Great Malvern (GMV)

Great Malvern is a stop on the Cotswold Line in Malvern, Worcestershire between Malvern Link and Colwall. 

West Midlands Railway 196 003 departs for Hereford

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cotswold Line)
Station code:	GMV
Opened:	1860
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Worcester & Hereford Railway in 1860. However, the station buildings were not completed until 1862. Malvern was a popular Victorian spa town, the station had dock sidings for the carriages of the gentry [1], there was also a private siding for coal supplies to the adjacent Imperial Hotel. The station had an enclosed private passageway to the hotel known as the Worm though this is no longer open (the hotel is nowadays a school in any case).

The station had an ornate clock tower but it was lost in the post-war period [2]. The station's sidings have also now gone being lifted in the mid-1960s, a signalbox which controlled them was also removed though the splendid platform canopies have been restored. Access between the platforms is via a subway.

The station is served by West Midlands Railway (to and from Birmingham Snow Hill) and Great Western Railway (to and from London Paddington).

Station frontage

Restored canopy supports and a platform clock

Alternative station entrance

View down the platform

A GWR Class 800 stands at Great Malvern

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Worcester to Hereford (Middleton Press, 2004) Map. XIX

[2] Ibid. Fig. 55

Dovey Junction / Cyffordd Dyfi (DVY)

Dovey Junction is a stop on the Cambrian Line on the Powys / Ceredigion border where the line splits towards Aberystwyth or Pwllheli. The station is between Machynllech and Borth or Penhelig.

Transport for Wales 158 830 arrives with an east bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Cambrian Line)
Station code:	DVY
Opened:	1863
Platforms:	2

The station was opened as Gandovey Junction in 1863 by the Cambrian Railway, it was renamed Dovey Junction in 1904, Dovey or Dyfi refers to the river next to the station. Nowadays the station is in the middle of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. It is also close to the hamlet of Glandyfi which is where the station entrance, this is in Ceredigion a kilometre away from the platforms which are in Powys!

The original Cambrian Railway buildings were replaced in the 1970s by a new brick building [1], this has now been replaced by a bus shelter type structure. The station is managed by Transport for Wales, there is a service in both directions at least every two hours, hourly at peak times.

The nature reserve is around the station

Down the platform

Station entrance

Down both platforms

TfW 158 827 departs for Pwllheli

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Machynlleth to Barmouth (Middleton Press, 2009) Fig. 15

Southchurch Drive North NET

Southchurch Drive North is a stop on the Nottingham Express Transit's Line 2 between Ruddington Lane and Rivergreen.

A Nottingham bound tram arrives

Information
Type:	Nottingham Express Transit Line 2
Opened:	2015
Platforms:	2

The tram stop was opened in 2015 as part of phase 2 of the Nottingham Express Transit. The trams run on street tracks on Southchurch Drive. the stop being located near the junction with Farnborough Road. The two tram platforms are either side of the tracks facing each other.

The stop is served by up to eight trams in each direction between Clifton South and Pheonix Park.

Clifton bound 211 arrives at the stop

The stop has the standard NET tram stop architecture

Heading off

Tufnell Park (ZTP)

Tufnell Park is a stop on the London Underground's Northern Line High Barnet branch in Islington, North London between Kentish Town and Archway.

Northern Line 51677 departs

Information
Type:	Transport for London (London Underground Northern Line High Barnet Branch)
Station code:	ZTP
Opened:	1907
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway in 1907, later becoming part of the London Underground Northern Line. The station has a surface building designed by Leslie Green [1]. The station has lifts between surface and platform level as well as stairs, the station does not have escalators. 

The station was refurbished in 2004.

Station name written in the tiles

Surface building

Down the platform

[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 162

Earlswood (West Midlands) (EMD)

Earlswood (sometimes referred to as Earlswood (West Midlands) to distinguish it from another Earlswood station in Surrey) is a stop on the Shakespeare Line (the modern name for the North Warwickshire Line) between Wythall and The Lakes.

West Midlands Railway 172 102 with a Stratford bound service

Information
Type:	National Rail (Shakespeare Line)
Station code:	EMD
Opened:	1908
Platforms:	2

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1908 as Earlswood Lakes, in 1974 it changed name to just Earlswood (the next station along the line The Lakes is actually next to the lakes). The station is now on the border between Warwickshire and the West Midlands - most of the platforms are in the former and the Northern approach roads in the latter.

The station originally had a goods yard and a cattle dock though these were closed in 1964 [1]. A signalbox on the site was closed in 1981. The station once had brick buildings with canopies on both platforms but all of these have now gone to be replaced by a couple of bus shelters. The Station Master's house still exists but is now a private dwelling.

The station is served by West Midlands Railway and is on the boundary of the West Midlands PTE area.

WMR 172 213 arrives with a Birmingham bound service

The county boundary crosses the platforms more or less between the shelters

Platform shelter on the Stratford platform

A different design of shelter is on the Birmingham platform

WMR 172 339 arrives

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Moor Street (Middleton Press, 2006) map. XVII 

Mansfield Town (MFT)

Mansfield Town is a stop on the Robin Hood Line in Nottinghamshire between Sutton Parkway and Mansfield Woodhouse.

East Midlands Railway 170 419 at Mansfield

Information
Type:	National Rail (Robin Hood Line)
Station code:	MFT
Opened:	1849 (Closed 1964)
Re-opened:	1995
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 1849 by the Midland Railway after the purchase of the Mansfield & Pinxton Railway. The current station buildings were built in 1872 after a rebuilding of the station in the early 1870s. The station was renamed Mansfield Town in 1952 [1] to differentiate it from the town's other two stations in the nationalised era. Station signage still carries this name though it is also known as just Mansfield.

Passenger services to Mansfield ceased in 1964 and much of the station including the overall roof were demolished though the station building survived and gained listed status in 1978, it later became a cafe and then a supermarket. The Robin Hood Line was re-opened for passenger services between Nottingham and Workshop in 1995 (though the route was not fully re-opened to Worksop until 1998).

The station is adjacent to Mansfield bus station and is managed and served by East Midlands Railway. There are up to two trains an hour in each direction.

Station building

Down the platform, notice the arrow - a feature of stations on the Robin Hood Line

Station entrance

View down the platform

170 419 departs

[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Ambergate to Mansfield (Middleton Press, 2020) Map. XVII

Forfar

Forfar was a terminus of the Scottish Midland Junction Railway, where it met the Arbroath and Forfar Railway, in Angus.

15229 at Forfar [1]

Information
Type:	Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Opened:	1848
Closed:	1967
Platforms:	2

The station was opened in 1848, it was not the town's first station. That was Forfar Playfield which opened in 1838, it was closed when the new station was opened. The station and line later became part of the Caledonian Railway and later still the LMSR.

The station was closed in 1967 along with most of the SMJR route for passenger traffic though the line remained open for freight until 1982.

[1] "The Perth-Dundee-Montrose Section of the LMSR", The Railway Magazine p. 116

Headbolt Lane (HBL)

Headbolt Lane is a double terminus in Merseyside of the Merseyrail Northern Line's Kirkby Branch and the Wigan-Kirkby Line.

Merseyrail 777 142 prepares to return to Liverpool

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch, Wigan-Kirkby Line)
Station code:	HBL
Opened:	2023
Platforms:	3

Merseyrail's Kirkby Branch original terminated at Kirkby, as did trains from Wigan, the two terminating lines facing each other without a physical connection. In 2023 a new station was built a little further up the line with Merseyrail trains continuing onwards to this new terminus. The Merseyrail line extension is not electrified, the Class 777 trains travelling to Headbolt Lane on battery power. As with Kirkby beforehand, there is no physical connection between the two lines.

There are two platforms for Merseyrail trains and one for Northern's services from Wigan Wallgate. The station has a staffed ticket office and is served by up to three Merseyrail trains and one Northern train an hour.

Main station entrance

Merseyrail buffer stops

View down the platform

This way out

Another view of 777 142

Alton (AON)

Alton is the terminus of the Alton Line in Hampshire but also one of the termini of the preserved Mid-Hants Railway (also known as the Watercress Line). The station is shared between National Rail and the preserved railway with platforms 1 and 2 being used by NR and platform 3 for the preserved line.

In South West Trains days, 450 031 and friend wait at Alton

Information
Type:	National Rail (Alton Line) & Preserved Railway (Mid Hants Railway)
Station code:	AON
Opened:	1852
Platforms:	3

The station was opened by the London & South West Railway in 1852 though moved to its current site (immediately adjacent to the old site which now forms the car park) in 1865. Under the guise of the Southern Railway the line from Woking was electrified down to Alton in 1937. The station is nowadays managed by South Western Railway.

The Mid-Hants Railway was a separate line built by the Mid-Hants Railway Company from Winchester in the 1860s, it opened in 1865 and shared the same Alton station as the line from Woking. The line was closed by British Rail in 1973 after a long period of decline (the lack of electrification meaning that through-trains were not possible) but re-opened as a preserved line in 1977 as far as Alresford. However, services were not restored through to Alton until 1985.

BR 9F 92212 arrives at Alton on the Mid-Hants Line

View down the National Rail platform

View across from the heritage line platform

Heritage line platform

SWT 450 001 and friend at Alton, the footbridge in the background offers interchange between the platforms