Cardiff Queen Street / Caerdydd Heol y Frenhines (CDQ)

Cardiff Queen Street (Caerdydd Heol y Frenhines) is the second busiest station in Wales and is a hub for the Valley Lines in South Wales and Cardiff local services as well as the Butetown branch line to Cardiff Bay.

TfW 143 624 stands at the station

Information
Type:	National Rail (Valley Lines & Butetown Branch)
Station code:	CDQ
Opened:	1840
Platforms:	5

The station was opened in 1840 as Crockherbtown by the Taff Vale Railway. It gained its current name in 1887 following a rebuild of the station. The station was much changed in 1973 following another rebuild where the overall roof and Taff Vale Railway frontage was removed. Further rebuilding work took place in 2014 where two platforms were reinstated bringing the total in use to five.

The station is managed by Transport for Wales who also operate all services to the station.

View of station canopies

Main station building

The Cardiff Bay shuttle arrives

Bilingual signage of course

View down the platform against a backdrop of the Welsh capital

Grantshouse

Grantshouse was a stop on the East Coast Main Line in Berwickshire, Scotland between Reston and Cockburnspath.

Information
Type:	National Rail (East Coast Main Line)
Opened:	1846
Closed:	1964
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Grant's House by the North British Railway in 1846. The station name was changed to Grantshouse in 1915. The station had a small goods yard. The station was closed in 1964. There is little trace of the station, the main building has already been demolished in 1961 after being damaged by a runaway train.

There are engineering sidings on the site nowadays.

Grantshouse (KD Collection)

Oakengates (OKN)

Oakengates is a stop on the Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury Line in Shropshire between Telford Central and Wellington. 

WMR 170 504 arrives

Information
Type:	National Rail (Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury Line)
Station code:	OKN
Opened:	1849
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Oakengates West in 1849 by the Great Western Railway [1] and kept this name until it lost the "West" in 1956. After the creation of the new town of Telford (of which Oakengates is a part of) the station was renamed Oakengates for Telford in 1983 though reverted to Oakengates in 1986 after the opening of Telford Central.

Just before the station (heading from Telford Central) is Oakengates Tunnel, construction of which was troublesome and delayed opening of the line for three years. The station had a goods yard which closed in 1965, however two sidings were retained for cement traffic until 1991 [2].

The station is unstaffed, the former main station building is now used as a dental practice. Access between the two platforms is a via a footbridge and a couple of bus shelters are provided for passengers. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway who operate an hourly service in both directions between Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury with extra trains at peak times.

Station footbridge

TfW 158 834 passes through

Station shelter

WMR 170 517 arrives, the tunnel can be just seen behind the train

Former main station building

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury (Middleton Press, 2009) Map. XXVII

[2] Ibid. Fig. 89

Limehouse (LHS/ZLH)

Limehouse is a stop on the London, Tilbury & Southend Line in East London between London Fenchurch Street and West Ham. It is also a stop on the Docklands Light Railway between Shadwell and Westferry.

c2c 357 314 arrives at Limehouse

Information
Type:	National Rail (London, Tilbury & Southend Line) & Transport for London (Docklands Light Railway)
Station code:	LHS/ZLH
Opened:	1840
Platforms:	4

The station was opened as Stepney by the Commercial Railway in 1840, the next station along the line was known as Limehouse. The station was enlarged when the Blackwall Extension Railway extended a line to Bow in 1849 [1]. Stepney was renamed Stepney East in 1923. In 1926 the other Limehouse station was closed, along with the Blackwall Line platforms at Stepney East. Stepney East was renamed Limehouse when the Docklands Light Railway platforms opened in 1987 using the old Blackwall Line viaduct [2][3].

The two sets of platforms are on different viaducts, interchange passengers had to step down to ground level and up again. A bridge was opened between the West bound National Rail platform and East bound DLR platform in 2009. Limehouse is managed by c2c and the DLR.

DLR 141 arrives at Limehouse with an East bound service

View down the DLR platforms

c2c 357 314 prepares to depart

View down the NR platforms

[1] J.E. Connor, Branch Lines of East London (Middleton Press, 2000) Fig. 1
[2] Ibid. Fig. 3
[3] Stephen Jolly & Bob Bayman, Docklands Light Railway (Capital Transport, 1986) p. 22

Tipton St Johns

Tipton St Johns was a stop on the Sidmouth Railway in Devon between Ottery St Mary and Sidmouth. The station was at a junction with a branch line to Budleigh Salterton via Newton Poppleford.

A DMU arrives at Tipton St Johns (KD Collection)

Information
Type:	National Rail (Sidmouth Railway)
Opened:	1874
Closed:	1967
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Tipton in 1874 by the Sidmouth Railway. The station changed it's name to Tipton St Johns in 1891. In 1897 a branch line was opened to Budleigh Salterton, the station being expanded with extra sidings.

The station was later part of British Railway's Southern Region. A camping coach was situated at the station during the 1950s and 1960s. The station was closed to first passenger services and a few months later freight in early 1967. The station building is now a private residence.