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Trivia: Bleakest Terminal Stations
- Thread starter Llandudno
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Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
Knottingley is very very grim.
So is Whitehaven, but not much actually terminates there these days.
So is Whitehaven, but not much actually terminates there these days.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I wouldn't say Whitehaven was that bad a place. It's certainly not in its heyday, but equally it's not a dump either. Probably on a similar level to Morecambe as a faded former seaside resort.
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
The town itself is alright, faded but alright. The station is horrible though.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The curious role reversal I found when I started a journey there ages ago was that it has a staffed booking office but a coffee machine. I'd kind of more expected a TVM and a Costa!
Edit: or actually maybe given the not-exactly-well-off nature of the place, perhaps a TVM and an independent place selling cups of tea and Nescafe.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
What are our criteria for selection here?
it also seems to be several degrees colder than the surrounding area!
Euston is fine, especially as an incoming passenger
Bletchley is just so drab. The roofs leak, the drains are blocked, the platforms are like a lake/rink. The station building is small and detached from the commonly used platforms. There is very little shelter and none at all on the north bound platform. Wind and rain gets into the bridge making it cold and wet. Waiting on P6 is depressing on a cold dark winter day.
it also seems to be several degrees colder than the surrounding area!
Euston is fine, especially as an incoming passenger
it is a depressing, rotting dump situated in a depressing, rotting dump with a nuclear power station as a neighbour!
No - you are being accurate
X-City-WM
Member
Redditch
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
The ferry terminal has been done out nicely by the Steam Racket though!
The walk up into the bottom end of Heysham village to get the bus is like walking through the land that time forgot.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
One upside is that the building is open 24/7 because there's no other entrance. Many other wayside stations with buildings lock them up once the booking office staff go home.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
the inside of the terminal is very nice - The cafe is a bit pricey mind!
... which will make it no longer bleak, or no longer a terminus?
DarloRich
Veteran Member
but with double automatic doors it isn't very welcoming in the cold!
D6130
Established Member
For those who are unfamiliar with the Glasgwegian language, 'ned' equals yob, thug, gang member, etc.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
For those who are unfamiliar with the Glasgwegian language, 'ned' equals yob, thug, gang member, etc.
Chav/scally are probably the analogous words from other parts of the UK.
ThirteenArches
Member
Any bleaker than Wingham Canterbury Road (EKR)?
John Luxton
Established Member
It is far from rotting it is managed by The Isle of Man Steam Packet and owned by Peel Ports, plenty of comfy seats and a cafe and the waiting area was revamped fairly recently. Much better than its previous incarnation as a faily basic and clinical BR Sealink interchange aspects of which lingered on into the early 2000s.
steamybrian
Established Member
At least it was staffed and had a shelter,
On the EKR there was also Sandwich Road station-
Mikey C
Established Member
- Joined
- 11 Feb 2013
- Messages
- 7,527
North Woolwich in its latter days before closure was pretty grim.
DaventryRabbit
Member
In the past maybe but not now IMO. Much improved facilities
Wife and I went to Blaenau in July (just after COVID)when it was raining. hoped to visit the slate museum/Ffestiniog Railway and have a day out. We were only ones getting off train there which should have warned us. Ffestiniog Railway not operating. Sense of panic as we saw train returning to Llandudno and next one about 3 hours later. Walked up and down main street (sic), found a cafe open and had two hot chocolates and wondered what do we do now with 2 1/2 hours to kill. Eventually escaped by catching a bus to Porthmadoc then a couple more buses to Llandudno. Did not see many of the local kids but we were wondering what a wet Sunday in January would be like there
like most other days, I imagine! (Sorry, Blaenau, I couldn't resist that.) Of course when the Ffestiniog is running and especially if the sun is shining it's quite a nice place to change trains...
There's a nice little nature reserve nearby. Last time I was there, it had an orchid that looked like a bee !
Last time I was at Cleethorpes it had facilities, shelter and the seaside nearby, so I wouldn't class it as bleak.
Sad Sprinter
Established Member
London Bridge is a funny one. On one hand, it’s spectacular at its lower level, but you’re right that the Brighton side is particularly soulless. It seems to have to buzz or atmosphere at all, and you’re right that when waiting for a train to enter the platforms the canopies aren’t quite the same substitute for an overall roof.
Even at its lower level, there just seems to be away from the main circulating area, small corners of the station that are vast and empty and…grey. The joyless “meeting point” beneath the Brighton platforms springs to mind.
Into the fantastical realm, there are a number of South London branch line model railway layouts that feature deliberately bleak South London termini in the 1990s. “Brockwell Park” springs to mind.
Killingworth
Established Member
Considering Ashington doesn't open for another 10 days or so that must put it very near top of this list. I've parked in the car park and can't think of a bleaker station. It was raining last week for those of us on the special service that didn't allow us out so that impression was no better.
Positives? It's brand new with no graffiti or litter, yet. Hopefully local community input can add some softening features. At least there's no timber to rot and not a lot of unprotected steel to rust.
What a contrast with the welcoming stations built by our Victorian forebears.
duffield
Established Member
I do. Started and finished several walks there, walking across the bridge is quite something, and you can also walk along to New Holland on the same side.
I've been to much bleaker places than Barton. Yes, it's the most basic, stripped down station you can get just about, but the surroundings are not desolate, threatening or bleak. Proper pub, small supermarket, bus station, various houses some of them pretty nice, nothing exciting but OK.
xotGD
Established Member
- Joined
- 4 Feb 2017
- Messages
- 6,788
Whereas we get a different type of ned here on Rail Forums!For those who are unfamiliar with the Glasgwegian language, 'ned' equals yob, thug, gang member, etc.
On topic: Sunderland. Grim. And when you exit the station, you are in Sunderland.
John Luxton
Established Member
Turn the camera the other way round who would sit in the shelter when one could sit inside the building?