The most decrepit, derelict station photo challenge

[Morello Cherry]

I see that they have recently 'invested' in Tywyn but again it gives a sense of the line.

Remembering that this is an interchange with a major tourist attraction. Nothing screams welcome to our tourist destination than a station like this.

 

 

 

They have recently upgraded the bus shelters...

 

 

 

[rogerzilla]

Swindon is pretty grim.  The newish platform 4 is ok (if uninspiring) but the main platforms 1/2/3 are awful, with a very weathered GWR canopy, a scruffy main building and the legendary "we've stopped caring", Railtrack sensory garden, which ended up as a few desiccated weeds and was eventually reserved for BTP because, well, crime.

 

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/11868464.sensory-garden-at-train-station-makes-way-for-police-base/

 

I'd also nominate Bristol Parkway because it looks as if it was built in a weekend and designed to last a year or so.  Mostly corrugated steel, and utterly hideous.

Edited April 15 by rogerzilla

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, rogerzilla said:

Swindon is pretty grim.  The newish platform 4 is ok (if uninspiring) but the main platforms 1/2/3 are awful, with a very weathered GWR canopy, a scruffy main building and the legendary "we've stopped caring", Railtrack sensory garden, which ended up as a few desiccated weeds and was eventually reserved for BTP because, well, crime.

 

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/11868464.sensory-garden-at-train-station-makes-way-for-police-base/

 

I'd also nominate Bristol Parkway because it looks as if it was built in a weekend and designed to last a year or so.  Mostly corrugated steel, and utterly hideous.

I've not been on the platforms at Swindon recently, but Bristol Parkway still looked new last time I used it.  I appreciate you don't like the architectural style, but is it actually decrepit and derelict?  If it looks like it's not designed to last long that may be deliberate; passenger volumes and expectations can change rapidly so it is more cost-effective to build something modular that can be adapted or extended easily without having to be completely demolished and rebuilt anew, with all the disruption that brings.

 

The original Bristol Parkway structures were remarkable and really did look temporary; little more than a couple of Portacabins but they lasted about 35 years!  It may well be the most successful new station British Rail ever opened.

 

Got to say, the recent entries on this thread, while still disappointing, don't come close to some of the decrepitude of the 1970s, thank goodness.

[Ben B]

2 hours ago, Morello Cherry said:

I see that they have recently 'invested' in Tywyn but again it gives a sense of the line.

Remembering that this is an interchange with a major tourist attraction. Nothing screams welcome to our tourist destination than a station like this.

 

 

 

They have recently upgraded the bus shelters...

 

 

 

 

I've had the impression since ERTMS was bought in, and the railtours mostly stopped, all emphasis was aimed at trying to keep the basic day-to-day minimal timetable running, rather than the surroundings. I'd guess there was probably hesitation to spend on the stations in case the crumbling Barmouth Viaduct led to closure. Now that's been sorted, maybe TfW will throw some more effort at the line. As a premier seaside route tapping the West Midlands it ought to be a winner.

 

...but, it's near 4 hours on a two-car tired 158 from Wolvo to Barmouth, not exactly a nice day out at the seaside if you only get a few hours there, pending delays. The new trains, not in service yet, are also just 2 car and only enough for the minimal service, with no more train paths without relaying some passing loops. NR only have a couple of compatible ERTMS locomotives, no chance of occasional loco-hauled extra capacity ad-hoc workings, they seem to barely be able to operate the one regular weekly freight on the Aberystwyth section.

 

I was told (rather bitterly) by family in the area that TfW don't seem massively fussed about cross-border travel, let alone in North or Mid Wales, so I'd personally expect it to be unlikely they'd shell out much to make it easier for Brummies to get to Towyn or Barmouth for the day... And of course, do you spend on upgrading a line which could be lost in a few decades to sea-level rise?

[Morello Cherry]

2 hours ago, Northmoor said:

 

Got to say, the recent entries on this thread, while still disappointing, don't come close to some of the decrepitude of the 1970s, thank goodness.

 

These photos are after TFW has spruced them up.

 

Unfortunately I have been unable to find any photos of Blaenau Ffestiniog station under a slate grey sky with the rain coming in waiting for a DMU to come in the bus shelter that passed for facilities or indeed Porthmadog (BR).

 

Most of the stations on the North Wales Coast line also fall into that category as well.

 

The lines really do give an air of minimum effort, which when you consider the number of tourists in the area and it is a shame because they really could be so much more.

 

I will say that Llandudno Jnc c1990 did have one of the best station cafes at that time and did a really good bacon butty. If there is one thing I do miss about the 1980s/1990s is the greasy spoon cafes that were at many stations.

[Ben B]

31 minutes ago, Morello Cherry said:

 

These photos are after TFW has spruced them up.

 

Unfortunately I have been unable to find any photos of Blaenau Ffestiniog station under a slate grey sky with the rain coming in waiting for a DMU to come in the bus shelter that passed for facilities or indeed Porthmadog (BR).

 

Most of the stations on the North Wales Coast line also fall into that category as well.

 

The lines really do give an air of minimum effort, which when you consider the number of tourists in the area and it is a shame because they really could be so much more.

 

I will say that Llandudno Jnc c1990 did have one of the best station cafes at that time and did a really good bacon butty. If there is one thing I do miss about the 1980s/1990s is the greasy spoon cafes that were at many stations.

 

The Conwy Valley feels like a criminally missed opportunity, and one NR have a contradictory attitude to. They spend a fortune on flood defences, but block upgrades to points to allow slate waste trains. TfW run a very sparse service which they'll frequently cancel to redistribute stock, but assign modern DMU's, far newer than those used on 'premier' services which often have 153's covering longer diagrams.

 

I remember in the 1990's where the Conwy was home to the specially-repainted 101 set "Daisy". It feels ripe for a more tourist/heritage foccused service alongside the regular passenger diagram, the branch surely has capacity... maybe something like they did on a branch line in Brittany I visited about 15 years back, where SNCF had a railcar which ran the branch, and a heritage group ran a tank loco on tourist stock twice a day in the summer. Though I doubt the will, budget, insurance or organisation would be there for it here...

 

 

[rogerzilla]

1 hour ago, Morello Cherry said:

 

These photos are after TFW has spruced them up.

 

Unfortunately I have been unable to find any photos of Blaenau Ffestiniog station under a slate grey sky with the rain coming in waiting for a DMU to come in the bus shelter that passed for facilities or indeed Porthmadog (BR).

 

Most of the stations on the North Wales Coast line also fall into that category as well.

 

The lines really do give an air of minimum effort, which when you consider the number of tourists in the area and it is a shame because they really could be so much more.

 

I will say that Llandudno Jnc c1990 did have one of the best station cafes at that time and did a really good bacon butty. If there is one thing I do miss about the 1980s/1990s is the greasy spoon cafes that were at many stations.

I REALLY miss the on-train brunch muffins from the 90s.  The train coffee was terrible, so I always bought that at New Street, but the muffins were in the buffet car.  I spent a summer working in Derby and was getting breakfast expenses because of the early start.

Edited April 15 by rogerzilla

[woodenhead]

15 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

I REALLY miss the on-train brunch muffins from the 90s.  The train coffee was terrible, so I always bought that at New Street, but the muffins were in the buffet car.  I spent a summer working in Derby and was getting breakfast expenses because of the early start.

Is that Linda Lusardi advertising Travellers Fayre - a different form of muffins

[woodenhead]

How the world changed

[009 micro modeller]

1 hour ago, Ben B said:

I remember in the 1990's where the Conwy was home to the specially-repainted 101 set "Daisy". It feels ripe for a more tourist/heritage foccused service alongside the regular passenger diagram, the branch surely has capacity... maybe something like they did on a branch line in Brittany I visited about 15 years back, where SNCF had a railcar which ran the branch, and a heritage group ran a tank loco on tourist stock twice a day in the summer. Though I doubt the will, budget, insurance or organisation would be there for it here...

Agreed, perhaps something similar to the West Highland line steam services in Scotland (ignoring the current WCRC shenanigans, which I don’t think in any way invalidate the value of the service as a concept - if anything the current crisis there has demonstrated its importance to local tourism). It would also seem a good way to promote access to the National Park by public transport as well, and might even attract funding on that basis if sensibly put together as a proposal (similar to the Welsh Highland in some ways, but potentially better as it directly connects to the National Rail network, with passengers able to change to the Ffestiniog Railway at Blaenau Ffestiniog).

 

For a heritage service, I don’t know how easy it would be to run into Llandudno Junction, across the main line and on to Deganwy and Llandudno town station, as most of the regular services do, but there seems to be a lot of disused railway land/old sidings at the junction so I wonder if you could create a separate station and shed/depot in some of that space on a siding off the branch instead, and have a sort of NYMR Whitby-style solution (where, as far as I understand it, the NYMR train shares track with the National Rail service on the way to Whitby, but once at Whitby itself it has its own platform on a separate siding). This might actually be better and safer anyway, as (much as the NYMR Network Rail connection is very remote from any fast or busy lines) it would mean the heritage train wouldn’t need to interact with the North Wales Coast Line itself. Though on the other hand, being able to run into Llandudno would be quite good.

 

 I recall at one stage that the group trying to restore the Trawsfynydd line as a heritage railway had the operation of a through heritage service onto the Conwy Valley line as a very long term aim, but in this context I wonder if they’d have been better off doing it the other way round, focussing solely on the latter with Trawsfynydd left until later (or not at all). At the Blaenau end there is already a run round loop and platform to accommodate railtours and power station traffic, though I suppose hypothetically you might want to relay a little bit of the line beyond to allow the heritage train to be moved off the network and out of the way when needed. I’m not sure if the huge gaps in the normal timetable are because of lack of available stock or lack of demand but looking at Realtime Trains for Blaenau a tourist/heritage service as far as the junction would seem to comfortably fit into some of them (I assume you’d only want two or three round trips per day anyway). Edit: actually I’m not absolutely sure this works all the time - but if necessary could the trains cross at North Llanrwst anyway?

Edited April 15 by 009 micro modeller

[woodenhead]

10 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

 

For a heritage service, I don’t know how easy it would be to run into Llandudno Junction, across the main line and on to Deganwy and Llandudno town station, as most of the regular services do, but there seems to be a lot of disused railway land/old sidings at the junction so I wonder if you could create a separate station and shed/depot in some of that space on a siding off the branch instead, and have a sort of NYMR Whitby-style solution (where, as far as I understand it, the NYMR train shares track with the National Rail service on the way to Whitby, but once at Whitby itself it has its own platform on a separate siding). This might actually be better and safer anyway, as (much as the NYMR Network Rail connection is very remote from any fast or busy lines) it would mean the heritage train wouldn’t need to interact with the North Wales Coast Line itself. Though on the other hand, being able to run into Llandudno would be quite good.

 

 

There is a spare platform face at Llandudno Junction so no need to build anything new which would only balloon any costs and condemn any attempt to provide any sort of heritage service down the line to Blaenau.  But I would guess the most complicated conundrum would be paths and operation like for example passing places with the TFW services and handling at Blaenau without interferring with the existing service.  I wouldn't even contemplate going up to Llandudno itself.

[009 micro modeller]

6 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

There is a spare platform face at Llandudno Junction so no need to build anything new which would only balloon any costs and condemn any attempt to provide any sort of heritage service down the line to Blaenau.

Agree about the costs - nevertheless I think you’d still have to have some sort of shed and servicing facility for the stock if it was operated by a locally-based group, as @Ben B suggested. Is the spare face disused or is there track in it? And presumably it’s on the correct side of the station for the Conwy Valley line.

 

13 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

But I would guess the most complicated conundrum would be paths and operation like for example passing places with the TFW services and handling at Blaenau without interferring with the existing service.  I wouldn't even contemplate going up to Llandudno itself.

When I looked at Realtime Trains initially it looked as though there might be sufficient gaps at certain times but now I’m not so sure. It does all seem to depend on whether the timing is right for crossing at North Llanrwst, though presumably the loop there is sufficiently long as railtours have run through it. I do think though that in some ways this seems more sensible than the Trawsfynydd reopening idea, as arguably it could feed into and complement the Ffestiniog and other local tourist attractions rather than ineffectually competing with them (which was one of the criticisms levelled at the Trawsfynydd scheme, rightly imho).

[woodenhead]

5 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Agree about the costs - nevertheless I think you’d still have to have some sort of shed and servicing facility for the stock if it was operated by a locally-based group, as @Ben B suggested. Is the spare face disused or is there track in it? And presumably it’s on the correct side of the station for the Conwy Valley line.

 

When I looked at Realtime Trains initially it looked as though there might be sufficient gaps at certain times but now I’m not so sure. It does all seem to depend on whether the timing is right for crossing at North Llanrwst, though presumably the loop there is sufficiently long as railtours have run through it. I do think though that in some ways this seems more sensible than the Trawsfynydd reopening idea, as arguably it could feed into and complement the Ffestiniog and other local tourist attractions rather than ineffectually competing with them (which was one of the criticisms levelled at the Trawsfynydd scheme, rightly imho).

The station, there is the south face of the bottom platform, there is a track there but it looks rarely used now, the face is fenced off from the station. 

 

The goods yard and coach sidings are long gone and concreted over, but perhaps there is a little space for a small servicing facility either at the station or around the periphery of the old goods yard. 

 

Nothing easy here though, you need the will of the local councils to support it, you need NR and TFW on board and you need to find someone to provide traction and coaches (CDL fitted).  Then does it have the wow factor of the Mallaig run, does it have something that will draw in tourists, if not then it will fail quickly and badly.

[woodenhead]

Going off the current 3 hourly interval timetable and the fact the train does not hang around in Blaenau then perhaps there is a gap for a heritage train to go to Blaenau before the 10:30 service and return later, to allow the patrons to then visit the Welsh Highland before returning.

 

You need need to berth & service the train somewhere at Blaenau and it assumes there would be enough time for a decent trip there and back on the Welsh Highland otherwise what would be the point.

[Northmoor]

31 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

When I looked at Realtime Trains initially it looked as though there might be sufficient gaps at certain times but now I’m not so sure. It does all seem to depend on whether the timing is right for crossing at North Llanrwst, though presumably the loop there is sufficiently long as railtours have run through it. I do think though that in some ways this seems more sensible than the Trawsfynydd reopening idea, as arguably it could feed into and complement the Ffestiniog and other local tourist attractions rather than ineffectually competing with them (which was one of the criticisms levelled at the Trawsfynydd scheme, rightly imho).

I'm not sure the FR/WHR would see it that way.  It might be better to test the water with a heritage diesel shuttle (which doesn't compete with the FR/WHR product), perhaps providing some innovative catering and a running commentary over the PA, before considering how a regular steam service might be scheduled.  There is a risk that the market for "train rides" is pretty saturated in Snowdonia (sorry, Eryri).

 

If I wanted to start a regular steam service on NR in Wales, I would run something like Bristol TM - Cardiff - Port Talbot (attach steam loco in Margam yard) - Swansea District Line & Central Wales Line to Llandrindod Wells - Reverse to Llanelli - Return via SDL to Margam (detach steam loco) and then as outward.   Lots of opportunities on the CWL for off-railway linked tours (National Botanic Gardens, Aberglasney House, Llandeilo itself); if not Llan'dod, terminate at Carmarthen where there's spare platforms, you've had the run up the Towy estuary and there's a triangle to turn the loco on.  The downside of this is that starting at Bristol competes with the reasonably regular steam railtours to South Devon.

[009 micro modeller]

2 hours ago, Ben B said:

maybe something like they did on a branch line in Brittany I visited about 15 years back, where SNCF had a railcar which ran the branch, and a heritage group ran a tank loco on tourist stock twice a day in the summer. Though I doubt the will, budget, insurance or organisation would be there for it here...

What were the distances and safety requirements/standards like, and had it been operating for a long time? Perhaps more to the point, who was operating it and with what stock? (And I appreciate you might not have all the answers, I’m just thinking of things that would probably become important in a UK context if somebody wanted to do something like this.) It sounds more like a conventional heritage railway operating on a lightly-used branch line, whereas in the UK I think you’d either have to have something like the Jacobite (where a railtour company operates it, rather than a local heritage railway group), or like the NYMR (which operates over a much shorter section of Network Rail line at a low speed, and still has to adhere to quite high standards). And on the Conwy Valley I don’t think you’d be able to have the lower speed (as on the NYMR) and still fit in with the service trains.

 

[009 micro modeller]

13 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Going off the current 3 hourly interval timetable and the fact the train does not hang around in Blaenau then perhaps there is a gap for a heritage train to go to Blaenau before the 10:30 service and return later, to allow the patrons to then visit the Welsh Highland before returning.

 

You need need to berth & service the train somewhere at Blaenau and it assumes there would be enough time for a decent trip there and back on the Welsh Highland otherwise what would be the point.

Isn’t it the Ffestiniog they’d visit (assuming they’d visit either). Unless it’s a one way circular trip, train to Blaenau, Ffestiniog Railway, Welsh Highland, bus to Bangor and normal service train back to Llandudno, with another group doing it in reverse. But running a Conwy Valley heritage service specifically to fit in with that seems potentially more trouble than it’s worth.

 

13 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

I'm not sure the FR/WHR would see it that way.  It might be better to test the water with a heritage diesel shuttle (which doesn't compete with the FR/WHR product), perhaps providing some innovative catering and a running commentary over the PA, before considering how a regular steam service might be scheduled.  There is a risk that the market for "train rides" is pretty saturated in Snowdonia (sorry, Eryri).

Indeed, and while in some ways I quite like the idea I didn’t actually suggest it, I’m just wondering how it would work if somebody tried to run such a service. I suppose the difference from the Trawsfynydd project as proposed a few years ago is possibly that a Conwy Valley heritage service might encourage additional people to do a loop via the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland lines, whereas the Trawsfynydd scheme seemed to inevitably rely on competing with the Ffestiniog while offering a ‘product’ of vastly lower quality (and the Ffestiniog is a unique narrow gauge steam line - if you just want to ride on a standard gauge DMU through some nice scenery you can do that on the existing Conwy Valley service).

 

Would a heritage diesel shuttle necessarily offer anything that couldn’t be worked into the existing service? I’m not sure that the target market would be that bothered by the difference in rolling stock (‘heritage’ vs ‘modern’ DMU).

[Ben B]

24 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

I'm not sure the FR/WHR would see it that way.  It might be better to test the water with a heritage diesel shuttle (which doesn't compete with the FR/WHR product), perhaps providing some innovative catering and a running commentary over the PA, before considering how a regular steam service might be scheduled.  There is a risk that the market for "train rides" is pretty saturated in Snowdonia (sorry, Eryri).

 

 

Maybe reviving and mainline-certifying a 101 would be the way to go.  Maybe a two-train set for 6 cars, or even just three/four cars with a small buffet as a tourist train option.  If Swanage can make one work on the mainline network, maybe TfW could as well.  No need to worry about run-rounds or such, and if part of the TfW fleet it could always once a week run on to service at Holyhead.

 

All wishful thinking though.  Easier to coast along doing what they do now, and continue with the minimum...

 

[009 micro modeller]

35 minutes ago, Ben B said:

Maybe reviving and mainline-certifying a 101 would be the way to go.  Maybe a two-train set for 6 cars, or even just three/four cars with a small buffet as a tourist train option.  If Swanage can make one work on the mainline network, maybe TfW could as well.  No need to worry about run-rounds or such, and if part of the TfW fleet it could always once a week run on to service at Holyhead.

Again though, does it need to be a 101 (or other ‘heritage’ unit) to be used in this way, to differentiate itself, or would it work with something more modern? You could even retain some of the current stock when it’s replaced. Obviously a steam service would be very different from the service already provided on the branch (but perhaps not sufficiently different from the adjacent Ffestiniog offer), but I’m not sure that a diesel tourist service necessarily needs to use heritage stock just because it has catering, commentary etc. (which could potentially be added to normal service trains).

[Mol_PMB]

Blaenau has developed a lot in recent years, and there are many nearby top-class tourist attractions in the 'adventure' theme (long zip lines over the slate quarries, underground trampolines, forest assault courses etc.) All easily accessible by car but a bit too far from the railway for public transport to be an option. A more frequent service on the Conwy Valley would be great, but I think it would need reliable connections to these attractions, and also it would need to serve Llandudno which is the major centre of tourist accommodation in the area. The FR now does run services originating in Blaenau (the 'Quarryman'). I do think a revived 'Daisy' would be popular in season to double the frequency of the existing TfW service, but I doubt a regular steam service would be viable.

 

However, the Conwy Valley is at the mercy of the elements, despite huge amounts spent by NR in flood repairs and defences it continues to be washed out regularly. To be quite honest, an hourly bus service could be provided at a fraction of the cost of keeping the railway open and would be far superior in terms of frequency and equal for journey times.

[woodenhead]

9 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Blaenau has developed a lot in recent years, and there are many nearby top-class tourist attractions in the 'adventure' theme (long zip lines over the slate quarries, underground trampolines, forest assault courses etc.) All easily accessible by car but a bit too far from the railway for public transport to be an option. A more frequent service on the Conwy Valley would be great, but I think it would need reliable connections to these attractions, and also it would need to serve Llandudno which is the major centre of tourist accommodation in the area. The FR now does run services originating in Blaenau (the 'Quarryman'). I do think a revived 'Daisy' would be popular in season to double the frequency of the existing TfW service, but I doubt a regular steam service would be viable.

 

However, the Conwy Valley is at the mercy of the elements, despite huge amounts spent by NR in flood repairs and defences it continues to be washed out regularly. To be quite honest, an hourly bus service could be provided at a fraction of the cost of keeping the railway open and would be far superior in terms of frequency and equal for journey times.

I guess if you create the opportunity then in the words of great showmen "They will come".

 

But whilst it's great to make Blaenau a destination we have to then also make Llandudno / Llandudno Junction a destination too, one that will attract tourists to come and the rejoice in the delight of a heritage journey to Blaenau where there are lots of attractions waiting to be visited.  Sort of I guess on the lines of these big cruise ships arriving in port and fleets of coaches waiting to take the passengers off on day adventures.  Because it's no good having it all set up at Blaenau if the tourists have had to leave London at red eye o'clock to get to Llandudno for 9am to begin a 1 hour heritage journey to Blaenau to catch a coach to go zip wire across an old quarry.  I don't see that happening, so you also need people to want to experience North Wales and especially Llandudno to create the market for Blaenau to tap into.  Not sure Llandudno is that untapped market presently.

[Mol_PMB]

2 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

I guess if you create the opportunity then in the words of great showmen "They will come".

 

But whilst it's great to make Blaenau a destination we have to then also make Llandudno / Llandudno Junction a destination too, one that will attract tourists to come and the rejoice in the delight of a heritage journey to Blaenau where there are lots of attractions waiting to be visited.  Sort of I guess on the lines of these big cruise ships arriving in port and fleets of coaches waiting to take the passengers off on day adventures.  Because it's no good having it all set up at Blaenau if the tourists have had to leave London at red eye o'clock to get to Llandudno for 9am to begin a 1 hour heritage journey to Blaenau to catch a coach to go zip wire across an old quarry.  I don't see that happening, so you also need people to want to experience North Wales and especially Llandudno to create the market for Blaenau to tap into.  Not sure Llandudno is that untapped market presently.

 

I tend to agree. Although quality accommodation in North Wales can be hard to find and Llandudno does have a reasonable concentration of it. Llandudno also does get a little cruise ship traffic, though not as popular as Douglas (for a relevant and nearby comparison). This is Llandudno, but the Waverley once or twice a year doesn't make a business case!

 

[Morello Cherry]

39 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

I guess if you create the opportunity then in the words of great showmen "They will come".

 

But whilst it's great to make Blaenau a destination we have to then also make Llandudno / Llandudno Junction a destination too, one that will attract tourists to come and the rejoice in the delight of a heritage journey to Blaenau where there are lots of attractions waiting to be visited.  Sort of I guess on the lines of these big cruise ships arriving in port and fleets of coaches waiting to take the passengers off on day adventures.  Because it's no good having it all set up at Blaenau if the tourists have had to leave London at red eye o'clock to get to Llandudno for 9am to begin a 1 hour heritage journey to Blaenau to catch a coach to go zip wire across an old quarry.  I don't see that happening, so you also need people to want to experience North Wales and especially Llandudno to create the market for Blaenau to tap into.  Not sure Llandudno is that untapped market presently.

 

I'd suggest Llandudno or Bangor as the base/gateway to Snowdonia. That it is about the whole package - castles at Conway, Bodnant Garden, Penrhyn Castle, Snowdon and the mountains, when it comes to the Conway valley line it is not just a get on and go to the end of the line but there is also Betws-y-Coed for Swallow Falls etc, ie it there are more than one destination.

 

Maybe not connect into London services, but it should be viable from Manchester/North West.

Ideally however, what we need is for the Ffestiniog Tunnel to become the new Glenfinnan Viaduct and to bring the tourists from far and wide.

If only there was a mainline heritage operation at somewhere nearby like Crewe with locos, rolling stock etc.

 

The Cambrian Coast line of course has the more obvious 'beautiful' scenery but well until there is a solution to ERTMS that isn't going to happen.

Also I would argue that it is also perfect possible to have a nice station in North Wales. Criccieth looks quite nice tbh.



Ironic really because I finally found some 1970s/80s photos of Criccieth which captures the vibe I was talking about.

 

Admire with me the boarded up signal box and the station name which appears to have been stuck on the old one and the portacabins.

 

 

 

[Northmoor]

2 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Again though, does it need to be a 101 (or other ‘heritage’ unit) to be used in this way, to differentiate itself, or would it work with something more modern? 

I've just reminded myself that Second Generation DMUs are now approximately as old as the First Generation DMUs were when the last were withdrawn.......

[Morello Cherry]

Finally found photos of Porthmadog in all its glory.

Admire the fine station building.
 

 

 

Correct weather

 

 

 

Let us just pull back a bit to get a sense of the station as a whole.

 

 

looking good

 

 

 

I particularly like the artistic subversion of fence without a gate here, as we have a gate without a fence.

 

 

Nothing welcomes the royal family like a load of demolition rubble.