Stations that fell from grace- stations still in use today that once were significantly more impressive.

[Jack Hay]

Blackpool South.

 

[dan4291]

Bishop Auckland, once a decent junction station but suffered heavily under Beeching to become a small single platform terminus (not including the link to the Weardale Railway).

 

[YourMum666]

Snow Hill and Moor Street

 

[W-on-Sea]

I'm not sure anywhere quite rivals Manors for the grand scale of decline (9 platforms on two lines, down to 2 on one, anything resembling architectural interest or style long since espunged)

Tattenham Corner and some much reduced seaside stations that formerly had more excursion services might be a good call, too.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Chinley

How long ago was that impressive? (I'm due to use it for the first time ever quite soon... How late am I?)

 

[D6130]

Hartlepool
Sunderland
Eaglescliffe
Whitby Town
Scarborough
Bridlington
Hull
Cleethorpes
Morecambe
Oban
Workington
Whitehaven
Ilkley

 

[oxfordray1]

How long ago was that impressive? (I'm due to use it for the first time ever quite soon... How late am I?)

It must be ever such a long time ago! (albeit I'm only 34 but I've used it for decades). There is virtually nothing at Chinley now apart from a small shelter and the bridge.

 

[AlbertBeale]

It must be ever such a long time ago! (albeit I'm only 34 but I've used it for decades). There is virtually nothing at Chinley now apart from a small shelter and the bridge.

Thanks! I'll hope for nice weather then...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Halifax isn't quite what it was in its heyday, though the decline isn't quite as dramatic as places like Blackpool South.
Morecambe (if like the two Bradford stations you consider it the same station) has also declined significantly, though the old station was a bit of a wreck for the last few years.
Ilkley has lost platforms and through services to Skipton, but it has at least gained electric traction.
Normanton has gone from an important junction station with many fine facilities and being served by long-distance expresses, to a windswept island platform with a basic hourly DMU.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Saltash. No bigger than it ever was but the busiest station in Cornwall until the 1960s. Then passenger numbers fell off a cliff after a certain bridge was built.

Weymouth, Exmouth and Barnstaple were all once far larger than the current stations - the latter two are down to a single platform. Although all of them have a far more frequent service on their remaining routes (with the exception of the Heart of Wessex) than they ever did in steam days.

 

[AlterEgo]

Manors is the only correct answer. It’s now a barely served urban dump having once been a fine, thriving junction station.

 

[Mikey C]

Highbury and Islington is massively important and busy these days, but architecturally used to be far more impressive...

 

[Rescars]

Feniton potentially counts; used to be Sidmouth junction with 3 platforms and branch line to Sidmouth, as per the old name, now just 1 and a service every 2 hours (had a relatively brief closure after Beeching). Similar could be said for the 2 remaining Yeovil stations.


Okay that would make sense.


You could also say similar about nearby Tattenham Corner, although not as much compared to Epsom Downs, the former going from 7 platforms to 3, and presumably a much reduced service as well.

Feniton potentially counts; used to be Sidmouth junction with 3 platforms and branch line to Sidmouth, as per the old name, now just 1 and a service every 2 hours (had a relatively brief closure after Beeching). Similar could be said for the 2 remaining Yeovil stations.


Okay that would make sense.


You could also say similar about nearby Tattenham Corner, although not as much compared to Epsom Downs, the former going from 7 platforms to 3, and presumably a much reduced service as well.

Somewhat strangely, when first opened Tattenham Corners 7 platforms only operated on race days and public holidays. At all other times trains terminated at Tadworth. About 25 years ago the normal service on the branch was a two-car train once each hour. Tattenham Corner's platforms may now be reduced in number, but it does enjoy two 5-car trains every hour - and before Covid there were extra trains during the rush-hours as well.

 

[William3000]

Epsom Downs
Skegness
Portrush
Exeter St Thomas

What was Exeter St Thomas like?

 

[HamworthyGoods]

What was Exeter St Thomas like?

It used to have an overall roof!

 

[William3000]

There are so many examples but ones that spring to mind are:
Liverpool Central
Manchester Victoria
Skegness
March
Spalding
Chinley
Ambergate
Christ’s Hospital
Weymouth
Bradford Interchange/Exchange
Bradford Forster Square
Rochdale
Folkestone Central
Epsom Downs
Windsor Central
Sudbury
Bridlington
Manors
Newcastle (Central)
Birmingham Snow Hill
Bordersley
Sheringham
Newquay
Stockton
Middlesbrough
Aberdeen
Stranraer
Penistone
Morecambe
Kendal

 

[njamescouk]

dore went from being a station with 4 platforms to 1 with a bus shelter.

 

[hermit]

Perth
Cromer (Beach)

 

[MisterSheeps]

Reddish South, was 4 platforms and frequent service, now 1 a week.
I remember places like Millers Dale, Trent (doesn't count of course), Normanton.
Windermere isn't much either. Bridlington.

 

[Class360/1]

Sudbury (Suffolk). Not only were there more platforms, there were massive goods yards.

 

[Ken H]

Rose Grove. Once busy rail centre. Now a 2 car unstaffed halt. Long platforms tho.
Not a bad service tho.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Manors is the only correct answer. It’s now a barely served urban dump having once been a fine, thriving junction station.

It really has to be a strong contender. It was still the 'old' Manors last time i was there, but it must be difficult to imagine what it once was today, from the descriptions given. Even the view of Newcastle Central from the Keep is but a shadow of its former self.

Has anyone mentioned Pontypridd? I was shocked to see what an impressive layout it once was when I first trundled up the valley in about 1996.

 

[D365]

dore went from being a station with 4 platforms to 1 with a bus shelter.

On a similar note, have we had Ambergate yet?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Ambergate was 6 platforms now 1

There are so many examples but ones that spring to mind are:

(Long list of various stations including...)

Ambergate

On a similar note, have we had Ambergate yet?

Yes. Been mentioned a couple of times, in posts #20 and #46, already. Definitely another station that is a shadow of its one-time former self.

 

[Falcon1200]

Perth

Agree about Perth; still a busy place but the most used platforms (the Dundee route) are the least impressive! The whole place needs replacing by a new station south of the junction.

 

[Mat17]

Dore

Birmingham New Street - was once above ground. Now it's a hideous subterranean dump.

Liverpool Central.

 

[daodao]

How long ago was that impressive? (I'm due to use it for the first time ever quite soon... How late am I?)

Chinley remained a major station until the closure of the Midland main line from London to Manchester to through passenger traffic in the late 1960s. My last journey by steam on BR started there in April 1966.

Other examples on the former Midland main line from London to Manchester. include Matlock, Ambergate and Chorlton-cum-Hardy (some already mentioned). On the Valley lines, examples include Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd and Whitchurch (Cardiff). The latter's reduction to a single platform halt enabled blocks of flats (where I once lived) to be built on the rest of the station site.

 

[Javelin_55]

Eridge might be another contender.
Four platforms down to two in regular passenger use (one for the Spa Valley Railway)

Used to be a very busy interchange for converging lines that are now heritage only, or missing. Today service is only hourly each way and the colourfully refurbed Spa Valley side shows a very sad contrast between then and now.

 

[bearhugger]

Inspired by the photograph of Bradford Exchange posted in the grubbiest stations thread, I wonder which of our active stations has seen the biggest decline? The kind of places that a young traveller today wouldn't believe were once impressive.

I'll start off with Stockton.

View attachment 129780

I'm just old enough to remember the station like this - brings back happy memories of a young childhood. But it wasn't long before it deteriorated rapidly.

Hartlepool
Sunderland
Eaglescliffe
Whitby Town
Scarborough
Bridlington
Hull
Cleethorpes
Morecambe
Oban
Workington
Whitehaven
Ilkley

There are so many examples but ones that spring to mind are:
Liverpool Central
Manchester Victoria
Skegness
March
Spalding
Chinley
Ambergate
Christ’s Hospital
Weymouth
Bradford Interchange/Exchange
Bradford Forster Square
Rochdale
Folkestone Central
Epsom Downs
Windsor Central
Sudbury
Bridlington
Manors
Newcastle (Central)
Birmingham Snow Hill
Bordersley
Sheringham
Newquay
Stockton
Middlesbrough
Aberdeen
Stranraer
Penistone
Morecambe
Kendal

I note both of you mention Bridlington. The last time I was there, it was still quite nicely done out with flower beds etc. Has it declined in the last couple of years?

 

[zwk500]

Eridge might be another contender.
Four platforms down to two in regular passenger use (one for the Spa Valley Railway)

Used to be a very busy interchange for converging lines that are now heritage only, or missing. Today service is only hourly each way and the colourfully refurbed Spa Valley side shows a very sad contrast between then and now.

Eridge has fallen less far than some others in the area - Uckfield isn't too bad, but East Grinstead is almost impossible to guess it once had a further 4 platforms above the current station. There's also Tunbridge Wells West, of course.