What secrets lie within our stations?

[MidnightFlyer]

Reading the 1960s Manchester Piccadilly thread and mention of the old barbers under the current concourse got me thinking about just how much there must be hidden in our stations from construction and rebuilding over the decades. Whilst I assume most places are cleared out before closure, I'm certain there must be abandoned offices, subways etc untouched for years on our network, presumably just sealed up and left. Does anybody have any more knowledge or experiences of any? The old staff pub under Euston would be one for a start.

Cheers

 

[Phil6219]

Well this link goes to the 28DL website which is full of Urban Exploration stuff, including parts of Manchester Victoria and the infamous front end of a Pacer. My interest however lies with those BR cases...

28DL Website Link

Personally I'd love to believe that in the wall behind platform 6 the rest of the proper Man Vic is still there... No chance of that, or the hope that the old tunnels are still there which used to lead to the platforms.

Phil

 

[Eng274]

An old coal bunker under the main building at Edinburgh Waverley is a stock store room for one of the retail outlets, complete with a disused chute (presumably covered up now) leading from platform 19/1.

 

[transmanche]

Surely one of the finest must be Newcastle's Centurion bar. A former first class lounge abandoned for decades and eventually brought back into use.

 

[Mugby]

I believe that Longton station on the Derby - Stoke line used to have a booking office under the viaduct which carries the tracks and when it was taken out of use it was boarded up and remains so to this day.

 

[Chrisgr31]

How about all the arches under London Bride Station that will soon be the new station?

 

[a1a.a1a]

I used to work at Shanklin ticket office where the old railwayman I took over from claimed the former subway was infilled with loads of old signage and aincent railway goodies... I never did get my shovel out. LOL

 

[district]

I have visited the undercroft of Manchester Victoria station and seen the pacer cab. There are numerous offices which have been left how they were, with a lot of British Rail stationery and paperwork.

 

[sarahj]

There is a shooting gallery under brighton station, and the old toilets.

 

[RPM]

Always wondered how much of the Great Charles Street entrance & booking office remains behind the cemented-up arches at Birmingham Snow Hill.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpmarks/5218871879/

 

[tsr]

There is a former WWII bunker behind Redhill Station. It gets flooded occasionally. I don't think most of the local TOC staff know about it, let alone passengers! Until I posted this...

Oh, and also, there's the old mail facilities.

 

[gordonthemoron]

what happened to the old subway and toilets at Leeds City?

 

[Welshman]

There used to be a large area for the storage of beer barrels from Burton-on-Trent - enough to quench the thirst of many Londoners - in the undercroft of St Pancras station.

Can't think what's there now.

 

[Buttsy]

I still wonder if the old subway at Oxford station still has the silver artex-y wall covering even though it's been sealed off since the station was rebuilt and the footbridge installed (1993?)

 

[61653 HTAFC]

what happened to the old subway and toilets at Leeds City?

I did hear that they are at least partially still in situ, though I imagine there was some work to prevent any nasty accidents happening with the plumbing!

 

[gordonthemoron]

any idea where the old tunnel at Leighton Buzzard was?

 

[TukayAway]

any idea where the old tunnel at Leighton Buzzard was?

I didn't think there was one? Nothing on the branch to Dunstable, the main line had two single track bores either side of the main one when it was widened. I've never heard of it before.

 

[delt1c]

When I commuted from Waltham Cross to Liverpool st until 2010 you could see what appeared to be the remains of an entrance to an air raid shelter to the east of the up platform
Dont know if it survived the refurbishment
Here in Malta there are quite a few artifacts of the old Malta railway

 

[AlexS]

Certainly within my station (which is notoriously lacking in building space at platform level) has massive non public areas. The old parcels office basement is both huge, and has old 1940s posters on the walls, with a 1938 timetable also present - presumably it was taken out of public use some time around WW2. There's also various other hidden bits of the place. I like to go and have a wander around occasionally when I've got nothing else on. Have to take a torch though as the lighting is generally present but deceased!

There's also definitely one, and possibly another if it's still extant, disused subways under the tracks - I've opened one up for an inspection, I'm not sure if the other is still accessible/hasn't been filled in.

 

[pinguini]

This is an interesting one at Great Malvern station, I want to explore in it each time I go

Search 'Great Malvern the worm'

 

[Cherry_Picker]

It's not really a secret, but there is a nightclub underneath Snow Hill station and I'd wager most people who use the station have no idea it is there.

 

[theblackwatch]

It might be worth people having a look at the thread entitled 'Station Secrets' back from 2011 - http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54916

 

[Mugby]

It's not really a secret, but there is a nightclub underneath Snow Hill station and I'd wager most people who use the station have no idea it is there.

I do, I've had many a good night in there!

 

[edwin_m]

There's some stuff somewhere on the Web about all the warehouses around Farringdon which had sidings in their basements, many of which still exist, and how with a bit a forethought they could have been made into a far better station for Thameslink.

 

[RJ]

Richmond has, or recently had a series of original BR era railway advertisements on display.

 

[Muzer]

Richmond has, or recently had a series of original BR era railway advertisements on display.

Still has - I've heard from a friend that they discovered them when removing some modern poster frames. They've now framed up the ones there, as well as added a couple more obvious reproductions to make it look more even, so it looks like they're there to stay

They're down the steps onto platform 1, IIRC (I've only been there twice, I might be confusing my platform numbers).

 

[scarby]

While it's not sealed up, the old booking hall (used for some kind of industrial storage) and stairs up to the platform survive at Spa Road and Bermondsey, closed in 1925.

You can see bits of very badly-degraded platform on trains heading out of London Bridge towards Deptford.

 

[The Planner]

Have always wondered what is in the building on the central platform at Rugby (not ground floor, up above)

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The old subways at Huyton (and Roby?) will be dug out and reinstated for the 4-tracking project.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I didn't think there was one? Nothing on the branch to Dunstable, the main line had two single track bores either side of the main one when it was widened. I've never heard of it before.

I meant under the station to allow access to platforms 2 & 3. It was replaced by the footbridge