My most exciting station is ...

[Trains4U]

I enjoyed Basingstoke very much in the 1989-91 period.

 

Not only did you get the regular 3rd rail VEPs, CIGs and 442s, but also 205s and 207s on the Reading services, occasional 1st gen DMUs, 33s, 37s, 47s, 56s, 60s and 73s on stone, oil, intermodal, and many other types of freight, 47s and HSTs on cross country services and the 47s and 50s on the west of England runs.

There always seemed to be something moving, and you never knew what would round the bend from reading or from the western approach.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Trains4U

[tractionman]

Exciting station?

 

In terms of traction action and general ambience, plus a place for a decent pint while watching the passing trains, for me it has to be York.

 

But since this is turning into a nostalgia fest I'm going to vote for Coventry, my old stomping ground for spotting in the seventies and early eighties, and a classic piece of Modern architectural design that is soon to be ruined...

 

http://www.coventry.gov.uk/stationmasterplan

 

Enjoy it while you can.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[D826]

Exeter St Davids 1976 - helped that it was combined with holidays for me. The sun always shone at Dawlish and I didn't care if it didn't.

 

Lots of goods/parcels including Siphon G's, fruit D's -6 wheel milks, clay hoods with ball clay - motor rail trains - sleeper trains - the clayliner - creosote and oil to Marsh Barton.

 

Type 4s in abundance. Westerns, 50's, 47's, 46's, 45's, other diesels including 31's 25's - 33's off the southern..08's on trips...A wide variety of bog units..lower quadrant signals.

 

Through roads- goods avoiding roads

 

My my it was quite a place.

 

 

 

Matt W

[runs as required]

From a passenger's point of view, I would go for the present Birmingham New Street. They always keep you guessing as to whether your train arrive at the planned platform or will there be scores of passengers rushing up the escalators to some other platform. Never dull.

 

Jacques Tati's visual a la gare joke in M Hulot's Holiday ?

 

Not sure the clip works so:

The opening scene of M. Hulot’s Holiday ...a group of tourists wait patiently on one platform, the loud speaker makes an entirely unintelligible announcement. Confused, the tourists move en masse to a platform on the other side of the station where a train is pulling in. But the train passes through without stopping. More garble from the loud speaker and the tourists see their train arriving at the original platform. Again they move in herd like formation back to the other side. The entire scene occupies less than a minute of screen time but Tati’s message is deft and unforgettable.

 

dh