Railways to Roads

[ejstubbs]

Not forgetting the Connel bridge although it was a shared road rail bridge when the line was still open.

 

 

Further north on the same line, the bridge over the narrows in Loch Creran was rail-only until the line closed and the bridge was re-purposed to short-cut the ~5 mile road route via Druimavuich.

 

(I believe that the Connel Bridge was a toll bridge for road vehicles until the railway closed and the bridge was dedicated solely to road traffic.)

[Edwin_m]

There seem to be dozens of roads built on disused railways but relatively few where an active railway was relocated to build a road.  I think only one is mentioned above, on the A55 (apologies to any others I've failed to notice/remember).  There is another at Welshpool where the railway was moved to build a bypass and the station building (now used for other purposes) was marooned on the other side. 

[Poggy1165]

The new 'busway' to Leigh is laid over part of the former LNWR Leigh and Tyldesley 'loop' line. OK, not quite a road, but very close. That was a very silly closure, Leigh is a big town to have no railway!

[RJS1977]

Tactlessly called Beeching Way.

 

I have come across a few housing estates on former railway alignments, goods yards, etc. that are also named after Dr Beeching.

 

There's a Beeching Way in Wallingford, despite the fact that Wallingford station closed four years before the Beeching Report.

 

There's probably a good reason for Beeching Way in East Grinstead though - Doctor Beeching lived there, hence only the line beyond EG being recommended for closure!

[russ p]

Yes, that's true about the A17 (though it actually diverges just west of the River Great Ouse, at West Lynn, rather than reaching to South Lynn - the bypass runs parallel to the site of South Lynn station).

 

In the same part of the world, much of the A149 Dersingham-Ingoldisthorpe-Snettisham bypass is built on the former Lynn-Hunstanton railway (the one that featured in the lovely Betjeman film). It's a very nice road to drive on, when it's not packed with holiday makers.

 

Paul

Isn't the A47 river bridge on the site of the M&GN bridge not as stated in a recent magazine that the railway bridge was next to the south Lynn road

[Fenman]

Isn't the A47 river bridge on the site of the M&GN bridge not as stated in a recent magazine that the railway bridge was next to the south Lynn road

The history of the bridges is actually surprisingly complex.

 

But the route of the A17, which follows the former M&GN eastwards, swerves off the track bed to a roundabout. The road then curves back (as the A47) to follow what I think is the route of the rail bridge, before curving northwards: it then runs parallel to the track where that passed through South Lynn station (you can still walk along the track bed, immediately south of the bypass).

 

Paul

[russ p]

Thanks,that how I have figured it over the years

[great central]

Isn't the A47 river bridge on the site of the M&GN bridge not as stated in a recent magazine that the railway bridge was next to the south Lynn road

If you look across from the A47 towards the old road bridge there's a line of piers which I presume held the M&GN bridge

[edcayton]

 

 

I believe the viaduct across the Esk valley in Whitby was built for the Scarborough line and is now used by the Scarborough road

 

Don't think so. If you mean the Larpool viaduct it was only built for a single track so would not be wide enough for a road. It does carry a foot/cycle path whose name I forget.

 

Ed

[Kris]

The road on the East Warfe at Hayle mostly follows the route of the branch on the warfe.

[Fenman]

If you look across from the A47 towards the old road bridge there's a line of piers which I presume held the M&GN bridge

Didn't they hold the old Cut Bridges (never understood why that name was a plural)?

 

Paul

[edcayton]

In Newquay part of the line from the station to the harbour is under a road, some is under the new bus station which used to be a road and some is a footpath.

 

Ed

[stewartingram]

In Newquay part of the line from the station to the harbour is under a road, some is under the new bus station which used to be a road and some is a footpath.

 

Ed

 

The M55 into Blackpool uses former trackbed as it approaches the town, then morphs into the now main entrance via the viaduct, all part of the "direct" line from Kick 'em & Wash 'em. As it descends off the viaduct the sad remains on Blackpool South are still extant (single track & platform) as the line.​road continues to the site of Blackpool Central.

 

Stewart

[big jim]

the dolgellau to bala road (A494) now goes onto the old llangollen to morfa mawddach trackbed at drws-y-nant for a short section, the place it by-passes used to have the longest standing 'temporary traffic lights' in the country

[Swindon 123]

The bypass around Newent in Gloucestershire, part of the B4215 is built on the trackbed of the Gloucester-Ledbury branch, which is an irony as I think that part of the branch, in fact quite a lot of the branch, was built on the Gloucester-Hereford canal. Road built over railway that was built on a canal. There is also a 1.5 mile section of the Leek and Manifold Railway, that runs past Wetton Mill that has been converted to a minor road (weight limit 3T) which includes the section through Swainsley Tunnel. You can travel through it on Google street view if you wish.

 

Paul J.

[Enterprisingwestern]

Tactlessly called Beeching Way.

 

I have come across a few housing estates on former railway alignments, goods yards, etc. that are also named after Dr Beeching.

Alford, Lincolnshire, has an industrial estate on the old Grimsby direct line trackbed named similarly.

 

Mike.

[jamie92208]

The Leek and Manifold comment above made me remember that part of the Nidd Valley Light Railway is now a road up near Lofthouse above Pateley Bridge.

 

Jamie

[Butler Henderson]

The former Midland Railway bridge (Nottm-Melton line) over the River Trent  is a road bridge - "Lady Bay Bridge" while the GN past Nottingham Racecourse is now the A612.

 

The Ripon by-pass (A61) uses part of the Harrogate-Northallerton formation crossing the River Ure

[Enterprisingwestern]

The former Midland Railway bridge (Nottm-Melton line) over the River Trent  is a road bridge - "Lady Bay Bridge" while the GN past Nottingham Racecourse is now the A612.

 

The Ripon by-pass (A61) uses part of the Harrogate-Northallerton formation crossing the River Ure

Staying in the area, the A610 Kimberley bypass follows the old Pinxton line for much of its length, the old formation can be seen going straight ahead when the road curves away at the Langley Mill end.

 

Mike.

[Banger Blue]

Parts of the Fairford Branch:

 

The B4449 in Eynsham follows the old railway alignment and Station lane / Thorney Lees in Witney follow the trackbed.

[bike2steam]

The A120 runs on parts of the track-bed of the old Bishops Stortford to Braintree branch in the Dunmow area.

[bike2steam]

There is a road from Wimborne towards Ringwood that is partly on an old railway line, I think it was part of Castleman's Corkscrew.

 

Jamie

Yes, the A31 between the Canford Bottom roundabout, and Forest Links Road roundabout, Ferndown. 

You can also add the 'Castleman's Corkscrew' section from Broadstone to Holes Bay ( the section also used by the S&DJR).

[Zomboid]

The route through Carnaerfon (apologies to people who can spell it) is now a road, at least through the tunnel and I believe the station site.

[Talltim]

Part of the GC Chesterfield loop is now the A61/Chesterfield bypass. Comparing on a map I'm surprised how much the A617 diverges from the route of the railway

[62613]

The new 'busway' to Leigh is laid over part of the former LNWR Leigh and Tyldesley 'loop' line. OK, not quite a road, but very close. That was a very silly closure, Leigh is a big town to have no railway!

Doesn't Atherleigh Way run on the line of the Leigh and Kenyon Railway at its southern end?