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

[Engineer]

Immediately beyond the military rail station at Liss, there are some allotments in the narrow area between the railway and the main line station.  In the shadowed corner of the allotment to the right of the image there is a rail, planted upright maybe to carry a sign, with traces of paint from past times.

 

Further along the railway walk there are a few places where there are sleepers either in place or uprooted and left on one side.

 

 

 

There are a number of bridges along the walk, all of which are modern in upper structure and suited to use for walking and cycling.  One of these, Rose Bridge, has a length of flat-bottom rail laid on its side across the line of route at each end,  presumably to stabilise  the construction.  

 

 

 

 

 

Abutments may still have some the original construction and there seems to be a length of rail reinforcement hanging around close to water level.

 

At the end of the rail walk, at the site of the level crossing at Liss Forest Road, a couple of sleepers remain in place, firmly buried.

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Engineer
Duplicate image removed

[St Enodoc]

Nice to see the LMR photos. I went with the school railway society to the final Open Day in July 1969.

[31A]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Nice to see the LMR photos. I went with the school railway society to the final Open Day in July 1969.

 

I think that was the one I went to, too!

[St Enodoc]

10 minutes ago, 31A said:

 

I think that was the one I went to, too!

If you saw Gordon hauling 15 coaches (six blue LMR ones and nine blue/grey BR ones) then yes, it probably was!

Edited September 18, 2023 by St Enodoc
15 not 14

[31A]

Just now, St Enodoc said:

If you saw Gordon hauling 14 coaches (six blue LMR ones and nine blue/grey BR ones) then yes, it probably was!

Certainly rings a bell!

[cctransuk]

1 minute ago, St Enodoc said:

If you saw Gordon hauling 14 coaches (six blue LMR ones and nine blue/grey BR ones) then yes, it probably was!

 

Maths has clearly changed since I were a lad!

 

14 = six plus nine?

 

CJI.

[St Enodoc]

5 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Maths has clearly changed since I were a lad!

 

14 = six plus nine?

 

CJI.

Have a gold star! Original post edited. Pretty sure it was 6 + 9 but after 54 years, who knows? Six Bells Junction https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/690705bp.html doesn't show the train details, only the locos.

Edited September 18, 2023 by St Enodoc

[russ p]

Not rails but many stone block 'sleepers' on Kepwick railway in North Yorkshire a couple of years ago. The railway linked a quarry high on the moors with kilns near what is now the A19. The railway was 4ft6  gauge and horse worked except the self acting incline upto the quarry 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by russ p
Spelling

[bradfordbuffer]

5 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Maths has clearly changed since I were a lad!

 

14 = six plus nine?

 

CJI.

23?

[Ben B]

Abandoned rails in the... woods?

 

 

With my family living on Anglesey, at the tail end of the summer we met up with them for a walk along the Dingle nature reserve at Llangefni.  The car park is right next to the old station building, and spotting a gap in the fence, I walked up onto the track.  Normally, I wouldn't walk on a railway, but knowing  there haven't been trains since the 1990's (and with a bridge demolished by a lorry and not replaced by anybody else) it's unlikely there will be another train any time soon... I felt safe enough for a wander.  Remains of the platform at Llangefni above.

 

 

Bridge at the entrance to the Dingle.

 

 

And the reason the bridge is very heavily fenced off, the deck is rotten through.

 

 

A little further in to the reserve, another gap in the fence showed where people have been getting access.  I thought I would, too, being as lots of people were walking their dogs along the line.

 

For those who might not know about it; The Anglesey Central Railway from Gaerwen to Amlwch was closed to passengers in the 1960's, but the line was retained to serve a chemical works at Amlwch (and, briefly, an oil installation).  When the chemical works switched to road transport in the early 1990's, the line was mothballed.  British Rail looked at reintroducing passenger services, but the run-up to Privatisation complicated matters.  Then a preservation group wanted it, and the negotiations again came perilously close when, again, the privatisation of rail infrastructure got in the way.  Council/Government authority has been flip-flopping between supporting re-opening as a mainline, re-opening as a preserved line, ripping up the tracks so Sustrans can lay a cycle path, or a combination of the 3.  In the meantime, bridges rust (or in one case, get knocked-down a by lorry collision), sleepers rot, and tracks disappear in undergrowth...  except that the preservation group are going to great lengths to keep the tracks cleared and looking like a railway line.

 

 

Here's something unusual; the lubricator left bolted to the tracks.  Can't recall seeing one of these left in-situ on an abandoned line before.

 

 

 

 

Another bridge; not fenced off this time, but I wasn't about to dare cross it, just in case the deck was as rotten as the one near Llangefni station.

 

 

Honestly, I've seen more overgrown lines on the continent that are still active; there's something really pretty about this line cutting through the woods.  It makes me a bit angry that it's sat there unused, and that the Welsh Assembly Government turned-down re-opening it in the transport review earlier this year (according to a chap I spoke to, in favour of the 'rip it up and tarmac it as a cycle path' option).  Apparently though the preservation group have agreed a 100 year lease on the trackbed; who knows, maybe one day it'll reopen.  Until then, it'll stay looking pretty if slightly melancholy.

 

The next time I go back to see my parents I'm going to explore the stretch in Amlwch, with the overgrown level crossings on the old light-railway stretch which served the chemical works.

 

 

[009 micro modeller]

5 hours ago, Ben B said:

Abandoned rails in the... woods?

 

 

With my family living on Anglesey, at the tail end of the summer we met up with them for a walk along the Dingle nature reserve at Llangefni.  The car park is right next to the old station building, and spotting a gap in the fence, I walked up onto the track.  Normally, I wouldn't walk on a railway, but knowing  there haven't been trains since the 1990's (and with a bridge demolished by a lorry and not replaced by anybody else) it's unlikely there will be another train any time soon... I felt safe enough for a wander.  Remains of the platform at Llangefni above.

 

 

Bridge at the entrance to the Dingle.

 

 

And the reason the bridge is very heavily fenced off, the deck is rotten through.

 

 

A little further in to the reserve, another gap in the fence showed where people have been getting access.  I thought I would, too, being as lots of people were walking their dogs along the line.

 

For those who might not know about it; The Anglesey Central Railway from Gaerwen to Amlwch was closed to passengers in the 1960's, but the line was retained to serve a chemical works at Amlwch (and, briefly, an oil installation).  When the chemical works switched to road transport in the early 1990's, the line was mothballed.  British Rail looked at reintroducing passenger services, but the run-up to Privatisation complicated matters.  Then a preservation group wanted it, and the negotiations again came perilously close when, again, the privatisation of rail infrastructure got in the way.  Council/Government authority has been flip-flopping between supporting re-opening as a mainline, re-opening as a preserved line, ripping up the tracks so Sustrans can lay a cycle path, or a combination of the 3.  In the meantime, bridges rust (or in one case, get knocked-down a by lorry collision), sleepers rot, and tracks disappear in undergrowth...  except that the preservation group are going to great lengths to keep the tracks cleared and looking like a railway line.

 

 

Here's something unusual; the lubricator left bolted to the tracks.  Can't recall seeing one of these left in-situ on an abandoned line before.

 

 

 

 

Another bridge; not fenced off this time, but I wasn't about to dare cross it, just in case the deck was as rotten as the one near Llangefni station.

 

 

Honestly, I've seen more overgrown lines on the continent that are still active; there's something really pretty about this line cutting through the woods.  It makes me a bit angry that it's sat there unused, and that the Welsh Assembly Government turned-down re-opening it in the transport review earlier this year (according to a chap I spoke to, in favour of the 'rip it up and tarmac it as a cycle path' option).  Apparently though the preservation group have agreed a 100 year lease on the trackbed; who knows, maybe one day it'll reopen.  Until then, it'll stay looking pretty if slightly melancholy.

 

The next time I go back to see my parents I'm going to explore the stretch in Amlwch, with the overgrown level crossings on the old light-railway stretch which served the chemical works.

 

 

I like that line - I have family living on Anglesey so have explored it a bit over the years. The Dingle section is particularly scenic - it would be great to actually ride a train on it. Maybe one day…

[Johann Marsbar]

A couple of sections of Aberdeen tram track that still remain 65 years after the systems closure - both being on the former Sea Beach route.

 

Part of the route leading to the seafront.   I believe the section used to be longer but a lot was lost when the buildings in the background were constructed......

 

 

In a somewhat worse state, you can just make out the terminal tracks and a bit of a point down by the Beach Ballroom.......

 

[Ramblin Rich]

Just seen this one in the Disused Stations group on Facebook. Llangeinor on the Tondu to Blaengarw line. Picture from November 2022, but looking back at older images it's obviously got a lot more overgrown in recent years. Theoretically only 'out of use'!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pVCyZWDbCXmSN6dn8

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Ramblin Rich

[Ramblin Rich]

Here's another, Richmond Walk in Plymouth, the remains of the Stonehouse branch. Slightly confusing due to the shadows from boat masts, but definitely rails in the road. There's a very substantial wall across the route to the left side of the road now!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cr1a85APQRrBUNkf8

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Ramblin Rich
images

[DLT]

On 29/07/2023 at 20:45, Cowley 47521 said:

Great photos. It’s a bit more overgrown now but a few years ago I did trundle along it in the van one day.

 

Looks like I wasn’t the only one either…

 

Last time I passed there was a very large log/tree trunk across the siding to discourage drivers.  The line was concreted to allow tractors to pull or push wagons along it.

 

You may be interested to know that the mill has been completely removed, the river reinstated and the area undergone an award-winning "Regeneration". 

Some interesting articles HERE  including an aerial film of the location.  Looks like a lot of the internal rail sidings are still there.

[Barclay]

At Mistley Quay in Essex these lines are still visible. I don't know when the connection was removed but it was certainly still in use in the early 80's.

 

[eastglosmog]

These rails carried the mine tubs from the Knight Shaft of the Mogul Mines of Ireland at Garryard.  Last used in 1982.

[25kV]

On 30/10/2023 at 18:08, Johann Marsbar said:

A couple of sections of Aberdeen tram track that still remain 65 years after the systems closure - both being on the former Sea Beach route.

 

Part of the route leading to the seafront.   I believe the section used to be longer but a lot was lost when the buildings in the background were constructed......

That's correct - the route continued beyond the building and passed a former tram shed, which is still there today.  This was also the spot where Aberdeen's tram fleet was brought and set alight in May 1958 when the service was ended.  😥
 

Flickr pic by Raiding The Parks:

 

 

[Barry O]

Spotted on Otley Road in Leeds yesterday.. newxgas mains being fitted and.. 

 

 

Some tram tracks now visible..

 

Baz

[big jim]

Rails down to the river in burnham on sea front 

[33C]

On 10/02/2024 at 13:36, Barry O said:

tram tracks now visible.

Almost archaeological! They are buried deep.

[33C]

48 minutes ago, big jim said:

Rails down to the river in burnham on sea front 

Amazing. Any history about their use?

[cctransuk]

1 minute ago, 33C said:

Amazing. Any history about their use?

 

There are similar rails at Bude - which were used for bringing sea sand off the beach, for use inland as soil improver.

 

CJI.

[Barry O]

10 hours ago, 33C said:

Almost archaeological! They are buried deep.

A lot of the tram lines in Leeds are still in situ.. it shows how much carp has been chucked on the roads since the late 1950s...  

 

Highway engineers generally unaware of them (some aren't aware of what they are mistaking them for "road strengtheners"). Scrape off the debris.. get the trams back from Crich.. add a big battery.. ooh err..  our tram system returns!

 

Baz

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Scrape off the debris.. get the trams back from Crich.. add a big battery.. ooh err..  our tram system returns!

 

To paraphrase Jaws;

You're gonna need a bigger track rubber!

 

Mike.