Netherfield (NET)

Netherfield is a stop on the Nottingham-Grantham Line between Nottingham and Radcliffe.
EMR 158 773 departs the station

Information
Type: National Rail (Nottingham-Grantham Line)
Station code: NET
Opened: 1878
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the Great Northern Railway in 1878 as Colwick. The station was renamed Netherfield & Colwick in 1883. Over the next ninety years the station alternated between just Netherfield and Netherfield & Colwick a few years though since 1974 has been known as Netherfield. The station is a short walk away (though not connected to) Carlton.

The station consists of a single island platform with access from a road bridge which crosses the line. The station has very basic facilities and only a small number of services a day. It is managed by East Midlands Railway, a small number of Nottingham-Skegness services stop at the station.
EMR 158 778 prepares to depart

Station sign

Platform view, a single shelter and a few seats!

View from the top of the stairs

The bridge that crosses the line

Erdington (ERD)

Erdington is a stop on the Northern half of the Cross-City Line in Birmingham between Gravelly Hill and Chester Road.
WMR 323 219 departs North

Information
Type: National Rail (Cross-City Line)
Station code: ERD
Opened: 1862
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the London & North West Railway in 1862. The station was later owned by the LMS (LMS lettering can still be seen on the railway bridge next to the station entrance) and of course British Railways. Nowadays it is managed by West Midlands Railway.

The station has two platforms with a manned ticket office and waiting room on one of them, the other buildings being bus-shelter style buildings. Access to the station and between the platforms is via a ramp down to the street. Originally the station buildings were made of wood as the station is on an embankment and there was a need to minimise settlement of the embankment [1] but these were replaced when the line was electrified. Like many stations Erdington once had goods sidings, a goods shed and cattle pen though these have long gone [2], the yard closing in 1962.

The only serious rail accident at the station occured in 1875 when a stationary goods train was hit from behind by a passenger train though there were luckily no fatalities or serious injuries [3]. Another potentially serious incident was averted in 1966 when a passer-by noticed a barrackade had been built across the track and they alerted the nearest signalbox [4].

From Erdington there are services North to Lichfield Trent Valley and South to Redditch or Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street.
A Cross-Country HST heads through

Ramp up to platform level

Station sign

A RHTT service heads through cleaning the rails

View up the platform, main station building on the right

[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) Fig. 89
[2] Correspondence. Birmingham Daily Post (Birmingham, England), Friday, June 12, 1891; Issue 10287. 
[3] Railway Accident at Erdington. Birmingham Daily Post (Birmingham, England), Friday, February 5, 1875; Issue 5169. 
[4] Rail wreckers build a 'wall' across line. Daily Mirror, Thu 20 Oct 1966 Page 17.

Earl's Court (ZET)

Earl's Court is a London Underground station in Central London served by the District and Piccadilly Lines. On the Piccadilly Line the station is between Barons Court and Gloucester Road. On the District the station is a major junction between West Brompton, Kensington Olympia or West Kensington and High Street Kensington or Gloucester Road.
A District Line S7 train departs

Information
Type: Transport for London (District & Piccadilly Lines)
Station code: ZET
Opened: 1871
Platforms: 6

The station was opened in 1871 by the District Railway which had extended South West from Gloucester Road to West Brompton a couple of years before. This original station was located to the East of the current station. It was damaged by fire in 1875 [1] and replaced by a new larger station in 1878.

Earl's Court quickly became the hub of the District Line with extensions and links to lines to Kensington Olympia and Hammersmith opened in the early 1870s. The Midland Railway also served Earl's Court between 1878 and 1880 with services from London St Pancras though these were not a success. District Railway services through Earl's Court were electrified in 1905.

In 1906 the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway opened a deep-level tube line between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park via Earl's Court. This later became the Piccadilly Line.

The first escalators on (what became) the London Underground were opened at Earl's Court in 1911. The station building was replaced in 1915. Despite many changes to the station over the following decades the station retains it's old style train describers with illuminated arrows. These are Grade II listed like the rest of the station.
District Line platforms

Train describer

District Line platform view showing the roof

Throwback to 2013 when C69 Stock trains operated from the station

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 116

Bow Brickhill (BWB)

Bow Brickhill is a stop on the Marston Vale Line in Buckinghamshire on the edge of Milton Keynes between Fenny Stratford and Woburn Sands.
LNWR 230 003 on a Bedford bound service

Information
Type: National Rail (Marston Vale Line)
Station code: BWB
Opened: 1905
Platforms: 2

The station was opened by the London North Western Railway in 1905 as a halt. The station was closed as a wartime economy measure in 1917 but re-opened in 1919 [1]. The station had very low ground-level platforms with wooden huts for station buildings.

The platforms were raised to standard height in 1959 [2]. The station became unstaffed in the 1980s. The two platforms are staggered either side of a level crossing. The level crossing was controlled by a signal box until the line's modernisation. The station is managed by London Northwestern Railway who operate trains on the line between Bletchley and Bedford.
The two platforms are staggered either side of the level crossing

Platform shelter

LNWR 230 004 heads through the crossing

The shelter on the up line (towards Bletchley) is at ground level

View from the level crossing

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bletchley to Cambridge (Middleton Press, 2007) Fig. 20
[2] Ibid. Fig. 23

Liverpool Lime Street (LIV)

Lime Street is Liverpool's largest station and a terminus of the West Coast Main Line though not the first terminus. The first was opened at Crown Street, Edge Hill in 1830 but was replaced by the much more centrally located Lime Street a few years later. Lime Street was opened by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1836 [1].
Northern 150 124 at Lime St

Information
Type: National Rail (West Coast Main Line & Local Lines)
Station code: LIV
Opened: 1836
Platforms: 9

The station is down a fairly steep incline from Edge Hill (up to 1 in 83). Early steam locomotives were not powerful enough to handle such an incline meaning that early trains were rope hauled as far as Edge Hill until 1870. The approach to the station was cut into the bed rock, originally a tunnel but later on opened out to allow for more tracks and for smoke (and later diesel fumes) to escape. The line was electrified in the early 1960s with electric services from Liverpool to Crewe starting in 1962 [2].

Over the station was built an arched roof in the 1860s to cover the concourse and most of the platform length. A second parallel roof was added in 1879.

An underground station was built at Lime Street in 1977 for Merseyrail Wirral Line services (Liverpool Lime Street Low Level), access to this is via the main concourse. Liverpool Lime Street is a busy station with services by Northern, Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern, East Midlands Railway, Transport for Wales and Trans Pennine Express.
Northern 142 048

Northern 319 375

Northern 195 114

Old and new at the buffer stops, Northern 150 226 and 195 102

A Transport for Wales 158

[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 54
[2] Ibid p. 56

Hamstead (HSD)

Hamstead is a stop on the Chase Line in Great Barr between Perry Barr and Tame Bridge Parkway.
WMR 323 202 arrives at Hamstead with a Birmingham bound service

Information
Type: National Rail (Chase Line)
Station code: HSD
Opened: 1837
Platforms: 2

The station was opened in 1837 by the Grand Junction Railway as Hamstead & Great Barr. The station was originally located the other side of the road bridge that crosses the line but moved to the current location in 1899 [1]. The station was renamed Great Barr in 1875 but changed to Hamstead in 1974.

The station retains a wooden building on the down platform though the canopy has been reduced in width [2]. The other platform once had a wooden building too but nowadays just has the usual bus shelter. The station is in a cutting with ramps down from street level. The station is managed and served by West Midlands Trains. Usually there are two trains an hour between Walsall and Birmingham New Street (some going onto Wolverhampton).
Look up the line towards Birmingham, notice the ramp up to street level

A WMR 323 stands at the station

Steps up to street level

Main station building

WMR 323 202 departs bound for Walsall

[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) Map. XV
[2] Ibid. Fig. 59

Ealing Common (ZEC)

Ealing Common is a stop on the London Underground in West London. It is between Ealing Broadway or North Ealing and Acton Town on the District and Piccadilly Lines.
A Piccadilly Line train arrives

Information
Type: Transport for London (District & Piccadilly Lines)
Station code: ZEC
Opened: 1879
Platforms: 2

Ealing Common was opened by the District Railway in 1879 on it's extension from Turnham Green to Ealing Broadway. The station was renamed Ealing Common & West Acton in 1886. It kept this name until 1910 when it reverted back to the original one [1]. Electric trains began operating at Ealing Common in 1905.

The Piccadilly Line reached Ealing Common in 1932 after it was extended from Hammersmith [2]. The Piccadilly Line took over the District Line branch to South Harrow (now the Uxbridge branch). The station was rebuilt in 1930-31 with a new Charles Holden building replacing the original 1879 structure. To the East of the station is the District Line's Ealing Common depot.
Steps up to the ticket hall

A District Line S7 train waits

View down the platforms, both have concrete canopies

A District Line S7 train departs

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 114
[2] Desmond F. Croome, The Piccadilly Line (Capital Transport, 1998) p. 28

Port Sunlight (PSL)

Port Sunlight is a stop on the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of the Merseyrail Wirral Line between Spital and Bebington.
Merseyrail 508 131 departs bound for Liverpool Central

Information
Type: National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code: PSL
Opened: 1914 (Factory workers only)
1927 (General public)
Platforms: 2

The station was opened as Port Sunlight Halt in 1914 for workers at the Lever Brothers soap factory at Port Sunlight [1]. The station was opened to the general public in 1927 and renamed Port Sunlight. The station originally had much longer platforms able to accomodate up fourteen coach trains. These wooden platforms were replaced by much shorter ones in 1969 and only six coach trains can be accomodated now [2].

The line to Port Sunlight was electrified in 1985 allowing for direct trains to Liverpool Central. Further electrification allowed for trains to Chester and Ellesmere Port in the 1990s. The station is built on an embankment with a ground level subway between the platforms and steps up to platform level. The station has a staffed ticket office.
Station building

Steps down to ground level

Booking hall

Subway under the platforms

Preparing to depart

Baggage trolly on display in the booking office

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Chester to Birkenhead (Middleton Press, 2012) Map. XI
[2] Ibid. Fig. 58