Shack Attack 2023

[The exile]

19 August 2023

Lostock
Bescar Lane
New Lane
Hoscar
Burscough Bridge
Burscough Junction
Croston
Rufford
Euxton Balshaw Lane
Leyland
Garswood
Parbold
Firswood
Withington

UK Total: 2417

 

[Andy Pacer]

19/08/23

Acton Central
Barnes Bridge
Brentford
Brixton
Chessington North
Hampton Court
Hounslow
Isleworth
North Sheen
Strawberry Hill
Thames Ditton

 

[Techniquest]

20/08/2023

Kenilworth

Yes, at long last, this one finally got done! This was my last WMR station to visit, and I've been putting it off for years. I'll discuss more about how it got done in a summary post on my trip report thread soon, but for now I'm all out of even slightly-local stations to do. The closest I want being Bow Street and Portway Park & Ride, and the odds are one of those will be done on Friday!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Had a play with the OS App on my phone, and the following nineteen "required Network Rail shacks" are under 50km away by foot:
Clifton 19.52km, 156m ascent
Marsden 19.60km, 535m ascent
Church & Oswaldtwistle 24.86km, 613m
Hapton 25.25km, 701m ascent
Brierfield 29.19km, 562m ascent
Rishton 29.23km, 686m ascent
Lockwood 30.43km, 574m ascent
Mill Hill (Lancs), 31.93km, 779m ascent
Cherry Tree 33.2km, 815m ascent
Langho, 33.54km, 763m ascent
Pleasington 35.21km, 840m ascent
Stocksmoor 36.95km, 992m ascent
Whalley 35.27km, 862m ascent
Clitheroe 40.36km, 1007m ascent
Euxton Balshaw Lane 42.66km, 902m
Bamber Bridge 44.29km, 849m ascent
Edale 45.50km, 1153m ascent
Lostock Hall 46.18km, 869m ascent
Gargrave 49.05km, 1021m ascent

I'm unlikely to walk to any of them, although walking from Clifton along the old railway to Radcliffe and disused canal to Bury (for a bus) does seem a possibility - I'd rather get off there than on.

Burrs Country Park on the ELR is closer than all of them, but the attractions of visiting a pub filled with caravanners are limited...

 

[Kite159]

although walking from Clifton along the old railway to Radcliffe and disused canal to Bury (for a bus) does seem a possibility - I'd rather get off there than on.

That disused railway line is on my list of things to do.

I think most visitors for Clifton will walk from Swinton (although I'm not sure what the L.I.V.I.A. Silverdale is like as that looks interesting).

Pleasington in the current timetable at least is semi-akward in my eyes. Yes it has an hourly service but the trains pass within a couple of minutes of each other with the added curveball being a request stop (so the train might not even stop if nobody is waiting or has requested it)

 

[Techniquest]

Had a play with the OS App on my phone, and the following nineteen "required Network Rail shacks" are under 50km away by foot:
Clifton 19.52km, 156m ascent
Marsden 19.60km, 535m ascent
Church & Oswaldtwistle 24.86km, 613m
Hapton 25.25km, 701m ascent
Brierfield 29.19km, 562m ascent
Rishton 29.23km, 686m ascent
Lockwood 30.43km, 574m ascent
Mill Hill (Lancs), 31.93km, 779m ascent
Cherry Tree 33.2km, 815m ascent
Langho, 33.54km, 763m ascent
Pleasington 35.21km, 840m ascent
Stocksmoor 36.95km, 992m ascent
Whalley 35.27km, 862m ascent
Clitheroe 40.36km, 1007m ascent
Euxton Balshaw Lane 42.66km, 902m
Bamber Bridge 44.29km, 849m ascent
Edale 45.50km, 1153m ascent
Lostock Hall 46.18km, 869m ascent
Gargrave 49.05km, 1021m ascent

I'm unlikely to walk to any of them, although walking from Clifton along the old railway to Radcliffe and disused canal to Bury (for a bus) does seem a possibility - I'd rather get off there than on.

Burrs Country Park on the ELR is closer than all of them, but the attractions of visiting a pub filled with caravanners are limited...

Some big elevation gains in some of those, and just going by some of the names in that list, well not even I'm crazy enough to tackle those walks! I'd give Clifton a go, by some measure the easiest one on that list.

One has to wonder though, how did one come to looking them up in the first place? Walks between some of those makes sense, or like Lostock Hall to Preston (if the former's where I think it is) which I'd probably research. Mind you, I'm much more in the camp of those who'd rather drop the hammer, put the power down, throw the power handles to full, flick on the afterburners and put the feet and legs through their paces on tarmac surfaced routes. Ooh that's got me in the mood for a high-speed walk right now

Back to station scoring though, I've managed to put myself off doing Portway Park & Ride on Friday. Same for Bow Street, I can't find a good enough combination of trains and cardio/exploring to justify the trip. I have instead put myself into the mindset of sneaking in a day trip to foreign territory, the East Midlands, to tick off something that's been on my exploring to-do list since January 2022. Yes it does feature a plan to sneak in a couple of station scores, but all will be revealed on Sunday!

 

[The exile]

Had a play with the OS App on my phone, and the following nineteen "required Network Rail shacks" are under 50km away by foot:
Clifton 19.52km, 156m ascent
Marsden 19.60km, 535m ascent
Church & Oswaldtwistle 24.86km, 613m
Hapton 25.25km, 701m ascent
Brierfield 29.19km, 562m ascent
Rishton 29.23km, 686m ascent
Lockwood 30.43km, 574m ascent
Mill Hill (Lancs), 31.93km, 779m ascent
Cherry Tree 33.2km, 815m ascent
Langho, 33.54km, 763m ascent
Pleasington 35.21km, 840m ascent
Stocksmoor 36.95km, 992m ascent
Whalley 35.27km, 862m ascent
Clitheroe 40.36km, 1007m ascent
Euxton Balshaw Lane 42.66km, 902m
Bamber Bridge 44.29km, 849m ascent
Edale 45.50km, 1153m ascent
Lostock Hall 46.18km, 869m ascent
Gargrave 49.05km, 1021m ascent

I'm unlikely to walk to any of them, although walking from Clifton along the old railway to Radcliffe and disused canal to Bury (for a bus) does seem a possibility - I'd rather get off there than on.

Burrs Country Park on the ELR is closer than all of them, but the attractions of visiting a pub filled with caravanners are limited...

I'm down to 1 within a 30 mile radius (although there would have been considerably fewer to begin with) - and Pewsey falls into that category of being annoyingly awkward to get without being so poorly served as to represent a real challenge to rise to (like the various East Anglian "Roads" will). It just sits there taunting me...

 

[D841 Roebuck]

That disused railway line is on my list of things to do.

I think most visitors for Clifton will walk from Swinton (although I'm not sure what the L.I.V.I.A. Silverdale is like as that looks interesting).

Pleasington in the current timetable at least is semi-akward in my eyes. Yes it has an hourly service but the trains pass within a couple of minutes of each other with the added curveball being a request stop (so the train might not even stop if nobody is waiting or has requested it)

Agreed re Pleasington being awkward. If you cut down to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Feniscowles, walking to Chorley ought to be feasible.

Cherry Tree and Mill Hill are "low lying fruit" with an easy walk between along the canal. Church to Hapton likewise, although a bit further. Rishton to Church seems more obvious, but Rishton is actually as close to Langho.

The Yorkshire stations and Edale are all easy (just haven't bothered yet), and Gargrave will be tied in with a trip to somewhere like Ribblehead, backtracking to Settle, walking to Giggleswick then doing Long Preston and Gargrave in linear fashion on the way back.

I've had another look at the map, and part of the course of the line from Patricroft to Clifton seems to be walkable (not the bit through the collapsed tunnel!). For a longer walk, most of the Patricroft to Bolton route seems accessible.

 

[Kite159]

In theory you could visit Gargrave and walk the Leeds & Liverpool canal towards Skipton or even to Colne. I would imagine the scenery on the Gargrave to Colne section will be beautiful.

There are a few disused railway walks in that general area.

 

[Andy Pacer]

22/08/23

Old Roan

 

[1971martin]

Tuesday 15th August 2023

Stalybridge
Guide Bridge
Rose Hill Marple

Wednesday 16th August 2023

Manchester Metrolink

Newbold
Radcliffe
Whitefield

 

[birchesgreen]

22/8

Inverness Airport
Inverness

23/8

Nairn

24/8

Elgin

 

[Techniquest]

27/08/2023

Manchester Metrolink:

Kingsway Business Park
Milnrow

That's the Rochdale Loop line cleared for Metrolink stops I want the bay at Shaw & Crompton one day, but a walking expedition is on the cards based out of there so I'll have it done in no time. It's technically a dud station, but that bay platform makes it one to go back to! I have 4 I think left on the Trafford Centre line to do, then the Metrolink will be cleared for stops. 5 active trams plus 3027 to go, I suspect it won't be too long until my next visit to Manchester!

 

[KT550]

28 Aug 2023

West Midlands Metro:

The Hawthorns
Bull Street
Corporation Street
Town Hall
Jewellery Quarter
Library
Brindleyplace
St Chads
St Paul's
Grand Central

 

[miklcct]

National Rail
240	Harpenden	2023-08-15
241	Wembley Central	2023-08-19
242	Grays	2023-08-26
243	Southend Central	2023-08-26
244	Redhill	2023-08-27
245	Reigate	2023-08-27
246	Custom House	2023-08-29

London Underground
110	Blackfriars	2023-08-09
111	Canning Town	2023-08-29

DLR
14	Royal Victoria	2023-08-29

 

[Segedunum]

02/09

Reston

On the singular northbound train today...

 

[Techniquest]

31/08/2023

Imperial War Museum
Parkway
Museum

All Metrolink stops complete

 

[DaventryRabbit]

Saturday 2 Sept
Clearing up the Western side (If you like..) of Supertram...

Bamforth Street
Leppings Lane
Hillsborough Park
Langsett/Primrose View
Infirmary Road
Netherthorpe Road
University of Sheffield
West Street

 

[KT550]

This week's trip gave enough time to finish the Manchester to Southport line before heading down to Clifton for the evening service.
Day two, the line from Manchester to Buxton. Middlewood was a fail due to late running buses caused by roadworks on the A6 but at least that is in the TfGM area for next time.


06 Sep 2023

Hoscar
Clifton

07 Sep 2023

Disley
New Mills Newtown
Dove Holes
Buxton
Chapel-en-le-Frith
Whaley Bridge
Furness Vale


Total NR: 1833

 

[Andy Pacer]

14/09/23

Cattal
Harrogate
Hornbeam Park
Malton
Pannal
Sherburn in Elmer
Starbeck
Ulleskelf

 

[Andy Pacer]

15/09/23

Chathill
Chester le Street
Riding Mill
Stocksfield
Widdrington

 

[KT550]

This week's trip was to Brigg via the stations on the Stoke-on-Trent to Derby line, then back via Nottingham.

14 Sep 2023

Longton
Blythe Bridge
Uttoxeter
Tutbury & Hatton

15 Sep 2023

Kirton Lindsey
Brigg
Gainsborough Central
Gainsborough Lea Road
Mansfield
Bulwell

Total NR: 1843


Nottingham Express Transit tram stops:

Bulwell
Wilkinson Street
Lace Market

 

[Techniquest]

15/09/2023

Camberley
Datchet
Reading Green Park
Sunnymeads
Wraysbury

 

[DaventryRabbit]

Saturday 16th Sept
Chirk
Corwen (Llangollen Railway)

Sunday 17th Sept
Warrington West
Deansgate
Salford Central
Weaste (Metrolink)
Langworthy (Metrolink)
(Crossover duly Scratched...!)
Eccles
Broadbottom
Flowery Field
Hattersley

 

[Techniquest]

17/09/2023

Piper's Row
Wolverhampton Station

That reclears Midland Metro for stops, and I've got all the track in both directions done. All available track at Edgbaston Village too, and just a handful of crossovers and that rarely used platform at Wednesbury Parkway that I haven't got.

 

[1971martin]

Tuesday 12th September 2023

Bebington
Eastham Rake
Port Sunlight
Bromborough
Spital
Bromborough Rake

Just need the stations between Hooton and Chester/Ellesmere Port to complete the Wirral Line.

Wednesday 13th September 2023

GM Metrolink

Besses O The Barn
Prestwich
Heaton Park
Bowker Vale
Crumpsall
Abraham Moss
Queens Road

A trip to the ELR for a trip behind 37109 enabled me to complete the Bury line.

 

[childwallblues]

19/09/2023 - Prestatyn It was due to be Flint but a hurricane wind in the area made me change my mind.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

22/09/2023
Bicester North

 

[Techniquest]

22/09/2023
Bicester North

Ooh I see we were close by each other today!

22/09/2023

Great Missenden
Stoke Mandeville
Wendover

Just one more Chiltern station to score, and it's on a line currently closed for an engineering blockade. That blockade finishes at the end of October, I can see my going for it soon!

 

[Andy Pacer]

23/09/23

Airbles
Bearsden
Belshill
Bishopbriggs
Croy
Lenzie