Loneliest place on the network

[swcovas]

Claberston Road is also another station which can be pretty lonely if you have a long wait between trains.

Decent pub nearby!

 

[IanD]

Loneliest place - teaching at the FCC RPI charm school.

 

[Quakers Yard]

A few valleys stations look remote when passing through - Quakers Yard and Ynyswen for example but especially Treforest Estate!

 

[Trog]

Not for passengers but the middle of Tring Cutting on your own and at night. All you can hear is the water running in the drains. So quiet some nights that your ears start ringing.

 

[trivran]

Kings Cross, on dark mornings - at least at the few moments there aren't any staff bustling about.

 

[Darren R]

It is. Part of me prefers it in the depths of winter when it's pitch black and there's noone there !

I always used to prefer travelling on the whole S&C in the middle of winter. In the late 80s when BR was trying to close the line trains were still Mk I compartment stock. I could catch the last train back from Carlisle, knowing that by Kirkby Stephen I was sometimes the only passenger on the train. By turning the compartment light off it was obvious that around Dent, Garsdale and Ribblehead stations there was literally nothing - not even a single light from an unguarded farmhouse window - as far as the eye could see. The only time I ever saw a Golden Eagle was by the line at Ribblehead in the middle of a snowstorm!

Not the same these days - not only do the trains have bright lights on board but also plenty of passengers!

 

[Mugby]

I recently got off a London Midland electric at Rugeley Trent Valley with the intention of catching the Chase Line service but it was cancelled so a 40 minute wait. It made me realise what a desolate spot Rugeley TV is, there's a pub at the end of the drive which doesn't seem to open in the daytime and it's quite some distance to the town centre.

 

[Yew]

Corrour.

Got to agree there. Although with sleeping bags and whisky the shelter on the platform can supposedly become reasonably cosy.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Always thought Strines felt very remote, having had many walks in the area. Wouldn't fancy hanging around after dark.

 

[davetheguard]

Got to agree there. Although with sleeping bags and whisky the shelter on the platform can supposedly become reasonably cosy.

I caught a Welsh Highland train at Nantmor Halt, near the end of the Aberglaslyn Pass, just over a week ago.

The station shelter there has a metal gate across its entrance, as apparently, the sheep like to "socialise" in there (and use it as a toilet).

They obviously don't need whisky to be cosy, and I suppose they bring their sleeping bags with them on their backs!

 

[SprinterMan]

Excluding the obvious ones, like all the really rural remote ones in Scotland and Wales, the most eerie and lonely stations I have come across are:

Small Stations

Edale - Very eerie when the fog rolls in over the hills, and the only sound that can be heard is the distant mooing of cows

Havenhouse - Does not really serve anywhere

Nethertown - Would you want to miss your train and be stuck here?

Prees - Not exactly a hive of activity, is it

Shippea Hill - Especially in the early morning fog, it can be unbelievably spooky

Wickham Market - Not particularly isolated, but I have been stranded there at night waiting for the last train and it is very spooky when you are the only person around

Large Stations

Liskeard - With the line coming in over the big viaduct on one side, and then seemingly dropping away into nothingness on the other, there is something otherworldy about this place

Marks Tey - Reputedly the coldest station in East Anglia, when there are no trains around it is very barren and desolate (unless the new cafe is open :P )

Adam

 

[sheff'd victoria]

Darnall on the Sheffield Midland - Lincoln/Cleethorpes line.

The only reason is the station looks like something from Beruit and its not safe to be their at night

 

[Crossover]

I was at Pontefract Baghill in Dec complete with fog. Only me around.

I'd forgotten about Baghill - I was there for about half an hour on a summer day last year...for a little while there was the odd car or two doing reverses at the test centre but apart from that, it was very quiet, even at 3 or so in the afternoon. Wouldn't want to be there by nightfall!

I was also at Ulleskelf later that day, but there is a pub nearby so not quite so isolated.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Ribblehead station after it's gone dark in the middle of winter - nothing for miles around. Same for Dent come to think of it!

At least at Ribblehead you have the warm welcoming glow of the Station Inn. I would certainly agree that Dent can be very a bleak place in winter time, especially when the wind starts to blow. My sister in law lives in Cowgill and in winter the Coal Road is often blocked, as is the road out of Dent Head!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Nobody has mentioned Blea Moor signalbox?!

Good shout but that doesn't involve passengers, which was included in the original post! However, I dare say the odd train stopped there when Blea Moor had a small railway community.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Excluding the obvious ones, like all the really rural remote ones in Scotland and Wales, the most eerie and lonely stations I have come across are:

Small Stations

Edale - Very eerie when the fog rolls in over the hills, and the only sound that can be heard is the distant mooing of cows

Cows!???? In my considerable experience of Edale it’s more likely to be the bleating of sheep!

 

[Tomnick]

Good shout but that doesn't involve passengers, which was included in the original post! However, I dare say the odd train stopped there when Blea Moor had a small railway community.

Still not involving passengers, but one train does still stop there daily to deliver the water supply .

 

[Quakers Yard]

Pilning. Would hate to wait for a train there!

 

[RichmondCommu]

Still not involving passengers, but one train does still stop there daily to deliver the water supply .

Fantastic stuff! That’s what I love about this forum. I'm assuming that it’s the first train of the day; can't be much fun in winter if there's a full on blizzard! I'm assuming that it’s some kind of water cooler barrel like you see in offices?

 

[Spaceflower]

I bet Hellifield could be creepy at certain times.

 

[SeanG]

I agree about Hellifield. It almost seems deserted as its such a large structure. More could be made of that south facing bay.... but thats another story.
However hasn't a new cafe opened there?

I imagine Chathill can get quite lonely.
Middle of nowhere, two trains a day but many flying by, seemingly forgetting about you

 

[RichmondCommu]

From another point of view, Waterloo at about 18:00 on Friday evening. Entirely surrounded by people, but I've never felt more lonely in my life. Virtually none of them spoke to each other (except if they had a mobile phone) and almost all would have been City workers heading off for the commuter belt, a social group a student and aspiring author had absolutely nothing in common with. It was as though I was a lone horse in a herd of Wildebeest (and invisible).

Hmmmm, as a commuter of many years in and out of Waterloo I have a few issues with this! In all fairness at 18.00 in the evening surely you were on your way home too so in effect you were no different from everyone else? Also, I'm not really sure how you can differentiate between someone who works in the City / Canary Wharf from other commuters? Not only that but commuters (or indeed any other passengers) are unlikely to speak to random strangers unless you ask for some kind of help. On my commute home I will say hello to people who I recognise but other than that my thoughts are of what's happened during the day and heading home to my wife and kids. However, if you were home sick then that is an entirely different matter ad:

 

[Tomnick]

Fantastic stuff! That’s what I love about this forum. I'm assuming that it’s the first train of the day; can't be much fun in winter if there's a full on blizzard! I'm assuming that it’s some kind of water cooler barrel like you see in offices?

I know it used to be delivered by the ECS forming the first Up passenger into Leeds (which went to Blea Moor to reverse). Whether that's still the case, or even if that train still runs, I don't know! I did read about the day that it was cancelled though, meaning that the Signalman didn't get his water. Eventually 7-5-5 was exchanged with the boxes either side, and he went home - can't say I blame him either!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

My vote would be for Gorton Crossing (north of Bridge of Orchy) on the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Fort William. There used to be a station/request stop there, but the station/signal box was closed/demolished in the 1960s, and there's just a passing loop and a small island platform there now, I believe.

See also YouTube link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2zgy7ervTo

 

[LE Greys]

Hmmmm, as a commuter of many years in and out of Waterloo I have a few issues with this! In all fairness at 18.00 in the evening surely you were on your way home too so in effect you were no different from everyone else? Also, I'm not really sure how you can differentiate between someone who works in the City / Canary Wharf from other commuters? Not only that but commuters (or indeed any other passengers) are unlikely to speak to random strangers unless you ask for some kind of help. On my commute home I will say hello to people who I recognise but other than that my thoughts are of what's happened during the day and heading home to my wife and kids. However, if you were home sick then that is an entirely different matter ad:

No offence intended of course. It probably didn't help that I was generally going the other way, headed in from Bournemouth to King's Cross (the Bournemouth train left around 16:15, landing me at Waterloo at about 18:00). It's just the perspective of not fitting in was greatest there.

 

[Proud Salopian]

Prees - Not exactly a hive of activity, is it

When I first read this thread I did think through Shropshire's stations and all have houses (or in Yorton's case - a pub) near them, including Prees.

But yes, out of Shropshire's national rail stations, Prees is the most lonely.

(Hopton Heath's station buildings are now a house, and there are quite a few other residences by it.)

Broome is a pretty lonely station, mind.

 

[DaveHarries]

Shippea Hill?

Dave

 

[gnolife]

I've always felt very isolated whenever I've used Lostock Gralam station (to try and avoid angry Vics after a match) - its a pretty dismal sort of station, although I don't have pictures of it to hand. There is nothing in the way of facilities there, including PA systems, which has caused problems for me in the past when the last Manchester train of the night got cancelled, with me not finding out until the last Chester of the night showed up and I interrogated the guard on that.

 

[tsr]

I've always felt very isolated whenever I've used Lostock Gralam station (to try and avoid angry Vics after a match) - its a pretty dismal sort of station, although I don't have pictures of it to hand. There is nothing in the way of facilities there, including PA systems, which has caused problems for me in the past when the last Manchester train of the night got cancelled, with me not finding out until the last Chester of the night showed up and I interrogated the guard on that.

My goodness, that really is spartan, eh? You'd think they could install a Help Point with an Information button, or something like that.

 

[HowardGWR]

St Andrews Road, abandon hope all ye who land up here.

 

[SWTH]

I caught a Welsh Highland train at Nantmor Halt, near the end of the Aberglaslyn Pass, just over a week ago.

The station shelter there has a metal gate across its entrance, as apparently, the sheep like to "socialise" in there (and use it as a toilet).

They obviously don't need whisky to be cosy, and I suppose they bring their sleeping bags with them on their backs!

Plenty more remote places than Nantmor on the F&WHR! It is however usually very damp around there, last time I stopped there (at the beginning of May) it took several attempts and lots of sand to restart the train (as the trainee fireman, guess who got the 'honour' of doing all the manual sanding.... ). Dduallt can be very bleak and remote, especially in poor weather.

The most 'alone' I've ever felt at any railway location though was around 0100 on the cob, walking back to Minffordd after a few pints in Spooners. Somewhere between the down whistle board and the home signal, a very heavy fog swirling around, very limited visibility and just the faint glow of the red aspect of the home signal for company was more than just a bit eerie!

 

[RichmondCommu]

I agree about Hellifield. It almost seems deserted as its such a large structure. More could be made of that south facing bay.... but thats another story.
However hasn't a new cafe opened there?

Hellifield was a major railway centre up until the late 60's. Indeed it's fair to say that the village itself existed to serve the railway. Two signal boxes, two bays, two freight yards (L&Y and the MR) and a busy MPD that was rebuilt in the 1940's with workshop facilities. I seem to remember that WCR wanted to build an engine shed there at one time (hence the structure to the north of the station).