TRIVIA - lines which Beeching did NOT recommend for closure but which closed anyway

[gg1]

How many of these were there?

Two I know of are:

Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level
King's Lynn to Hunstanton

 

[coppercapped]

Oxford - Bletchley - Cambridge.

The Okehampton branch from Yeoford on the Barnstable line.

 

[yorksrob]

Woodhead (but he did propose closure of the Hope Valley line).

 

[341o2]

Oxford - Bletchley - Cambridge.

The Okehampton branch from Yeoford on the Barnstable line.

Passenger services, yes, Meldon quarry still served by rail, and at the other end, Plymouth - Bere Alston. Section closed because of costs involved maintaining Meldon viaduct

Also Barnstaple - Ilfracombe 1970
Barnstaple - Meeth 1981 (or as it 1983?)
Dorchester - Bridport 1976

We should be thankful Serpell was never implemented or this thread would read like a dictionary!

 

[gingerheid]

Am I right in thinking that the proposal to close the Corstorphine branch didn't originate from Beeching?

 

[Welshman]

Another famous [imfamous?] example is Blackpool Central, along with the line to Blackpool South.

Beeching intended Blackpool North to close, but Blackpool Town Council, with an eye to possible lucrative land use in the centre of the resort, reversed the plan.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Lincoln to Grantham via Honington.

 

[yorksrob]

Folkestone Junction to Folkestone Harbour
Dover Town/Harbour to Dover Western Docks.
Elmers End to Addiscombe.

 

[Dr Hoo]

(Manchester)-Chinley-Bakewell-Matlock-(Derby)

Only the smaller wayside stations and local services were listed for closure.

 

[Bishopstone]

Kings Lynn to Wymondham via Dereham
Wareham-Swanage, if I recall correctly

 

[High Dyke]

Lincoln to Grantham via Honington.

Indeed! Shameful... That said it reprieved the Midland Railway route from Nottingham - Lincoln via Newark.

 

[Springs Branch]

From memory, the Bolton - Bury Knowsley St - Rochdale line was listed by Beeching in the "Retain & Develop" category.

This line did survive the Beeching era although BR did significantly run down the service. It was eventually closed when SELNEC PTE decided not to support the train service and replace it with their new Trans Lancs Express buses.

The eastern part of the line through Heywood was retained for use by the occasional coal train to Rawtenstall (and is now part of the ELR), while I understand part of the lifted trackbed at the western end was protected for eventual re-use as the Bolton branch of the 1970s Picc-Vic scheme.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Indeed! Shameful... That said it reprieved the Midland Railway route from Nottingham - Lincoln via Newark.

I'll start another thread on this, because I don't like these specific discussions to get lost in 'macro' threads.

 

[gg1]

Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level

Oxford - Bletchley - Cambridge.

Another famous [imfamous?] example is Blackpool Central, along with the line to Blackpool South.

(Manchester)-Chinley-Bakewell-Matlock-(Derby)

I'd rate these 4 in my top 10 of routes that should never have been closed (I will admit to being biased in the case of my suggestion though as I grew up within sight of the then abandoned trackbed), interesting that Beeching is blameless in all 4 cases.

 

[70014IronDuke]

(Manchester)-Chinley-Bakewell-Matlock-(Derby)

Only the smaller wayside stations and local services were listed for closure.

It's a bg shame from today's point of view - but at the time, I suspect that it was the result of falling passenger traffic/increasing costs and increasing political pressure. I think I did the line once in ordinary service, but I certainly remember doing Derby-Manchester Picc via Chesterfield after closure on the St Pancras semi-fasts (all that was left after WCML electrification) and the trains were only lightly loaded, sad to say. Class 45s + 6 or 7 Mk 1s when a 2-car Derby lightweight would suffice.

I suppose that come 1967 or so, this seemed to be an easy (and relatively painless) way of saving costly maintenance expenses.

 

[backontrack]

Cowdenbeath to Perth, which was one of the worst of the lot.

You can also add Thornton-Leven and Leuchars-St Andrews to the pile.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Paignton to Kingswear - but sold on directly to Dart Valley.

Southampton (C) to Fawley - shows how flawed the accountancy 'method' was.

Romsey to Eastleigh via Chandler's Ford - closed 1969 but then re-opened.

Alnmouth to Alnwick.

Poulton le Fylde to Fleetwood.

Johnston to Neyland - probably an oversight in report - closed soon after in June 1964.

 

[daodao]

It's a bg shame from today's point of view - but at the time, I suspect that it was the result of falling passenger traffic/increasing costs and increasing political pressure. I think I did the line once in ordinary service, but I certainly remember doing Derby-Manchester Picc via Chesterfield after closure on the St Pancras semi-fasts (all that was left after WCML electrification) and the trains were only lightly loaded, sad to say. Class 45s + 6 or 7 Mk 1s when a 2-car Derby lightweight would suffice.

I suppose that come 1967 or so, this seemed to be an easy (and relatively painless) way of saving costly maintenance expenses.

I have a fond memory as a child of my first long-distance rail journey, with a full restaurant car, and my first visit to the capital. We travelled 1st class direct from our local station (Didsbury) to St. Pancras and I remember the beautiful scenery in Monsal Dale. My 2nd and last trip on the line (and my last journey by steam traction on BR) was on a hiking trip in April 1966, but only as far as Miller's Dale.

 

[341o2]

Wareham-Swanage, if I recall correctly

you did recall correctly, how did I miss that one? 1 Jan 1972

 

[Dr Hoo]

There are quite a few significant ones not mentioned yet:

Stratford upon Avon to Cheltenham
Spalding to March
Kings Lynn to Dereham and Wymondham
March to Wisbech and Kings Lynn line
Grangemouth branch
Stirling to Alloa and Dunfermline
Yate to Mangotsfield and Bristol (not via what became Bristol Parkway)

I must admit that some of these probably wouldn't have survived a 'second pass' and there are some oddities on the famous Map No.9 in the Reshaping Report, such as keeping the Lincoln to High Marnham and Shirebrook route and Kidderminster to Bewdley.

 

[Scouseinmanc]

New Mills to Hayfield
Rose Hill Marple - Macclesfield

 

[RichmondCommu]

Haltwistle to Alston which was closed sometime in the early 1970s. I've often wondered how much of a fuss was kicked up over its closure.

 

[Calthrop]

Haltwistle to Alston which was closed sometime in the early 1970s. I've often wondered how much of a fuss was kicked up over its closure.

Closed 3 / 5 / 1976, to be precise.

 

[341o2]

Cockermouth to Penrith via Keswick
Taunton to Minehead (now the WSR)
Lambourn valley
Bodmin & Wadebridge - lines to Wenford Bridge and Wadebridge (latter freight only since Padstow closed 1967)
Honeybourne (most now G&W line)
Derby to Ashby de la Zouch
Northampton to Market Harborough
Tonbridge Wells to Eridge - part preserved
Weymouth Harbour - unlikely to see trains again
Winchester to Alton (part now Mid Hants railway)
Derwent Valley (part preserved)
Birkenhead docks

other lines which remained open for freight after passenger services withdrawn then closed

Bedford to Northampton
Cheddar valley (part ESR)
Fleetwood branch
Gobowen to Welshpool
Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead
Higham Ferrers
Wallingford branch (now preserved)
Section of Watlington branch, Chinnor to Princes Risborough - also now preserved
Manchester to Accrington - part now the ELR and another part now Metrolink
Peterborough to Northampton (now part Nene Valley)

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Derwent Valley (part preserved)

Surely the Derwent Valley was a privately owned railway and so nothing to do with Beeching.