Online/Searchable Beeching Map

[Edwired]

Hi all,

I'm looking to identify stations and bits of disused rail closed under the Beeching report to photograph, in a number of different postcodes.

Is anyone aware of a good online infrastructure map that displays closed lines/stations that maybe is overlaid on Google maps or would be easy to reference against Google maps to find my way there?

• Railmaponline.com looks good however it doesn't have a way to easily differentiate between current and closed lines and stations.
• Equally Disused-Stations.org would be helpful however what I have are geographical areas of interested, not the names of the stations that may or may not be within them.

I accept there might not be a single resource that does what I need and it is a case of comparing both these websites, but I thought there was no harm in asking anyway.

Thanks in advance!

 

[robspaceman]

Openrailwaymap.org is quite good

 

[The Planner]

Hi all,

I'm looking to identify stations and bits of disused rail closed under the Beeching report to photograph, in a number of different postcodes.

Is anyone aware of a good online infrastructure map that displays closed lines/stations that maybe is overlaid on Google maps or would be easy to reference against Google maps to find my way there?

• Railmaponline.com looks good however it doesn't have a way to easily differentiate between current and closed lines and stations.
• Equally Disused-Stations.org would be helpful however what I have are geographical areas of interested, not the names of the stations that may or may not be within them.

I accept there might not be a single resource that does what I need and it is a case of comparing both these websites, but I thought there was no harm in asking anyway.

Thanks in advance!

https://www.systemed.net/atlas/

New Adlestrop map will probably be your best bet.

 

[swt_passenger]

Another online source you could usefully try out is the National Library of Scotland (NLS) historic OS maps. There are a variety of viewing options, but I‘d generally use the ‘side by side’ view with a large scale map from the 1960s.

Here’s an example of my local disused line through the Meon Valley, aimed at Droxford Station (which was in Brockridge):

Side by side georeferenced maps viewer with layer swipe - Map images - National Library of Scotland

At that scale the track layout and station building layout is very well detailed, should also help with identifying individual buildings even if the track formation is long gone.

 

[YorksLad12]

I did this back in 2017 for Yorkshire: https://maps.garytaylor.uk/maps/rail_stations/yorkshire_stations_map.html

The pins broke when I changed server, and I never bothered to fix it as I did the Big Map instead. This was my starting point for that though.

 

[etr221]

Railmaponline.com looks good however it doesn't have a way to easily differentiate between current and closed lines and stations.

Railmaponline does have different layers for historical and modern railways - you need to switch them on and off to see what was and what is, and use the other options to select what you want.

My own choice for what the OP wants would be to use NLS georeferenced option, with appropriate 'historic overlay' (what was - their 7th series one inch is 1955-61, so just pre Beeching) and 'background' (modern - or you can make it different historic) options, based on preference and what's wanted, and vary the overlay transparency to compare. See, e.g. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=12.4&lat=51.52611&lon=-0.14420&layers=11&b=OSLeisure&o=100 , for fairly central London.

 

[35B]

If I’m digging, I find that having NLS on one monitor and Railmaponline on another works well for trying to join the threads.

Depending on quite what the OP is trying to achieve, Wiki can be quite good for identifying what’s closed on particular lines, in conjunction with Disused Stations (where they’ve done an article).

 

[Indigo Soup]

Railmaponline does have different layers for historical and modern railways - you need to switch them on and off to see what was and what is, and use the other options to select what you want.

The difficulty (and this isn't unique to RailMapOnline) is in distinguishing between 'closed' and 'closed by Beeching'. There are a number of branches that were such basket cases that they were closed almost before the Victorians had finished saying 'Railway Mania'. And at the other extreme there are things like the old Great Northern route between Selby and York that were closed for excellent reasons well after Beeching.

And because some of the early closures occurred before later lines were constructed, a map showing 'all lines ever' can be a little misleading as to the historic extent of the rail network.

What would be fantastic would be an interactive map that had opening & closing dates for each route segment and station, which could then be filtered... but I imagine that this would be reasonably complex to research and implement, for dubious benefit.

 

[quantinghome]

The difficulty (and this isn't unique to RailMapOnline) is in distinguishing between 'closed' and 'closed by Beeching'. There are a number of branches that were such basket cases that they were closed almost before the Victorians had finished saying 'Railway Mania'. And at the other extreme there are things like the old Great Northern route between Selby and York that were closed for excellent reasons well after Beeching.

And because some of the early closures occurred before later lines were constructed, a map showing 'all lines ever' can be a little misleading as to the historic extent of the rail network.

What would be fantastic would be an interactive map that had opening & closing dates for each route segment and station, which could then be filtered... but I imagine that this would be reasonably complex to research and implement, for dubious benefit.

And of course the lines closed by Beeching that were never actually closed, or the ones that have subsequently reopened. It's all very complicated and goes to show that we should understand Beeching as (a big) part of a long term process of closure, not some bolt out of the blue.

 

[35B]

And of course the lines closed by Beeching that were never actually closed, or the ones that have subsequently reopened. It's all very complicated and goes to show that we should understand Beeching as (a big) part of a long term process of closure, not some bolt out of the blue.

And also that putting all of this into a single map, and making it legible, is likely to be very hard work. Given the OP's question, and the many other similar questions that people will likely want to get answers to from the maps, I think the instant gratification of a single map is unlikely.

One site that may be useful, and is available to all, is Richard Maund's "Railway Chronology" page, hosted by the Branch Line Society. This includes a link to Quick's Railway Chronology, available for free download from the Railway and Canal Historical Society.

 

[Indigo Soup]

And also that putting all of this into a single map, and making it legible, is likely to be very hard work. Given the OP's question, and the many other similar questions that people will likely want to get answers to from the maps, I think the instant gratification of a single map is unlikely.

I think it could be done, but the requisite flexibility would require a well-populated database behind the map, with a range of filters available. It would be a lot of effort for almost no discernible return... that we have things like New Adlestrop and OpenRailwayMap available at all is only due to the efforts of some very enthusiastic, technically-able people!

 

[Dr Hoo]

Hi all,

I'm looking to identify stations and bits of disused rail closed under the Beeching report to photograph, in a number of different postcodes.

Is anyone aware of a good online infrastructure map that displays closed lines/stations that maybe is overlaid on Google maps or would be easy to reference against Google maps to find my way there?

I’m wondering if the ‘map’ thing is putting the cart before the horse. How about using the Disused Stations website to identify some stations that closed during the Beeching era. The descriptions for each individual station seem to generally include the grid reference. This can then be copied and pasted into general mapping software/sites.

With that map the OP can then go to the relevant spot (often completely re-developed) to get their photograph(s).

 

[Doctor Fegg]

I think it could be done, but the requisite flexibility would require a well-populated database behind the map, with a range of filters available.

Yep. In theory you could do it via OpenHistoricalMap, a spin-off from OpenStreetMap which records start and end dates of features. It would need a lot of dedicated contributors to research and enter the information. But then we said that about OSM 20 years ago and look at it now!

 

[aron2smith]

Not a website but a book I have - Railway Atlas Then and Now by Paul Smith and Keith Turner is really really useful. For each region of the UK, its shows a map of the network in 1923 (the height of the railways in Britain possibly?) on the left and a map of the network in 2020. 45 maps cover the whole country and it makes clear what closed sections are now either footpaths or what became roads and busways. Maybe your local library has this book or something similar if you don't want to buy the book?

Also I agree about the New Adlestrop Atlas, but no good if you are researching Scotland unfortunately. Their map covers all of England and Wales though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not a website but a book I have - Railway Atlas Then and Now by Paul Smith and Keith Turner is really really useful. For each region of the UK, its shows a map of the network in 1923 (the height of the railways in Britain possibly?) on the left and a map of the network in 2020. 45 maps cover the whole country and it makes clear what closed sections are now either footpaths or what became roads and busways. Maybe your local library has this book or something similar if you don't want to buy the book?

Should be able to source a brand new copy of this for around £15.

 

[JKF]

I think it could be done, but the requisite flexibility would require a well-populated database behind the map, with a range of filters available. It would be a lot of effort for almost no discernible return... that we have things like New Adlestrop and OpenRailwayMap available at all is only due to the efforts of some very enthusiastic, technically-able people!

I think you could do it in GIS/CAD or similar by drawing each line separately, attributing it to a layer for the year it opened, then copying the line and putting it on a layer for the subsequent year, then repeat for every year until closure. Then it could be copied again for the year after closure (and onwards) but as a dashed line in a different colour representing a closed line. If you wanted to be more granular you could even do it by month or day, but it’d be a hell of a lot of work! Also maybe have different linetypes or colours for proposed or under construction.

Having built up the graphical dataset, you could display how the network looked at a point in time by for example turning on the ‘1926’ layer with all other layers off, and it would just show the lines extant on that date. You could also have a layer that shows every line ever as something like a light grey colour, so you had that as a background.

Nicer would be some sort of web map interface with a slider on the bottom to adjust date, which you could move to watch the system expand and contract.

 

[RGM654]

I think you could do it in GIS/CAD or similar by drawing each line separately, attributing it to a layer for the year it opened, then copying the line and putting it on a layer for the subsequent year, then repeat for every year until closure. Then it could be copied again for the year after closure (and onwards) but as a dashed line in a different colour representing a closed line. If you wanted to be more granular you could even do it by month or day, but it’d be a hell of a lot of work! Also maybe have different linetypes or colours for proposed or under construction.

Having built up the graphical dataset, you could display how the network looked at a point in time by for example turning on the ‘1926’ layer with all other layers off, and it would just show the lines extant on that date. You could also have a layer that shows every line ever as something like a light grey colour, so you had that as a background.

Nicer would be some sort of web map interface with a slider on the bottom to adjust date, which you could move to watch the system expand and contract.

I have long thought that such an interactive map would be ideal. All (or nearly all) the data must already exist in various places. Copyrights would need to be negotiated and then the data translated into a standard format. Does the Cobb atlas exist in digital format or was it all produced on paper?

 

[Kingston Dan]

I did this back in 2017 for Yorkshire: https://maps.garytaylor.uk/maps/rail_stations/yorkshire_stations_map.html

The pins broke when I changed server, and I never bothered to fix it as I did the Big Map instead. This was my starting point for that though.

I've looked at the Helmsley-Kirby-Pickering bits and it says they were closed in 1953, but goods services ran until August 1964.

 

[YorksLad12]

I've looked at the Helmsley-Kirby-Pickering bits and it says they were closed in 1953, but goods services ran until August 1964.

I was only interested in passenger services. Actually, I ought to include line closure dates in the Big Map, not just station dates, but that will be something for a later revision.

 

[steamybrian]

It is a very difficult task to define exactly what precise passenger service closed under Beeching and here are some "pitfalls".-
Some lines such as Chippenham- Trowbridge and Romsey- Eastleigh local passenger services were withdrawn but the lines were used for occasional summer excursions and diversions until years later regular local passenger service restored.
Up to what date do you include Beeching closures? Some services mentioned in the Beeching report were not closed until the 1980s such as Tunbridge Wells-Eridge.
Some passenger services closed in the 1960s were not listed in the Beeching Report for example Totton-Fawley or Bournemouth West.

 

[etr221]

The Atlas of Railway Station Closures, 2nd Edition, published by Crecy, has a colour code to indicate (by decade) when lines and stations were closed (and a list of staions with actual dates). Might provide what's wanted.