Travelling on lines now closed

[exile]

As this is a "nostalgia" forum I wonder how many of us can recall travelling on lines that are now closed (I mean on regular services not railtours).

My own memory is of waiting at Forres for a train to Aviemore - must have been in 1964 - something that was impossible after October 65.

 

[Welshman]

Several lines in W.Yorkshire, which was where I grew up.
Bradford Exchange - Leeds Central via Pudsey Lowtown and Greenside.
Bradford Exchange - Batley- Dewsbury - Wakefield Westgate.
Bradford Exchange - Low Moor, Liversedge, Mirfield, Huddersfield.
Huddersfield-Clayton West.

The first three, especially, would be a great boon were they open today.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Do the short bits into Tilbury Riverside and Dover Western Docks count? I did both in normal service.

 

[martinsh]

The Somerset & Dorset in 1963 (when I was 5). Travelled from Derby, then Bristol - Bath Green Park - Stalbridge (to stay with relatives).

I can vividly remember several things about this journey, such as the unexpected reversal at Bath, being banked up to Combe Down tunnel, and the curious arrangements at Templecombe.

 

[steamybrian]

Since the 1960s I have also travelled over many lines by timetabled services that have now closed-

BR- Southern Region
Elmers End- Addiscombe and Selsdon
West Croydon-Wimbledon via Mitcham
Haywards Heath-Horsted Keynes
Three Bridges-Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells-Eridge
Uckfield-Lewes
Appledore-New Romney
Horsham-Guildford
Dover Western Docks branch
Folkestone Harbour branch (boat train)
Weymouth Quay branch (boat train)
Alton-Winchester
Blackfriars-Holborn Viaduct
Wareham-Swanage-BR service

Eastern Region
Kings Lynn-Hunstanton
Cambridge-St Ives
Wymondham-Dereham
Lowestoft-Yarmouth South Town
Tilbury Riverside branch


Western Region
Maiden Newton-Bridport
Barnstaple Jn-Ilfracombe
Taunton-Minehead- BR service
Bourne End-High Wycombe

London Midland Region
Oxford-Bletchley
Croxley Green-Watford Jn
Broad Street-Dalston Jn
Dalston Jn-Finsbury Park
Camden Road-South Hampstead via Primrose Hill
Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton LL
Moorgate-St Pancras and Kings Cross (York Road)

LMR- ER joint
Manchester-Sheffield via Woodhead

London Underground
Epping-Ongar
Aldwych-Holborn
Shoreditch-Whitechapel

 

[Peter Mugridge]

D'oh - yes, you've reminded me I also did the Addiscombe branch many times plus Broad Street. And Holborn Viaduct - should have remembered that because I was on the last public train out!

Wondering what else I've forgotten now! ( Like Faringdon - Moorgate main or the Underground Aldwych branch and CX Jubilee branch for example...!! )

I did Wimbledon - West Croydon many times, but as it's now a tramway I wasn't going to mention it for this thread; ditto the Manchester - Bury / Altrincham routes.

 

[dzug2]

Too many to list, alas. And then there's the ones I can't actually remember whether I ever travelled on or not, and those that I should have done but didn't due to lack of time/funds.....

A few of the more obscure ones or at least ones that no one else has mentioned:

Leicester Belgrave Road to Bottesford on a Skegness train
Newport Pagnell branch
Cambridge Mildenhall
Grain line
Hawkhurst and Westerham branches
Kettering to Huntingdon

All steam except Mildenhall railbus

I could probably ramble on all day with the memory getting progressively hazier as I head north

 

[gordonthemoron]

Carlisle-Edinburgh on the now closed line thought the Scottish borders
York-Selby on ECML prior to Selby diversion being built
Dover Western Docks
Folkestone Harbour
Newcastle-Blaydon on north side of Tyne

This one probably doesn't count, but Nottingham-Liverpool trains used to go through Beeston and then Toton, whereas now they go through Wollaton and join MML north of Toton. I think the line is still there

 

[table38]

I remember doing Woodhead on a LCGB tour in 1975. I also remember the haulage was 25043 and 25082 yet I've got this mystery photo which I assume is at Penistone.

(Not taken by me I hastily add as I certainly wouldn't have gone on the track even in those days, and I can't find the negative so it was probably given to me by someone else)

 

[d9009alycidon]

I did the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Bathgate before closure (and subsequent reopening) on a diverted service
High Street to Bridgeton Central
Paisey Canal to Elderslie
Glasgow St Enoch to Shields Junction
Edinburgh Abbeyfield loop
Edinburgh Suburban line (diverted service)

Jim

 

[JoeGJ1984]

I once travelled from North Woolwich to Stratford on the North London Line before that section closed in 2006.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I once travelled from North Woolwich to Stratford on the North London Line before that section closed in 2006.

D'oh - that's another one I'd forgotten about that I've done!

 

[flymo]

Being from Newcastle I think I could only list the local ones with any certainty.

The Tyne loop on DMU's, OK most is now opened up as Metro but some bits aren't like Manors to Jesmond.
The Leamside line, a frequent weekend diversion during the ECML electrification
Newcastle - Blaydon via Elswick & Scotswood
Haltwhistle - Alston. During the winter too----Rather on the chilly side one recalls....

As others have mentioned and brought back memories

The original ECML through Selby.
The one I wish I had been able or old enough to do was the Waverley route. :cry:

May have been others too, just can't remember now.

 

[yorksrob]

Since the 1960s I have also travelled over many lines by timetabled services that have now closed-

BR- Southern Region
Elmers End- Addiscombe and Selsdon
West Croydon-Wimbledon via Mitcham
Haywards Heath-Horsted Keynes
Three Bridges-Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells-Eridge
Uckfield-Lewes
Appledore-New Romney
Horsham-Guildford
Dover Western Docks branch
Folkestone Harbour branch (boat train)
Weymouth Quay branch (boat train)
Alton-Winchester
Blackfriars-Holborn Viaduct
Wareham-Swanage-BR service

Eastern Region
Kings Lynn-Hunstanton
Cambridge-St Ives
Wymondham-Dereham
Lowestoft-Yarmouth South Town
Tilbury Riverside branch


Western Region
Maiden Newton-Bridport
Barnstaple Jn-Ilfracombe
Taunton-Minehead- BR service
Bourne End-High Wycombe

London Midland Region
Oxford-Bletchley
Croxley Green-Watford Jn
Broad Street-Dalston Jn
Dalston Jn-Finsbury Park
Camden Road-South Hampstead via Primrose Hill
Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton LL
Moorgate-St Pancras and Kings Cross (York Road)

LMR- ER joint
Manchester-Sheffield via Woodhead

London Underground
Epping-Ongar
Aldwych-Holborn
Shoreditch-Whitechapel

If there were a jelousy advatar Id post it here

 

[flymo]

If there were a jelousy advatar Id post it here

Allow me to do so on you behalf kind sir...

@ steamybrian....yorksrob & flymo are officially

 

[Sun Chariot]

View attachment 7056

Brilliant! My list pales by comparison too. Only about 5% of that lovely lot. Though I did the Leamside line back in the day.

 

[ACE1888]

Since the 1960s I have also travelled over many lines by timetabled services that have now closed-

BR- Southern Region
Elmers End- Addiscombe and Selsdon
West Croydon-Wimbledon via Mitcham
Haywards Heath-Horsted Keynes
Three Bridges-Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells-Eridge
Uckfield-Lewes
Appledore-New Romney
Horsham-Guildford
Dover Western Docks branch
Folkestone Harbour branch (boat train)
Weymouth Quay branch (boat train)
Alton-Winchester
Blackfriars-Holborn Viaduct
Wareham-Swanage-BR service

Eastern Region
Kings Lynn-Hunstanton
Cambridge-St Ives
Wymondham-Dereham
Lowestoft-Yarmouth South Town
Tilbury Riverside branch


Western Region
Maiden Newton-Bridport
Barnstaple Jn-Ilfracombe
Taunton-Minehead- BR service
Bourne End-High Wycombe

London Midland Region
Oxford-Bletchley
Croxley Green-Watford Jn
Broad Street-Dalston Jn
Dalston Jn-Finsbury Park
Camden Road-South Hampstead via Primrose Hill
Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton LL
Moorgate-St Pancras and Kings Cross (York Road)

LMR- ER joint
Manchester-Sheffield via Woodhead

London Underground
Epping-Ongar
Aldwych-Holborn
Shoreditch-Whitechapel

Indeed you were very lucky to do all this...and very dedicated

 

[northernrail]

does The Oldham Loop count?

 

[steamybrian]

There are a few more I forgot that others have mentioned above-

York-Selby via the old ECML
Leamside line
North Woolwich-Stratford
New Holland Town-Pier and ferry to Hull
London Underground Charing Cross- Green Park Jubilee Line

Also add-

The sections of CTRL (opened in 1994 closed in 2009 )-Farningham Road- Springhead Jn plus of course Waterloo International and Nine Elms Jn-Linford Jn


Later this year hoping to complete "track bashing" the entire National Rail system with a regular passenger service (except for a few short connecting spurs). In addition to the above I have travelled on a number of railtours which have covered lines now abandoned long ago.-
Witney-Oxford
Staines West-West Drayton
Kemp Town-Brighton
Welford Bridge-Newbury
Abingdon-Radley
London area-
Victoria Park-Poplar
Fenchurch Street-Millwall Jn via Bow Spur
Bricklayers Arms branch
Merton Park-Tooting Jn via Merton Abbey

Sorry to make you envious...

 

[exile]

To complete my list - the ECML section around Selby before the diversion was built (I guess there are a few who can claim this!); Elgin-Lossiemouth (though I can't actually remember this!), the Helston branch (not sure about this), Edinburgh-Perth via Kinross. Victoria-Bury. The Oldham Loop. That's probably about it!

 

[Welshman]

To complete my list - the ECML section around Selby before the diversion was built (I guess there are a few who can claim this!);

You've just reminded me - I once did Selby-York via the old main line from the front seat of a 2-car Met.Cammel dmu [later Cl.101].

It was a weird Sundays only working, about 1965, from Sowerby Bridge, of all places. It left there about 3pm, travelled via Healey Mills and Wakefield Kirkgate to Gascoigne Wood, then branched-off to Selby and up the old main line to York. A very odd routing.

IIRC the set returned from York about 5.25pm to Sowerby Bridge, but direct via Church Fenton.

 

[ACE1888]

The only line that i can seriously think of is between Gunnislake Old and New station, around 1/4 mile tops at most!

 

[yorksrob]

Allow me to do so on you behalf kind sir...

@ steamybrian....yorksrob & flymo are officially
View attachment 7056

Why, thank you very much

 

[steamybrian]

Allow me to do so on you behalf kind sir...

@ steamybrian....yorksrob & flymo are officially
View attachment 7056

Thanks also for the award....

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The only ones on passenger trains that I've done are the Oldham Loop and Stratford-North Woolwich. I've done plenty of closed colliery / freight branches etc on railtours, but obviously they don't count

 

[43106]

I've done a few...
1) Sellafield - Egremont in West Cumbria, STILL the most travelled line I've ever been on. Officially, the line (Sellafield - Beckermet - Egremont - Moor Row - Whitehaven Corkickle) closed to passengers in 1947, but it stayed open for freight. A new school opened in Egremont in September 1964 and it was considered that a laid on train (which some of the Sellafield workers used) would do the trick. One of the most regularly used loco in the morning was 43106. It was always a Black 5 in the afternoon, but on Fridays afternoon, it was always a non-local Black 5. Once we had a Met-Vick Co-Bo (don't know the class), but it broke down. And once we had a Brit - "Morning Star" if my memory is correct.
2) Charing Cross - Green Park & Whitechapel - Shoreditch on the LUL.
3) Leamington Spa - Rugby in the late 50's
4) Keswick - Cockermouth
5) On the Liverpool Overhead Railway, shortly before it closed down.

Can I assume that diversions onto old 'closed to passenger' lines don't count? I've done loads more of them!

 

[Crossover]

Carlisle-Edinburgh on the now closed line thought the Scottish borders

Is that the line that goes through Newcraighall (which as been reopened as far as there)
(On an aside, it still amuses me how NEW is Newcraighall whilst Newcastle got NCL!)

==============

I was going to say I'm too young to have done many closed lines, though it appears younger members have...either way, I don't recall travelling any lines that are no longer open

 

[43106]

Is that the line that goes through Newcraighall (which as been reopened as far as there?)

In a word, yes!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Middleton Junction to Oldham Werneth
Middleton Junction to Middleton
Royton Junction to Royton
Heywood to Bacup
Manchester Victoria to Bury (now a Metrolink line)
Manchester Victoria to Oldham/Shaw/Rochdale (soon to be a Metrolink line)
Manchester Exchange to Bolton Great Moor Street
Rawtenstall to Accrington
Bury to Bolton
Southport to Crossens
Poulton le Fylde to Fleetwood
Lancaster Green Ayre to Morecambe (Electric train service)
Fakenham to Wells next the Sea

 

[caliwag]

Luckily, York to Beverley, via Pocklington and Market Weighton...a cracking line with superb views over the Wolds. Front seat of a DMU...my notes from the day confirm BRCW 4 car set E50560/E59217/E59204/E50582, I think!

The line nearly survived, with proposals for singling and colour lights, but was chopped anyway as the ECML (old route) was about as quick...to hell with the good people of the towns mentioned. They could with it now as the A1079 is a nightmare! Reopening proposals, an ongoing project as we know!

I have done the Perth-Edinburgh via Glenfarg...there was a permanent speed restriction around Kelty in Fife (not much more than 10mph) due to colliery subsidence, which must have hastened the line's decline. Shame, as well, some cracking views from it as well. Glenfarg bank was steep and you would often hear dubdees on empty coal trains labouring up the bank...uncledonk, uncledonk, uncledonk...think that's a York expression!