The Rail Enthusiast thread

[bluenotebob]

The old railway station at Ploërmel – and an old wagon (post-WWII?) and a very short stretch of track.

Ploërmel hasn’t seen a train since the mid-1960s but, in its day, it was an important hub in Central Brittany’s railway network. Lines ran north to Dinan, east to Chateaubriand, south to Questembert and west to Pontivy – with a further branch line north-west to la Trinité-Porhoët (which I’ve written about elsewhere in the forum). All five of these old lines have been re-purposed as either Greenways (cyclable) or walking trails (mostly cyclable).

The marshalling yard is now a large car park (regularly visited by a circus) and the old engine shed has become a catering college. There’s also a splendid viaduct just north of the station … the USAF attempted to bomb the viaduct around the time of D-Day to stop the line being used to bring tanks and armaments up from the south coast – unfortunately they missed the viaduct and, instead, destroyed the medieval centre of Ploërmel.

 

[robjh]

Following on from my adventures on the sleeper from Paddington to Cornwall last week, these are a few of the railway goodies that I saw on my short trip. I did plenty of good cycling too, but the south-west has a number of branch lines, as well as a fairly bike-tolerant main line, that make it very convenient for mixing both enthusiasms.

The Night Riviera at St Erth, behind its class 57. I was changing onto the St Ives train here.

St Ives. Lovely ride along the Hayle estuary, but a typical modern long siding branch finishing at an unadorned platform.

Falmouth Docks, in the much reduced remnant of the old station. A connection to the docks is still there but unused and overgrown.

Penzance - two HSTs at the same time. I had arrived on the one on the left. Looked like these were the only sets running that day, though I had recently read that three remained in service for the time being.

Penzance - a photo taken earlier in the day.

Barnstaple. Again, nicely managed but a fragment of the old station, which once saw trains arriving from four different directions.

Exeter St Davids, with a South Western Railway pair of class 159s on a Waterloo service.

The old Barnstaple Town station, on the north bank of the Taw. Not a trace remains of the curved viaduct that used to bring trains to here for the Ilfracombe line.

 

[Jameshow]

Dirty diesel's in Haworth on Sunday!!

 

[classic33]

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/new...ed-after-unforeseen-increase-in-costs-4560203

2 years later and it's now delayed due to 'unforseen costs', what a mess!

Ditched, not delayed.
The funding has dried up since they announced, officially, that HS2 wouldn't be coming to Leeds.

 

[Spartak]

Following on from my adventures on the sleeper from Paddington to Cornwall last week, these are a few of the railway goodies that I saw on my short trip. I did plenty of good cycling too, but the south-west has a number of branch lines, as well as a fairly bike-tolerant main line, that make it very convenient for mixing both enthusiasms.

The Night Riviera at St Erth, behind its class 57. I was changing onto the St Ives train here.
View attachment 727782

St Ives. Lovely ride along the Hayle estuary, but a typical modern long siding branch finishing at an unadorned platform.
View attachment 727783

Falmouth Docks, in the much reduced remnant of the old station. A connection to the docks is still there but unused and overgrown.
View attachment 727784

Penzance - two HSTs at the same time. I had arrived on the one on the left. Looked like these were the only sets running that day, though I had recently read that three remained in service for the time being.
View attachment 727785

View attachment 727786

Penzance - a photo taken earlier in the day.
View attachment 727790

Barnstaple. Again, nicely managed but a fragment of the old station, which once saw trains arriving from four different directions.
View attachment 727787

Exeter St Davids, with a South Western Railway pair of class 159s on a Waterloo service.
View attachment 727788

The old Barnstaple Town station, on the north bank of the Taw. Not a trace remains of the curved viaduct that used to bring trains to here for the Ilfracombe line.
View attachment 727789

Best way to travel in the South West especially in the holiday season avoids the M5.

Me & Mrs S. spent a nice week in St. Ives years ago taking the train from Bristol rather than driving, lovely journey... 👍

 

[robjh]

Best way to travel in the South West especially in the holiday season avoids the M5.

Me & Mrs S. spent a nice week in St. Ives years ago taking the train from Bristol rather than driving, lovely journey... 👍

I was struck by how well used many of the trains were, eg. the Falmouth line at 5pm on a weekday, and many people waiting for trains in Truro, or Barnstaple to Exeter on Saturday afternoon. I then went to Exmouth, where the trains were absolutely rammed with day-trippers going for a warm afternoon by the beach. Lots of people trying to bring bikes onto the latter service - they allow 4 bikes per 2-car unit (class 150), which is generous by national standards, but there is still a genuine limit especially on busy trains and I witnessed a big argument at Exeter between boys trying to bring on big ebikes and train staff. Happily IMO the railway staff won.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Ditched, not delayed.
The funding has dried up since they announced, officially, that HS2 wouldn't be coming to Leeds.

Thats new then, I thought the new station was part of the Transpennine Upgrade works not HS2.

 

[classic33]

Thats new then, I thought the new station was part of the Transpennine Upgrade works not HS2.

Linked to the work for HS2, and Holbeck Station(Now also abandoned).

Northern, who would have been running the services and the station gave up/were stripped of the franchise and replaced by an operator of last resort.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Thats new then, I thought the new station was part of the Transpennine Upgrade works not HS2.

Unfortunately governments like to link useful smaller projects like this to *possibly* less useful but more glamorous large scale projects to get support. We have the same phenomenon here but fortunately it's not as extreme because investment can be funded more locally.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Linked to the work for HS2, and Holbeck Station(Now also abandoned).

Northern, who would have been running the services and the station gave up/were stripped of the franchise and replaced by an operator of last resort.

I've missed that news. I have to say Northern have been a lot better than Transpennine in my area, so I'm surprised but I'm assuming they've been a lot worse elsewhere.

 

[Spartak]

I was struck by how well used many of the trains were, eg. the Falmouth line at 5pm on a weekday, and many people waiting for trains in Truro, or Barnstaple to Exeter on Saturday afternoon. I then went to Exmouth, where the trains were absolutely rammed with day-trippers going for a warm afternoon by the beach. Lots of people trying to bring bikes onto the latter service - they allow 4 bikes per 2-car unit (class 150), which is generous by national standards, but there is still a genuine limit especially on busy trains and I witnessed a big argument at Exeter between boys trying to bring on big ebikes and train staff. Happily IMO the railway staff won.

It's amazing how many bikes are used on the Severn Beach Line in Bristol... ( very busy line between Temple Meads & Severn Beach )... Stapleton Road good for cultural restaurants, Clifton good for trendy bars & cafes, Avonmouth busy with workers at docks & warehouses.
Thankfully I've never seen a ticket collector refuse a cyclist 🚴 👍

 

[Jenkins]

Today's Intercity 225 locomotive from York was...

 

[Spartak]

66604 at Filton Abbey Wood.

 

[Spartak]

Another Class 66... 558

 

[Jenkins]

Another Class 66... 558

View attachment 728122

Try living where I do and you get 35+ of those going past each way 6 days per week within 100 yards of my bedroom window.