Trivia 'Blink and you'll miss it' glimpses on the Brighton Main Line

[Railcar]

As a user of the 'Five and nine', my choice of seat is dictated by the glimpses of landmarks that can be seen for a fraction of a second.

Coming from London Bridge, at about half a mile , there is a 'marker' on the East side, on the Tower Bridge Road, an office block with orange and grey stripes. The 'glimpse' is right through Tower Bridge

Between Sydenham and Penge West stations, there is a 'glimpse' looking eastward through an archway of Penge East Station. (Best seen on a slow train)

Just after leaving (or just before)the Quarry Tunnel the M25 can be glimpsed. Ah! that feeling of schadenfreude as one speeds at 70mph over jammed traffic!

 

[bangor-toad]

Here are some other things you might see if you're looking in the right place at the right time:


Just south of East Croydon: Remnants of the original LSBCR overhead electrification pillars. (Relatively easy to spot)
Just south of East Croydon: Change in brick colour due to the rebuild required from the 1915 Zeppelin raid. (much, much harder to see)

Just south of Purley: The fake level crossing in the depot.

At the southern exit of Merstham tunnel: The bridge abutments of the branch that used to cross the Quarry lines (heading to a quarry)

A bit further south on the Quarry line: The curiously narrow old bridge leading to a new housing development (repurposed from an old rail route) and the lake left from the extraction of Fullers Earth.

Just south of Salford station: The remains of the old rail fuel depot.

Just south of Gatwick station: The emergency 'cut all the power' wire

A bit further south: The original Gatwick airport terminal - The Beehive.

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[snowball]

Just south of Salford station: The remains of the old rail fuel depot.

I assume you mean Salfords!

 

[Fenchurch SP]

On the line to Victoria just north of Selhurst Station you can look along the roads leading up the hill to the Crystal Palace football stadium.

 

[Mikey C]

My favourite "brief view" is on HS1, where the railway goes over the northbound A282 that has just exited the Dartford Tunnel then immediately goes under the southbound A282 Dartford QEII Bridge.

 

[zwk500]

The concrete cows of Milton Keynes can be glimpsed between MKC and Wolverton on the Up side.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

The concrete cows of Milton Keynes can be glimpsed between MKC and Wolverton on the Up side.

Didn't realise those settlements were on the BML!

 

[zwk500]

Didn't realise those settlements were on the BML!

Didn't realise the Dartford Bridge was either!

 

[30907]

Multiple glimpses between Clapham Jn and Battersea Park of the Longhedge lines plus of course the SW lines. Sadly the remains of Battersea LBSCR roundhouse have gone.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

Didn't realise the Dartford Bridge was either!

Meant to quote both posts!

 

[zwk500]

Meant to quote both posts!

On the line itself, you get a decent view of Ardingly College from the Balcombe or Ouse Valley Viaduct, but the real 'blink and you'll miss it' surprise is the connection to the Ardingly freight spur just before Copyhold junction. I don't think the works for the proposed Ouse Valley Line to Uckfield and Hailsham are actually visible from the train though.

 

[Mikey C]

Sorry, I didn't realise this thread was specific to the BML

 

[dastocks]

On the line itself, you get a decent view of Ardingly College from the Balcombe or Ouse Valley Viaduct, but the real 'blink and you'll miss it' surprise is the connection to the Ardingly freight spur just before Copyhold junction. I don't think the works for the proposed Ouse Valley Line to Uckfield and Hailsham are actually visible from the train though.

If you're sitting on the left hand side of a southbound train just south of Balcombe Viaduct the train passes over this bridge:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

You can catch a glimpse of the extra-wide abutments from the train; they were built like that to accommodate an extra span for the Ouse Valley line.