Unidentified location

[Blandford1969]

Hi Bill,

 

Blow up of farmhouse as requested. I'd never noticed the unusual way the buffer stops have an additional support.

 

In terms of the Scottish Borders, its certainly not on one of the Branches off the Waverley, but do wonder about the Caledonian - it does have a slight similarity with Loch Tay or Killin, but the CR is not my area of expertise.

 

I also attach a scan of the track to help

 

Thanks again for all your suggestions

 

kind regards

 

Duncan

[The Stationmaster]

An interesting one this and well out of my parish so I really don't know where it is. But a few things of interest - the coach screws in the chairs all look to be new, which might suggest the line is surviving for some reason but probably not passenger traffic as there don't appear to be any possters on the boards on the station building.

 

It looks like 'wild' country with a distinctly 'northern' (or Scottish?) looking farm(?) building and trees bent by the wind. It could be North wales but I doubt it, just doesn't seem right, and it definitely is not exGW by reason of the chairs and the siding stop blocks. I don't think it's NER because I can't find any pictures of wayside NER stations which don't include a building of some sort with a ridged roof although I can't offhand find any pictures of the smaller Forge Valley stations.

 

So my 'possibles' are LNWR or perhaps Caley or NBR, and maybe somewhere on the Border Counties (but that is basically a guess to be honest).

[k9-70]

Don't know if this is of any help.

3 bolt chairs were used mainly on the Southern Railway and London & South Eastern Railway.

Access to the station appears to be from the lefthand side behind the slooping wooden sleepered fence, that would suggest that there is a bridge behind the photographer.

Do you have a date for the photo?

 

K9-70

[PhilJ W]

Don't know if this is of any help.

3 bolt chairs were used mainly on the Southern Railway and London & South Eastern Railway.

Access to the station appears to be from the lefthand side behind the slooping wooden sleepered fence, that would suggest that there is a bridge behind the photographer.

Do you have a date for the photo?

 

K9-70

 

I was thinking Somerset & Dorset but I can't find any match. There appears to have been a recently lifted passing loop with a siding going in amongst the trees on the right. The station building appears to have a brick wall at the far end that may be part of the structure. Is the building in the background a farm? There is no sign of any barns or sheds normally associated with a farm and there appears to be a similar building behind, a small factory perhaps? The crane and loading bank seems to be quite substantial for a small rural station, perhaps it serves the 'farm/factory'. The photographer appears to have been standing in the 'four foot' of the passing loop, on a level crossing perhaps? this would explain where the passengers would have accessed the station from. The crane may give a clue as to the company any chance of an enlargement?

EDIT Further study of the photograph shows a gate at the near end of the station building for passengers. The platform face appears to have been rebuilt recently but the 'new' platform ends just beyond the station building.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

It's not the Ashbourne - Buxton line, as that had "proper" ballasting. Also not the S&DJt.

[trisonic]

To the OP.

 

 

Do you have the original print? If so was it taken by family? Where was your family from? Failing that are there any codes on the back of the photo that may give a clue to the part of the country at least? What else do you know about the photo, how did you come across it?

 

Stuff like that.

 

Best, Pete.

[stewartingram]

Its got a LNWR feel to me, Northamptonshire perhaps?

[Anglian]

The unusual buffers with their double sections – has anybody come across this feature before?

[Blandford1969]

Hi all,

 

Sadly I don't have a print from this one, it was one of a collection of unidentified negatives of stations I purchased a while ago.

 

Trisonic, you mention it might have been taken by your family, where were they from or do you have a print?

 

I have elarged the crane as requested.

[jon attwood]

the unusual buffer stops, and light railway style track suggest to me that it might be a private or industrial railway, perhaps an interchange with the main railway system or perhaps even a staff halt? i seem to recall seeing similar 'homemade' buffer stops in a photo of a colliery system somewhere, but cant find it in any of my reference material at the mo.

jon

[trisonic]

Hi all,

 

o.

 

Trisonic, you mention it might have been taken by your family, where were they from or do you have a print?

 

 

No, that is not what I said at all!

 

Was it a completely seperate negative or any others connected to it?

 

As Robert Palmer sang, I'm just looking for clues......

 

Best, Pete

 

 

 

[Blandford1969]

Sorry misunderstood you, no it was one of a series, this one was a small slightly larger than a 35mm, where as the others were all 35mm.

 

They came in a lot of negs i picked up at a photo fair at Kidderminster, but as i say none of them were identififed.

 

Kind regards

 

Duncan

[trisonic]

Duncan,

I still think it is somewhere on the GER - right out in the wilds! I was just checking out photos of the Kelvedon-Tollesbury Branch and it was tantalizing...........there's a thread on this site.

 

Best, Pete.

[PhilJ W]

Duncan,

I still think it is somewhere on the GER - right out in the wilds! I was just checking out photos of the Kelvedon-Tollesbury Branch and it was tantalizing...........there's a thread on this site.

 

Best, Pete.

Sorry Pete, but there is no semblance of a hill on or near the Kelvedon-Tollesbury branch. Neither is it the Saffron Walden branch as the station buildings on both lines were more often or not old carriage bodies.

[Anglian]

Definitely not the Saffron Walden branch. Pretty certain its not the Buntingford branch either.

[trisonic]

I'm retiring!

 

Best, Pete.

[Kenton]

still think the proportions of those windows facing the "platform" and the relative tonal "colours" should help significantly to narrow down the region/railway company concerned. There are 3 distinct "colors" involved white/cream and a darker maroon/black edges and frames, with a grey lower boarding. GWR would have looked nothing like that in b+w

 

I think the windswept tress could be misleading as this occurs in many parts of the country.

I was thinking Ludlow Hereford area, or peak district possibly?

[Jamie]

Perhaps someone from the Caledonian area can come up with the answer.

FWIW I went through my Southern Scotland "bible" - Robotham's Branchlines and Byways - Southwest Scotland and the Border Counties and saw nothing similar. Monopitch roofed wooden buildings, yes, but of a markedly different style.

 

The bufferstops are indeed very distinctive, but not a style I can recall seeing.

 

But please do not consider my answer as definitive in any way. I shall have further dips through what little I have on the railways of the borders in case any "house styles" are evident, or indeed those bufferstops.

 

Killin: http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=16399

(image may resize browser, dependent on your settings)

I don't see all that much resemblence there either

[TheSignalEngineer]

Hi Bill,

 

Blow up of farmhouse as requested. I'd never noticed the unusual way the buffer stops have an additional support.

 

In terms of the Scottish Borders, its certainly not on one of the Branches off the Waverley, but do wonder about the Caledonian - it does have a slight similarity with Loch Tay or Killin, but the CR is not my area of expertise.

 

I also attach a scan of the track to help

 

Thanks again for all your suggestions

 

kind regards

 

Duncan

 

 

Sleeper fence has 4 hole chair marks. Not GW, possibly LNW, but don't look right shape impressions.

[Shadow]

Just been looking through Nick Catfords' Disused Stations site and noticed that Woodvale

had a not dis-similar style of shelter. (If it helps, or just misleads a bit more!!)

[Geoff Endacott]

People seem to be assuming that this is somewhere on the UK mainland, but could it be overseas?

 

Geoff Endacott

[Oldddudders]

People seem to be assuming that this is somewhere on the UK mainland, but could it be overseas?

 

Geoff Endacott

I think the farmhouse etc in the background is definitely British Isles. To me it seems utterly British, but is becoming more intriguing as more and more earnest folk rule out their own bailiwick!

[The Stationmaster]

People seem to be assuming that this is somewhere on the UK mainland, but could it be overseas?

 

Geoff Endacott

 

Bullhead rail and chaired sleepers with with what looks like galvanised coach screws securing the chairs plus the building in the background looks very British to me Geoff.

[PhilJ W]

Does any one recognize the crane? Many pre-grouping companies had their own style of such equipment. There are also signs that the station was still in use, the platform face appears to have been rebuilt not long before the photograph was taken. The fact that the station is on a sharply curving track is unusual, a Colonel Stephens line perhaps, the Plymouth, Devonport and SW Junction Railway for instance.

[Kenton]

Just been looking through Nick Catfords' Disused Stations site and noticed that Woodvale

had a not dis-similar style of shelter. (If it helps, or just misleads a bit more!!)

No quite a different style and regional colouring.

An important feature of this station building is the fact that the station face windows go from a relatively low height to the top of the roof barge board and are therefore higher than the doorway (presumably standard 76") That makes these windows quite large for such a structure. The roof appears to be corrugated iron.

 

As the notice boards all appear to be empty which supports the statement already made that the photo was taken when likely to have been out of use/closed to passengers .. or during a refurb? But so many notice boards on a goods only. No I think this was once a relatively busy country station.

 

The "farm" is certainly quite substantial if the other buildings in the station yard (both to the left and right of the station in the photo) were part of it. Also a crane was not a common a sight in sidings of remote stations. I still believe there is more than just the 2 sidings we can see and the farm could well have been "industry".

 

Of course it doesn't have to be country station as many towns had their station outside in the country.