Newbury: From Snub to Hub

Go west, young man.
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[@johnfry1011]

I know someone who was an architect until he retired, some years ago he was commissioned to build an industrial building over part of the trackbed of the DN&S, the customer was never told that the building was designed in such a way that the track could be replaced without demolishing the building (careful positioning of shutter doors)!

[@jerribee1]

Now that's sneaky, but in a good way.

[@Mortimer50145]

I bet the car park on the site of Winchester Cheesehill/Chesil station doesn't have suitable access doors.

[@denelson83]

Coords or it didn't happen.

[@allanmarsh1]

My Great Great Grandparents lived in Newbury and their son (my Great Grandfather) emigrated from Abbotsbury to New Zealand in 1882. We have a number of postcards sent by his parents to him in NZ featuring Newbury scenes, including the railway station. During a visit to the UK in 2018, my wife and I spent a fascinating afternoon exploring some of these old postcard scenes and recreating a modern-day shot of the same thing - also including the railway station.

[@josephturner4047]

One night when on a Bedwyn I was instructed by the signaller to examine the line for a body, just short of the old Southampton junction. I found it. It wasn't dead however, just dead drunk and asleep in the cess. And female. So I let BTP deal with her. I obviously couldn't leave the scene in case she came too and got hit by another train. I then had to convince some girls mother on her phone that she wasn't lying about the delayed train to stop out late. And some think we get payed too much.

[@thomasburke2683]

Newbury passengers were a cut above the rest. In his autobiography, Gerry Fiennes related a time when he was on the platform at Reading, and was frustrated by the slow transfer of passengers from a branch train, delaying a fast train. "Blow your whistle at them", he said to the inspector who replied "Sir, we do not blow whistles at people from Newbury". (G F Fiennes: "I tried to run a railway" 1967)

[@warren_r]

I didn't read your comment correctly and I thought you were talking about Ranulph Fiennes. And I was like, wow, Reading, not exactly the sort of expedition he was famous for.

[@phaasch]

Thems were the days!

[@iankemp1131]

Was going to relate this story myself, but you got there first! A classic book.

[@chubbylegend]

Imagine running Cross Country services from Southampton to Birmingham and beyond, avoiding Basingstoke and Reading, going instead, via Newbury, Didcot, Oxford and Worcester. Quite picturesque through Wiltshire, West Berks and the Cotswolds. Not to be of course, but that would have been a handy and more direct route, as well.

[@RJSRdg]

I can't see them going via Worcester - that is a long way round for going from Oxford to Birmingham. As for skipping Reading and Basingstoke, as things stand the services could avoid Reading and run through Basingstoke non-stop, but they don't. presumably because there would be a good number of passengers who would lose their service if that was the case.

[@andrewlong6438]

@@RJSRdg The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton railway (DNSR) was largely single track too and had sharp inclines at the northern end so pushing too much traffic down it (passenger and freight) could result in capacity problems. You would also need to re-model the junction at the Didcot end - look at the flyover built at Reading. In terms of getting to Birmingham quicker, the other option is to head north at Honeybourne and through Stratford Upon Avon.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Reading, though, is one of the main points on the route for passenger numbers, and for all the interchange possibilities it offers

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Saying that Newbury became a junction for different railway lines reminds me of the story of Secaucus Junction. NJ Transit operates in two divisions, Hoboken and Newark. The Hoboken Division was part of the Erie Lackawanna Railway, while the Newark Division (on the Northeast Corridor) was once the Pennsylvania Railroad and Central Railroad of NJ. These two divisions were never previously integrated (because competing railway companies), even when both were under Conrail. When ownership was passed to the state in 1983, they built connections where trains from the Hoboken Division would be able to switch onto the Northeast Corridor, but they still never had a direct transfer. In order to go to NY Penn Station, those in Hoboken would have to take the PATH to 33rd Street. While those at Penn Station wanting to go to Hoboken would have to also take the PATH to Hoboken Terminal. That is until 2003 when Senator Frank R. Lautenberg advocated for federal funds to build Secaucus Junction. Because of this when it opened, the station was named in honor of his dedication (when he passed away in 2013, an Amtrak train carrying his coffin stopped at the station). The station serves all NJ Transit lines except for the Princeton Branch (which runs between Princeton Junction and Princeton) and the Atlantic City Line (which runs between Philadelphia and Atlantic City). In 2009 it became a stop on the new Meadowlands Rail Line which branched off the Pascack Valley Line. This line became the selling point of NJ's push to host Super Bowl XLVIII. They did an initiative to promote the use of mass transit to the big game. But this plan was a failure, not because it didn't get people to ride the train, but rather the opposite. There was too much OVERCROWDING, and it proved that the current NJ Transit infrastructure just cannot accommodate that many people to one destination at once.

[@mdhazeldine]

Well now you've just opened a can of worms haven't you. First Windsor and now Newbury. You probably ought to do Reading next, and maybe even Bristol. I also think Portsmouth and Bournemouth stations could be interesting.

[@rodjones117]

As someone who was born and bred near Bournemouth, there's certainly nothing architectural of interest about Bournemouth (oldies like me call it Central Station), and probably not much historical either.

[@deancosens5710]

Feel free to do Portsmouth so I can pretend I'm deeply knowledgeable about where I live, and not that I spend too much time absorbing KZbin knowledge!

[@quas392]

Im waiting til he gets to Swindon and realises how awful it is

[@Skorpychan]

Reading is a great idea. Plenty of changes to list, and I've got pictures kicking around somewhere of views from it. Also, Queen Victoria looking towards the station and not the town, because she hated it. Showing that, even back then, it was awful.

[@alfredfanshaw4786]

Swindon, Chippenham and Bath?

[@bigmanted9864]

no, its Newry station served by Waterline and Stepford Express, inbetween Newry Harbour and Eden Quay

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

I don't know about anyone else, but that two-car train at 4:09 really speaks to me. I know how they feel out there, but they should know that they shouldn't let anybody talk smack about it for being small. As long as you have the spirit to dream big, that's all that matters

[@whyyoulidl]

Hey Jong-un, I think people have got you all wrong; you seem a nice bloke after all :-)

[@AndreiTupolev]

What are you talking about?

[@matthewmorecroft6381]

I used to catch that train to school!!! It goes to and from Bedwyn. If you catch it into/out of Newbury late on a quiet night you can sometimes be the only one there, although the last train on a Friday/Saturday night gets quite packed given the small size. They also sometimes get really full if a much bigger train in busy commuting times going further is cancelled.

[@michaeljohnson9421]

It's a shame that the old footbridge was replaced. It was a fine example of Great Western footbridging, and because it was in the same style as the buildings, it tied the two sides of the station together visually. Personally, I would have kept it in place and built a new footbridge (with lifts and all the modern trimmings) elsewhere on the platforms - as has been done at Slough. But Slough station is a listed building, and Newbury station isn't. Slough would be a good subject for an out-of-London station video. Lots of historic bits and pieces to see, if you poke about a bit. There's a length of Great Western fencing, still painted in Network SouthEast blue (two layers of railway history in one!), the buffer stop on the Windsor bay platform is partly made of Barlow-type broad gauge rail...and there's a stuffed Victorian dog on platform 5.

[@DavidAHarvey]

It was a shame to see the old footbridge at Newbury demolished but unfortunately there wasn't sufficient clearance to safely run the new electrified line under it.

[@michaeljohnson9421]

I think they could easily have put the wires under the bridge without any trouble. After all, that's what they did at Slough: the new footbridge at the east end of the platform is full electrification height, but the original 1884 footbridge, half-way along the platform, is very low. The wires simply swoop down to go under it, then up again on the other side. Because the old footbridge is part of the listed station building, it had to stay. So Network Rail's electrification crews simply went under it. Network Rail don't regard this as the ideal situation, of course - they like to keep the OLE at a consistent, standard height throughout. But it shows that if necessary it's entirely feasible to bring the wires down, under, and up. However, if no constraints exist, standard practice is to demolish anything that prevents the wires staying at their standard height - and that's why Newbury's footbridge had to go. It's interesting to see just how low the OLE can get without any issues. As far as I know the lowest point on the entire network is under the flyover at Cardiff Central, where the tracks to Queen Street go over the South Wales main line. The wires under the bridge have a 'Special Reduced' clearance of 20mm. You wouldn't want to wear a top hat...

[@AFCManUk]

As a wee nipper, Newbury was famous to me for 'Swampy' and the Newbury Bypass.

[@aprilsmith1166]

AFCManUK I remember when Swampy was a contestant on Cilla Black's Blind Date programme on the telly. Seems like a lifetime ago!

[@frglee]

Lots of interesting places can be reached within an hour by train from the London termini. When I lived in Central London decades back, I seemed to spend a lot of time trying to get out of it at weekends, so I took a lot of cheap day returns out to the home counties, often just to walk a bit and explore. Just travelling on branch lines like the Marlow and Henley lines were nice enough little trips in themselves. Here's looking forward to seeing some of your trips out of London.

[@johnledingham852]

Wow! The Newbury Station takes me back to when I was a youngster. My Uncle was Station Master in Tenterfield. End of the line in New South Wales just before the Queensland border. Architecturally I'd have to say the station was based on Newbury Station. On holidays I'd delight in spending time in the office with my uncle or with other staff under his command. I can still see my uncle at his desk, silver armbands, eye shade, dipping his pen into the ink bottle and keeping his journal up to date. No sound, other than the big clock on the wall with a loud tick tock that was the heartbeat of the establishment. (sigh)

[@eddisstreet]

My mother was the youngest of seven children born in Newbury, I have loads of cousins in and around the town. I can just about remember seeing trains on the various pre-Beeching branch lines.

[@jonathancrew8992]

My mother used to live in Hampstead Norreys about 6 miles NE of Newbury. Her house was about 100 yards from the old station, which is now flats, and you can still see the base of a cargo hoist on one of the footpaths to the village green (the path is on the old railway line route). Apparently, the line was also used to transport racehorses to Newbury Racecorse and up to the Berkshire Downs for training.

[@ZonkerRoberts]

"...which feels like a redundant piece of information and I don't know why I left it in the script" One of the reasons I appreciate this channel so much is that it's one of the few whose author actually bothers to write a script in the first place. Well done, as usual!

[@zymurgic]

I wish Network Rail would have at least got the electrification as far as the old Network Southeast Boundary at Bedwyn. As it is, you have to get a little diesel train and change at Newbury, with a typical 20-30 minute wait for an electric train to whisk you towards the bright lights of Thatcham, Reading and beyond.

[@Rog5446]

TRIVIA There's a station on the Reading - Newbury Line about half way at Woolhampton, but the station is named Midgham, after the next village west of Woolhampton. The GWR thought that passengers departing from Paddington for Wolverhampton, might get on the wrong train by mistake, hence Woolhampton station is called Midgham. More trivia, according to Geoff Marshall, Midgham station is the least used station in Berkshire. (Yeah, I must get out more)

[@Crowley2979]

I live a few stops east of Woolhampton (erm... Midgham)and I've heard the Wolverhampton confusion story from so many people it must be true! Visit the Rowbarge if you ever stop there

[@Mortimer50145]

Thinking of station names... There are two different stories about Cranleigh on the disused Guildford-Christ's Hospital line. The town used to be spelled Cranley and (depending on which story you hear) it was either the Royal Mail or the railway company which persuaded the town to change the spelling to the phonetically idential Cranleigh to avoid letters or passengers ending up there instead of Crawley which is fairly nearby on the London-Brighton main line.

[@nathanw9770]

There's a station near me called Chislehurst which has a similar story. The station isn't actually in Chislehurst but in the next suburb called Bickley, which already has a station of the same name. Chislehurst was called "Chislehurst & Bickley Park" when it first opened until the station got relocated. I assume that when the Chatham Main line opened it's station at Bickley the SER simply changed their station name to just Chislehurst. Kind of cool to find out how certain stations get their names.

[@stephendavies6949]

You have my vote to carry on visiting The Provences

[@highpath4776]

When you reach Swindon you can tell us a story. "Once upon a time, in the West "

[@Echoj2]

As much as I enjoy watching your videos on London, seeing one on a station so close to where I work (in Thatcham, the next town along, sandwiched between the railway line and the canal) I clicked this video faster than usual. It is indeed a busy line and I have lost many hours of my life waiting at the crossings for multiple freight and commuter trains to pass by. On more than one occasion getting stuck in my yard when the only road out was blocked by a malfunctioning crossing gate... fun times!

[@Crowley2979]

'Calling at Theale, Thatcham, Newbury, Kintbury, Hungerford and Bedwyn' How many times have I heard that

[@nanoamp]

My late father-in-law was station master at Newbury in the 60s (and later at Windsor, but that’s another story). Coincidentally, last weekend I finished editing a book of his memoirs about working on the lines there, ready to send to print in the next week or so. Funny to see this pop up today, echoing so much of the history he covered!

[@MrDportjoe]

As the grand son of a Southern Pacific yard worker and a very mild rail fan in my own right, I take great pleasure in learning English v American terminology form you. Over here we have 'sidings' rather than 'passing loops'. Oh and if any UK rail fans plan on visiting the Columbia Gorge might I suggest a stay that the Lyle (Washington) Hotel? Built as crew change station it oozes the loud charm of being @ 30 meters from a main east west freight rail line. Bath's down the hall (one with shower one with claw foot soaking tub. Ear plugs come with each room (having grown up near yard and then living next to a siding on the main line out of Eugene Oregon I am quite used to the building rattling sound of a multi unit diesel local slow freight of 100 cars full of wood chips pulling back on to the main after a fast container train to Denver has blown past.

[@synchromystici5m]

We have sidings too, and they're the same as yours - Jago doesn't really describe a passing loop properly. It's something that's often used on single track lines to run more trains, by adding a brief bit of double track that removes a point of conflict between trains going in opposite directions. It can also be used (as at this station) for an express train to bypass a local train that it would otherwise share tracks with, by again adding a brief section of double track so that the express can run past the local that's stopped at the station.

[@MrDportjoe]

@@synchromystici5m And that is what I lived next to. The vast majority of all rail in the USA is single track. according to this paper only 37% of our lines are double tracked. Oh and I'm including the link to the paper because what train geek doesn't want to be able to use algebra to figure probable delays? kzbin.info/www/bejne/b16lmmCDaK2ffs0

[@henrybest4057]

Here, sidings are tracks that usually have only one end connected to the main line, are used for storage [staging], loading or unloading and shunting [switching] of goods [freight] wagons [cars]. They may also be used to store [stage] empty passenger trains when not needed. Passing loops are to allow faster trains to pass slower trains and not for any other use (except in an emergency).

[@MrDportjoe]

@@henrybest4057 NIcde to know we use the term differently a siding can be to serve a factory, mill or grain elevator along a spur or branch line (most of those long gone with a few exceptions) or as passing lane where the slow local train waits for the "high ball" to come through. In priority order in the US fast freight perishable, fast freight non perishable, slow local freight, then passenger service.

[@Rog5446]

We do have sidings in the UK, but a loop is used only for passing trains and not for switching (shunting) BTW I have traveled in and out of Eugene on the Coast Starlight a couple of times.

[@birdbrain4445]

5:23 Amen. What an interesting story! From 'we don't want to build a station here' to 'this is a major regional station'. Also this video reminded me that GWR uses Electrostars. It's weird, I feel like I almost never see or imagine trains of that family in their livery, I'm more likely to think of 800s/802s, 165s/166s, 150s and 158s... basically most of the rest of their fleet. Great video!

[@Astragali]

Although I thoroughly enjoy Jago's videos about the Underground, it *is* nice to also have other "tales from the rails" to watch. Thank you, Jago!

[@DavidJBradshaw]

Leamington Spa would make for an interesting video and you could also include Pete Waterman’s model of it

[@matthewsmatters]

I for one appreciate the cans of worms that have been opened here. Your style of video would be a good supplement to what is out there, unique still, and could be applied to many more stations like this. Whatever content suits you to keep making, thank you, and long may it continue!

[@tedcopple101]

" I wonder if there's a new Jago video" and then kapow! it was there. Well played sir.

[@gregphillips.1312]

Thank you I did indeed enjoy this episode. Please keep the content coming, I find your Channel a good escape from reality after Work and a fantastic Nod to our Rail history. Thanks again and best wishes. 🙏

[@abrr2000]

perhaps cover some preservation railway stations, such as the one at the bluebell railway, as they have some very intersting histories.

[@domo1384]

What a brilliant, enlightening, well researched documentary. Thank you. I'm afraid to say my wife's childhood family home was built right in top of the Lambourne valley line. Imaginatively names 'Sleepers'....A travesty! From a Newbrarian.🙂

[@Alan_UK]

Interesting. Thanks Jago. When I lived near Newbury I would often go from Newbury to London, sometimes just pop up for an evening meeting. It was a good service but often overcrowded. Some trains were direct but others were a Newbury to Reading shuttle, so I had to change at Reading. One evening when returning late (c11pm) there was no train from Reading and we put on a small decrepit bus. It had about 20 seats but about 30 people need to get to Newbury. So many were standing including myself. It was packed and no doubt over the official carrying capacity. The driver tore down the A4 at about 60mph or more and I recall holding on for dear life. Terrifying. Luckily we got there. The joys of rail replacement bus services.

[@DT-hg7te]

If you want an interesting one, try the Admiralty Line that branched off from Portsmouth and Southsea, looped through the dockyard and back to Portsmouth Harbour. There's a surprising amount of it left.

[@andyalder7910]

You could hop off at Midgham station on the way back and ponder why it's in Woolhampton rather than Midgham.

[@Rog5446]

The GWR thought that passengers departing from Paddington for Wolverhampton, might get on the wrong train by mistake, hence Woolhampton station is called Midgham.

[@PtolemyJones]

Always interesting to me the differences between old world trains picking and choosing the towns to serve, and the American west where often towns sprang up because the tracks were there. I found something similar it seemed when I lived in Germany with freeways/the autobahn.

[@DickHolman]

A lot of now large towns are the result of early railway building, e.g. Derby, Swindon.

[@PtolemyJones]

@@DickHolman they all, I imagine, have some history older than the trains though. Not saying either is better but the difference interests me.

[@iankemp1131]

@@PtolemyJones It's an interesting mix. Derby was a historic town that was already partly industrialised (Arkwright's water-powered mills in the Derwent valley, a world heritage site) but was further expanded by the railway. Swindon was created from almost nothing at a convenient almost-halfway point between London and Bristol where gradients began to get steeper. Being in the countryside, there was plenty of space. Other similar towns largely created by railway works include Crewe, Horwich, Eastleigh, Ashford and even Melton Constable (Norfolk), plus ports like Middlesbrough. Conversely, some towns declined because they were left off the railway or on branch lines (Stamford, Northampton, Shaftesbury).

[@Squaretable22]

Towns like Swindon, Crewe, Woking, and Bletchley/Milton Keynes wouldn't have existed in anything like their modern capacity without the railways. Swindon (once a minor market town) went from 1,000 residents in 1800 to over 180,000 today; Crewe (a village) from 100 to 80,000; Woking went from the relatively more major 2.500 to 100,000 today, and Bletchley/Milton Keynes went from a hamlet of 600 to 280,000 today. All four are the biggest towns in their counties today, bigger than the traditional "County Towns". For all intents and purposes, these towns were founded by the railways.

[@rebekahsegun8319]

A lot of London suburbs sprung up due to the railways.

[@ChilledGamerUK]

I've started working on building the unbuilt section of the DN&SRyl on Train Simulator from Winchester to Southampton. If that section was built and still around today, it would of acted as a "Cross-Rail" for Hampshire. I really enjoyed this video, keep up the good work!

[@TheDaveWoods]

Great video Jago. I especially enjoy your story telling. If you ever decide to come to Swindon would be delighted to show you round the GWR museum, plus there is the heritage railway at Blunsdon near by and Swindon's other railway the Midland and South Western Junction railway which imho is more interesting than the GWR story. Best wishes and happy filming.

[@SFgaming007]

Love these videos about railways outside of london, please keep doing them

[@JagoHazzard]

There's more on the way!

[@neilbain8736]

I have a soft spot for the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton. H H Gasson wrote about it in his Days series of books which caught me at a young tender age and got me hooked on the GWR. There's only three books as far as I know: Firing, Footplate and Signalling Days. I think videos of things rail further afield than the Tube would be an excellent idea. Your style is concise and entertaining.

[@iankemp1131]

A great set of books, really evocative descriptions of what life was like working on the railway. There are many similar books but Gasson's are definitely among the most interesting and best-written.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Nostalgic Days was the other, though that was more a sort of series of disconnected reminiscences

[@michaeldonahoo461]

Thank you for telling us all that is new in Newbury. Perhaps one day you can tell us all that old in Oldham!

[@markhylton4680]

Thank you for bringing about Newbury station I lived in Newbury over 40 years ago And now I lived in East London for 29 years. I would like to know more about Newbury And surrounding areas of the railways. Please and thank you

[@pubtv]

ooh , my local station .. and a recent one given the state of the building works.. apparently I was the first person to use the temporary ticket office on its first day. you can watch the bi-mode trains come in and switch from diesel running to pantograph up to electric traction... shame the first trains on a Sunday are so late.

[@stuartmilerosborne]

Thank you so much Jago ...I know Newbury Station well having lived in nearby Hungerford for over ten years. In 2010 I composed a poem (I am a poet you see) which I presented to the station. It was still there in the staff room the last time I looked and I would like to think it is still there. I cannot see electrification going beyond Newbury as beyond is an area of outstanding natural beauty and the costs would be astronomical . There are cow bridges galore and rights of way and the next big nothingness is poor old Westbury which is in the middle of nowhere.....even the Victorians would have thought this to be a crazy idea. Quite why it was electrified as far as Newbury in the first place is open to question because it was never going to reach Taunton ....methinks that some people are feeling a tad foolish......

[@iankemp1131]

It made sense to electrify it to Newbury for the commuters, and potentially that would also apply to extending it to Hungerford and Bedwyn. Marlborough might have been a logical finishing point if that line had survived.

[@jamestarn7066]

Thanks for making this! I grew up in Newbury and took trains into Reading and London quite regularly. This is the first time I'm hearing about some of this stuff, especially the old Lambourne line.

[@grahamwatts83]

Jago visited my town and I didn't even know it! Weird seeing such familiar sights on KZbin!

[@thomasedwards5700]

I am biased but I think Farnborough Hampshire has an interesting railway history deserved of a video. It has two seperate lines, and three stations including one that is linked to Queen Victoria with a tall doorway apparently built to accommodate her hat, and another linked to the army camps of Aldershot. There is also the old network of rail tracks at the RAE airfield which joined the main line via a track that ran down the road in a residential street. There is an exhibition at the FAST museum on the RAE railway, and still some rail track hidden in grass at the corner of Elm Grove Road and Union Street, You can also see the shine of the railway line embedded in the road on a sunny day.

[@christopherwright8388]

I'm plugging Bedford for an out-of-town excursion, and not just because I grew up there. Thameslink terminus and once and future intersection of the Midland and the Oxford to Cambridge with defunct branches to Hitchin and Northampton, it was a major railway town. The lost original Midland Rd station - long since replaced with a soulless steel & glass box - was a paragon of Victorian wrought iron work. And of course the Hitchin line had/has Old Warden tunnel, of 'Those Magnificent Men' etc movie fame.

[@devon896]

I got confused by the GWR posters too but for reference. The station buildings aren't being rebuilt, the business outlets are going to be in a separate building in the car park next to Platform 1. The multistory car park is open, the new ticket barriers on P1 are done, P2/P3 are still waiting along with the new ticket office (although why it needed to be changed I have no idea the old one was perfect fine)

[@stepheneyles2198]

Super! So nice to see that Jago is interested in covering stations outside London! Please visit Bath ASAP and don't forget to mention Box Tunnel on the way; I grew up in the shadows of that engineering masterpiece!

[@malcolmhowe6602]

And not far away, a line ran from Andover up to Cheltenham and thru to The midlands and also south via the Sprat and Winkle to Romney, Southampton and thence along the south coast. The Andover-Southampton section took up much of the old Andover Canal route and was ‘Beeching-Ed’ . Thus two midlands-south coast routes were wiped away, with the Didcot-Newbury-Southampton link going the same way.

[@alastairwilson457]

Great video. Would love you to do a video on Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Raunds etc. Apparently the line from Higham to Raunds was prevented by landowners building rows of terraced houses on the proposed route (though I've no evidence whether that is true or not) 😊 Raunds was served though by the Northampton-Peterborough line.

[@j.lightlady7596]

Tales from the rails would be a lovely addition, re astragalus post below. Your dry rail humor always slays me, lol!

[@robertweissman4850]

Jago - Your venture outside the London area to visit Newbury Station is a success! You asked for suggestions about other stations you could investigate for your videos. How about a trip to Brighton? I think that the terminus there is magnificent, and unlike so many major stations in the country, it has a wealth of details remaining today, from its 1882/3 rebuild.

[@phaasch]

Really enjoyed this foray into rural not-quite Wiltshire. How about a feature on proposed railways through London? The one which immediately springs to mind is Brighton Mainline 2. It's been lingering for so long in various forms, currently being "Thameslink 2". And you'd have a chance to get out of London into the Sussex countryside, too. What's not to like?

[@shawnli4746]

newbury is actually in Berkshire. only two more stops further down the line do you get to Wiltshire

[@Rog5446]

The Reading to Newbury line is entirely in Berkshire. In fact the line doesn't cross the Berks/Wilts border until just west of Hungerford.

[@phaasch]

@@Rog5446 thank you. Corrected accordingly.

[@SimonRML2456]

I still hope you do an episode on Network South East 🙂 would love to sit back with a bottle of proper job and watch that here in the Vienna woods, fantastic episode on Newbury, it is a shame the branch lines were cut.... As you said, short sighted...

[@luisstransport]

Great video Jago

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

that is a given

[@bishwatntl]

After the passenger service ended on the DNS, the line continued in use for a while as a route for oil trains coming up from Fawley towards the midlands. The other point of interest at Newbury is the racecourse just east of the town; that has its own station.

[@HughTerry69]

I'm just about old enough to remember the DNS closing in '67 and crying myself to sleep. With the benefit of hindsight, I think the line ought to have been kept as a useful north-south link, which might have taken some lorries and cars off the now badly congested A34 road. It's good to get out of the 'Smoke' once in a while and inhale some of that good country air! Isn't it?

[@callumradford3680]

I wasn’t expecting my home town to feature here. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!

[@davegray205]

Come to Gloucester, great railway history. Home of the former Gloucester wagon and carriage company (built one of the 56 stock - that’s your link)

[@juliansadler6263]

The Lambourne branch relied in the early days on racehorse traffic. Once that was switched to road (why) there was only local stuff left.

[@anniesoernym]

A Jago video with _a map_ ?!? Which was shown multiple times?!? My my, Jago, I am impressed! And very grateful, since I've always found a good (!) map to be really helpful in visualising what was said. Thank you for another interesting video!

[@roamingthepaths7363]

Newbury, my on and off commute for 25 years. The 125's were fun.

[@pharrellshek9679]

I learned another new thing about my town, I never knew it had three branches going through Newbury.

[@ReviewedbyRob]

Coventry is a modern listed building. Believe it was the last station built to have a station master's house. Last I heard was being used for storage

[@DavidShepheard]

Thanks for making these videos Jago. Your videos are super-fun, but they actually get across an important message. You remind me of LockPickingLawyer who makes fun videos about how easy it is to pick open locks. His messages educate over time and make people realise that lock making companies know about flaws in locks, but refuse to address them. There have been people trying to sell the idea of a nostalgic Britain where everything was better in the past. Your videos talk about that past. And, without being preechy about it, they make us realise: * Victorian raliway capitalists didn't want to do what was right for the UK - they just wanted to get rich, * The original owners of the District Line and Metropolitan Line were idiots who stood in the way of progress, * Both the District Line and Metropolitian Line needed to have sections "amputated" and "grafted onto other lines" to make them less disfunctional. * Revitalisation plans, like the DLR, Thameslink and London Overground can create massive extra demand for rail travel in a very short amount of time. * A lot of our railway history involves things being done wrong the first time and then adjustments being made. * Electrification is good. Overhead electrification is better (and safer). You teach all that sort of stuff. And you teach that stuff with fun stories that teach us the highs and lows of the past. Today I learned that Newbury is successful because of a station that the dominant private railway company didn't want to build. I learned that Newbury had two other railway lines that could be useful if reopened. I learned that "good old British Rail" was not running the last line that closed in the most efficient way (i.e. a London Overground style revival could easily be both viable and a success). And I had fun learning these things. Thanks for doing things the way you do Jago. You are the Jackanory to the grass routes movement to create demand for radical amounts of investment in railway building, that will create modal shift from roads back to rail.

[@adamhenley8295]

Short sighted travel decisions in the 1960s? Never heard that one before 😉🤔

[@2112pk]

astonished that you've come this far out west! and even more so that you did NEWBURY of all places before you did the far more important and interesting Reading!!! beautiful station it is too, so much is original to the 1910 rebuild, everything is still there but the footbridge!

[@anthonytull1611]

Milton Keynes Central was opened by 'Fraud', Bletchley is where Track Connections remain.

[@wilsonator2008]

If you’re ever up in Harrogate, there’s a few closed lines round there including the Harrogate-Church Fenton Line, Ripon and Wetherby fairly nearby having a closed station each and some old infrastructure that can be seen from the Harrogate Line just north of the Bramhope Tunnel in North Leeds

[@petervaughan6854]

I used to live in Newbury back, up until 2009. It’s really strange to see a station I knew so we’ll looking so different!

[@highpath4776]

Perhaps it could be explained why local semi-stopping services went on to Bedwyn , which sounds like it should be in South Wales, but is a little down the line, near a more important town that lost its rail service some years back (I feel with bi-modes extending Bedwyn services one further station stop would be useful

[@DavidAHarvey]

When the line was built one of the board members lived at Bedwyn and going on the extra few miles past Hungerford was the price of his cooperation.

[@Arsemonkies]

I grew up in Lambourn, it is redundant generally. Though, there is a small housing estate on the old station aptly called "old station yard" and still has some old track.

[@AtheistOrphan]

How about covering the Art Deco splendour that is Horsham Station (West Sussex) and it’s two active/two closed lines? Of course I may be biased as my flat overlooks the southern end of the platforms and my late father used to work there!

[@1258-Eckhart]

You'll have to wait until one of Jago's mates has a birthday party there.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

There's Newbury Racecourse too with 3 tracked platforms but think that only 2 are in common use.During the first move to secretly privatise British Rail,sectorisation,NSE got a really obscure terminus beyond Newbury,Bedwyn actually in Great Bedwyn, joining Long Buckby as obscure NSE termini....thanks Maggie thanks a bunch!Not going to happen, close the A34 green sign motorway and put the railway on it.... simple!

[@timsully8958]

Nice to see Newbury get a heads up here, albeit I still find it a bit weird to see they’ve now got catenary. Of course, I realise it’s progress and all that, and whilst I love steam age buildings in splendid original surroundings et al, it is good to know it’s getting a facelift. In fact, it’s good to know another ‘hub’ is being suitably served by retail developments in order that their passengers are likewise afforded such service 🤔 It is another one of those “Oh dear, you silly sods” moments (trying to be nice here) with regards to the Didcot line. What a useful avoiding line it could provide for traffic heading north instead of having to (ironically) go the ‘long way round’ 🤷🏻‍♂️ Shame about the heritage railway idea being aborted too, but one can’t help wonder if the non#introduction of DMUs or railways was one of those accidentally-on-purpose ruses to fix the figures just in case there was a feasibility study that got in the developers’ way 🙄 One station I am rather fond of, albeit I’ve only actually got off there as a destination once, is Salisbury. Quite apart from its endearing curvy nature and splendid old awnings, there’s a tale or two to be told (especially if you include Brunel’s station etc), as well as a few interesting things such as the reason all trains stop there (or at least at one time this was the case…🤔) Hopefully too you should be able to slip in a few stanzas about Salisbury’s other notable features, such as the Cathedral which is apparently particularly revered by fanatics of British Medieval Architecture in Russia 😒 I also rather like Dawlish but I suspect that has already been suggested. So I’ll say Wareham as it’s where (hopefully one day) the Swanage Railway will have a regular connecting service with the main line there. Plus it gives you an excuse for a nice excuse for an excursion to the Isle of Purbeck 😎 Sköl! 🍻🍀👍

[@dgattenb]

every time i go home i use the newbury by pass.... this was a railway i say to family who grimly look out the window and grunt... 18 years ive been saying this....

[@telemachus53]

Great to get out of London and its sooty Tube for the fields of Berkshire. A breath of fresh air - even if it was your friend's birthday. I think you should do more outside London.

[@samuell.foxton4177]

knocked it out of the Park! I was thinking you were doing a Le Ferrovipathe level station name gag there, but happily not (not that it was terrible, mind, but the Paris Métro may beat out the Tube for namesake stations

[@General_Confusion]

Jago on Safari, checking out the wildlife out of town.

[@coop_coop007]

I wonder if he has a safari jacket for these excursions . . .

[@syedhoque8009]

The Elizabeth Line is likely to be extended to Newbury from Reading with stops at Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston, Midgham, Thatcham, and Newbury Racecourse. Newbury Racecourse which is a magnet for outdoor day-trips to the races is the key reason Elizabeth Line services to and from Abbey Wood and Shenfield will be extended from Reading to Newbury as the more than sufficient passenger demand will be profitable and an asset. After the Abbey Wood and Shenfield Elizabeth Line services are extended to Heathrow Airport and Reading by November 2022 and May 2023 respectively, they will be further extended to Newbury.

[@teecefamilykent]

Brilliant video sir!

[@SiVlog1989]

Probably the most disparaging nickname given to a railway was that that was given to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. It was nicknamed "the Old Worse and Worse," after they broke ranks with the GWR and opted for the so called "Narrow Gauge," what we now recognise as Standard Gauge

[@martynstevens100]

I think the nickname of the Somerset & Dorset, the Slow and Dirty, gives it a run for it's money.

[@atraindriver]

@@martynstevens100 The S&D ended up becoming Late, Mucky & Slow after grouping...

[@geekyboringfilms233]

If you went north you had the MS&LR-Money Sunk and Lost.

[@robertkemp9023]

Enjoyed very much the Windsor Branch video. As per a previous comment, the Marlow and Henley Branch lines would make interesting videos. 😊

[@madspiral]

Good stuff on my home station Jago!

[@GeorgeChoy]

Ah Newbury, brings back so many memories!

[@WiggyWigmoreUK]

My adopted home town (for way too long! hahaha) Some of the old station buildings on the Didcot-Southampton line still exist as houses and can be seen from nearby roads. As you'll have seen, it now has the inevitable station-side flats being built, as per most of the stations between here and London. :-( Am intrigued how the station will look once the current construction is complete... with the new footbridge and electrification, it's already changed beyond recognition from how things were even a couple of years back.

[@adlam97531]

Always good when you do something s bit different or unexpected and maybe something around “ just beyond the purple train “ would be something good to do .

[@mrd64]

I remember the old footbridge, it gave you a crossing option at both ends of the platform. It's a shame the Southampton line didn't remain as it would avoid going to Reading to do the same journey.

[@lenodh]

Loving your videos. You are good.

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks!

[@keithorchard3137]

Great video as always, Jago !

[@matzkoooo]

please produce more videos outside the tube, love it :-)

[@JagoHazzard]

I have more on the way!

[@jth385]

If your going to venture outside of the Capital, how about a video of Darlington, one half of the first commercial railway in the country, the (not in alphabetical order) Stockton & Darlinton Railway, especialy as its 200th anniversary is comming up plus Darlington (Bank Top not North Road) station is soon to be expanded with the addition of not one but three additional platforms....

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Come and have a look at Temple Meads lots of history to be delved into.

[@rossslaughter939]

How about doing Aylesbury station? ‘Where The Great Central Railway ended’ perhaps? 🤗

[@Tinhare]

I think you should step out of London more often. Fascinating video.

[@isashax]

Another interesting video! You always find good stuff to show us!

[@ianmilne655]

Damn, I was driving trains through Newbury last week, shame I missed you.

[@mrwilz57]

I certainly hope you have lots of friends in lots of towns outside of London as this was a great video. Nice one geezer. ( this, by the way is the first time I've ever called someone, geezer.) 👍

[@Themclachlans]

Come and have a look at the Waverley Route / Borders Railway, you can pop in for tea and possibly even cake!

[@peterjohncooper]

Welcome to the "Not London" part of the UK. It's a strange and tangled world out here. If you find yourself stranded in Bournemouth I'll buy you a coffee. Excellent video as always.

[@apuldram]

Hey, if so, I’ll come over from Sussex to buy him a second coffee 😉 🍺