

 

[The exile]

Definitely not the North East but someone stole Dilton Marsh about 30 years ago (or at least one of the platforms), didn’t they?

 

[Dave W]

If the connection had been recovered, then this would have required signalling alterations, which would have needed paying for.

Would this be the case if it was a ground frame? Presumably they could have just padlocked the ground frame out of use with points normal? Obviously the GF release might still exist in the box, but if no one ever went to it to ask for it...

 

[MadMac]

In which case, Transfesa would likely have been paying an annual sum for maintenance of the siding. If they wanted to stop paying it, they would have to pay for the recovery costs.

I remember on a number of resignalling schemes that I was involved with in BR days, there were sidings that were clearly long out of use, but had to be kept as the Coal Board refused to pay the recovery costs.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Jan 2026 ==


In that case, it sounds as though the mainline connection and all its associated signalling was left, and only the sidings recovered. Leaving the mainline connection and signalling reading into a ploughed field.

I did several design jobs on sites that hadn’t been commissioned for ten years taking away colliery connections: my standing joke was that I had closed more pits than Ian McGregor…..

One such instance was at Cowdenbeath South, where there was a connection into an open cast mine. One Sunday (nothing ran via Cowdenbeath on Sundays) the PW (probably the same lot from Rothes) plain lined the whole junction. Nobody had told the S&T, whose first knowledge was arriving on site to multiple failures on Sunday evening…..

 

[Belperpete]

Would this be the case if it was a ground frame? Presumably they could have just padlocked the ground frame out of use with points normal? Obviously the GF release might still exist in the box, but if no one ever went to it to ask for it...

That might be in the simplest cases, where there aren't any track circuits and the points aren't detected.

 

[45Fox]

Definitely not the North East but someone stole Dilton Marsh about 30 years ago (or at least one of the platforms), didn’t they?

I remember hearing the story of Dilton Marsh; although I thought it was a bit further back, possibly in the late 80s/early 90s, certainly BR days.

The story that circulated within the railway was that a complete platform, maybe both, was taken on a Sunday when the line was closed for engineering work; the driver on the first service on Monday morning approached but found the station (or at least the platform he should have stopped at) simply wasn't there.

Having spent all my BR career on the (ex) London Midland Region, mainly in the East Midlands but with a short interlude in London, and all my post privatisation time in the East Midlands I have no local knowledge of the area and don't know how true the story is; I've never seen any documentary evidence of it happening and cannot recall having ever seen any media coverage of it either.

I must admit to having always regarded it as a railway urban myth, albeit a rattling good yarn.
However, there is a part of me that would, strangely, quite like it to be true.

 

[stuving]

I remember hearing the story of Dilton Marsh; although I thought it was a bit further back, possibly in the late 80s/early 90s, certainly BR days.

The story that circulated within the railway was that a complete platform, maybe both, was taken on a Sunday when the line was closed for engineering work; the driver on the first service on Monday morning approached but found the station (or at least the platform he should have stopped at) simply wasn't there.

That's pretty close to it! I have found a local news story about this (and one from the next month referring to it when reporting a stolen bus shelter close by.) Clearly the press, and others asked to make comments on this, found the temptation to makes jokes about it irresistible.

From the Western Daily Press of 01 October 1988, under the headline "And the platform now leaving ...", by Philip Bowern -

Astonished commuters turned up to catch their morning train - and discovered that the platform had been stolen.

Thieves had apparently walked away with the quarter-inch-thick aluminium panels the make up the platform at the mainline halt in Dilton Marsh near Westbury.

Yesterday British Transport police appealed for witnesses to the daring theft at the quiet, unmanned, halt on the Cardiff to Portsmouth line.

A spokesman said: "If anyone saw something suspicious - like someone walking with as platform under their arm - would they please contact us."

The aluminium platform panels, measuring eight feet by four feet, have a scrap metal value of at least £1,000.

British Rail said a replacement platform was swiftly put in place and there were no serious delays for passengers.

 

[Gloster]

The fact that the panels were aluminium makes me suspect that it was the shelter that was taken, or just possibly some cladding. Just how load bearing would a 1/4” thick piece of aluminium be? However, why let accuracy get in the way of an item bashing BR?

 

[The exile]

The fact that the panels were aluminium makes me suspect that it was the shelter that was taken, or just possibly some cladding. Just how load bearing would a 1/4” thick piece of aluminium be? However, why let accuracy get in the way of an item bashing BR?

Depends what the bracing underneath was like. Only has to be the platform surface to render the place unusable - most people aren’t going to be prepared to balance on the cross bracing.

 

[Prime586]

The fact that the panels were aluminium makes me suspect that it was the shelter that was taken, or just possibly some cladding. Just how load bearing would a 1/4” thick piece of aluminium be? However, why let accuracy get in the way of an item bashing BR?

Depends what the bracing underneath was like. Only has to be the platform surface to render the place unusable - most people aren’t going to be prepared to balance on the cross bracing.

Here's a picture of the platform at Dilton Marsh Halt from July 1988, a couple of months before the theft took place. The platform surface was made of checkerplate panels. The platorms were originally made of sleepers, and were shortened from five cars ot three cars in the early 1970s, and at some point in the 1980s resurfaced with checkerplate. This picture seems to suggest that after the theft it was replaced with steel checkerplate.

 

[stuving]

Here's a picture of the platform at Dilton Marsh Halt from July 1988, a couple of months before the theft took place. The platform surface was made of checkerplate panels. The platorms were originally made of sleepers, and were shortened from five cars ot three cars in the early 1970s, and at some point in the 1980s resurfaced with checkerplate. This picture seems to suggest that after the theft it was replaced with steel checkerplate.

That's roughly what I thought must have been there. The platforms were reduced to serve one carriage (reportedly in 1969), with longitudinal sleepers forming the deck. In 1983 BR were trying to extract £14,000 from Wiltshire council to repair the rotting timbers of the platforms. Not the only time the station was threatened with closure unless money was forthcoming, of course.

So I guess the question is what was done as a cheap expedient in 1883/4? I found no news of that, but fixing metal sheets to provide a smooth surface, having filled any big holes with packing, sounds plausible. Obviously the structure of the platforms has to be sound, just the top of the timbers is rotting and getting uneven.

However, those pictures (not of the same platform, of course) don't appear to match the story of which should be aluminium and which steel.

 

[Prime586]

That's roughly what I thought must have been there. The platforms were reduced to serve one carriage (reportedly in 1969), with longitudinal sleepers forming the deck. In 1983 BR were trying to extract £14,000 from Wiltshire council to repair the rotting timbers of the platforms. Not the only time the station was threatened with closure unless money was forthcoming, of course.

So I guess the question is what was done as a cheap expedient in 1883/4? I found no news of that, but fixing metal sheets to provide a smooth surface, having filled any big holes with packing, sounds plausible. Obviously the structure of the platforms has to be sound, just the top of the timbers is rotting and getting uneven.

However, those pictures (not of the same platform, of course) don't appear to match the story of which should be aluminium and which steel.

There's a picture of the wooden platform being shortened, and pictures of the station in 1976, 1978 and 1984 on the Cornwall Railway Society's website. In the 1984 pictures the timber does look to be past it's best.

If you look at the second picture I linked to, you can see there are two different types of panels - one type are obviously steel as it's rusted and the other type is not rusty and has a larger checker tread pattern, which matches what is seen in the July 1988 picture. It looks like only the panels that do not have the fence stanchions bolted on top of them have been replaced by steel - the thieves presumably did not want to go the time or effort of dismantling the fence to take those, so they are still the original aluminium panels. If you zoom in, the stteel panels do not appear to be fixed properly onto the substructure - the joints between the panels are not flush (the panel the man is standing on is bowing up in front of him) and at the fence end they have been tied together by a crudely-welded strip of steel that runs over the top of the aluminium panels, so it's likely they were hurriedly put in place as an emergency repair after the theft.

 

[Pigeon]

The fact that the panels were aluminium makes me suspect that it was the shelter that was taken, or just possibly some cladding. Just how load bearing would a 1/4" thick piece of aluminium be? However, why let accuracy get in the way of an item bashing BR?

1/4" is 6.3mm. That's pretty chunky. Much thicker than shelter walls or cladding would be, and eminently standable-onnable. Indeed it's a jolly nice piece of material, and also pretty expensive; it seems rather extravagant not to have just used steel in the first place.