My favourite part of the Thameslink core is the Holborn Viaduct area. As to how much of the area has changed and been redeveloped. Especially from the Lugate Hill section to City Thameslink trying to calculate where exactly the viaduct once stood, now that it's all pedestrianised and major office complex buildings that now stand over the former Holborn Viaduct station site. It also seems like the Thameslink lines into the SNOW HILL Tunnel from Blackfriars were slewed to the right into what was once the path into Holborn Viaduct station. Therefore a NEW section of tunnel must of been built before being built over.
They really should have turned this into a tram network, hell, even run DMU's on it or heritage trains, if duel gauge tracks were installed. More vandalism, more destroying of badly needed public transport infrastructure.
there's something about this channel and these videos that captures the feeling of a train being taken out of service,. something so inanimate yet meaning so much to so many people - it's an emotion that those outside the interest find impossible to understand.
I am not surprised ,Weymouth councillors have a track record of incompetence ,,,,pun intended,,,ranging from negligent destruction of historic buildings viz jubilee hall orlack of brains regarding coastal defence against wave action mr Geoffrey Poole is spinning in his grave rip geoff 16:31
Just to confirm your comment, the ELR is very much a part of the local community and in fact, runs commuter trains for local residents and has great support from residents and local councils alike! Long may it reign!
The Swanage railway was completely removed in the 70s but it is back. Settle and Carlisle is still going strong. Some of the Great Central is back. The Devon Coast is flexible. Dawlish keeps being reclaimed by the sea. Who knows what the future may bring. Great video by the way.
When I was a boy I lived next to this line in Northolt and remember the regular express services running along it, pulled mostly by locos like deltics after they took over from steam. I can vaguely remember steam services but I would have been very young then! I think it is a shame that so much money is being spent burying HS2 under this line to save upsetting the neighbours even though modern high speed trains are much quieter than the trains that I grew up seeing which would rattle the windows in the house!
Well done everybody a really good video. It is not very often that presenters appreciate the work done by volunteers and staff of heritage railways, thank you for that. Always a problem, sorry but Bacup is pronounced Bay cup not Back up… 27:04
They laughed when they began to reopen the Swanage Railway. Now it’s a major money spinner for the town and the Purbecks. With imagination, Weymouth could have used the Tramway and the pier to bring back tourists and Channel ferries. It’s a great shame such blockheads shut it all down.
Brilliant video on a unique but now lost railway. We went there in Jan 2023 and almost nothing remained of the tramway. It survived Dr. Beeching, but not the local council. What a waste..
Thanks AJ, I travelled on the east lancs for the first time in September 2023 and what a nice railway it is, until I did a bit of research and watching your video I hadn’t realised how much of a task it was to resurrect the line, there really wasn’t anything left apart from the bare bones of a lost railway. Enjoyed the vid mate.👍
The privatised Southern Railway, which closed the lossmaking Barnstaple to Lynton line in 1935, was looking to pull out of north Devon west of Okehampton before the start of World War Two replacing steam trains with road buses for onward services to Holsworthy and Bude.
Just to correct you. at time point 17:25. Yes, Marples was a director in Marples Ridgeway, a Civil Engineering Firm, and an MP,, at the same time. It was and still is acceptable for MPs to have paid employment(s). But when he was made a Junior Cabinet Minister in Oct 1951, he was required by Parliamentary Law to resign his directorship, which he did and advised the standards committee of that time and companies House. This is something that Cabinet Minsters and above are required to do so even today. From that moment onwards he was not involved with his old companies day to day running nor any contract negotiations. He was also required to divest himself of his shareholding in his old company also required by Parliamentary law, as Ministers are required to do so today, this he did not; and this came to everyone's attention in 1960, when it was reported in the newspapers that his shares were still in his possession, in spite of being made Minster of Transport the year before in 1959. Whilst he cited in 1960, in Hansard, that "perhaps I should sell these shares to my wife". She OTOH denied that any transaction had taken place in two newspaper interviews, in spite of being harassed by newspaper reporters at the time. Indeed there has over the years been a number of of rumours and innuendo as to where individuals have speculated where his shares went, but nothing has so far been forth coming as to where they precisely went, with no proof or evidence, provided. It is however thought that they went into an overseas trust as Marples had interests in Lichtenstein. Marple Ridgeway however, also acted as a subcontractor for a number of railway projects over the years. I would also add that Dr Terry Gourvish was asked by BR to write a book on Railways From Integration to Privatization, and he was given access to the BR private archive. He and his research staff, found material to show that Marples was not in any influenced by the roads lobby. Equally you do not cite that Marples was involved in Housing from 1951 to 1954. It should also be noted that the Beeching Report, published in 1963, written by Beeching and his staff, although you will not find his or their names in it, the recommendations in the report were seem as unacceptable by both Marple's and the PM McMillan, as they were concerned with its political effect on key marginal seats. Fast forward to Oct 1964, the general election saw a Wilson Labour government in power, having campaigned in their manifesto to stop the rail cuts. But when in power they backtracked and continued them unabated. That is another story.
My uncle remembered them building the bridge from Chessington North to South when he was a child. I think the tack never went any further due to the outbreak of WWII I had heard the embankments went on a fair distance beyond the coal yard. Nice little video
Whilst it's an interesting video, this subject has been done to death on countless other channels, Geoff Marshall, Jago Hazard to name a few. Anyone with an interest in trains/ tube will have already seen this. Maybe something more original/obscure might be more interesting.
Back in spring 2023 I took my American cousin on the ELR, and he thought it was great and quite unlike anything he had seen before on his travels around the world and has plans to come back in 2024. The Metrolink is not a Tram system, rather a light rail system and runs to the same loading gauge as Network Rail and it actually directly connect to the ELR at the south end of Bolton street station past all the sheds, infact a naught blue engine called Thomas once ran down the metro line to there depot. There was/are plans to extend the Metro system to Rawtenstall and on to Bacup (pronounced Baycup) which was to be done via track sharing and additional loops with the ELR.
I love this little line. In my eighties London spotting trips I always rode this from Moorgate to Finsbury Park for its unique atmosphere. Switching from 750 VDC to 25kVAC at Drayton Park was fascinating. This video encapsulates the atmosphere very well indeed. Old Street was my favourite stop. Not quite as eerie as Essex Road but still deserted enough to have an atmosphere all of its own.
It's all gone now, no tracks, no station, all gone... I am gutted, it gave character to this town, they could've run a heritage steam trains for Christmas and other celebrations but because cyclists couldn't ride a bike with their eyes open and kept falling off their bikes in the track groves... This town is crying for new attractions but they just keep on tearing down the history and character at the tax payer's expense. Gutted!
