Norchard is the head quarters of the Dean Forest Railway near Lydney in Gloucestershire. It is between Lydney Town and Whitecroft.
D2069 and a brake van at Norchard
Information
Type:
Preserved Railway (Dean Forest Railway)
Opened:
1991
Platforms:
3
The site of Norchard station was originally home to an endless rope system at the Southern end of a coal field owned by the Park Colliery Company. A power station was later built near the colliery. This ceased operation in 1967 [1]. The Dean Forest Railway purchased the site in 1974 and began building workshops and a two level station which opened for open days in 1978. The line was re-opened between Norchard and the now closed St Mary's Haltin 1991 and through to Lydney Junction in 1995.
Two platforms are on the low-level part of the station (which is a terminus) and one on the high-level which is a through station (and thus main platform) serving as far as Parkside.
Stock stored at Norchard including a Class 08 and 14
DMU cars under restoration
Wooden shelter
View down the platform
Trackside buildings at Norchard
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Branch Lines Around Lydney (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 55
Waterloo is a stop in Northern Liverpool on the Merseyrail Northern Line between Seaforth & Litherland and Blundellsands & Crosby. It is named after the Royal Waterloo hotel which was opened to commemorate the famous battle [1].
Merseyrail 507 024 at Waterloo
Information
Type:
National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:
WLO
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport railway in 1848 as the original Southern terminus. Later the station was taken over by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (who electrified the line to 630v DC third rail at the start of the 20th century), LNWR, LMS and finally British Railways. The station is now managed by Merseyrail who provide all of the services that call there on the Northern Line to Southport.
Not far from the beach, the station has always been popular and has over 1.5 million passengers a year. The station once had fine Victorian platform buildings and canopies but these were demolished despite protests in 1975 [2]. Nowadays the single island platform has just a bus shelter and a bike shed on it. The station entrance is up via stairs or a lift to street level. A ramp that offers access to the platform from another entrance next to the bus interchange opposite the main station building entrance is currently closed.
Though the station is officially just named Waterloo on signage, some public information screens display it as Waterloo (Merseyside) - just in case anyone mistakes it with London Waterloo!
Walkway to the platform
View down the platform, bike shed on the right
The station has an island platform
Steps down to the platform
508 114 departs
[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 30 [2] Ibid. p. 30
Manor House is a stop on the London Underground Piccadilly Line in North London between Finsbury Park and Turnpike Lane.
A 73ts train departs North
Information
Type:
Transport for London (London Underground Piccadilly Line)
Station code:
ZMR
Opened:
1932
Platforms:
2
The station was built as part of the Piccadilly Line extension to Cockfosters and opened in 1932. The station was named after a now-closed public house which was nearby. The station building was designed by Charles Holden, the station originally had nine exits. Some exits which served now-withdrawn tram srvices have been closed.
When the Victoria Line was being planned it was considered to transfer Manor House to the new line. Nothing came of these plans though the Victoria Line runs underneath the station.
Stafford is a major interchange station on the West Coast Main Line in Staffordshire, located at the junction of the Trent Valley and Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford branches of the WCML. It is situated between Rugeley Trent Valley or Penkridge and Crewe.
DRS 88 010 takes a freight through Stafford
Information
Type:
National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
STA
Opened:
1837
Platforms:
5
The original Stafford station was opened by the Grand Junction Railway
in 1837 but lasted less than ten years before being rebuilt in 1844. There was a further rebuild in 1862 and exactly one hundred years later the current station was built with in the current Brutalist architecture style. This rebuild removed the overall roof with shelter from the elements now rather limited to a few canopies which do not extent along the whole platform. There are five platforms though they are numbered up to six, platform two no longer exists. It was a bay platform next to the station building (which used to be used by GNR trains for Uttoxeter [1]) and is now used as a siding.
A Royal Mail platform still exists next to platform six which used to be used by the adjacent sorting office though this is no longer in use. Stafford also used to have a large locomotive depot but this closed in 1965 [2].
Stafford is a busy station with regular Avanti West Coast (who manage the station), London North Western and Cross Country services as well as freight passing through.
GBRf 66 799 heads through with a freight
Colas 56 090 runs around a freight train on the post office lined
A RHTT heads through
Double headed 90s lead yet another freight through Stafford
LNWR 350 112 prepares to depart North, the main station building can be seen in the background
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Stoke-on-Trent (Middleton Press, 2016) Fig. 94 [2] Ibid. Fig. 96
Alsager is a stop on the North Staffordshire Line in Cheshire between Crewe and Kidsgrove.
LNWR 350 106 departs heading North
Information
Type:
National Rail
(North Staffordshire Line)
Station code:
ASG
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1848. It was renamed Alsager Rode Heath in 1889 but changed back to Alsager in 1923. The station retains it's station building though it is no longer in railway use. A signalbox was located next to the station building though was closed in 1985 and demolished [1]. The line through Alsager was electrified in 2003, the line can be used for diverted West Coast Main Line trains.
The station is now unstaffed with a couple of brick shelters. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway and served by themselves and LNWR. A level crossing is situated at one end of the platforms, access between the platforms is via the road.
View down the platform
LNWR 350 263 arrives with a South bound service
Platform shelter
Former station building
Level crossing
[1] Adrian Hartless, Lines North of Stoke (Middleton Press, 2019) Fig. 69
The loop is a single track tunnel with trains (from the Wirral) first stopping at Liverpool James Street before progressing clockwise around the loop to Moorfields, Lime Street, Liverpool Central and then back to James Street and then back under the Mersey [1].
Entrance to Liverpool Lime Street Low Level is via the main concourse in the mainline station above. The station is entirely underground including a ticket hall and a shop. The station is usually publicly referred to as just "Lime Street". The platform tunnel features the same grp (glass-reinforced polyester) cladding design as the other new stations on the loop [2]. The station is usually just referred to as Lime Street.
Station entrance
Merseyrail 507 021 arrives at the station
A Wirral Line map showing distance time
507 026 stands at the station
[1] Chris Heaps, BR Diary 1968-1977 (Ian Allan, 1988) p. 114
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy Publishing, 2018) p. 156
Battersea Power Station is the terminus of the short branch of the London Underground Northern Line to Battersea which opened in 2021 (the other station on the branch being Nine Elms).
Northern Line 51683 shortly after arriving at the terminus
Information
Type:
Transport for London (London Underground Northern Line)
Opened:
2021
Platforms:
2
The station was opened as part of (and partially funded by) a redevelopment of Battersea Power Station. The station is the only one on the Underground to include "Station" in it's name leading some to call it's proper name Battersea Power Station Station!
The station (and new branch) is an extension of the Kennington Loop and served by Northern Line trains on the Charing Crossbranch. There are usually four trains an hour departing the station for High Barnet and one per hour for Mill Hill East.
Liverpool South Parkway is a junction of the Merseyrail City and Northern Lines and the West Coast Main Line in South Liverpool. The station also has a bus interchange including a bus link to the nearby Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The station is located between Hunts Cross and Cressington on the Northern Line.
Northern 150 226 and friend
Information
Type:
National Rail (West Coast Main Line, City Line & Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:
LPY
Opened:
2006
Platforms:
6
The station was formed from the merger and replacement of two existing stations: Allerton and Garston. Allerton was opened in 1864 by the St Helens Railway and served routes to Liverpool from Manchester and Crewe. It went into decline after the late 1970s after Garston joined the Merseyrail Northern Line, this took over much of the local traffic as it offered a faster service to the city centre.
Garston itself was opened in 1874 by the Cheshire Lines Committee. It was struggling for passengers by the 1960s and closed in 1972. It was reopened in 1978 as part of the Merseyrail Northern Line to form the Southern terminus of the line [1], though the line was extended through to Hunts Cross in the early 1980s. Both Garston and Allerton were closed in the mid-2000s.
The station buildings and platforms of both of the older stations were demolished and replaced by new buildings for the new station. The WCML and City Line platforms are on the site of Allerton station and the Northern Line platforms built slightly to the East of where Garston was situated.
When Liverpool Lime Street is closed for whatever reason Liverpool South Parkway can be used as the terminus for incoming services instead, with the Northern Line taking people on to the centre of the city.
LNWR 350 231 departs heading for Liverpool Lime Street
Northern 150 204 departs
View along platform 3
Station sign mentions the airport link
Merseyrail 507 024 arrives with a North bound service
[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 48
Rugeley Town is a stop on the Chase Line in Staffordshire between Rugeley Trent Valley and Hednesford.
LNWR 350 260 arrives at Rugeley Town
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Chase Line)
Station code:
RGT
Opened:
1870 (Closed 1965)
Re-opened:
1997
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the London North Western Railway in 1870 [1] on the LNWR Cannock Branch later to be called the Chase Line. The station was closed in 1965 along with the other stations on the Chase Line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley.
A new station was opened in 1997 about 250m to the South of the original station. This was the terminus of the re-opened Chase Line until the following year when the link to Rugeley Trent Valley and the West Coast Main Line was re-established. The Chase Line, including through Rugeley Town, was electrified in 2018 (though electric trains did not operate until early 2019).
Rugeley Town is an unstaffed station and has basic facilities including bus shelters and information screens. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway though the trains are currently operated by London Northwestern. There is a half-hourly service most days between Rugeley and Birmingham New Street, half of the trains continue on to Birmingham International.
View down the platform, access between the platforms is via this footbridge
