A popular model railway meme - does it exist in real life?

[Andy Kirkham]

Visit any model railway exhibition and i think there is a high probability that you will see a layout like this: a main line through station with a couple of island platforms; it is backed by a retaining wall, atop which is a road parallel with the railway; on the far side of the the road is a row of shops. The station entrance is at street level and access to the platforms is either from a footbridge which emerges from the back of the booking office, or from a station building which extends over the tracks.

 

I wonder if there are any real-life stations that resemble this. Penzance occurs to me as a station that half matches the criteria (it is backed by a retaining wall topped by a parallel road, but with houses rather than shops on the other side of the road). Edinbugh Waverley follows this pattern on a greatly expanded scale; but a public park is interposed between the railway and the city's main shopping street which (uniquely?) has shops on only one side.

 

Are there any other locations that fit the pattern to a greater or lesser extent?

[MarkSG]

Brentwood half fits it, again with houses rather than shops along the top. The former Hanley station on the now-closed Potteries Loop Line would have been pretty close, although again on an expanded scale.

 

An urban station in a cutting backed with retaining walls isn't particularly unusual. I suspect that this particular common meme is a stylised amalgamation of all of them rather than being an accurate depiction of any single one.

[Joseph_Pestell]

There are certainly some in the London area. But probably far more common for house/shop rears to be next to the railway.

[Poor Old Bruce]

Sheffield with trams above the retaining wall.

[APOLLO]

Wigan Wallgate - one island platform though. This station is being modelled by at least two posters on this site.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/106606-wigan-wallgate/

 

 

Brit15

[edcayton]

Alexandra Palace

 

Ed

 

Tell a lie, Streetview shows it's not shops any more. There is now a training centre of some sort next to a garage on the west side of the station and the main building is on the east side.

[31A]

Farringdon Station (LT Met & Circle, & BR Widened Lines / Thameslink), with Turnmill Street along the north side of the railway line - seems to be mainly offices etc. these days but formerly included various warehouses I believe:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5216299,-0.1057958,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBa-CkCFgyVMBT1WYsMPH_w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

 

Station buildings entered from Cowcross Street which crosses the railway at the east end of the platforms.

[Worsdell forever]

North Shields fits and it runs into a tunnel!

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.0082371,-1.4486181,113m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[johndon]

Heaton, prior to the coming of the Tyne and Wear Metro was pretty close:

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/heaton/thumbs/1916map.gif

 

John

[Titan]

Witham Essex:

 

[bike2steam]

Visit any model railway exhibition and i think there is a high probability that you will see a layout like this: a main line through station with a couple of island platforms; it is backed by a retaining wall, atop which is a road parallel with the railway; on the far side of the the road is a row of shops. The station entrance is at street level and access to the platforms is either from a footbridge which emerges from the back of the booking office, or from a station building which extends over the tracks.

 

I wonder if there are any real-life stations that resemble this. Penzance occurs to me as a station that half matches the criteria (it is backed by a retaining wall topped by a parallel road, but with houses rather than shops on the other side of the road). Edinbugh Waverley follows this pattern on a greatly expanded scale; but a public park is interposed between the railway and the city's main shopping street which (uniquely?) has shops on only one side.

 

Are there any other locations that fit the pattern to a greater or lesser extent?

My last layout ( now sold) was a mixture of building ideas taken from  Walsall, and Pleck stations, among others, included is a pic of part of Walsall as it was years ago, as I remember it from my old train-spotting days.

 

[The Johnster]

Can't think of anything that completely fits the bill, and I find it a bit of a modelling cliche tbh, though it is a valid one as a fairly reasonable way of concealing a fiddle yard on a roundyroundy, building up the level behind the station to show the backdrop of shops or houses to the best advantage.

 

Some aspects of it are fairly common on real stations, though; Caerphilly comes to mind, and Bargoed on the same line (the Rhymney seems to have liked the idea of providing modellers with space behind stations for fiddle yards), and, in a very expanded form but keeping to the basic principle, Birmingham New Street.  Exeter St David's almost fits in that there is a hill behind it, as does one end of Central.   I would count Caerphilly and Bargoed as fairly busy junctions; Caerphilly once had 5 platforms, 4 of which were through ones.

 

Stations built up from street level on both sides seem to be much more common; Cardiff (Gereral and Queen Street), Bristol T.M., Didcot, Reading, Leeds City, Oxford, Leamington Spa, just off the top of my head without thinking about it.

[Dagworth]

Not island platforms but fits everything else

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.54602,0.0059144,130m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

 

Andi

[Del]

Not island platforms but fits everything else

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.54602,0.0059144,130m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

 

Andi

 

See also the next station down the line.

[wombatofludham]

(Vauxhall and) Duddeston on the Grand Junction has twin island platforms, although lacks shops opposite and the retaining wall is behind the old carriage shed.  Lea Hall on the Coventry line was built with provision for the two side platforms to become islands when the Coventry line was planned for four tracking before the odious chippy little failed Austrian artist decided to vent his frustrations on the world in 1939, and the station entrance was laid out to face more housing which got canned post war by the Green Belt.  Adderley Park on the approach to Birmingham has one island platform (although no longer with a passing loop if I recall) and one side platform plus a station building just off the bridge.

 

Of course, New Street has many island platforms and shops not just opposite but over and in it as well.

 

There are quite a few stations in the Midlands in cuttings with stations either on or just adjacent to bridges but not so many with island platforms that I recall.

[Zomboid]

Drayton Park doesn't have the shops, but it does have a football stadium on top of the retaining wall.

[Steven B]

Marsden comes close, with houses rather then shops and no formal station building. It does add a canal into the scene though!

 

Happy modelling

 

Steven B

[Jamiel]

Many London stations follow this format, some mainline, some not. In the north Preston, Wigan, Keighley.

The Great Central Railway had this sort of layout on many of its stations.

The one thing that I find differs from the format is that roads tend to cross the station at a right angle, with possibly a side road alongside the station, but often that has a buildings that back on to the tracks.

Needless to say I am modelling a station with this layout, loosely based on Hendon and Finchley Road, which were of a Midland standard design. Personally I find it interesting to model a valley station with the surroundings at a higher level, and hopefully making a back scene necessary. I also didn't want to model the more common layout of a country station with the platform, station buildings and roads all at the same level, I live near York so probably already have enough flatness around me.

Jamie

[Junctionmad]

i never thought I would see " meme" and model railway appear in the same paragraph !

[Junctionmad]

Many London stations follow this format, some mainline, some not. In the north Preston, Wigan, Keighley.

 

The Great Central Railway had this sort of layout on many of its stations.

 

The one thing that I find differs from the format is that roads tend to cross the station at a right angle, with possibly a side road alongside the station, but often that has a buildings that back on to the tracks.

 

Needless to say I am modelling a station with this layout, loosely based on Hendon and Finchley Road, which were of a Midland standard design. Personally I find it interesting to model a valley station with the surroundings at a higher level, and hopefully making a back scene necessary. I also didn't want to model the more common layout of a country station with the platform, station buildings and roads all at the same level, I live near York so probably already have enough flatness around me.

 

Jamie

on a serious note , I like to try and arrange baseboards so I have falling ground  in certain cases. my experience of railways is that they were often  slightly above the surrounding countryside in many cases 

[Signaller69]

Dundee Tay Bridge has a similar layout, with sidings/loco depot (and until the 50's I believe, another station, Dundee West) along the retaining walls rather than a road, though I suspect housing now takes up much of this space. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3608140

[great central]

Nottingham Victoria must fit fairly closely, station in a big hole dug out between two tunnels, Milton St with the station building on one side and other buildings the other side.
To the rear of the station Glasshouse St with buildings on one side only.
Two (pretty big) island platforms with a pair of bays in each end approached across a footbridge from the rear of the station building.
There was even until the 1950s another entrance at the southern end, loadsa piccies here:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=nottingham+Victoria+station&client=firefox-b-ab&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjww8vW4MfSAhVHLsAKHTugAowQ_AUICSgC&biw=1760&bih=888

 

Edit: It's even got turntables and basic loco facilities at either end

[ian@stenochs]

Elderslie on the G&SWR line between Paisley and Ayr, Four tracks, island platforms with junctions at both ends perfect model railway, just too big for modern homes. However Renfrewshire club did a fair representation in 4mm a long time ago and the Ayr club have a truncated version in 7mm just onto the exhibition circuit.

 

Ian

[westerner]

Forest Gate, Maryland, Seven Kings to name but three.

[MarkSG]

Forest Gate, Maryland, Seven Kings to name but three.

 

Maryland is almost spot on, actually. Just about the only difference is that the road with shops isn't as straight as the usual model depiction.

 

It even has the other model cliche of a road overbridge at both ends of the station, forming a natural scenic break

 

https://binged.it/2nnRxXC