Trivia: Stations located uphill from city and town centres

[67thave]

During the three months I spent in the United Kingdom earlier this year, I noticed that the vast majority of mainline rail stations seem to be located downhill from city and town centers. To an extent, this makes perfect sense, as many railways were built on routes with as little gradient as possible and therefore follow rivers (and, in many cases, canals).

The only example of a rail station located uphill from the center of town which I can recall is High Wycombe. I imagine that there are plenty of others as well that I missed during my travels.

Edit: Thanks for all the additions and reminding me about Durham and Stockport (both of which I used and somehow forgot that they were uphill - noticeably so in the case of Durham!).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Okehampton is one. Dent is another (and several miles away! ). Durham is a third.

 

[Soundwave]

Truro, Durham, Denby Dale and Gunnislake spring to mind.

 

[Magdalia]

Brighton.

 

[YorksLad12]

Deighton, Slaithwaite and Marsden are all uphill... and downhill. But up from the main road through the settlement.

 

[P Binnersley]

Kidderminster stations are at the top of Comberton Hill.

 

[station_road]

Stockport is uphill from the centre

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Dewsbury
Denby Dale
Bradford Interchange
Batley
Slaithwaite
Marsden

 

[roadierway77]

Greenock Central is slightly uphill from the town centre.

 

[ChrisC]

Mansfield is uphill from the town centre.

 

[DanNCL]

Chester-le-Street is uphill from the town centre.

 

[edwin_m]

Bournemouth

 

[Gloster]

Deleted: I got base about apex.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Hadfield.
Hertford North.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Helensburgh Upper, Garelochhead, Crianlarich, Tyndrum Upper (now Upper Tyndrum), Connel Ferry, Glenfinnan, Arisaig - the latter six being villages rather than towns.

 

[Sheridan]

Bangor (Gwynedd) is around 50ft higher than most of the city centre.

 

[Mugby]

Rugby Station is about a mile from the town centre and a steady climb most of the way.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Buxton

 

[snowball]

An opposite example: Oldham town centre is at the top of a hill. When it was on the national rail network, the stations were downhill from the centre. The railway was converted to Metrolink, then after a year or two it was rerouted through the town centre with some big changes of height.

 

[Lucan]

Sutton

 

[steamybrian]

Sevenoaks town centre is at the top of a long hill from the station.
Ramsgate station is at the top of a long hill from the town centre/harbour.

 

[airantraigh]

Wick - if it is regarded as 'mainline'

 

[TheManOnThe172]

Purley
East Croydon

 

[Halish Railway]

Burley-in-Wharfedale

 

[NorthOxonian]

Chippenham (indeed the street which runs between the station and the main road over the town bridge is called Station Hill). The viaduct you cross just west of the station gives a good view across the town centre.

A pattern with a few of these thus far is riverside towns - where perhaps avoiding meanders and/or marshy ground was a motivation to make the engineering cheaper and easier?

 

[leytongabriel]

Enfield Chase is above the town centre though there's still a good hill to go up to reach Oakwood ( originally Enfield West).
The former stations at Ilfracombe,Ventnor and Crouch End were notoriously at the top of a hill too.

 

[steamybrian]

Purley
East Croydon

Purley station is in Purley.
East Croydon is in Croydon. The station is on the edge of shopping centre which is mainly on the level except short downhill along Crown Hill .

 

[Pigeon]

Worcester Shrub Hill is up a hill from the town centre. It's up the same hill from the former industrial area that developed around the canal. When the railway arrived an extensive network of sidings was built in that area. It must have been quite a sight watching the tankies struggling to haul loaded wagons up those gradients to the main line.

Worcester Foregate Street is just up a load of steps.

 

[D6130]

Armathwaite
Appleby
Kirkby Stephen
Horton-in-Ribblesdale
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Darlington
Northallerton
Rochdale
Todmorden
Kilmarnock
West Kilbride
Inverkip
North Berwick
Kirkcaldy
Kilpatrick
Linlithgow
Falkirk High

 

[thenorthern]

Windermere is a strange one as originally the railway was designed to serve the town of Bowness-on-Windermere but the gradient into Bowness was too steep to run into Bowness. In the end we ended up with Windermere station and later Windermere town around the station.