Most scenic lines in the uk

[steamybrian]

I was down there a couple of weeks ago, the St Ives Branch is very much alive and kicking.

Two weeks ago on a Saturday, there were 2x150's operating on both diagrams

If he meant St.Ives to Cambridge in Cambridgeshire (which is now a bus-way thingy.) then when I travelled over it just before closure in 1970 the scenery was boring flat Fenland

 

[6Gman]

Chester to Shotton is grim. Especially if you're a tourist expecting to find mountains, castles and choirs as you enter Wales!

 

[Eastcoast43208]

The Tyne valley line, Newcastle to Carlisle in both Directions is Brilliant.

North of Newcastle all the way up the ECML,
also the Durham coast line Sunderland to Hartlepool well worth the journey on a Grand central HST

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Thinking of the fens, I remember watching the Railscene cab ride from Liverpool Street to Norwich, which featured my least favourite part, Diss to Norwich. I kid you not, I actually nodded off somewhere after Diss and woke up a handful miles south of Trowse.

Doing the Sandblower tour from Ely to Kings Lynn is something I almost fell asleep through, probably would have if I wasn't by the droplight!

 

[CockneySparrow]

Really? Well that 'bus' I was on earlier in the year when I down there certainly looked a lot like a 150...

Sorry, my confusion I guess your talking about St Ives in Cornwall, when I read the post I thought he was talking about the Cambridge to St Ives branch, that's the one that has been turned into a guided bus route

I live in Cambridgeshire so when someone says St Ives its easy to assume its the one local

If he meant St.Ives to Cambridge in Cambridgeshire (which is now a bus-way thingy.) then when I travelled over it just before closure in 1970 the scenery was boring flat Fenland

Yes I did, sorry for the confusion, I live locally in Cambridgeshire

 

[Cheds]

As one who uses Carlisle Settle frequently (because of living here) lines which are a contrast to this are favourites - particularly Norwich Lowestoft across the river at Reedham and along Haddiscoe Cut to Oulton Broad. A delight in summer.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Aside from the S&C, West Highlands, Kyle line and ECML at Alnmouth that are commonly mentioned, I'll add these:
- Horsham-Littlehampton / Ford
- Norwich-Sheringham / Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft
- Exeter-Barnstaple / Exmouth
- Plymouth-Gunnislake
- Castle Cary-Weymouth
- Ayr-Stranraer
- Lllandudno Jn-Blaenau Ffestiniog

 

[Johnuk123]

A couple of posters have mentioned the Fens as being boring and dull.
I am a dedicated Munro bagger and hope to finish them off soon but I can still appreciate flat-lands too.

The fens have a strange attraction to me and the famous "fen sky" can be fantastic.
I lived in Fenland for a while and enjoyed it especially when you'd be out walking the dog in a "fen blow"

Unfortunately some of the railway journeys don't always show it off to it's best advantage.

 

[Oswyntail]

I quite enjoy the run from Swinton to Sheffield via Meadowhall, though this is becoming more bland. The scenery of industry, the graft of heavy production, is just as stirring as mountains or fens. Trying to think of many more examples and I am stumped. Is Port Talbot still like that? Are there any "Dark Satanic Mills" left, or are we all light industry these days?

 

[Essexman]

Aside from the S&C, West Highlands, Kyle line and ECML at Alnmouth that are commonly mentioned, I'll add these:
- Horsham-Littlehampton / Ford
- Norwich-Sheringham / Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft
- Exeter-Barnstaple / Exmouth
- Plymouth-Gunnislake
- Castle Cary-Weymouth
- Ayr-Stranraer
- Lllandudno Jn-Blaenau Ffestiniog

Norwich - Sheringham is supposedly on a list of the world's 50 most scenic lines.
It's nice but I reckon there are 50 in Britain that match it.

 

[Rich McLean]

Talking about Scenic, Delays between Newton Abbot and Exeter St Davids, due to weather, waves crashing over the sea wall, causing trains to pass at caution.

It's a lovely stretch of line in the summer though

 

[JohnB57]

I quite enjoy the run from Swinton to Sheffield via Meadowhall, though this is becoming more bland. The scenery of industry, the graft of heavy production, is just as stirring as mountains or fens. Trying to think of many more examples and I am stumped. Is Port Talbot still like that? Are there any "Dark Satanic Mills" left, or are we all light industry these days?

"Cleaned up mill conversion yuppy apartments" doesn't have the same ring does it?

On of the side effects of de-industrialisation is that the foliage that the pollution kept down now grows freely and changes the whole landscape and the view from the train, even if the buildings themselves are still intact. The Colne and Calder Valleys are typical of this.

If we can vote for long closed lines, Kings Lynn to Hunstanton must be one of the most stunning little branches, not only for the landscape but also the architecture. I dip into John Betjeman's short film occasionally and it's like highly concentrated nostalgia.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Chester to Shotton is grim. Especially if you're a tourist expecting to find mountains, castles and choirs as you enter Wales!

Oh I don't know...
There's Hawarden Castle if you look hard.
You might get buzzed by an Airbus Beluga landing at Hawarden.
Chester Cathedral looms up from a long way out if you are going east (not quite like Lincoln or Ely but still a fine sight).
And there's a yellow Reliant Robin on an elevated lineside stand on the north side of the line at Saltney!
But it is a relief to reach the views of the Roodee and city walls at Chester.
The main blight on the North Wales main line is the endless series of lineside caravan parks from Talacre to Llanddulas.

The most extreme industrial view from a railway, I think, used to be the working iron foundry underneath Crane St viaduct south of Wolverhampton.
Especially at night with the red glow from the furnaces!
The foundry closed not too long ago, but the site now looks even worse as it is just abandoned space instead of having a purpose.

 

[Penmorfa]

The most extreme industrial view from a railway, I think, used to be the working iron foundry underneath Crane St viaduct south of Wolverhampton.
Especially at night with the red glow from the furnaces!
The foundry closed not too long ago, but the site now looks even worse as it is just abandoned space instead of having a purpose.

and the most noxious must have been Cluttons rendering factory at Saltney.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Oh I don't know...
There's Hawarden Castle if you look hard.
You might get buzzed by an Airbus Beluga landing at Hawarden.
Chester Cathedral looms up from a long way out if you are going east (not quite like Lincoln or Ely but still a fine sight).
And there's a yellow Reliant Robin on an elevated lineside stand on the north side of the line at Saltney!
But it is a relief to reach the views of the Roodee and city walls at Chester.
The main blight on the North Wales main line is the endless series of lineside caravan parks from Talacre to Llanddulas.

Don't forget the two soviet Mig 21 fighters at the back of the Hawarden airport complex and Mold Junctions UP goods reception line still sitting in situ not having been lifted - 30 years oou?

 

[Beveridges]

Blackpool - Colne
Bolton - Clitheroe
Blackpool - Leeds via Hebden Bridge

They're the most scenic routes on trains from my area anyway, don't know how good(or bad) they are compared to the rest of the UK

 

[cookiescrumble]

I'm quite fond of the line that runs through the New Forest between Southampton and Bournemouth.

 

[Penmorfa]

Don't forget the two soviet Mig 21 fighters at the back of the Hawarden airport complex and Mold Junctions UP goods reception line still sitting in situ not having been lifted - 30 years oou?

Also the two yard speakers mounted on a post on the down side, how many years since a word was last uttered from those?

 

[Galvanize]

Scenic Lines:
*South Devon Coast, between Starcross and Teignmouth
*Exmouth branch south of Topsham, skirting the River Exe estuary
*Gunnislake branch...great scenary, if the line was a bit of a stagger!
*The Cambrian Coast route to Pwllheli, especially between Dovey Junction and Aberdovey, skirting round the Dovey Estury, then hugging the cliffs around Friog, the crossing of Barmouth bridge etc
*The Arun Valley Line between Horsham and Ford.
*Swanley-Otford via Eynsford
*Rather surprising, the Dover Priory-Faversham route via Canterbury East has its scenic moments, such as between Faversham and Canterbury, and Dover and ShepherdsWell.
*Edinburgh-Aberdeen route for most of its length, along the Firth of Forth, then through the rolling Fife countryside, before rejoining the coast for much of the route to Aberdeen.
*The Highland mainline, particularly Drumachder pass!

 

[Toots]

The Cumbrian coast line from Carlisle to Lancaster.Has the sea on one side and for a lot of the route,spectacular countryside on the other.It still has some attractive railway architecture in the form of stations and signalboxes and of course the Arnside viaduct over the Kent estuary.If you do the whole route,it's an epic,in fact I remember doing a 'Round Robin' in BR days whereby we went from Manchester to Leeds with a class 40 with steam pouring from the boiler,then onto compartment stock over the S&C and after a short stop for a beer in Carlisle it was back over the Cumbrian Coast line on a DMU with bars on the door windows!....

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Don't forget the two soviet Mig 21 fighters at the back of the Hawarden airport complex and Mold Junctions UP goods reception line still sitting in situ not having been lifted - 30 years oou?

I never knew they were MiGs - thought they were old British or American aircraft.
On a good day nearby you might see a pair of A380 wings crossing the line en route to Toulouse...

 

[SGS]

I quite enjoy the run from Swinton to Sheffield via Meadowhall, though this is becoming more bland. The scenery of industry, the graft of heavy production, is just as stirring as mountains or fens. Trying to think of many more examples and I am stumped. Is Port Talbot still like that? Are there any "Dark Satanic Mills" left, or are we all light industry these days?

Middlesbrough - Saltburn is good for this type of thing. There's a satanic mill at Redcar that the line passes.