Halts in all their glory

[Davexoc]

One stop on, Metheringham.

 

60052 picks up 153366 on a Sunday special working. The unit had a siezed final drive/axle and was being skated from the siding it had limped into some weeks earlier. No service on a Sunday normally at the time.

 

Dave

[big jim]

a rarely photographed halt, longsight staff halt, i actually picked someone up from it a couple of weeks back

 

 

one not mentioned yet is penhelig n the cambrian, a lovely little station

[Hesperus]

I have started to find myself with an hour spare in Stottesdon on a Sunday morning.  So being as the tiny Shropshire village possesses a Station road I set off with the better half and dog to find the remains of this CM&DPLR relic at the weekend.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't find any evidence of the permanent way deviating from a single line and although the road was named Station Road the line did famously terminate at a halt (Ditton Priors) and I can't find any photos of Stottesdon station or halt online.

[Nearholmer]

Hesperus

 

Stottesden station/halt looked almost exactly like Burwarton. https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/bsa-auctions/catalogue-id-srbs10011/lot-d557c009-dad2-418b-bbdf-a5db00bc07c4

 

Another very halt-like terminus, besides Ditton Priors, was Dyserth, which can hardly be said to have had a platform at all. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/d/dyserth/

 

And, another Hon Mention, if I may, for another personal favourite: Castle Caereinion. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3844953

 

Kevin

Edited May 17, 2017 by Nearholmer

[phil_sutters]

Has anyone mentioned Shoscombe and Single Hill?

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/99644-shoscombe-single-hill-the-forgotten-station/

[PatB]

I must say I really like Teesside Airport. I'm particularly taken by the single streetlamp standing sentinel in the middle of that windswept bus turning circle. I wonder if it still gets lit. The whole thing is like a scene from some surrealist dystopian French film, or a variant on J G Ballard's Concrete Island; an isolated little world, with civilisation visible in the distance but beyond practical reach .

[chrisf]

Let us not forget Drayton Green, Castle Bar Park and South Greenford.  All were halts in my young days.  Apologies for not being able to illustrate them.

 

Chris

[Oldddudders]

High Rocks Halt, between Tunbridge Wells West and Groombridge, closed in the '50s. The line soldiered on until July 1985 when some oaf (me, on instruction from HMG, natch) closed it. Today the Spa Valley Railway serves High Rocks, and the adjoining hostelry.

[rockershovel]

An honourable mention for somewhere I encountered recently, Hubbert's Bridge (between Boston and Sleaford)

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sclient=tablet-gws&client=safari&channel=mac_bm&site=&source=hp&gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TdIKq9ILgQADrADNA&q=Hubberts+Bridge+railway+station&oq=hubberts+&gs_l=tablet-gws.1.2.0i46k1j46l2j0j0i10k1.1892.4087.0.6067.9.9.0.0.0.0.164.860.5j4.9.0....0...1.1.64.tablet-gws..0.9.858...0i131k1j0i131i46k1j46i131k1.zqwp9BpYPAI#imgrc=gChIWWfAqGAG0M:

 

A rather striking location, with road, river and rail all in close proximity, a quite modern signal box, a slightly offset road junction apparently designed for maximum inconvenience and minimum visibility, a road bridge over the river incorporating those 90deg bends you get in the Fens, and generally very much "full of character".

 

It apparently serves the row of houses euphemised as "the village". There is a large pub close by, and it is also described as "handy for the golf and country club" ... certainly that isn't all that far away, but the notion of anyone dragging golf clubs around what passes for rural railway services these days, seems fanciful....

 

It also has the curious feature of a double track approach, combining to a single track exit, but no passing loop, as though the railway company simply abandoned hope upon arriving there.

Edited May 18, 2017 by rockershovel

[rockershovel]

Levisham, in the NYMR, is a "halt" in the full meaning of the term.

[BG John]

Has anyone mentioned Shoscombe and Single Hill?

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/99644-shoscombe-single-hill-the-forgotten-station/

I would have, if I'd got round to scanning my photo of it!

[Nearholmer]

OD

 

"Soldiered on"?

 

It was a lovely bit of railway, stuck in a time warp, and it even had a few passengers, even if most of us were off duty railway staff!

 

K

[EddieB]

Let us not forget Drayton Green, Castle Bar Park and South Greenford.  All were halts in my young days.  Apologies for not being able to illustrate them.

 

Chris

Here's Drayton Green - from last month.

 

[D854_Tiger]

Does this count.

 

Birmingham Snow Hill when it was the largest unstaffed halt in the country.

 

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5038/5898509627_fde182a405_b.jpg

[great central]

An honourable mention for somewhere I encountered recently, Hubert's Bridge (between Boston and Sleaford)

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sclient=tablet-gws&client=safari&channel=mac_bm&site=&source=hp&gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TdIKq9ILgQADrADNA&q=Hubberts+Bridge+railway+station&oq=hubberts+&gs_l=tablet-gws.1.2.0i46k1j46l2j0j0i10k1.1892.4087.0.6067.9.9.0.0.0.0.164.860.5j4.9.0....0...1.1.64.tablet-gws..0.9.858...0i131k1j0i131i46k1j46i131k1.zqwp9BpYPAI#imgrc=gChIWWfAqGAG0M:

 

A rather striking location, with road, river and rail all in close proximity, a quite modern signal box, a slightly offset road junction apparently designed for maximum inconvenience and minimum visibility, a road bridge over the river incorporating those 90deg bends you get in the Fens, and generally very much "full of character".

 

It apparently serves the row of houses euphemised as "the village". There is a large pub close by, and it is also described as "handy for the golf and country club" ... certainly that isn't all that far away, but the notion of anyone dragging golf clubs around what passes for rural railway services these days, seems fanciful....

 

It also has the curious feature of a double track approach, combining to a single track exit, but no passing loop, as though the railway company simply abandoned hope upon arriving there.

Hubberts Bridge is now the end of the single line section to Boston, same on the other side out as far as Sibsey, no station there. It seemed that when 'economies' were required the thing to do was create short single line sections in an otherwise double track railway, which also had the effect of throttling the route. These sections are now a bottleneck which means it's difficult to fit many more trains in without them standing for some time awaiting clearance of the single line. The newish signal box came about i understand because the original, on the other side of the line, was in danger of falling into the river.

You could say that the passing loop is from Hubberts Bridge to Heckington, what I believe is now referred to as a dynamic loop?

Edited May 18, 2017 by great central

[Nearholmer]

Aberffrwd.

 

I think it started as a station, descended to halt status, and then, since the line was sold by BR, has climbed back to station status.

 

In the 1970s it was just plain track, watering for the locos, and a corrugated iron building housing the token/staff apparatus - it must have still been two sections, even though trains couldn't pass, because I recall the fireman disappearing into the shed to exchange tokens.

 

Breaking my own rule, the picture is "Wikipedia commons", because my ones are all faded.

 

Kevin

[highpeakman]

How about Commondale on the Whitby-Middlesborough line.

 

You have to walk over a field to get to the station from the road.

 

These two three pictures show before and after a spruce up (before and after privatisation?). The first was taken in the mid 90s and the second others in early 2000s(?).

 

 

 

Edited to add another picture showing the shelter and access.

Edited May 19, 2017 by highpeakman

[Kylestrome]

Here's my vote for the most spectacular halt in Britain.

 

Duncraig on the Kyle of Lochalsh line

 

The unique waiting room in early BR colours

 

Tight curve with continuous check rail

 

Double class 156 Sprinter in May, 1998

 

Here's the view from the platform

Edited May 18, 2017 by Kylestrome

[Oldddudders]

OD

 

"Soldiered on"?

 

It was a lovely bit of railway, stuck in a time warp, and it even had a few passengers, even if most of us were off duty railway staff!

 

K

 

Quite, hence soldiered on, as it never embraced the new world, and in my time in Control (1968-73) the staff at TWW were famous for heroic DEMU swaps when a 3H turned up that needed to go through the hole to Tonbridge! In August 1973 I spent a day with Doug Chapman, SM at TWW, and on 27th April this year I shared a couple of pints with him in Sherborne. The £ case for closure was compelling, as the track was in need of an awful lot of new sleepers, and BR Property Board had no problem making rather a lot of money selling the site at TWW, so Deb and I could shop at Sainsbury!

[chris p bacon]

How about Commondale on the Whitby-Middlesborough line.

 

You have to walk over a field to get to the station from the road.

 

These two pictures show before and after a spruce up (before and after privatisation?). The first was taken in the mid 90s and the second in early 2000s(?).

Excellent. 

 

Many moons ago I did a "Management training course" which involved some orienteering (leadership skills). The end point turned out to be here, and as it was also a time trial if you were late it was 4 or 5 hours until the next service back. Made it with 10 minutes to spare which turned out to be the projected timescale.

[Tim R-T-C]

I must say I really like Teesside Airport. I'm particularly taken by the single streetlamp standing sentinel in the middle of that windswept bus turning circle. I wonder if it still gets lit. The whole thing is like a scene from some surrealist dystopian French film, or a variant on J G Ballard's Concrete Island; an isolated little world, with civilisation visible in the distance but beyond practical reach .

 

Fittingly enough, this was just down at the other end of the access road, summed up the whole scene:

 

What is life without direction? by Timothy Young, on Flickr

[highpeakman]

A nice little halt but where?

 

I think it was Cornwall but cannot remember when or where I took it. 

 

I feel sure that someone on here can answer those questions. Please?

[Davexoc]

An honourable mention for somewhere I encountered recently, Hubbert's Bridge (between Boston and Sleaford)

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sclient=tablet-gws&client=safari&channel=mac_bm&site=&source=hp&gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TdIKq9ILgQADrADNA&q=Hubberts+Bridge+railway+station&oq=hubberts+&gs_l=tablet-gws.1.2.0i46k1j46l2j0j0i10k1.1892.4087.0.6067.9.9.0.0.0.0.164.860.5j4.9.0....0...1.1.64.tablet-gws..0.9.858...0i131k1j0i131i46k1j46i131k1.zqwp9BpYPAI#imgrc=gChIWWfAqGAG0M:

 

A rather striking location, with road, river and rail all in close proximity, a quite modern signal box, a slightly offset road junction apparently designed for maximum inconvenience and minimum visibility, a road bridge over the river incorporating those 90deg bends you get in the Fens, and generally very much "full of character".

 

It apparently serves the row of houses euphemised as "the village". There is a large pub close by, and it is also described as "handy for the golf and country club" ... certainly that isn't all that far away, but the notion of anyone dragging golf clubs around what passes for rural railway services these days, seems fanciful....

 

It also has the curious feature of a double track approach, combining to a single track exit, but no passing loop, as though the railway company simply abandoned hope upon arriving there.

Not a good photo, but a pair of 158s leaving the Hubbert's Bridge towards Boston. Taken from the car while waiting at the level crossing.

 

Dave

[eastglosmog]

A nice little halt but where?

 

I think it was Cornwall but cannot remember when or where I took it. 

 

I feel sure that someone on here can answer those questions. Please?

Pretty sure that's on the Liskeard to Looe Line, possibly St Keyne.  The double bridge is the clue - the right hand arch being over the old canal.

[LBRJ]

Pretty sure that's on the Liskeard to Looe Line, possibly St Keyne.  The double bridge is the clue - the right hand arch being over the old canal.

Definately St Keyne, taken from a Liskeard bound unit from what is the liskeard end of the unit, unless the Driver took it

Edited May 18, 2017 by LBRJ