Not perhaps my favourite, but one I can remember fondly is on the Mid-Hants line on a winter afternoon, shortly before it closed. Ratthling down the hill towards Alton sitting in a compartment on an old diesel unit, the wheels drumming out their beat on ancient short rails making the speed seem much faster than it was - magic! When we arrived only one other passenger got off!
Also, as a teenager, a Festiniog Railway experience of "gravitating" on trolleys in the early morning on flat trucks between Moelwyn Tunnel and Tan-y-Bwlch - a bit scary TBH when running along the mountainside near Garnedd Tunnel.
I've done the Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town - that was pretty special.
It's very changed now but I used to go on the train to school from Kidderminster to Birmingham in the 1990s and that was a fascinating bit of railway. You went from rural, into the Black Country, with the sky lit up on dark winter mornings by the light from the open doors of forges, huge pre-war housing estates many of which at the time still had air raid shelters. I coundted them once - you could see 27 Anderson shelters on the climb from Old Hill to Rowley Regis tunnel - then the great factories on the approach to Snow Hill, and finally disgorged into the heart of the greatest city on earth.
I did enjoy the Kyle of Lochalsh line when I had cause to take it as far as Plockton from Inverness a few years ago. I do like the NW Highlands, and consider it a historic failure that no-one found an excuse (and an enormous pile of cash) to drive a line up to Ullapool.
I also remember a journey across Romania from Sibiu to Timisoara some years ago. The train was slow (but punctual) and took 8 hours - but the first half of the journey down through the Carpathians was lovely in the afternoon sunshine.
I too enjoyed the occasional gravity working onthe Festiniog, and a trip in the observation car on the Kyle line, with live commentary. As a youngster, a favourite was when my parents, keen walkers, took us out into thee Chiterns by train, in steam days. the four-minute change at Rickmansworth from electric loco to steam which was worth watching (it would not be allowed now on safety grounds), the climb up to Chalfont and the change at Chalfont to the Chesham push-pull, that always seemed to take the twisty descent to the Chess valley at breakneck speed, were all memorable.
Going to and from Plymouth in my service days I always liked the bit along the sea wall at Dawlish - that can be pretty spectacular.
My dream closed railway to reopen, which I genuinely think could be the Welsh Highland of the north in terms of tourism and scenery, would be Alnwick to Coldstream. It has always struck me as eminently doable too (assuming funding), because most of the formation is still there ready to go. It's the only disused railway line I've ever seen where not only are most (all?) of the stations still there - albeit now as private houses - but there are still signal boxes, and all sorts of other ancillary structures, just standing there in the middle of nowhere.
I know it ended its days as two branch lines that didn't meet in the middle because of a damaged bridge, but every time I'm up there I can't help thinking that there would be a great Railway Adventure to be had putting it all back....
It pains me to say this as an avid GC chap, but the most memorable (closed) railway for me is the former MR route from Manchester Central to Derby. I remember going on this with my grandparents. Although the train took 4 hours to get to London, the bit between Manchester and Derby was wonderfully scenic. We took lunch in a dining car, complete with white tablecloths and smart waiters - an experience which is now virtually unobtainable except on a special excursion at stupid prices. The meal must have been cheap(ish) because my grandparents were not rich, albeit granddad had a PT as a former railwayman. Actually, I wonder how much it was in real terms. It really can't have been excessive.
time to really rekindle my kitmaking abilities with the discovery that someone is silly enough to offer the C13 in OO as a 3-D printed body, and one of those was definitely lurking at Woodford Halse in the early 1950s.
Just got to sort out chassis, wheels, gears, motor...
My local line was the Midland, but further south. Our station - Mill Hill Broadway - had changed very little since MR days, with its station building, canopies, signal box, gas lighting, station master's house and diagonal fencing. Only the rather utilititarian LMS ticket office on the up side was new. I can still remember a siding - possibly a horse loading bay - let into the up main platform which intriguingly ended with the rails disappearing into a sand drag. This must have been in around 1958.
Things slowly changed. The station building and canopies all went in the 1960s, to be replaced by modern functional ones (and a new subway - the old one was disgusting). The signal box closed and trhe new colour lights were operated from Hendon. The house slid into dereliction and was eventually pulled down. The LMS ticket office had to go when the M1 motorway was built adjacent to the railway and the entrance rebuilt under it. And the road bridge over the Broadway was replaced - good thing too as it often flooded.
But at least it's still open, and with a far better service than ever before.
It pains me to say this as an avid GC chap, but the most memorable (closed) railway for me is the former MR route from Manchester Central to Derby. I remember going on this with my grandparents. Although the train took 4 hours to get to London, the bit between Manchester and Derby was wonderfully scenic. We took lunch in a dining car, complete with white tablecloths and smart waiters - an experience which is now virtually unobtainable except on a special excursion at stupid prices. The meal must have been cheap(ish) because my grandparents were not rich, albeit granddad had a PT as a former railwayman. Actually, I wonder how much it was in real terms. It really can't have been excessive.
To quote Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingauld, 'Ah, yes, I remember it well'. Almost all freight was banked from Rowsley to Peak Forest or Buxton, while expresses stormed uphill as hard as they could go. There's a magnificent book on the line in the District Controller series. It describes a day's operation in the mid-fifties and includes the Hope Valley line as well. It gave me a great deal of sustenance in the various lockdowns we've had.
I was going to say Dawlish as well, but I'd also say the WCML through the Lake District - and over Shap - is awesome.
My most memorable rail journey is probably the one I took to get to (former Shipmate) ken's funeral. It was on the Friday of the week I was on cricket tour in Devon, so I booked a seat on the Golden Hind from Newton Abbot to London. Travelled over the sea wall between Teignmouth and Exeter, then had a Pullman breakfast while watching Berks and Hants fly by as we ran non-stop from Taunton to Reading. A sad occasion, but a great run.
Anyone got any experience volunteering on the Talyllyn? I appreciate this is a long shot...
I've been a member for years but haven't actually been since 1989. I *think* they're set up for people coming a long distance to do the odd couple of days and then going again?
Regarding the Midland Pullman, I've found this short film, where a milkman drives the train. At least that's what I take his spotless white outfit to mean...!
Sorry to revert to this so late in the day (I don't visit SoF as often as I used to), but the driver was Ernie Morris, who was killed the following year on the same service at Knowle and Dorridge by a signalman's error. The train was the spare set of old Pullman coaches; he was driving a 'Western' class diesel-hydraulic locomotive. https://railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=877
It pains me to say this as an avid GC chap, but the most memorable (closed) railway for me is the former MR route from Manchester Central to Derby. I remember going on this with my grandparents. Although the train took 4 hours to get to London, the bit between Manchester and Derby was wonderfully scenic. We took lunch in a dining car, complete with white tablecloths and smart waiters - an experience which is now virtually unobtainable except on a special excursion at stupid prices. The meal must have been cheap(ish) because my grandparents were not rich, albeit granddad had a PT as a former railwayman. Actually, I wonder how much it was in real terms. It really can't have been excessive.
Presume that included what is now the fantastic Monsal Trail cycle route between Bakewell and almost to Buxton. There was some talk pre-Covid of reopening the Matlock-Buxton railway; interesting to see petitions in local coffee shops against reopening a railway line!
Presume that included what is now the fantastic Monsal Trail cycle route between Bakewell and almost to Buxton. There was some talk pre-Covid of reopening the Matlock-Buxton railway; interesting to see petitions in local coffee shops against reopening a railway line!
Yes, and that is why I am utterly opposed to closed railways being converted to cycle routes. It effectively prevents reopening.
Looking through some of the links I've gathered thanks to this thread, I've just rediscovered The Electric Autocar!
We may have talked about it before, but I think it's a fascinating story. I personally didn't know that battery-powered railway vehicles of this size were made in the early 20th century! I knew of smaller shunting-type engines, but this one beats them all.
Vincent Raven was a great advocate of electrification, as was the North Eastern Railway in general. Hence it electrified the Newcastle suburban lines in around 1900 (third rail) and also the Shildon mineral line (overhead) about 10 years later. Plans were also drawn up I believe to electrify the ECML between York and Newcastle. Sadly BR de-electrified the Newcastle lines and replaced the trains by DMUs - they're mostly now part of the Metro. And it ewasn't worth upgrading the electrical equipment on the Shildon line which had worn out by the mid-1930s, as traffic had collapsed; the line reverted to steam.
I've a contribution to the 'memorable railway journeys' suggestion upthread - Bakerloo line in the very early 80s. I'd have been 10 or 11 years old, and it must have been quite close to when they withdrew the 1938 stock. It seems I was always a sucker for knackered old gear near the end of its life. I remember the red-green moquette, wooden floors and window frames, green-ey interiors and 'proper' lightbulbs in round glass shades. And the noise, and smell, and shaking!
And the particular noise at stations as the air compressor came on and off.
I'm a bit older than you, and remember the odd car of "Standard" 1927 stock mixed in with the 1938 carriages. Not much different TBH though I don't think they had the small doors at the end. And they tended to be smoking carriages, which I disliked. https://live.staticflickr.com/8093/8511318148_04e8597381_b.jpg
I still like the Underground, even though it is very crowded these days.
Even more memorable: the Glasgow Subway just before it closed in the mid-70s: the rattling and general shoogling about, the tiny trains and stations, the damp, decrepitude and smell ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSXmmrVSq8
... Plans were also drawn up I believe to electrify the ECML between York and Newcastle. ...
Not only that. Raven built a 4-6-4 1500V DC electric express loco for it which never got the chance to be used. The LNER inherited it, and it lasted in storage until early BR. It was allocated the BR number 26600 but I've no idea whether it ever carried it.
A sad monument to the inertia that afflicted railway development in the UK between 1910 and the electrification of the WCML in the 1960s.
Raven built a 4-6-4 1500V DC electric express loco for it which never got the chance to be used. The LNER inherited it, and it lasted in storage until early BR. It was allocated the BR number 26600 but I've no idea whether it ever carried it.
One of the Shildon locos survived as a shunter at Ilford Depot into the 1950s, I believe.
I do remember a trip to Penistone (by bus!) to see the Woodhead electrics - this was in about 1972 after passenger services had ceased. I was there for long enough to see several locos pass, most impressive.
I did actually alight once at Sheffield Victoria; this would have probably been in late 1964 and we'd travelled (first-class Pullman!) on the "Master Cutler". The loco was an EE Class 40, not (of course) an electric - they didn't run to Retford where we left the ECML I was disappointed: I'd wanted a "Deltic".
@Baptist Trainfan thank you for that. Tracing it is quite an achievement.
I can remember my father taking me one wet Saturday afternoon to Dinting, probably 1954-5 when 'an electric railway' was still a bit of a novelty. There were Emus on the one from Glossop, electric hauled freights and an express went through which he told me was from Marylebone to Manchester. It may well have had one fo the bigger Co-Co electrics at the head.
I also spent a good morning train-spotting at Sheffield Victoria in the late fifties. All operation then was either electric or steam. The highlight of the morning, eagerly awaited by all spotters, was the arrival of the northbound boat train from Harwich to Manchester and Liverpool pulled by a Sandringham.
I also travelled over that line sometime at the end of the 1970s, not all that long before it closed.
And the particular noise at stations as the air compressor came on and off.
I'm a bit older than you, and remember the odd car of "Standard" 1927 stock mixed in with the 1938 carriages. Not much different TBH though I don't think they had the small doors at the end. And they tended to be smoking carriages, which I disliked. https://live.staticflickr.com/8093/8511318148_04e8597381_b.jpg
I still like the Underground, even though it is very crowded these days.
Even more memorable: the Glasgow Subway just before it closed in the mid-70s: the rattling and general shoogling about, the tiny trains and stations, the damp, decrepitude and smell ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSXmmrVSq8
I enjoyed that Glasgow film preview. The tiny trains reminded me of the railway on Southend pier, which was derelict by the time I remember looking at it.
And the noise you mention - a kind of rising hum with a 'knack-a-knack-a-knack-a' superimposed on the top? That's what's coming to mind.
Raven built a 4-6-4 1500V DC electric express loco for it which never got the chance to be used. The LNER inherited it, and it lasted in storage until early BR. It was allocated the BR number 26600 but I've no idea whether it ever carried it.
Thank you, I stand corrected. So, in that sense it was a precursor of the diesel-electrics, is that right? - And the steam railmotor looks fabulous too!
Raven built a 4-6-4 1500V DC electric express loco for it which never got the chance to be used. The LNER inherited it, and it lasted in storage until early BR. It was allocated the BR number 26600 but I've no idea whether it ever carried it.
Now, how the driver would have seen anything of the track out of those tiny windows is beyond me!
Good point. But pictures in this video suggest that visibility might have been better than it appears (don't get the two classes mixed though) - and probably better than along the boiler of a large steam loco. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2PDaBqSD7U
Anyone been to the Manx Electric Railway and/or the Snaefell Mountain Railway? The latter especially looks quite attractive to me.
There's even a cab ride video on YouTube which I'll hvae to watch!
I have done Snaefell - it's worth a ride on its own terms but even better if you pick a day when you can actually see from the summit as the views are pretty special.
I've seen a lot of the Manx Electric as both a pedestrian and car driver, which was enough for me really. The Isle of Man Railway is still on the to-do list though.
I've done all the Isle of Man railways. The Snaefell one does indeed need a clear day when you can see England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Manx Electric also has spectacular views on a good day, make sure you sit on the coastal side of the train!
Hmm, I meant the days when the steam train, too, went to Ramsey, via St John's and the west coast. In Peel (which sounds lovely), the House of Manannan is the old station.
I went on a holiday in he Isle of Man in the days when the entire IOMR (bar the Foxdale branche, the MER and the SMR were running, and rode the lot. Wonderful trip, if you discount the sea crossing.
Anyone been to the Manx Electric Railway and/or the Snaefell Mountain Railway?
Me!! We took the train to the top of Snaefell, and it was a beautiful ride. The day was very pretty, but there was enough haze in the air to hide the other five kingdoms. And it was cold up there, at least we four Floridians thought so! The best part was being in the company of Baby Bear and The Gremlin!
Anyone been to the Manx Electric Railway and/or the Snaefell Mountain Railway?
Me!! We took the train to the top of Snaefell, and it was a beautiful ride. The day was very pretty, but there was enough haze in the air to hide the other five kingdoms. And it was cold up there, at least we four Floridians thought so! The best part was being in the company of Baby Bear and The Gremlin!
Sorry, my thinking may have derailed momentarily - but what are the 7 kingdoms? In the context of Snaefell I think I've heard of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland... and the Kingdom of God?
Sorry, my thinking may have derailed momentarily - but what are the 7 kingdoms? In the context of Snaefell I think I've heard of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland... and the Kingdom of God?
Comments
Also, as a teenager, a Festiniog Railway experience of "gravitating" on trolleys in the early morning on flat trucks between Moelwyn Tunnel and Tan-y-Bwlch - a bit scary TBH when running along the mountainside near Garnedd Tunnel.
It's very changed now but I used to go on the train to school from Kidderminster to Birmingham in the 1990s and that was a fascinating bit of railway. You went from rural, into the Black Country, with the sky lit up on dark winter mornings by the light from the open doors of forges, huge pre-war housing estates many of which at the time still had air raid shelters. I coundted them once - you could see 27 Anderson shelters on the climb from Old Hill to Rowley Regis tunnel - then the great factories on the approach to Snow Hill, and finally disgorged into the heart of the greatest city on earth.
The Severn Valley is pretty special too.
I also remember a journey across Romania from Sibiu to Timisoara some years ago. The train was slow (but punctual) and took 8 hours - but the first half of the journey down through the Carpathians was lovely in the afternoon sunshine.
My dream closed railway to reopen, which I genuinely think could be the Welsh Highland of the north in terms of tourism and scenery, would be Alnwick to Coldstream. It has always struck me as eminently doable too (assuming funding), because most of the formation is still there ready to go. It's the only disused railway line I've ever seen where not only are most (all?) of the stations still there - albeit now as private houses - but there are still signal boxes, and all sorts of other ancillary structures, just standing there in the middle of nowhere.
I know it ended its days as two branch lines that didn't meet in the middle because of a damaged bridge, but every time I'm up there I can't help thinking that there would be a great Railway Adventure to be had putting it all back....
Just got to sort out chassis, wheels, gears, motor...
Things slowly changed. The station building and canopies all went in the 1960s, to be replaced by modern functional ones (and a new subway - the old one was disgusting). The signal box closed and trhe new colour lights were operated from Hendon. The house slid into dereliction and was eventually pulled down. The LMS ticket office had to go when the M1 motorway was built adjacent to the railway and the entrance rebuilt under it. And the road bridge over the Broadway was replaced - good thing too as it often flooded.
But at least it's still open, and with a far better service than ever before.
My most memorable rail journey is probably the one I took to get to (former Shipmate) ken's funeral. It was on the Friday of the week I was on cricket tour in Devon, so I booked a seat on the Golden Hind from Newton Abbot to London. Travelled over the sea wall between Teignmouth and Exeter, then had a Pullman breakfast while watching Berks and Hants fly by as we ran non-stop from Taunton to Reading. A sad occasion, but a great run.
I've been a member for years but haven't actually been since 1989. I *think* they're set up for people coming a long distance to do the odd couple of days and then going again?
Sorry to revert to this so late in the day (I don't visit SoF as often as I used to), but the driver was Ernie Morris, who was killed the following year on the same service at Knowle and Dorridge by a signalman's error. The train was the spare set of old Pullman coaches; he was driving a 'Western' class diesel-hydraulic locomotive.
https://railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=877
fine with that - although actually thinking very seriously about the Outdoor Work Weeks
Presume that included what is now the fantastic Monsal Trail cycle route between Bakewell and almost to Buxton. There was some talk pre-Covid of reopening the Matlock-Buxton railway; interesting to see petitions in local coffee shops against reopening a railway line!
Yes, and that is why I am utterly opposed to closed railways being converted to cycle routes. It effectively prevents reopening.
We may have talked about it before, but I think it's a fascinating story. I personally didn't know that battery-powered railway vehicles of this size were made in the early 20th century! I knew of smaller shunting-type engines, but this one beats them all.
Vincent Raven was a great advocate of electrification, as was the North Eastern Railway in general. Hence it electrified the Newcastle suburban lines in around 1900 (third rail) and also the Shildon mineral line (overhead) about 10 years later. Plans were also drawn up I believe to electrify the ECML between York and Newcastle. Sadly BR de-electrified the Newcastle lines and replaced the trains by DMUs - they're mostly now part of the Metro. And it ewasn't worth upgrading the electrical equipment on the Shildon line which had worn out by the mid-1930s, as traffic had collapsed; the line reverted to steam.
I'm a bit older than you, and remember the odd car of "Standard" 1927 stock mixed in with the 1938 carriages. Not much different TBH though I don't think they had the small doors at the end. And they tended to be smoking carriages, which I disliked. https://live.staticflickr.com/8093/8511318148_04e8597381_b.jpg
I still like the Underground, even though it is very crowded these days.
Even more memorable: the Glasgow Subway just before it closed in the mid-70s: the rattling and general shoogling about, the tiny trains and stations, the damp, decrepitude and smell ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSXmmrVSq8
A sad monument to the inertia that afflicted railway development in the UK between 1910 and the electrification of the WCML in the 1960s.
One of the Shildon locos survived as a shunter at Ilford Depot into the 1950s, I believe.
I do remember a trip to Penistone (by bus!) to see the Woodhead electrics - this was in about 1972 after passenger services had ceased. I was there for long enough to see several locos pass, most impressive.
I did actually alight once at Sheffield Victoria; this would have probably been in late 1964 and we'd travelled (first-class Pullman!) on the "Master Cutler". The loco was an EE Class 40, not (of course) an electric - they didn't run to Retford where we left the ECML I was disappointed: I'd wanted a "Deltic".
I can remember my father taking me one wet Saturday afternoon to Dinting, probably 1954-5 when 'an electric railway' was still a bit of a novelty. There were Emus on the one from Glossop, electric hauled freights and an express went through which he told me was from Marylebone to Manchester. It may well have had one fo the bigger Co-Co electrics at the head.
I also spent a good morning train-spotting at Sheffield Victoria in the late fifties. All operation then was either electric or steam. The highlight of the morning, eagerly awaited by all spotters, was the arrival of the northbound boat train from Harwich to Manchester and Liverpool pulled by a Sandringham.
I also travelled over that line sometime at the end of the 1970s, not all that long before it closed.
Glossop had Emus, the Great Western had Toads and the Great Eastern had Buckjumpers.
I enjoyed that Glasgow film preview. The tiny trains reminded me of the railway on Southend pier, which was derelict by the time I remember looking at it.
And the noise you mention - a kind of rising hum with a 'knack-a-knack-a-knack-a' superimposed on the top? That's what's coming to mind.
I think the original NER railcar was petrol-electric, but in the restored version a diesel engine powers the generator. Didcot's SRM is splendid.
Now, how the driver would have seen anything of the track out of those tiny windows is beyond me!
Thank you, I stand corrected. So, in that sense it was a precursor of the diesel-electrics, is that right? - And the steam railmotor looks fabulous too!
Good point. But pictures in this video suggest that visibility might have been better than it appears (don't get the two classes mixed though) - and probably better than along the boiler of a large steam loco. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2PDaBqSD7U
There's even a cab ride video on YouTube which I'll hvae to watch!
I have done Snaefell - it's worth a ride on its own terms but even better if you pick a day when you can actually see from the summit as the views are pretty special.
I've seen a lot of the Manx Electric as both a pedestrian and car driver, which was enough for me really. The Isle of Man Railway is still on the to-do list though.
Me!! We took the train to the top of Snaefell, and it was a beautiful ride. The day was very pretty, but there was enough haze in the air to hide the other five kingdoms. And it was cold up there, at least we four Floridians thought so! The best part was being in the company of Baby Bear and The Gremlin!
Five kingdoms? Seven!
And a very interesting museum it is too.
Whoops!! Sorry for the mess up!
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Mann, heaven, Neptune