Eastham Rake (ERA)

Eastham Rake is a stop on the Merseyrail Wirral Line between Bromborough and Hooton. 

Merseyrail 507 002 arrives with a Liverpool bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code:	ERA
Opened:	1995
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 1995 [1] serving the village of Eastham on the Wirral. The station is a typical Merseyrail station with a staffed booking office. It also has a 101 space car park. Access between the two platforms is via a footbridge with a stepped ramp.

The station is served by trains from Liverpool Central to Chester at up to fifteen minute intervals.

Shelter left, train right

View from the footbridge

View down the platform

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Chester to Birkenhead (Middleton Press, 2012) Fig. 41

Bescot Stadum (BSC)

Bescot Stadium is a stop on the Chase Line in the West Midlands between Tame Bridge Parkway and Walsall.

GBRf 66 786 leads a freight through Bescot Stadium

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

Bescot Stadium was originally known as Bescot and then Bescot Junction when it was opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1837. The current name dates from 1990 and the opening of the nearby stadium owned by Walsall FC. The station has two island platforms up until the 1960s [1]. The line through the station was electrified in 1966.

Bescot Stadium is on the Chase or Walsall Line with most services between Birmingham New Street and Walsall though some also go on to Wolverhampton. The station is next to Bescot TMD and yard, indeed the station is sandwiched between the depot and the M6 motorway.


Access to the station is via a footbridge that crosses over the river Tame and passes under the motorway. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway.

LNWR 350 119 departs for Walsall

66 148 shunts in the yard

Lines North of the station

LNWR 350 406 stands at the station

An Avanti WC train passes through

[1] Vic Mitchell, North of Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2014) Fig. 34

Wembley Central (WMB)

Wembley Central is a stop on the London Underground Bakerloo Line in North London between Stonebridge Park and North Wembley. It is also a stop on the London Overground Watford DC Line. There is also a limited service on the West Coast Main Line.

Bakerloo Line 3241 prepares to depart

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line) Transport for London (Bakerloo Line & London Overground Watford DC Line)
Station code:	WMB
Opened:	1842
Platforms:	6

The station was opened as Sudbury by the London & Birmingham Railway in 1842. It was renamed Sudbury & Wembley in 1882 [1]. The LNWR New Line, nowadays part of the London Overground, opened in 1910, the station was renamed Wembley for Sudbury. The Bakerloo Line began operating from the station in 1917. The station was renamed Wembley Central in 1948.

The station has a concrete raft built part of the platforms it in 1965 which gives the TfL platforms the appearance of an underground station. Most services at the station are operated by Transport for London though there is a limited service on the WCML by LNWR and Southern.

LO 710 271 arrives

Notice the step down requires for tube stock

View down the platform

LO 710 271 stands at Wembley Central

Footbridge

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 164

Acton Bridge (ACB)

Acton Bridge is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in Cheshire between Hartford and Runcorn. 

A freight passes through Acton Bridge

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:	ACB
Opened:	1837
Platforms:	3

The station was opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1837 as Acton [1], it was renamed Acton Bridge in 1870. As well as services on what is now known as the West Coast Main Line, Acton Bridge was also the terminus of services to Crewe via Sandbach but these services ceased in 1942. One platform was turned into an island in 1925. The station had a goods shed and sidings which closed in 1965.

The station entrance is on the road bridge which crosses the line with stairs down to the platforms. The station's wooden platform buildings have been replaced by some concrete shelters. The station is managed by London North Western Railway.

Platform shelter

Steps down to the island platform

View up the platform, the main building is top right

LNWR 350 262 departs

Stay behind the yellow line(s)!

[1] Adrian Hartless, Crewe to Wigan (Middleton Press, 2017) Map. XI

Moorgate (MOG/ZMG)

Moorgate is a London terminus and major interchange station in the City of London. It is between Barbican and Liverpool Street on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines. It is between Old Street and Bank on the Northern Line. It is the terminus of the Northern City Line.

Heritage Metropolitan Railway style sign on one of the disused platforms

Information
Type:	National Rail (Great Northern) Transport for London (Northern, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines)
Station codes:	MOG (National Rail) ZMG (Underground)
Opened:	1865
Platforms:	10 (7 in use)

The station was originally opened in 1865 by the Metropolitan Railway as it's first Eastern terminus. The deep tube reached Moorgate in 1900 via the City & South London Railway, this is now the Northern Line.

The Northern City Line was opened in 1904 running from Moorgate to Finsbury Park. This was operated by tube trains (as a branch of the Northern Line) though the tunnels were built to mainline gauge which meant British Rail could take over the line in 1975 [1]. One service that no longer stops at Moorgate is the London Thameslink, the Moorgate branch closing in 2009.

Unfortunately also in 1975 came the worst ever peacetime accident on the London Underground when a Northern City Line train crashed into the buffers killing forty three people [2].

Moorgate is a busy station served by four London Underground (three of them sub-surface) lines and a National Rail line. Crossrail's Liverpool Street station will have an interchange at Moorgate. 

Preparing to depart

Northern City Line platform, they have now lost the NSE branding unfortunately

Northern Line platform

A sub-surface train stands at the station

View from a disused platform

[1] Chris Heaps, BR Diary (Ian Allan, 1988) p. 100
[2] Heaps p. 84

Rochester (RTR)

Rochester is a stop on the Chatham Main Line in Kent between Sole Street and Chatham. 

Southeastern Railway 395 014 prepares to depart

Information
Type:	National Rail (Chatham Main Line)
Station code:	RTR
Opened:	1892
Platforms:	3

The station was opened by the East Kent Railway in 1892. This station was about 500m to the East of the current station. The original station was replaced by a new re-sited station in 2015. The new station had longer platforms for longer trains.

Access to the platforms is via a subway from the ticket hall. The station is managed by Southeastern Railway with some services also by Thameslink on the North Kent Line.

Southeastern 375 615 with a London bound service

View down the platform

Spondon (SPO)

Spondon is a stop on the Derwent Valley Line in Derbyshire Between Derby and Long Eaton.

XC 170 398 heads through Spondon

Information
Type:	National Rail (Derwent Valley Line)
Station code:	SPO
Opened:	1839
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Midlands Counties Railway in 1839 on it's line from Derby to Nottingham. Originally trains from Derby to Nottingham (and through Spondon) departed from the North but in 1867 the Midland Railway opened a new route to Nottingham from the South. Both routes remained in use until 1969, the junction being just to the West of Spondon. The Northern route was closed.

The station was adjacent to a British Celanese plant, worker traffic drove the need to enlarge the station in the 1920s. The station had a goods yard and the British Celanese plant it's own railway network [1]. Nowadays the station is unstaffed station with an hourly service in both directions. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge or the road level crossing at the Western end of the platforms. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway.

Level crossing

View down the platform

37 608 roars through the level crossing

Former station building

Footbridge and level crossing beyond

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Nottingham - Long Eaton - Derby (Middleton Press, 2020) Map. XIV