Shanklin (SHN)

Shanklin is the Southern terminus of the Island Line, the last remaining part of the national railway network on the Isle of Wight. The island once was an extensive network of thirty-six stations across the island but now is reduced to a single line between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin (plus the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which branches off the Island Line at Smallbrook Junction).

Information
Type: National Rail
(Island Line)
Station code: SHN
Opened: 1864
Platforms: 1
Originally the line continued past Shanklin down to Wroxall and Ventnor but these stations were closed in the late 1960s largely due to the extra cost of electrification to continue the service to these stations as an extra sub-station would have needed to have been built [1].

Shanklin once had two platforms but only one is used now (the other platform has been turned into a flower garden) but there still remains a ticket office and a shop and the station building is Grade II listed. Two trains an hour leave Shanklin for Ryde.
483 007 at Shanklin

483 007 will head back North to Ryde soon


[1] R.J. Maycock & R. Silsbury, The Isle of Wight Railways From 1923 Onwards (Oakwood Press, 2006), p. 227

Chiswick Park (ZCI)

Chiswick Park is a stop  in Chiswick, West London on the District Line branch to Ealing Broadway. Although Piccadilly Line trains pass through the station only the District Line stops at it.

Information
Type: Transport for London
(District Line)
Station code: ZCI
Opened: 1879
Platforms: 2
The station was opened as Acton Green by the Metropolitan District Railway in 1879 [1]. It was later renamed Chiswick Park & Acton Green in 1887 before the final change to just Chiswick Park in 1910.

The station was rebuilt in 1933 with a Charles Holden designed "brick drum" for the ticket hall [2]. The station was rebuilt for the Piccadilly Line Eastern extension though the Piccadilly has never stopped at Chiswick Park, the line's trains instead usually pass through on the two central fast lines. This means the two platforms are separated by a fair distance. Both platforms have an extensive concrete canopy.
A West bound District S7 train departs

The platforms are separated by four lines

Station roundel 
An Eastbound S7 train arrives

A Piccadilly Line 73ts train passes through 
Delightful platform lights

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 110
[2] Paul Moss, London Undeerground (Haynes, 2014) p. 99

Aspley Guise (ASP)

Aspley Guise is a stop on the Marston Vale Line which runs between Bletchley and Bedford. Aspley Guise is just inside the Bedfordshire border and is between Woburn Sands and Ridgmont.

Information
Type: National Rail
(Marston Vale Line)
Station code: ASP
Opened: 1905
Platforms: 2
The station was opened by the London & North Western Railway in 1905, later coming under the control of the LMS and British Railways.

The station was rebuilt by the LMS, being a rather basic halt beforehand with no shelters. The platforms, which are staggered either side of a level crossing (not the original arrangement), were extended in 1959 though can still only comfortably accommodate short trains. The station is very basic with just a couple of shelters and passenger information boards.
WMR 153 334 waits to depart 
Platform shelter, dating from the LMS improvements to the station

Station sign

Level crossing

The platforms are either side of the level crossing

View from the road

Regent's Park (ZRP)

Regent's Park is a stop on the Bakerloo Line between Baker Street and Oxford Circus.

Information
Type: Transport for London
(Bakerloo Line)
Station code: ZRP
Opened: 1906
Platforms: 2
Regent's Park was a late addition to the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway's original plans with the Parliamentary go-ahead to build the station not received until 1904 [1] when the rest of the line was already under construction. It was still able to open with the other original stations of what would become the Bakerloo Line in 1906.

Regent's Park has no surface buildings, the ticket hall is accessed via a subway [2]. Lifts or a ninety-six step staircase are the only way to get to and from the platforms. However the station is one of the quietest tube stations in Zone 1 (with only three million passengers a year!)
A Bakerloo Line 72ts arrives 
An empty platform

Various station signs, notice the tiles do not have an apostrophe 

A Bakerloo Line train about to depart

[1] Mike Horne, The Bakerloo Line (Capital Transport, 2001) p. 11
[2] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 151

Dorridge (DDG)

Dorridge serves the village of the same name and the adjoining Knowle near Solihull. The station is a stop on the Chiltern Main Line though not all services on that route stop there.

Information
Type: National Rail
(Chiltern Main Line)
Station code: DDG
Opened: 1852
Platforms: 3
The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1852 on it's route from Birmingham to Oxford. The station was originally known as Knowle and changed to Knowle & Dorridge in 1897.

The station was changed back to just Knowle in 1968 even though the station is actually in Dorridge not Knowle! The station was finally renamed Dorridge in 1974.

Dorridge has three platforms, platform three is usually used by terminating West Midlands Trains services out of Birmingham Snow Hill. The station is also served by Chiltern Railways, who manage the station.

The original station building is still intact though was rebuilt in the mid-twentieth century with some changes to the exterior look [1]. The station once had extensive platform canopies but these have been greatly cut back. A goods yard has now been lost to a car park though some storage sidings remain around the station.
WMT 172 335 terminates at Dorridge with a service from Stourbridge Junction

Waiting room between platforms two and three

Looking down the line, eventually you will end up at London Marylebone 
Station footbridge

Main station building

Chiltern 168 106 departs with a London Marylebone service

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Banbury to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2004) fig. 63

Ledbury (LED)

Ledbury is on the line between Worcester and Hereford, part of the Cotswold Line, and also known as the Birmingham-Hereford Line.

Information
Type: National Rail
(Cotswold Line)
Station code: LED
Opened: 1861
Platforms: 2
The station was opened by the West Midlands Railway in 1861. Later on it was known as Ledbury Junction after the Daffodil Line from Ledbury to Gloucester was opened in the 1880s (the now closed Ledbury Town Halt is not far away). The current Ledbury signalbox was built to manage the junction and still remains long after the branch line was closed.

Most of the line from Malvern to Hereford is single-track though Ledbury is double tracked. Nowadays the station has just basic facilities, though does have a ticket office, and shelters though used to have brick station buildings with GWR style canopies [1]. A goods yard, for coal traffic, just ahead of the station by the signalbox is now closed though some of the tracks remain [2].

Ledbury has services to destinations such as Birmingham New Street, Hereford, London Paddington and Worcester Foregate Street.
170 510, then operated by London Midland, departs Ledbury

View towards Hereford from the footbridge

Ledbury signal box

Station sign

Footbridge

Two London Midland 170s depart

[1] Michael Welch, Diesels on the Western (Capital Transport, 2013) p. 8
[2] Ibid. p. 38

Oval (ZOV)

Oval, in Kennington South London, is named after the nearby Oval cricket ground of Surrey County Cricket Club.

Information
Type: Transport for London
(Northern Line)
Station code: ZOV
Opened: 1890
Platforms: 2
Oval is one of the oldest tube stations on the Underground, being opened in 1890 as one of six stations [1] by the City & South London Railway on it's pioneering deep level electric tube line between Stockwell and King William Street. The station was opened as The Oval though lost the "The" in 1894! The station is now on the Bank branch of the Northern Line.

The original surface building had neo-classical and arts & crafts elements to it's design. The station was rebuilt in 1923 [2] and was fully refurbished in 2007/08. Reflecting the station's proximity to the cricket ground some of the station tiling shows cricketers at play.
A Northern Line 95ts arrives

Platform view

Surface station building, the cricket ground can be seen in the background on the right 
Cricketer tiling display

A Northern Line train stands at the station

[1] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 27
[2] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 146

Sheffield (SHF)

Sheffield is a busy station on the Midland Main Line and the busiest station in South Yorkshire. It is also a stop on the Sheffield Supertram.

Information
Type: National Rail
(Midland Main Line)
Station code: SHF
Opened: 1870
Platforms: 9 (+2 tram)
The station, originally called Pond Street, was Sheffield's fifth station being built on a new line which the Midland Railway opened to replace an older route. The station was extended in 1905 with a new frontage and two new platforms added. The station was later called Sheffield Midland.

Sheffield's other large station (and main station) was Sheffield Victoria which closed in 1970 and it's services were diverted to Sheffield Midland.

A stop on the Sheffield Supertram adjacent to the station was opened in 1994. The station was refurbished in the 2000s with the taxi rank removed from the concourse, new platform surfaces and a bridge linking the station to the Supertram stop was added.

Sheffield is served by East Midlands Trains (who manage the station), Northern, Cross Country and Trans Pennine Express.
Cross Country and East Midlands Trains at Sheffield

Northern 144 008 arrives at Sheffield with a terminating service

Platform 1, the main station building behind

Sheffield has a number of bay platforms

Supertram 125 at the tram stop

EMT 158 856 stands at Platform 5