Halts in all their glory

[Nearholmer]

That looks an inviting and cosy sort of spot.

[Michael Hodgson]

 

Who lit the oil lamp - guard of the last train before dusk?

Who cleaned, filled and trimmed it  - itinerant lampman or porter?

[Boris]

7 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

Who lit the oil lamp - guard of the last train before dusk?

Who cleaned, filled and trimmed it  - itinerant lampman or porter?

From memory, certainly in North Eastern areas it was the responsibility of the next station in the Up direction.  The lamp cases are empty which may mean that they have been prepared and lit and placed on the first suitable train for a member of staff to put in the lamps, or they may have been removed because nobody bothered?  It's probably in a dusty sectional appendix somewhere.

[Nearholmer]

That may be what passes for summer in those parts, so ‘daylight’, if not actually very light, for the entire timetable.

[Zomboid]

I've got a book somewhere which says that Churn halt on the DNS was only served in daylight hours. It may week have been 'lit' initially before that became too much like effort for the (presumably) next to no passengers that used it.

[Northroader]

 

[Nearholmer]

I'm confused by Churn. In this photo, it appears to have a fairly respectable set of buildings, neat fencing etc. https://www.railwaystationphotographs.co.uk/churn-railway-station-photo-upton--blewbury---compton-didcot-to-newbury-10-7043-p.asp  

 

But, later pictures show a very, bare place, with a simple shelter that is either wood or brick, hard to tell.

 

When and how did it fall from grace? And did the siding get turned into a loop, amking it a rare island platform halt?

 

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Here’s another modern one, High Rocks on the Spa Valley line, near Tunbridge Wells.

© Copyright N Chadwick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

It replaces an earlier version, on a slightly different site, which probably wasn’t DDA compliant.

 

 

I haven’t visited the rocks that it is named after since the 1970s, when they were almost completely forgotten, and the Victorian tea gardens and suspension bridges had long since rotted away, but I think vegetation has now been cleared and vistas restored.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Nearholmer

[eastglosmog]

Tackley on the Oxford - Banbury line.  The rather bodged looking bridge made of scaffold poles is a recent addition by Network Rail so they could close the level crossing across the bridleway just south of the halt.  The station is no longer remotely DDA compliant as the crossing was the only way wheelchair users could cross from one platform to the other.  Horse riders are not to happy, either.

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by eastglosmog
Restore photos

[br2975]

Alberta Place - between Penarth and Cadoxton; formerly the Taff Vale Railway.

[Gareth-Ingram]

I thought I’d found this old photo of the Weston-Under-Penyard halt on this forum but a search turned up nothing like it

[Gareth-Ingram]

My dad lives in Weston, after I showed him this photo he made a quick watercolour of it!

[Andy Kirkham]

On 17/08/2021 at 17:31, Nearholmer said:

I'm confused by Churn. In this photo, it appears to have a fairly respectable set of buildings, neat fencing etc. https://www.railwaystationphotographs.co.uk/churn-railway-station-photo-upton--blewbury---compton-didcot-to-newbury-10-7043-p.asp  

 

But, later pictures show a very, bare place, with a simple shelter that is either wood or brick, hard to tell.

 

When and how did it fall from grace? And did the siding get turned into a loop, amking it a rare island platform halt?

 

 

 

Perhaps it was when the line was doubled during WW2.

 

[Northroader]

The work in WW2 was extending the passing loops, with resignalling as needed, rather than doubling. Churn wasn’t used as a passing place, there was just a siding for the military traffic.

 

edit: whoops! See next post, stay in after school, 200 lines: “ North of Newbury was doubled in WW2”

Edited August 24, 2021 by Northroader

[Mike_Walker]

The line was doubled through Churn and the halt became an island platform with a simple shelter seen here in the distance.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Mike_Walker

[Nearholmer]

Ta, all makes sense now.

[Zomboid]

Strange how neither track is straight through the station, but both turn left to turn right.

[johnlambert]

On 17/08/2021 at 20:35, Nearholmer said:

Here’s another modern one, High Rocks on the Spa Valley line, near Tunbridge Wells.

© Copyright N Chadwick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

It replaces an earlier version, on a slightly different site, which probably wasn’t DDA compliant.

 

 

I haven’t visited the rocks that it is named after since the 1970s, when they were almost completely forgotten, and the Victorian tea gardens and suspension bridges had long since rotted away, but I think vegetation has now been cleared and vistas restored.

 

 

I went there with my family a couple of years ago, there's a very nice pub/restaurant and the rocks themselves are a nice place to explore.

[Ben B]

 

Here's an interesting halt I just had to nip back to photograph after a ride on the line- very much a 'light railway' atmosphere.  Beach Halt on the Fairbourne; a faded shed, a nameboard, and the remains of some concrete platform edging beside the unfenced track.  Really characterful stuff.

 

 

It's out of use for Covid reasons at the moment, like the other (equally simple) halts on the line, though at least the trains are busy.

[Andy Kirkham]

From Ray Viney

 

 

 

[montyburns56]

Llanaber Halt by trainsandtravel 1965

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

2 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Llanaber Halt by trainsandtravel 1965

We used to go camping there back then

[Nearholmer]

8 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

From Ray Viney

The second of those would do well in a railway trivia quiz.

 

Which halt had no vowels in its name?

 

(I’ve been told off for making jokes about the Welsh language before, so I will add that I understand the ‘w’ to create a vowel sound.)

 

Were there any others?

[Nearholmer]

I just stumbled upon this real oddity, which Wikipedia says has the shortest platform in Britain. It says the same about Berney Arms, so there is clearly rivalry over this point. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauly_railway_station

 

PS: we’ve had this one before though - I just recognised the wooden miniature train/seat/flower-planter/conversation-piece thingy.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Michael Hodgson]

30 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

The second of those would do well in a railway trivia quiz.

 

Which halt had no vowels in its name?

 

(I’ve been told off for making jokes about the Welsh language before, so I will add that I understand the ‘w’ to create a vowel sound.)

 

Were there any others?

I think the two Y's also count as vowels in Welsh