Long Buckby is a stop on the West Coast Main Line in Northamptonshire between Rugby and Northampton.
Information
Type:
National Rail
(West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
LBK
Opened:
1881
Platforms:
2
Long Buckby, serving the village of the same name, was opened by the London & North Western Railway in 1881. Nowadays it is a station on the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line, the line through Long Buckby was electrified in the 1960s.
Originally the station has wooden station buildings with canopies on both platforms. However nowadays it just has the ubiquitous bus shelters.
The station is on an elevated section of track and has a part-time ticket office in a cabin at the bottom of one of the ramps down to ground level. Long Buckby is served by up to three trains an hour on the WCML between Birmingham New Street and London Euston. On Sundays there are also hourly services to Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent.
LNWR 350 377 heading North
A Euston bound service is approaching
Bridge over the road, the station entrance is visible just beyond
Lambeth North is the penultimate stop Southbound on the Bakerloo Line and the line's original (but temporary) Southern terminus.
Information
Type:
Transport for London
(Bakerloo Line)
Station code:
ZLN
Opened:
1906
Platforms:
2
Lambeth North was opened as Kennington Road in March 1906 along with the rest of the original stretch of the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway. The Southern terminus of the line was (and still is) Elephant & Castle but this was not ready for the initial opening so Kennington Road served as the Southern terminus until August [1].
The station was renamed Westminster Bridge Road in July (while still the terminus) and didn't get the name Lambeth North until 1917 [2]. In WW2 Lambeth North was badly damaged by a nearby hit of a very large German bomb and had to have parts of the tunnel and platforms rebuilt.
Access to the platforms from the Leslie Green designed surface building and ticket office is via lifts and a spiral staircase. The station is the nearest tube station to the Imperial War Museum. Just North of the station is a crossover and an access line to the Bakerloo Line's London Road depot.
A 72ts train arrives
Look down the platform
Station signs
[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 137 [2] Mike Horne, The Bakerloo Line (Capital Transport, 2001) p. 25
Longbridge is a stop on the Cross City Line South in the West Midlands between Northfield and Barnt Green.
WMR 323 210 departs Longbridge
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Cross City Line)
Station code:
LOB
Opened:
1978
Platforms:
2
The first Longbridge station was opened in 1841 by the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway just to the south of the current station. This station closed in 1849. A second Longbridge station was opened on the Halesowen Railway mainly to serve workers at the Austin factory, this was in operation between 1915 and 1964. The current station was opened in 1978 [1] as part of the WMPTE Cross-City Line scheme. Longbridge was the line's southern terminus until services were extended to Redditch in 1980, some Cross-City Line trains still terminate at Longbridge but nowadays mostly at the start and end of the day's service.
Access between the platforms is via a footbridge and ramps, a lift is also available on Platform 1. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway with four trains an hour in each direction most of the time.
Platform 1 for trains to Birmingham
Footbridge
A WMR 323 stands at Longbridge
The footbridge
Standing on Platform 2
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bromsgrove to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2006) Fig. 27
The station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1848. The station is built at one end of a cantilever bridge over a road, the platforms being on an embankment. The platforms once had canopies but these have now gone. A ticket office was situated at street level below the station but this was closed in the 1990s. The station is now unstaffed.
A bus station was built next to the station in 2003 called Longton Transport Interchange [1]. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway who usually operate an hourly service in both directions.
View down the platform, the usual bus shelter can be seen
Station sign
The cantilever bridge
Down the platform in the other direction, towards the bridge
EMR 156 917 departs
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Derby to Stoke-on-Trent (Middleton Press, 2016) Fig. 62
Lancaster Gate is a stop on the London Underground Central Line in central London between Queensway and Marble Arch.
Central Line 91267 departs
Information
Type:
Transport of London (London Underground Central Line)
Station code:
ZLA
Opened:
1900
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Central London Railway in 1900 as one of the railway's original batch of stations. The original station building by Harry Bell Measures was replaced by a new surface building in 1968. Above the building is now a hotel. The station was closed for refurbishment in 2006 and 2017, the latter time the lifts were replaced [1].
The station is now a stop on the Central Line, it is within walking distance of London Paddingtonrailway station.
Between the platforms
Down the platform after a departure
Use the lifts or the 78 steps!
Preparing to depart
[1] Jason Cross, London Underground Guide 2017 (Train Crazy, 2017) p. 138
Lace Market is a stop on the Nottingham Express Transit in the city centre between Old Square and Nottingham Station.
Lace Market
Information
Type:
Nottingham Express Transit
Opened:
2004
Platforms:
2
The tram stop is one of the original stops on the NET and opened in 2004. It derives it's name from being situated in Nottingham's historic Lace Market quarter. The tram stop shares road space with motor vehicles at this location. After the opening of Phase 2 of NET, Lace Market is one of the central stops which serves both Lines 1 and 2.
Leasowe serves a village on the Wirral, it is a stop on the Merseyrail Wirral Line between Moreton and Bidston.
Merseyrail 507 028 arrives with a Liverpool bound service
Information
Type:
National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code:
LSW
Opened:
1870
Platforms:
2
The original station was opened by the Hoylake Railway in 1870 as Leasowe Crossing though this station closed in 1872. [1] The Wirral Railway opened a new Leasowe station in 1894 situated on it's line from Birkenhead Park to West Kirby. [2]
The station passed into LMS ownership and the line it was on was electrified in 1938. Through trains to Liverpool Central also began. The station buildings were rebuilt at the same time in the concrete style also used elsewhere on the line to West Kirby. A footbridge was added next to the level crossing.
The station is now operated by Merseyrail. A level crossing is at one end of the station though the signalbox which once controlled it has now gone. The station has a staffed booking office.
Footbridge with the level crossing beyond
Platform waiting room
Merseyrail 507 033 departs bound for West Kirby
Alight at Leasowe for Wirral Coastal Park
Waiting room
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Birkenhead to West Kirby (Middleton Press, 2014) Map. X [2] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 70
Leamington Spa serves the Warwickshire town of Royal Leamington Spa, it is a stop on the Chiltern Main Line to London Marylebone between Warwick and Banbury. It is also a busy interchange station.
Chiltern 68 013 arrives at Leamington Spa
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Chiltern Main Line)
Station code:
LMS
Opened:
1852
Platforms:
4
The station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1852 on its Birmingham-Oxford line. It wasn't the town's first station though, the London & North Western Railway opened a station in 1844, this was on the outskirts of the town. The LNWR built a new station right next to the GWR one in the mid-1850s. It was not until 1908 that both railway companies used the same station. Between 1950 and 1968 the station was known as Leamington Spa General [1].
The current station building dates from a rebuilding in the late 1930s [2] and is in the Art Deco style. The platforms are mostly covered by fine original canopies from the 1930s. Leamington Spa has two through platforms and two West facing bays for services to Birmingham Moor Street and Stratford-upon-Avon. There are two avoiding lines for freight services and non-stopping passenger services.
Leamington Spa is a stop on the Chiltern Main Line as well as the terminus of services to Stratford-upon-Avon, local services from Birmingham and for services which come from Coventry via the ex-LNWR line which joins the main line just ahead of the station. The station is used for stabling stock at night on the bay platforms. The station is managed by Chiltern Railways.
A Cross Country Voyager departs
View down the platform
Station frontage
Chiltern 168 005 prepares to depart
Artwork on the underpass underneath the station
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Banbury to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2004) Fig. 38 [2] Ibid. Fig. 37
Library is a stop on the West Midlands Metro between Town Hall and Brindleyplace. As the name suggests the stop serves the Library of Birmingham but also Symphony Hall and the Birmingham International Convention Centre.
Tram 47 arrives at Library
Information
Type:
West Midlands Metro
Opened:
2019
Platforms:
2
The stop was opened in 2019 after the line was extended from Grand Central (Birmingham New Street).
Until the line was extended along Broad Street to Edgbaston Village in 2022 this stop served as the line's terminus.
Library tram stop, the ICC is in the right background
Lugton was a stop on the Glasgow South Western Line in Ayrshire between Barmill or Dunlop and Caldwell.
Lugton station [1]
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Glasgow South Western Line)
Opened:
1871
Closed:
1966
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1871 by the Glasgow, Barrhead & Kilmarnock Joint Railway. The line branched off at Lugton to serve a branch to Beith Town. Lugton was closed in 1966 though the line remains open, the branch to Beith has now been severed.
Although Lugton no longer has a station, it was the scene of a major railway accident training exercise in 2000 to test emergency services response to two passenger trains crashing at Lugton!
[1] J. Francis, "The Glasgow, Barrhead & Kilmarnock Joint Railway", The Railway Magazine p. 31
Leigh is a stop on the Redhill-Tonbridge Line in Kent between Penshurst and Tonbridge.
Southern 377 327 departs
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Redhill - Tonbridge Line)
Station code:
LIH
Opened:
1911
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1911 by the South Eastern Railway as Leigh Halt though was renamed Lyghe Halt in 1917 [1] (Leigh is pronounced the same as Lye). The station was changed back to Leigh Halt in 1960 and finally just Leigh in 1969. By then it had become an unstaffed station. The line through Leigh was electrified in 1993.
The station has only basic facilities. It is on an embankment with ramps down to road level. The station has a ticket machine and bus shelters. The station is managed by Southern who maintain one train per hour in each direction.
View down the platform
Preparing to depart
Station entrance
Railway bridge
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Redhill to Ashford (Middleton Press, 1990) Fig. 47
