Andy Kirkham

The Talyllyn would seem to be the obvious one, but if your family would really prefer a short journey the Corris is quite charming.

On Sidmouth sea front.

I suppose it's either, but the Granges had redesigned cylinders, which led to them being considered by some superior to Halls.

It's not their fault they do not know The birdsong from the radio, It's not their fault they often go To Maidenhead And talk of sport and makes of cars In various bogus-Tudor bars And daren't look up and see the stars But belch instead.

Can't you just feel the icy chill?

it's definitely redolent of my childhood. I'd have been sitting on the back seat of the car with a bottle of pop and a packet of crisps.

Is that a D600?

Seen here

Reminds me of the passage by George Behrend in Gone With Regret: There was the day when some passengers presented themselves at Newbury with luggage in quantity. The gentleman of the party was more pleased than ever when in response to thanks for assistance with it, I remarked that it was nice to have a few passengers, as it helped to keep the line open. Curiosity overcame politeness at the discovery that the party was proceeding to Paris via Le Havre, venturing correctly to address him by name, whereat he was even more surprised. "Only Mr John Betjeman, or possibly myself", I said, "would dream of going to Paris this way!" At this Mrs Betjeman said none too warmly that she thought this was a direct train, and was not pleased to learn that though indeed it was, there were fifteen stops on the thirty-four-mile journey!

Possibly yes, in the form of Oliver Veltom, https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/23502684.letter-powys-railway-owes-thanks-shropshire-man/

Reported on the Isengard Welsh Highland site http://www.isengard.co.uk/ New TRAWS route proposed A new route for the proposed TRAWS North Wales-South Wales rail service has been proposed which involves less new construction and may garner more political support that existing plans via Aberystwyth. The proposers are taking advantage of the focus on Welsh politics caused by the General Election to gather support for the scheme. Instead of reopening Aberystwyth-Carmarthen with its expensive new tunnel exit from Aberystwyth, the route uses a section of the Cambrian east from Machynlleth to join the Mid Wales railway from the former Moat Lane Junction near Caersws to a junction on Shrewsbury-Swansea Central Wales Line at Builth Road which is then followed to Swansea. The section to be restored between Moat Lane Junction and Builth Road Junction is much shorter than Aberystwyth-Carmarthen and also less developed. It also avoids reversals at both Machynlleth and Aberystwyth. Reinstated loops might be required at Caemmaes Road, Llanbrynmair and Caersws with a new curve onto the Mid Wales at the site of Moat Lane depot near Caersws. The Mid Wales route through Llanidloes would be reclaimed from the current A470 bypass and the A470 rerouted around the east of the town via a new bypass. South of here the trackbed is largely clear via a summit of over 1000 feet at Pant-y-dwr before the route enters the Wye Valley. Rhayader comes next and then there is junction with the existing Central Wales Line just south of the existing Builth Road station where a new station would be required. There is an opportunity to construct a deviation of about 10km between Rhayader and Llandrindod Wells to serve one of the few centres of population in this area but it would require a short tunnel around the north of Rhayader. Additional loops might be required on the Central Wales between Builth Road and Llanelli depending on the frequency of service.. The proposers must be hoping that candidates for Montgomeryshire and Brecon & Radnorshire might campaign to reopen the rail route to reconnect a North-South rail route within Wales. Both of these seats were held until recently by Liberal Democrats who will be campaigning hard to reclaim them from the Tories. The prospect of trains running once again through Tylwch, Pant-y-Dwr and St Harmon is very appealing, but I feel this is really just another pipe dream.

Here's a better picture (from here https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnische_Ostbahn)

Another place with a similar configuration was Međeđa in Bosnia. There was a junction beyond the bridge and each branch disappeared into a tunnel. In this photo the second tunnel is hidden behind the station building

And strangely enough, the station building seems to have lost its upper stories, then regained them post-closure. https://www.railastur.es/el-ministerio-buscara-alternativas-de-uso-a-diez-estaciones-en-la-rampa-de-pajares/fuso-de-la-reina/

It lasted until quite recently. According to this it closed in 2009 https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuso_de_la_Reina