Preserved stations - which ones feel most "real"?

[Nearholmer]

Not only that, but I'd be applying to be Station Master!

 

I do think that there is a place for a fully representative preserved station and goods Yard on a preserved rail, and I think that might be what is intended for Kingscote. The passenger side of things, naturally, gets all the attention, but it wasn't all that the real thing was about.

 

Imagine being able to run and shunt a mixed train? I've got a feeling that would appeal enough to many to allow a premium fare to be charged - might be "an earner" on otherwise quiet days.

 

Kevin

[Mallard60022]

Need to confess that I 'worked' at Kingscote at the end of the 90s. Just basic Porter Duties you understand, under the careful eye of a lovely chap that was SM on Saturdays and some school holiday days. Sadly I have forgotten his name. I really loved that as there was no real public car access to this Station and it was the 'end of the line' at this time. Very special times even when it was heaving with folk during the summer and on 'Giants of Steam' days. In fact it was the interaction with the people/passengers that I really enjoyed. I also did a few working days down at Ropley, mainly just clearing up on gala days and mid week when less Volunteers tended to be available during the school hols. I was able to ride on some trains whilst helping clear up stuff left on tables etc.

Happy days that I miss, especially if I visit a heriatge line and see other folk enjoying their roles.

P 

[tractionman]

My favourite 'get away from it all, quiet spot' used to be Highley on the SVR - before they spoilt it with the additions they built there !!

 

Mine was always Arley when I lived in brum and had the chance to drive over for a few hours to watch the trains go by, aren't we fortunate in having so many lovely well-maintained preserved stations to choose from and enjoy, long may this continue. Hats off to all the volunteers over the years who've made it all happen.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[F-UnitMad]

 

Nowhere seems to capture the days when the signalman tended the flowerbeds between trains and the local coal merchant chatted with customers ordering coal, or the local delivery driver picked up various items brought in by the previous service. The pick-up goods does not spend 45 minutes shunting the yard, with the wonderful clanking of buffers and squealing of wheels on tight curvature turnouts; or the possibility of a invite onto the footplate, if the station master is not looking.

Or the alternative - and probably more realistic - alternative...

The Coal Merchant giving the Railway grief because his wagons of coal haven't arrived yet. The Motor Driver freezing in his unheated lorry cab during the winter. The Station toilets freezing up in the same winter. The Pick-up Goods running late as usual. The Guard of said Goods distracting the Yard staff by cooking his breakfast on his Brake Van stove while they unload in the shed. The Station Cat setting out a row of dead rats she caught this morning for inspection in the Gaffer's Office. 

 

All tales from a wonderful old book "Behind The Lines", long out of print unfortunately.

[Anglian]

Although not old enough to remember steam the railway that took me to school was still in essence operated in the traditional manner with signals pulled off from the box in the middle of the station. The yard was shunted on Saturday mornings etc. Interesting parcels were still dropped off out of the guard's van. The line to the south traversed an embankment in open relatively flat countryside and it appeared that the pheasants were a bit blind. From time to time there would be a word with the signalman. Our DMU would be halted at the appropriate signal and the guard would nip off the train to pick up the deceased pheasants!

 

Sorry, back to preserved lines… Horsed Keynes is the one station that gives me a sense of what a country junction station may have been like between the wars but also, I think, conveys the character of a suburban station at night. It's been a wonderful place to spend time. I'd love to go in the signal box but so far that invite alludes me. I've operated the north box at Bewdley in a busy period, of course under close supervision. That was a wonderful experience and really got me interested in signalling which in turn has fundamentally changed how I'd want to operate my ideal model railway.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Anglian

[Will J]

The tricky thing with preserved stations feeling 100% real is the tricky moment when you look at a photograph of the site from 50 or 100 years ago. One thing you'll notice is that the station today will tend to be enveloped in a cosy looking coat of mature trees...

 

....whereas 'back in the day' the station will tend to have a much more sparse surrounding, foliage wise.

 

If you look at a very early photograph when the station itself was still fairly new, it tends to look a bit like an Edwardian motorway service station. Neatly tended grass verges, sapling trees etc... it can look incredibly different.

 

Oddly, looking at those 'Then and Now' books that often accompany preserved lines, you could be forgiven for thinking we are living in an age of massive re-forestation!

 

As you can see I have been thinking about this quite a bit as part of my N Gauge Arley project: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122171-svr-in-n-arley-on-a-kitchen-table/

Edited May 13, 2017 by Will J

[Will J]

Actually that last post from me sounds a bit grumpy... it isn't meant to sound like a complaint!

 

The odd thing is that with the passage of time stations tend to 'blend' pleasantly with their surroundings, a wholly positive and pleasing thing. The trouble is that when these sites were local transport hubs with that working goods yard, they probably looked more abrupt... more of a blot on the landscape. This, bizarrely, would be the 'proper' way to present them.

 

PS, while I love the whole range of SVR stations, I might 'vote' for Bewdley, a rare and well preserved country junction, which if you think about it is a fairly rare breed.

[melmerby]

If you look at a very early photograph when the station itself was still fairly new, it tends to look a bit like an Edwardian motorway service station. Neatly tended grass verges, sapling trees etc... it can look incredibly different.

 

 

There is a photograph in RH Clark's book on GWR stations (Vol 1) of Blagdon Station in 1901 when it had just been completed but was now open.

It is bleak to the extent of being austere. There are few trees and as it is winter there are no leaves, the graded earthworks haven't yet greened over, the ballast is uniform etc etc.

Looks like a part-finished model.

 

Keith

Edited May 14, 2017 by melmerby

[Will J]

Perhaps the most extreme re-greening of a station surround must be Tan Y Bwlch on the Ffestiniog, compare:

 

https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Tan_y_Bwlch#/media/File:Tyb4.jpg

 

https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Tan_y_Bwlch#/media/File:Tyb1870s.jpg

 

With:

 

https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Tan_y_Bwlch#/media/File:DLG_TYB_14.jpg

 

the early photos look positively lunar, go there today and the station nestles in what feels, on the right day, a bit like a Welsh rainforest...! Like comparing chalky chalk with the cheesiest cheese, but I have to say I love the way it has evolved...

[County of Yorkshire]

Unspoiled Western Wayside Station, with enamel signs, a retired toplight in the bay platform, and a barrow-walk next to the tea hut: Hampton Loade, SVR

 

Glorious Isolation: Levisham, NYMR

 

Provincial station in the heart of a Regency market town on the shoulder of the Dee: Llangollen, Llangollen Railway (just don't look East!)

 

Picture Postcard Station nestled in a dell: Goathland, NYMR

 

Gloomy though atmospheric suburbia: Keighley, KWVR

 

It's 1938 and you're about to Race to the West aboard a GWR dining train from this Town station; Kidderminster, SVR (I know it's ersatz, but what a splendid job they've done!)

 

Redolent of the run-down late 1960's and the twilight of steam, with the Cairngorms over yonder: Boat of Garten, Strathspey Railway 

 

Forecasted to delight (watch this space!): Broadway, GWSR

 

 

Honorable mentions: Berwyn, Carrog, Pickering, Bewdley, Arley, Bury Bolton Street, Oakworth, Loughborough Central, Rothley, Weybourne, Cheltenham Racecourse (buy your Edmondson from the original wooden booking hall at street level, and stroll down the path to the platform in the cutting - just don't look at the signal box!) 

 

CoY

Edited May 14, 2017 by County of Yorkshire

[bingley hall]

Horsed Keynes on a winter evening looking across to platform one from platform five can be very evocative especially when you can hear a locomotive working up towards the station. I have to say that I often feel a bit sad about the necessary development – I'm not convinced it's always done that well but that has to be down to cost of course.

 

I want the heritage railways to have hidden storage sidings!

 

The only real problem is the non heritage gricers on the platforms.

 

 

[bingley hall]

Mine was always Arley when I lived in brum and had the chance to drive over for a few hours to watch the trains go by, aren't we fortunate in having so many lovely well-maintained preserved stations to choose from and enjoy, long may this continue. Hats off to all the volunteers over the years who've made it all happen.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

Arley in 2006 and 2015

 

 

 

 

[Andy Kirkham]

I guess it's a bit churlish to complain about this, but the perfection of the illusion is often spoilt by a station being restored to a pre-nationalisation condition while the trains that stop there are mostly BR-era. Sometimes I think that restorers have been a bit over-enthusiastic with the old enamel adverts, using any old ones they can find rather than those which were typically used on stations - I should think the most realistic effect would be to confine them to VIROL, Epps Cocoa and Petter Oil Engines.

 

I suppose this is just my personal taste, but I never find the authentic GWR paint scheme of light-and-dark stone terribly attractive - they just look like two arbitrarily chosen shades of undercoat, whereas brown-and-cream looks absolutely right.

 

And how many decades will have to pass before somebody thinks it proper to restore a station to 1970s state. (See a Friend this Weekend, Golden Rail, etc. And boarded-up windows)?

Edited May 15, 2017 by Andy Kirkham

[devondynosoar118]

And how many decades will have to pass before somebody thinks it proper to restore a station to 1970s state. (See a Friend this Weekend, Golden Rail, etc. And boarded-up windows)?

I have worked/visited preserved stations where demand and aged facilities have meant the toilets were much more "authentic" than we would like, not sure if that counts?

Edited May 15, 2017 by devondynosoar118

[Fenman]

...

And how many decades will have to pass before somebody thinks it proper to restore a station to 1970s state. (See a Friend this Weekend, Golden Rail, etc. And boarded-up windows)?

 

A bit later than that, but Downham Market has just been "restored" to its pristine Network SouthEast state. Very slick it looks, too. Though NSE always felt a bit vulgar for my taste.

 

Paul

[New Haven Neil]

One point not mentioned is that the KWVR minor stations are gas-lit.  As they run Sundays all year around, the last train can be incredibly atmospheric in the gathering gloom.

 

Oh, as in the OP, the IoM isn't preserved - most of the stations aren't that great, TBH.  The MER is better in that most on line stations are no more than open fronted huts, which in general are well cared for despite being Govt (IoM version) owned. In fact, although it hurts to say it, as a 'steam man' the MER is a much nicer ride....

 

Of course Lhen Coan at Groudle Glen is the best station on Fraggle Rock, (bias declared as a driver there!) but again we have sheds that weren't there originally.

 

 

[Will J]

Good point made Neil. My favourite preserved stations fit into either of these two categories... those that have been restored to match a snapshot in time, and those that have evolved into something new. Maybe the latter are equally 'real' just in a different way. I also have a lot of time for the vast majority of stations that are caught awkwardly between the two!

 

Ps I'd love to visit the Groudle Glen some day, looks fantastic!

[F-UnitMad]

Heck, let's extend this to those "Living" Museums like Beamish & the Black Country Museum...

I find them most unconvincing at depicting life 100 years ago, as the streets aren't caked with horse manure, there's no smog despite the smell of coal, nowhere's over-run by rats, & crucially the children aren't dying from TB or dyptheria....

[devondynosoar118]

I am also a fan of the SDR, so Staverton has to be included, especially with some of the night time runs in the winter, this shot by Steve Ash is wonderful.

 

Edited May 15, 2017 by devondynosoar118

[Joseph_Pestell]

All of the major centres are compromised by having so much of the wrong type of rolling stock cluttering up what would have been a generous goods yard with a few wagons in it.

 

So my vote has to go to one of the lesser stations such as Hampton Loade or Kingscote.

 

Interesting to see a vote above for Harman's Cross, an entirely new station. I rather like the equally new (fake) Kidderminster.

[Nearholmer]

Another one has just struck me: Chinnor. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/941445

 

This is largely a very faithful reconstruction, but very good, and where the railway scores is that it has a "fiddle Yard", beyond Chinnor, up towards the old cement works, so the station isn't affected by "works in progress". The car park is right opposite the platform, on the other side of the single track, and was a bit intrusive, but it is beginning to "grow in" now.

 

Kevin

Edited May 15, 2017 by Nearholmer

[Northroader]

 

Oh, as in the OP, the IoM isn't preserved - most of the stations aren't that great, TBH. " quote.

 

Haven't been there for yonks, but I thought Santon was a very pleasant little station.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Northroader

[New Haven Neil]

 

Oh, as in the OP, the IoM isn't preserved - most of the stations aren't that great, TBH. " quote.

 

Haven't been there for yonks, but I thought Santon was a very pleasant little station.

 

Not that impressed with Santon really!  I haven't seen Port Erin since they started altering it as the road in front has been closed for months and months.  Colby Level and Ballabeg Halt always looked quite twee at times.

[New Haven Neil]

Good point made Neil. My favourite preserved stations fit into either of these two categories... those that have been restored to match a snapshot in time, and those that have evolved into something new. Maybe the latter are equally 'real' just in a different way. I also have a lot of time for the vast majority of stations that are caught awkwardly between the two!

 

Ps I'd love to visit the Groudle Glen some day, looks fantastic!

 

The GGR is a funny little railway, bursting with its own character.  In its short length the scenery changes from the lush glen into dramatic cliffs, and it's a 1 in 33 gradient to get up there!

 

 

 

Laxey MER station looking atmospheric

 

[rovex]

I guess it's a bit churlish to complain about this, but the perfection of the illusion is often spoilt by a station being restored to a pre-nationalisation condition while the trains that stop there are mostly BR-era. Sometimes I think that restorers have been a bit over-enthusiastic with the old enamel adverts, using any old ones they can find rather than those which were typically used on stations - I should think the most realistic effect would be to confine them to VIROL, Epps Cocoa and Petter Oil Engines.

 

I suppose this is just my personal taste, but I never find the authentic GWR paint scheme of light-and-dark stone terribly attractive - they just look like two arbitrarily chosen shades of undercoat, whereas brown-and-cream looks absolutely right.

 

And how many decades will have to pass before somebody thinks it proper to restore a station to 1970s state. (See a Friend this Weekend, Golden Rail, etc. And boarded-up windows)?

 

My goodness you'll be wanting one that's all overgrown, has a derelict vandalized building and a bus shelter next, oh yes and none of the trains actually stop