Classic Locations

[Peter Kazmierczak]

There are many places around our railway network which could be regarded as "classic", with many photos appearing at those spots over the years. Even if you've never been there, the location seems very familiar.

Thought I'd start with the western end of Twerton Long Tunnel, on the GW line between Bath and Bristol. This is a shot from yesterday afternoon...

Edited June 26, 2021 by Peter Kazmierczak

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Dunno why two pictures have appeared... The "edit" function won't let me delete one. Sorry.

[Bomag]

I think it depends on your interests are, even though I lived in Bristol I would not know what those tunnel mouths were.

 

A list of things I would know by sight.

Tamar Bridge

Dawlish Warren

Bristol TM (worked there for a year).

Waterloo

Clapham Jct

Battle down flyover

Weymouth Harbour Railway

St P Int

Welland Viaduct

Birmingham NS (could be mistaken for Euston though)

Crewe

Barmouth Bridge

Bleanau Ffestiniog

Conway Bridge

Menai Bridge

Man P

Ribblehead  Viaduct

Dentdale + Viaducts

Lune gorge

Kings Cross

Norwich Thorpe (worked there for a year).

York

Newcastle + bridges

Royal border bridge

Waverley Station.

Forth Bridge (I've hung off it enough)

Tay Bridge (ditto).

 

None of these have changed much and have a recognisable and impressive backgrounds (which is also why bridges predominate). There are many other locations where you can get a good shot of a loco/train where its not instantly recognisable as a location. There are many fine photos of steam hauled locos being banked up Shap but I would not know exactly where, or if it was Beattock.

 

 

 

 

 

[pH]

This was a favourite location of Derek Cross:

 

https://s2.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/96/69/2966958_9b92d1a2_800x800.jpg

 

the Clyde bridge at Crawford.

 

(Apparently, there's a website showing such places: http://www.trainspots.co.uk/ . Not the easiest site to navigate, in my opinion, but seems to contain useful information.)

Edited June 27, 2021 by pH

[JN]

I've seen @Bomag has mentioned a couple, so I won't repeat... I'm also going to stick to main line locations asI just refer to locations on preserved as the line of interest sticks in my head rather than a specific 'classic' location, but if anyone wants to know I'm mostly familiar with the East Lancs Railway.

 

Settle and Carlisle line:

Settle Junc

Settle

Helwith Bridge

The climb to Ais Gill... (I don't know the precise location, but there are scores of photographs and videos like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sQobCcbx_E)

Birkett Common

Kirkby Stephen

 

West Coast Main Line (and other associated lines):

Conway Castle

Conway railway station (only on a westbound trip due to looking back towards the town's medieval walls)

River Weaver

Winwick Junction

Warrnigton (Manchester Ship Canal bridges) and the two bridges close to Arpley

Boar's Head

Coppull

Brock

Grayrigg

The climb to Shap (Shap Wells, near the Northbound Tebay services on the M6 - my Mum, sometimes with my Nana, always stopped here for lunch when she took me to University)...

 

Some other places:

Frodsham (at the Manchester Ship Canal bridges)

The junction east of Disley, Chinley, The Hope Valley (pretty much anywhere, but around Edale and Hope especially - The Times used one of my photos of a Pacer passing Edale signal box and some French website, I think, used a photograph of mine from somewhere around Chinley). There's a good location from the road if the steam engine is climbing out of the Hope Valley, when the line climbs North and West, away from Sheffield) and Peak Forrest (and the freight only line when it curves in Chapel-en-le-Frith to go beneath Chapel-en-le-Frith station). Also, various places, like the viaducts in Buxton town centre, on the Hazel Grove to Buxton line.

The reverse curves between Clitheroe and Blackburn, just after a viaduct when the train is going south (I can't remember the precise name of the place, but I can find out).

 

My Godfather records trains and he's got an amusing clip when all you can hear is the clicking of people's cameras (yes, even the sound of the steam engine is drowned out!). I can't remember where that was, but again I can find out.

 

All of the spots above are places I've gone to with my Dad photographing steam - it could be that there were lots of photographers were chasing the same train rather than these being especially 'classic' locations. There have been other places, but I can't remember them all. I'll let you know if when I remember them. There are also places I can describe better than I can name (like a couple of places on Anglesey)...

 

A place I can recommend is Abingdon (my Mum, again sometimes with my Nana, also stopped here for an afternoon tea break when she took me to University)...

[Rivercider]

A few places that appear in  many of my book collection, and where I have also taken photos include:-

 

Paddington, either at the blocks or the west end.

Bristol Temple Meads, either end of the train shed, or viewed from Bath Road bridge

Bath Road, from BTM platform 12.

Exeter St Davids, west end of platforms 1/3.

Dawlish, various locations along the sea wall towards Dawlish Warren.

Teignmouth, leading onto the sea wall. 

 

cheers

[Chris M]

25 minutes ago, Rivercider said:

A few places that appear in  many of my book collection, and where I have also taken photos include:-

 

Paddington, either at the blocks or the west end.

Bristol Temple Meads, either end of the train shed, or viewed from Bath Road bridge

Bath Road, from BTM platform 12.

Exeter St Davids, west end of platforms 1/3.

Dawlish, various locations along the sea wall towards Dawlish Warren.

Teignmouth, leading onto the sea wall. 

 

cheers

All on the proper railway.

[Chris M]

7 hours ago, Bomag said:

I think it depends on your interests are, even though I lived in Bristol I would not know what those tunnel mouths were.

 

A list of things I would know by sight.

Tamar Bridge

Dawlish Warren

Bristol TM (worked there for a year).

Waterloo

Clapham Jct

Battle down flyover

Weymouth Harbour Railway

St P Int

Welland Viaduct

Birmingham NS (could be mistaken for Euston though)

Crewe

Barmouth Bridge

Bleanau Ffestiniog

Conway Bridge

Menai Bridge

Man P

Ribblehead  Viaduct

Dentdale + Viaducts

Lune gorge

Kings Cross

Norwich Thorpe (worked there for a year).

York

Newcastle + bridges

Royal border bridge

Waverley Station.

Forth Bridge (I've hung off it enough)

Tay Bridge (ditto).

 

None of these have changed much and have a recognisable and impressive backgrounds (which is also why bridges predominate). There are many other locations where you can get a good shot of a loco/train where its not instantly recognisable as a location. There are many fine photos of steam hauled locos being banked up Shap but I would not know exactly where, or if it was Beattock.

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst the sea wall at Dawlish Warren hasn’t changed much the actual station has changed a fair bit since the early 1970s.  Having spent a while studying this location I could have a go at identifying  the time period of most photos.

[eastwestdivide]

Little Bedwyn beside the canal?

[Mallard60022]

Strangely perhaps I have found some really 'classic' locations in and around the South and west London Suburbs. This is, perhaps, after living for many years in a bland ECML area that is fun, but about as interesting as watching Strictly.

The complexities of some the Junctions used on the old Thameslink routes were/are fascinating and I count the surrounding infrastructure as classic but little known.

However, my favourite Classic  London Station is St Pancras. 

Classic main line routes abound, however again I like the out of the way places. Hereford to Newport. Shrewsbury to Crewe, (both ways). Swindon to Gloucester. Sheffield to Lincoln via Worksop. The Looe Branch.  Ashford to Broadstairs. There are hundreds.

Phil

Edited June 27, 2021 by Mallard60022

[owentherail]

The first bridge going from Didcot towards Reading has had many a pic taken from it. 

[Rivercider]

2 hours ago, Chris M said:

Whilst the sea wall at Dawlish Warren hasn’t changed much the actual station has changed a fair bit since the early 1970s.  Having spent a while studying this location I could have a go at identifying  the time period of most photos.

How about this then?

50030

 

or this?

47155

 

cheers

[JN]

3 minutes ago, Rivercider said:

How about this then?

 

or this?

47155

 

cheers

Its always good to see a C47!

[The Pilotman]

Having read the original post I thought this thread was going to be for our pictures taken at particular well-known locations with which many people will be familiar, but it appears to have gone off on several tangents already. Perhaps @Peter Kazmierczak could clarify what his intention for this thread was. By the way, that picture of the red steam engine is very nice but, frankly, it could have been taken anywhere. 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Western Aviator

[JN]

2 minutes ago, Western Aviator said:

Having read the original post I thought this thread was going to be for our pictures taken at particular well-known locations with which many people will be familiar, but it appears to have gone off on several tangents already. Perhaps @Peter Kazmierczak could clarify what his intention for this thread was. By the way, that picture of the red steam engine is very nice but, frankly, it could have been taken anywhere. 

Definitions are always good as then we know where we stand, but I have tried to be reasonable (by explaining my reasoning and admitting that I'm basing this on experience rather than knowledge). There are lots of others I could have mentioned, like Barmouth Estuary on the Cambrian Coast line, but I decided to give others a chance to contribute their local knowledge and/or subject internet.

 

There are problems of a location becoming a classic - classic location because it's a good photo/video (perhaps where the engine is working, perhaps where there is reference to a general or railway past, perhaps a unique location, perhaps for traction type) spot or because of a widely written topic or because 'everyone' goes there. An 'old' classic might also be different to a 'modern' classic, too (say like the difference between Tallis and Elgar). Not excluding a classic in the UK and a classic somewhere else.

 

Classic might just be too narrow to give most people an opportunity to share their photos or too subjective to be meaningful.

[Kris]

I quite agree about Dawlish -> Teignmouth being a "classic" location amongst many of the other locations already mentioned. 

 

I would also nominate:

- St Ives. 

- Penzance.

- Bath, Sydney gardens.

- Dundas Aquaduct

- Kyle of Lochalsh 

- Shrewsbury with it's signal box 

[Joseph_Pestell]

As others have said, many locations would qualify for various reasons.

 

But for me, none surpass the last couple of miles from Plockton to Kyle of Lochalsh.

[Michael Hodgson]

13 hours ago, Bomag said:

A list of things I would know by sight.

...

Kings Cross

...

 

None of these have changed much and have a recognisable and impressive backgrounds (which is also why bridges predominate).

 

 

Not changed much ??  I spent 30 years commuting through Kings Cross and I get lost there now.  The Underground parts are unrecognisable, the Station throat has been remodelled, the third Gasworks Tunnel has been reinstated, Platform 11 at the Suburban station has come and gone, and so has Kings Cross Thameslink on the Widened Lines.  There is now a Platform Zero - and a Platform 9 3/4!  The signalling has moved from the PSB to York, the Loco sidings and the footbridge across the mainline station has been removed, and there's a fancy new concourse round the side. Even the "Indian Village" in front of the train shed has gone.  And I'm not going back as far as it was when steam ruled and the previous trackage and signalling or York Road Platform were there.

[Michael Hodgson]

Scout Green

Newcastle High Leve Bridge

[Davey]

My favourite location is Greenholme on the climb to Shap Summit. Even without trains it's a beautiful location :

Edited June 27, 2021 by Davey

[Mallard60022]

2 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Not changed much ??  I spent 30 years commuting through Kings Cross and I get lost there now.  The Underground parts are unrecognisable, the Station throat has been remodelled, the third Gasworks Tunnel has been reinstated, Platform 11 at the Suburban station has come and gone, and so has Kings Cross Thameslink on the Widened Lines.  There is now a Platform Zero - and a Platform 9 3/4!  The signalling has moved from the PSB to York, the Loco sidings and the footbridge across the mainline station has been removed, and there's a fancy new concourse round the side. Even the "Indian Village" in front of the train shed has gone.  And I'm not going back as far as it was when steam ruled and the previous trackage and signalling or York Road Platform were there.

When did the footbridge go?

[4630]

Hmmm, classic locations for me would include;

 

Eastleigh - during my main ‘spotting years’ during the mid-‘70s to early-‘80s when BREL Eastleigh was open and there would be a chance of seeing something unusual. Even today, although it’s not my local patch anymore, on those occasions when I’m able to call in it can still be an interesting place.

 

Clapham Junction - simply because of the sheer hustle and bustle of the place. 

 

 

York - because of the architecture of the station building and the sweep of the curving overall roof. 
 

 

Barnetby and the surrounding area - before the reduction in coal traffic - because of the then constant procession of freight coupled with, until a few years ago, the semaphores there and at Wrawby Junction. 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by 4630
To add photos to illustrate the post.

[Chris M]

7 hours ago, Rivercider said:

How about this then?

50030

 

or this?

47155

 

cheers

Top one has to be between 1978 and 1986. Both look likely to be between 1982 and 1986. The camping coaches were last changed in 1982 and I think these look like the current ones. The funfair didn’t arrive until the late 1980s and of course the signals were changed to colour lights in late 1986.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Chris M

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Mallard60022 said:

When did the footbridge go?

Went to Butterley I believe initially about 2008,  then to Ropley on the Mid Hants.

[Bomag]

4 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Not changed much ??  I spent 30 years commuting through Kings Cross and I get lost there now.  The Underground parts are unrecognisable, the Station throat has been remodelled, the third Gasworks Tunnel has been reinstated, Platform 11 at the Suburban station has come and gone, and so has Kings Cross Thameslink on the Widened Lines.  There is now a Platform Zero - and a Platform 9 3/4!  The signalling has moved from the PSB to York, the Loco sidings and the footbridge across the mainline station has been removed, and there's a fancy new concourse round the side. Even the "Indian Village" in front of the train shed has gone.  And I'm not going back as far as it was when steam ruled and the previous trackage and signalling or York Road Platform were there.

 

The track end of Kings Cross is completely recognisable even with the overhead, opening the eastern bore brings it back more to how it was in the early 1970's - also photos taken from the platform ends along the train shed are recognisably the same. There was still a footbridge last time I used KX, the deck may be new but it's at the same point its always been. I am not certain the location of the signalling centre alters how it looks and KX Thameslink is a different station.