Abandoned rails in the road.....(or elsewhere...)

[Erichill16]

Missed this picture out, the station building. The excavation work was o the left but wondering if more extensive work was being carried out at the far side of the station? May be going back next week as in the antiques centre there was a decent selection of railway books and as I walked there I thought another visit  in the car would be ‘necessary’.

[sir douglas]

The brake van is owned by the NRM as i was told several years ago

[009 micro modeller]

13 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

I think this is as close as you’re going to get. 

https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/article/24332/closed-railway-given-fresh-hope-of-revival

 

I think Covid and the lack of progress with the level crossing are factors.
There was some evidence of excavation work having been done near the footbridge but vey little evidence of work aimed at restoring the railway. By the looks of the photo the station area was laid on a concrete pad.

 

 

The article says the council is ‘working with the trustees’ of the railway and the railway still owns some stock.

These were the only items of stock to be seen and I believe they are owned by the council.Behind the brake van is evidence  of the excavation work, the footbridge and in the distance the engine shed.

Getting a bit off-topic for this thread but do we know why they handed the lease back? I know there were a few museum trusts running sites on behalf of local councils (so a broadly similar situation to Elsecar in that sense) that came close to handing them back due to the effect of Covid on the trusts’ finances, but is there more to it?

 

 The ancient monument designation seems quite positive really as it would seem to prevent redevelopment for non-railway, non-heritage use, although I’m not clear on which parts are thought to be most significant - the removal of track for the archaeological investigation suggests it isn’t the standing buildings, for instance.

[Erichill16]

40 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

 

 The ancient monument designation seems quite positive really as it would seem to prevent redevelopment for non-railway, non-heritage use, although I’m not clear on which parts are thought to be most significant - the removal of track for the archaeological investigation suggests it isn’t the standing buildings, for instance.

I don’t think the station is ‘original’ as I don’t think the line ever had a passenger service.

The Wikipedia entry says the station, ‘Rockingham’, was opened by Barnsley council in the Elsecar Heritage Centre which are former NCB workshops.

The station building itself looks a little odd and I seem to remember when Barnsley Exchange closed it was to be rebuilt as part of the future heritage line.

Must admit it’s not clear what’s being referred to.

[Northmoor]

13 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

I don’t think the station is ‘original’ as I don’t think the line ever had a passenger service.

The Wikipedia entry says the station, ‘Rockingham’, was opened by Barnsley council in the Elsecar Heritage Centre which are former NCB workshops.

The station building itself looks a little odd and I seem to remember when Barnsley Exchange closed it was to be rebuilt as part of the future heritage line.

Must admit it’s not clear what’s being referred to.

The whole site is a recreation (there may be one or two original buildings) as it was a colliery branch only.  Any "heritage" is what the council allowed the site to be built over.

[sir douglas]

yes its all modern, there hasnt been any buildings there for a very long time

 

1901 OS, the large building int he middle is currently the events hall and the station is in the blank space that says Elsecar works

 

but what they are probably looking for what was very different before such as in this 1849 OS, when it was more extensive to the South-East

[melmerby]

The abndoned rails are still in place on Fairlie Pier near Largs.

55°45'55.17" N   4°51'23.78" W

 

 

 

View from adjacent road

 

Spotted this during the first episode of "Annika"

[Enterprisingwestern]

51 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Spotted this during the first episode of "Annika"

 

Yeh, I bet you did!

 

Mike.

[melmerby]

On 13/08/2023 at 17:41, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Yeh, I bet you did!

 

Mike.

I'm puzzled why people think it's funny?

A dour police drama set on the Clyde, what's funny?

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

I'm puzzled why people think it's funny?

A dour police drama set on the Clyde, what's funny?

 

 

To clarify;

As I don't watch television your reference went straight over my head, but me and 3 other people got my inference of putting Rice after the (differently spelt) name.

Sometimes I'm too good for this place!!

 

Mike.

[Johann Marsbar]

Horse tram rails at the former Cambridge tram depot......

 

 

It's now the "Tram Depot" pub........

 

 

...but bears no resemblance to the place I last went in about 35 years ago when it was owned by Earl Soham Brewery and known as "The Tram Shed"....

 

 

Apart from two of the posted photos not wanting to rotate by 90 degrees, that was the original pub frontage and the current one sems to be some "newbuild" place out the back at 90 degrees to where the tram tracks actually run!

[unravelled]

A section I photographed about 5 years ago, but Google maps suggests it is still there. It is near Hayes and Harlington station, and would have extended to a Brewing sugar works next to the canal. It's near the centre of this NLS map.

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.7&lat=51.50450&lon=-0.42525&layers=168&b=3

 

 

View across Blyth Road into Pressing LaneLan

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure if these qualify for this thread, as they aren't exactly abandoned, more recycled. They are the gateposts at what used to be the Brockley Lane Station master's house.

 

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[33C]

53 minutes ago, unravelled said:

Brockley Lane Station master's house.

They count! Good spot.

[bécasse]

10 hours ago, 33C said:

They count! Good spot.

Except that they are not old rails! They were cast that shape specifically for use as gate (and possibly fence) posts. Fifty years ago they were still a commonplace feature at former SE&CR locations.

[33C]

4 minutes ago, bécasse said:

Except that they are not old rails! They were cast that shape specifically for use as gate (and possibly fence) posts. Fifty years ago they were still a commonplace feature at former SE&CR locations.

I think we can forgive that considering the location, they ain't going nowhere! 

[Ian Morgan]

Somewhere in Bristol

 

[33C]

3 minutes ago, Ian Morgan said:

Somewhere in Bristol

 

Broad gauge, bridge rail?

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, 33C said:

Broad gauge, bridge rail?

 

Certainly bridge rail - to be found in remarkably frequent and widespread locations, used for this and many other purposes.

 

CJI.

[unravelled]

1 hour ago, bécasse said:

Except that they are not old rails! They were cast that shape specifically for use as gate (and possibly fence) posts. Fifty years ago they were still a commonplace feature at former SE&CR locations.

That's interesting, thanks, I will have to reconsider some intended future posts (!).  But I have plenty of genuine recycled rail photos to add. Incidentally, are there genuine cases of old rails being cut and reformed like this for neatness? I think that the thing which fooled me is that there looks to be a blobby join at the top. Did they intend to fool people, or did the castings copy an older version where recycled  rails were used?

[bécasse]

42 minutes ago, unravelled said:

That's interesting, thanks, I will have to reconsider some intended future posts (!).  But I have plenty of genuine recycled rail photos to add. Incidentally, are there genuine cases of old rails being cut and reformed like this for neatness? I think that the thing which fooled me is that there looks to be a blobby join at the top. Did they intend to fool people, or did the castings copy an older version where recycled  rails were used?

Actually I found it interesting to learn that some still exist and in an authentic location. They are at least a century old and I doubt whether anyone now knows whether the design would have been inspired by the use of old rails as fence posts elsewhere on the railway (which undoubtedly happened with flat-bottom, bull-head and bridge rail). Clearly they are more elegant than just cut rail and they would have been cast in foundry sand using wooden patterns to form the shaped mould. The fact that a foundry name is visible suggests that they may have been a proprietary product but they were certainly widespread on the SE&CR. They may well have been widespread off the railway as well but many such would have been victims of the WWII scrap drive, railway examples being specifically exempted.

[unravelled]

This is a section of bridge rail in a stream, somewhere near Blaenavon, taken a few years ago. There was no sigh of a structure it might have come from

 

And in Brentford, not quite in the road, is a fair length of Barlow rail, being used as a kerb.

 

 

Also, to add to my erroneous identification more, presumably cast, rail styled posts. This time in  the beer garden of the George, in Southwark.

 

There is a railway connection here, as this former coaching in was used by The GNR as a parcels office, as were other coaching inns by other companies. Whether the posts date from then I don't know

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

 

[unravelled]

 

I did a search on S J & R  Stockton, ( I thought Stackton, but Google suggested the correct spelling), and they were making rails for New Zealand's railways in 1874, the date on this gatepost, so would know what  a rail looked like for these castings. Incidentally I think it should be read as S J & R of Stockton, as another later supplier was S J R & Co Stockton. Looking again, I can see there is a full stop before Stockton on the casting.

 

For info, a bit found in Graces Guide "The Moor Ironworks, situated upon the west side of the borough, and erected upon land purchased from Messrs Wren, are now in active operation. We take the following description of the works from the Iron and Coal Trades Review : — The proprietors are Messrs Shaw, Johnson and Reay. The works are laid for the manufacture of puddled bars and plates, though the addition of a sheet mill and rail mill is contemplated."

Edited August 21, 2023 by unravelled
Added info

[33C]

1 hour ago, unravelled said:

Barlow rail, being used as a kerb

Wow, that's a great spot, and very neat.

[unravelled]

Now rails in the towpath. These are long gone, and were on the south bank of the Thames near Crossness. I think they disappeared in the tidying up after the completion of the waste transfer facility, which was then under construction. A scan of NLS shows a possible stretch of unconnected track leading from Belvedere mills (Bovril, disused) on the 1897 map.

 

Some distance upstream, still on the South bank, between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges, this bullhead rail is seen. Possibly reinforcements for the wall, or fixings for timbers ob the river wall.

 

 

On the river Lea, an improvised bollard/cleat

 

 

And finally for tonight, some real rails in the ground. This time at Railway Fields Nature Reserve in Haringey, a repurposed goods yard.

 

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Udders feeled gas works;

 

 

Mike.