Trainspotting

[Compo 10,328]

I suspect it is the aforementioned Arisaig - doesn't the West Highland line take a jut out to the west before turning north eastward to reach Morar and Mallaig?

Correct Stephen. You win a coconut - call in annd copllect your prize anytime before 17th October.

I had thought it to be Mallaig until I visited Arisaig last week

[Compo 10,328]

Mercurydancer: Was it pushing the carriage or was it pulling but 'Tender first' perhaps?

[Compo 10,328]

Bullhead track outside our house too. Many of the "Chairs" have 1922 dates on them and very few date from later than 1948. Things were built to last in the days of old.

[davidbird 2]

Without resorting to 'looking-it-up' can anyone identify this station (Clue....it's not Penzance):

You've beaten me to seeing the new plaque on Arisaig Station, I've not seen it yet and its only 6 miles down the line! ScotRail, at the insistence of the Scottish Government are re-branding (again) to remove all company-specific references. Hence the removal of the First logo and replacement with the styalised saltire. Here's the old plaque (not my photo)

Still this should mean we won't be re-branded again when Abellio take over in April...

[davidbird 2]

Bullhead track outside our house too. Many of the "Chairs" have 1922 dates on them and very few date from later than 1948. Things were built to last in the days of old.

Just seen where you are - I thought I was a long way from Nottingham...

[Compo 10,328]

Where are you, David?

[firbeck 859]

I was driving to work today alongside the A66, which goes through Middlesbrough. No one can say its the worlds most picturesque road, but today held something special.

The Sir Nigel Gresley was on the track alongside the A66. Its configuration was a little odd as the carriage was in front of the engine. I took a left turn and got to a place where I could see it. A lovely sight and brightened my day immensely.

I think the Sir Nigel was there as its linked with the North Yorkshire Moors railway.

To get from the NYM railway to the mainline at Middlesbrough and vice versa entails a few reversals en route, it doesn't surprise me that the carriage was in front. It's a similar story on the North Norfolk Railway, at great expense they reinstated the level crossing at Sheringham and reconnected to the main line and it's bus shelter apology of a station, the idea being to run steam specials straight through. Well they run the occasional Britannia up from Liverpool Street, the problem is service trains have to reverse at Cromer to get to Sheringham as the triangular junction was taken out many years ago. Subsequently a diesel has to be attached to the end of the train at Norwich and the whole ensemble pulled backwards up the Poppy Line to Cromer, how undignified for a Britannia Pacific.

I took these a couple of years ago, here's a Sheringham bound steam special about to leave Witham Station (Braintree branch curving away at the front of the loco).

They must have short of diesel power at Norwich as a Class 37 was already attached to the rear of the train.

It doesn't look right does it, made worse by that snowplough, I don't know what weather they were expecting that day on the Norfolk coast!

[davidbird 2]

Where are you, David?

We're at the end of the line...

(You may need to empty your messages, it says you cannot receive any more messages...)

[StephenFord 866]

David - if you are at Mallaig, then you ARE a long way from Nottingham. BUT if you were to visit Compo by train (assuming trains still stopped at his station), you'd be even farther away. By my reckoning Mallaig to Nottingham is between 451 and 464 miles depending on which route you take. However Mallaig to Wick via Glasgow, Perth and Inverness works out at 506 miles or thereabouts. Obviously this is a very circuitous route. By road the distances are 429 miles to Nottingham, versus 207 miles to Wick. The train journey Mallaig to Wick takes just over 16 hours - leaving at 6.03 and arriving at 22.11. Leaving Mallaig on the same train, you could reach Nottingham by 17.27.

I felt sure that lots of people actually wanted to know that !

[firbeck 859]

David - if you are at Mallaig, then you ARE a long way from Nottingham. BUT if you were to visit Compo by train (assuming trains still stopped at his station), you'd be even farther away. By my reckoning Mallaig to Nottingham is between 451 and 464 miles depending on which route you take. However Mallaig to Wick via Glasgow, Perth and Inverness works out at 506 miles or thereabouts. Obviously this is a very circuitous route. By road the distances are 429 miles to Nottingham, versus 207 miles to Wick. The train journey Mallaig to Wick takes just over 16 hours - leaving at 6.03 and arriving at 22.11. Leaving Mallaig on the same train, you could reach Nottingham by 17.27.

I felt sure that lots of people actually wanted to know that !

Well,I thought it was an interesting fact! Would it be possible to take the ferry to Armadale, bus/taxi to Kyle then train to Dingwall changing for Wick. Watten station appears to have closed in 1960, the platform's still there though, perhaps a decent bottle of malt in the drivers hand might persuade him to stop.

At the time, being sick of life in the South, we found a lovely little farmstead in Watten about 10 years ago when property prices up there were silly money compared to down here and anywhere else for that matter. To recall, it was a newish large bungalow with big modern outbuildings and about 30 acres and incredible views for about 30 grand compared to our house with 1/4 acre valued at 300 grand. Trouble is it was very remote, huge distances away from family and friends and what could we do to make a living, wish we'd taken the chance and gone though! You didn't buy it did you Compo?

[mercurydancer 1,104]

I didnt see the Sir Nigel move, it was just on the track but with much steam. It appeared to blow off steam every couple of minutes, but there was a LOT of steam! I only had about 10 mins to look at it, but it was gleaming even in the horrible rain.

[StephenFord 866]

Re #85 - Firbeck : Yes, you could leave Mallaig by ferry at 9.30 or 12.20. Bus (with one change en-route) from Armadale to Kyle of Lochalsh. Trains leave Kyle at 12.05 or 14.37. The 12.05 has a half hour connection at Dingwall, getting to Wick at 18.16 - a mere 8.3/4 hours. The 14.37 train has a two hour connection reaching Wick at 22.11.

[Compo 10,328]

Last year I measured 459 miles from home at Watten Station, to West Bridgford (In daylight - might be a little more in darkness). This was via Penrith and Scotch Corner.

[Compo 10,328]

Stephen: One snag with your timings.....Since privatization trains in the far north no longer run on time, as they used to; nor do they wait for late connections. This means that is is a real possibility that your trip would be extended considerably.

[firbeck 859]

Just out of interest how does the mileage compare with the Mallaig/Glasgow/Inverness route. I remember in the early 80's driving from Kyle to Inverness which more or less follows the Kyle railway line. I stopped off at one of the remote stations along there for a nose round and was amazed to find it in totally original condition complete with a full set of light blue BR enamel signs and totems. Had it been 20 years earlier and I'd been with Bilbraborn, the screwdriver and spanner would have been put to good use, as it was, being older and more circumspect, I was just happy to witness this rare survivor from a bygone age, I expect it's all been replaced with a bloody bus shelter now.

[Compo 10,328]

Firbeck: We have lived in teh old staion for 20yrs now. We didn't buy the farm but ther eare still decent deals to bbe had around here. A recent example (August) is a 10acre farm with stone outbuildings and sea cliffs on one boundary. £140K

[StephenFord 866]

Compo : Yes, I should have put the qualification "on a good day with a following wind" ! I'm not saying that I would trust those timings in real life.

[firbeck 859]

Firbeck: We have lived in teh old staion for 20yrs now. We didn't buy the farm but ther eare still decent deals to bbe had around here. A recent example (August) is a 10acre farm with stone outbuildings and sea cliffs on one boundary. £140K

That was going to be my next question, do you live in the old station house, looks great, has it got many original features. My brother lives in the old Denby station house near Ripley, it's fantastic, the entrance hall was the old booking office, it's still got the ticket window and lovely Victorian Minton tiles on the floor. It was tatty when he bought it but I drew up plans for a sympathetic extension and he's done a lovely restoration job, MR style fencing, paving bricks, it's even painted MR maroon and of course, plenty of Midland Railway cast iron railway signs, he'd love to get hold of the lamp shed and platform that are next door. Have you got the right to wave down trains on Watten platform!

[Compo 10,328]

Firbeck: Our house, looking west towards Georgemas Jn. You can just see the level crossing lights at the end of the platform lawn. The line still runs past the house (station) and occasionally stops at the opposite platform; usually when the crossing lights fail. Most of the original features were destroyed in the 60s when the station was sold. We have since discovered the original lettering on the Ladies Room and Booking Office doors after removing plywood from their surfaces. The two lever starting signal frame still exists below the floorboards in what was the office. It was cut off using a gas torch by the look of it.

[mercurydancer 1,104]

Compo

What an idyllic place. I both admire you for keeping it so nice and envy you for living there.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Interesting to remember how it was to go trainspotting in the 50s and 60s. Part of the fun was 'bunking' sheds. Some were easy like Colwick. But definitely not Toton. Some stations had miserable porters who enjoyed chucking you off but others were ok. The rail tours were the best. But it makes me cringe when I think of all that wandering over railway lines to get photos. How dangerous was that? In the 80s and 90s, I was able to get lots of photos of steam locos at Etches Park Sidings and Derby station because as an employee, I could get to places the public couldn't, and I knew how to stay safe. The locos would call in to be weighed and balance prior to using the main line. I would get my pictures in the sidings and station on day shift. Then after clocking out at 2pm I would drive up to Shipley Gate or Bennerley and get photos of them working hard up the Erewash Valley.

I remember taking my kids and their mates to Shipley Gate one Saturday to see the A4 Sir Nigel Gresley on a special. The sheer idiocy of public wandering across the main line amazed me, especially the chap who photographed it from one side then ran across the line in front of it to photograph the other side. If he had tripped........................??!!

The worst one that day was the gent who sat his two very young daughters on the goods line. I nearly fainted when I saw this. But when I tried to explain that a freight train doing 60mph could appear any moment and take out his kids, he angrily told me to 'Eff off and shut the .... up ' or he would kick my teeth in. No wonder train enthusiasts have a bad name.

The monotony of modern trains has prompted me to just seek out and interesting old railway infrastructure to photograph. That is unless there are any mainline steam.

[Compo 10,328]

It doesn't take many idiots like the one decribed above to get us all banned from the lineside.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Sadly there will always people like that.

[firbeck 859]

Bilbraborn, I don't recall it being that hard to get into Toton, we used to go in via the main entrance off old Derby Road and go along the line of ancient wagons, from which we obtained several LMS wagon plates. We used to wander around the outside yard pretty much, I have a few pics of 9F's, Class 5's and 8F's taken under and around the coaling tower, when my new central heating is fully installed and I rearrange the house and computer and connect up the scanner, I'll upload them. The difficulty was getting into the roundhouse, this we did by going along the access track that crossed the Erewash Canal, I recall obtaining some Britannia water gauge covers from in there and hiding them under a bush outside when the foreman approached! I also have pics up close of the diesel depot when it opened, I don't ever recall getting an ear blasting from anyone, we just had to be careful.

Derby shed was impossible to get to because the only access was across the footbridge and Nottingham could only be safely accessed via the cattle dock to be sure of avoiding the foreman. Annesley was the easiest to get in, Colwick running shed was tricky, Westhouses, Langwith Junction, Kirkby, Staveley Barrow Hill and Grantham were no problem. I never tried to get into Rowsley, oh, got into Burton-on-Trent once, that was easily done.

We went to Leicester once but couldn't see any way in, the only access was down some steps as it was situated lower than the road.

Can you remember how we got into Leeds Holbeck, a loco had come off one of the roundhouse roads and demolished a corner of the brick wall on the public road outside, we walked in through the hole, went round the shed and exited past the foremans window who just looked at us in astonishment. We asked nicely at Stafford but the foreman wouldn't let us in, despite the off duty driver's offers to take us round, eventually one of them let us in a side gate and looked out for us while we nipped round.

Can you remember Eastleigh, it was vast, and the access road ran straight alongside between the shed and the works, we just left the tandem against the wall and walked right in, no questions asked and it was in the middle of a busy Monday morning.

Yes, trespass on the line for steam specials is beyond belief sometimes. Railway Magazine did an article about it a couple of years ago, some of the pictures published were unbelievable, I'm sure that one approved steam route was knocked on the head because of the amount of idiots wandering on to the track. On the rare occasion we get anything up the GE main line I go over to a back road level crossing near Kelvedon, that's a busy 100mph+ section of line, but you still get morons wandering up the track 'to get a better view', they make me cringe.

When 'Oliver Cromwell' came back from Sheringham a couple of years ago, it was due to stop at Witham Station, so I went over there to find the place packed. It was running late because Pykies had nicked some signal cabling from Marks Tey, so they ran the special straight through to catch up time. The Station Manager was very helpful and kept making progress announcements over the speakers. Eventually he came down on to the platform and warned everyone that it was going to come through at high speed and to stand well away from the platform edge. As soon as he'd gone, all the families with kids went straight back to the platform edge, I was at the top of the platform ramp and warned them to keep back, they just laughed, I asked if any of them had actually experienced a very fast steam loco at close quarters, they hadn't but took no notice. When it came through at 70mph plus with chime whistle blazing, the kids all started screaming and fighting to get out the way, it was chaos, and a dangerous situation, it was a wonder no-one fell off the platform edge, I'm not going there again.

[Smiffy49 590]

Trespass on the Railway?

 

How about this for complete madness !

 

Smiffy