Passenger gets on at Doleham !

[paul1609]

A man boarded the morning train to Brighton at Doleham this morning (06.36 ex Rye). This is the first use of the station I've experienced in the post thumpers era.

 

[jopsuk]

Looking at the passenger figures for this station- the changes in methodology have been really rather pronounced! 56 in 07/08, 38,666 in 11/12, 8166 in 13/14. I wonder what the real figures were?

 

[Oliver]

There's a row of 12 houses about 100 yards from the station, and that's it.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.918354,0.61004,17z

 

[jopsuk]

the 38,666 does seem a little suspect.

 

[Flamingo]

the 38,666 does seem a little suspect.

Somebody has probably figured out a stop short on a ticket to there that saves them . RJ At a guess

 

[Greenback]

It all goes to show how unreliable these figures can be.

 

[Cletus]

Perhaps there is/was a "secret" "loophole" involving Doleham station?

 

[LBSCR Times]

the 38,666 does seem a little suspect.

It was Doleham's turn that year for all the ramblers....

 

[Fincra5]

Somebody has probably figured out a stop short on a ticket to there that saves them . RJ At a guess

Used to be lots of weekly seasons to Doleham.. always wondered where it was Was cheaper than Hastings.

 

[sarahj]

I'm still waiting for Pevensey Bay. Only ever seen one passenger board, and have never sold or seen a ticket for there. When the one punter boarded ran up hoping to break my duck, alas he had a Eastbourne - Bexhill season.

 

[yorksrob]

I'm still waiting for Pevensey Bay. Only ever seen one passenger board, and have never sold or seen a ticket for there. When the one punter boarded ran up hoping to break my duck, alas he had a Eastbourne - Bexhill season.

Me and my Pa have traveled to Pevensey Bay to visit the castle (which was very interesting by the way). Was the early 90's though.

If only I'd kept my tickets from those days

 

[R4_GRN]

Statistics don't you just love them? If my right hand was in dry ice and my right hand was in liquid solder it could be said that, on average, both hands were comfortable!

 

[najaB]

In my part of the world I've seen people get off the train at Invergowrie (and have alighted there myself) but I've never seen anybody board.

 

[paul1609]

I always laugh at Dolehams satellite linked passenger information point and next train display for its 4 trains a day. Whoever authorised that had clearly never been there or was it required as a every Southern station commitment?

 

[alex17595]

I always laugh at Dolehams satellite linked passenger information point and next train display for its 4 trains a day. Whoever authorised that had clearly never been there or was it required as a every Southern station commitment?

Even a bunch of Far North line stations have departure screens!

 

[yorksrob]

I always laugh at Dolehams satellite linked passenger information point and next train display for its 4 trains a day. Whoever authorised that had clearly never been there or was it required as a every Southern station commitment?

According to Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith's excellent book on the line, Doleham didn't even have a lamp post until the 1980's.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I usually get the 0646/0755 from Doleham when it warms up. An early stroll through the Sussex countryside does wonders for my health.

I have a Doleham Travelcard lying around somewhere as well...

According to Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith's excellent book on the line, Doleham didn't even have a lamp post until the 1980's.

Before that, wasn't there a small gas lamp at the end of the platform that the guard would light as night rolled in and extinguish on the last train of the day? Or am I confusing that with Three Oaks or Ham Street...

 

[RJ]

Somebody has probably figured out a stop short on a ticket to there that saves them . RJ At a guess

Not guilty

 

[LowLevel]

There's usually *someone* who uses these barren shacks - in my experience though owing to their generally inaccessibility with a poor service they often hold seasons to somewhere else for flexibility. There's a regular chap at Elton & Orston (between Nottingham and Grantham, one train each way per day M-S) in the evening for example who cycles to Newark, and his season is to Newark, as an example.

 

[yorksrob]

Before that, wasn't there a small gas lamp at the end of the platform that the guard would light as night rolled in and extinguish on the last train of the day? Or am I confusing that with Three Oaks or Ham Street...

The above mentioned book does confirm that that was the case for Doleham. So if you're going to pay for a lamp of some sort, I suppose you might as well make it one that is of use for passengers!

 

[asylumxl]

I'm still waiting for Pevensey Bay. Only ever seen one passenger board, and have never sold or seen a ticket for there. When the one punter boarded ran up hoping to break my duck, alas he had a Eastbourne - Bexhill season.

Last year I visited Pevensey Bay. I even had a ticket to it. I didn't use the station on the way back though. Used Pevensey and Westham.

 

[Starmill]

I'm still waiting for Pevensey Bay. Only ever seen one passenger board, and have never sold or seen a ticket for there. When the one punter boarded ran up hoping to break my duck, alas he had a Eastbourne - Bexhill season.

I always laugh at Dolehams satellite linked passenger information point and next train display for its 4 trains a day. Whoever authorised that had clearly never been there or was it required as a every Southern station commitment?

Has the TVM been fitted at Pevensey Bay yet? While so many more used stations outside Southernland do not have one!

 

[paul1609]

I usually get the 0646/0755 from Doleham when it warms up. An early stroll through the Sussex countryside does wonders for my health.

I have a Doleham Travelcard lying around somewhere as well...


Before that, wasn't there a small gas lamp at the end of the platform that the guard would light as night rolled in and extinguish on the last train of the day? Or am I confusing that with Three Oaks or Ham Street...

I get the 06.46 train generally at least once every 2 weeks and Ive seriously never seen anybody get on or off there since the line had thumpers. The last occasion was 2 cyclists putting their bikes in the guards van!
i doubt that you are getting confused with Ham Street as this is a station rather than a halt and is still to this day staffed at least in the morning shift.

 

[steamybrian]

I attach scans of two tickets issued in the 1960s at Pevensey Bay Halt when it had a small wooden ticket office.

I attach scans of tickets to and "from" Doleham. Although Doleham never had a ticket office I assumed it was issued at Hastings.

 

[Gathursty]

We should have a sticky thread with an attached editable tally chart for those quieter stations' usage so that we can have a slightly more accurate picture than that from the ORR. :P

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I attach scans of two tickets issued in the 1960s at Pevensey Bay Halt when it had a small wooden ticket office.

I believe, like many other wayside Southern Region halts, it lasted until the late 1980s *. I do wonder what the clerks used to do all day at stations like that!

* - I'll check that when I'm next near the book in referring to...

 

[Bishopstone]

I believe, like many other wayside Southern Region halts, it lasted until the late 1980s *. I do wonder what the clerks used to do all day at stations like that!

* - I'll check that when I'm next near the book in referring to...

Bishopstone had a ticket clerk until 1989-ish. The station sees about 30,000 entries/exits a year these days, but back in the 80s I doubt if it saw more than 10,000 a year. I imagine being a keen reader was helpful to enjoying life as a clerk in these locations.

 

[TheJRB]

I always laugh at Dolehams satellite linked passenger information point and next train display for its 4 trains a day. Whoever authorised that had clearly never been there or was it required as a every Southern station commitment?

Just to be a complete and utter pedant, it's seven trains a day Monday to Friday (05:58, 17:21 and 21:46 to Ashford, 06:46 and 07:55 to Brighton and 09:26 and 23:05 to Hastings), four on Saturdays (05:32 and 21:46 to Ashford, 07:01 to Brighton and 23:05 to Hastings) and three on Sundays (07:33 to Ashford, 08:50 to Brighton and 23:05 to Hastings) giving a somewhat respectable total of 42 trains per week!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I believe, like many other wayside Southern Region halts, it lasted until the late 1980s *. I do wonder what the clerks used to do all day at stations like that!

* - I'll check that when I'm next near the book in referring to...

Going back to this, Body (1984) says:

"A former halt, now single-manned, this location dates from September 11 1905 and comprises Up and Down platforms, shelters, ticket hut and, operated from Pevensey & Westham box, the Wallsend CCTV barrier crossing (23 m 72 ch). The Brighton-Ore trains call."

That edition was updated in 1989, but I am unsure as to whether individual entries were altered. Judging from my browsing before the first unstaffed station in those days on the Victoria-Eastbourne-Ore route was Three Oaks! The only unstaffed station per se was Cooksbridge, whose signalman issued tickets apparently.

 

[pitdiver]

I believe, like many other wayside Southern Region halts, it lasted until the late 1980s *. I do wonder what the clerks used to do all day at stations like that!

* - I'll check that when I'm next near the book in referring to...

I was at one time a Booking Clerk on the Metropolitan line based at one of their "Shacks". I can assure members that there was always plenty to do particularly on the late shift (approx 1700-2430). For instance read War and Peace or Marcel Proust. On a Sunday evening you even had a chance to cook a three course meal. As an example I can remember doing one late shift on Christmas Eve and taking about £10.50 all evening. So as you can see very busy