Lonely Lines: Britain's Forgotten Railways | British Pathé

This compilation of railway footage from Pathé depicts a couple train stations that seldom saw many trains come through them.
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(Film IDs: 1248.29, 1239.30)
ALL ABOARD - RAILWAY MONTH (FEBRUARY 2017): Miniature Railways.
A look at some rather remote railway lines.
Music:
Monkeys Spinning Monkeys Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
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[@nevillebloodybartos]

I’m sitting in Stevens old office as I write this message... it all still exists... the pier has gone but all the track up to the waters edge is still there... trains are loaded with building such as sand and ballest, at Port Victoria ... BP also have a depot here and transport Jet fuel to Heathrow by rail... as well as concrete tunnel segments for the Thames super sewer... there’s no passenger trains since the 60s bust it’s a busy freight branch... still only a few trains a day but by freight standards that’s busy

[@railwaychristina3192]

Should be brought back for passenger use

[@donnarogers7732]

My ancestors are from Wales. My paternal grandfather Marion Asmar Wesson , worked on the American Railways until an acvidentvwith a car coupling retired him. After that he and my grandmother ran a fish bait farm at their home in Bessemer, Alabama, of ENGLISH RED WRIGGLER FIDHING WORMS. I L8VE watching your stories of the old British railways and of British history off the beaten path as it were. Thanks do much for all the care and trouble this channel hoes to give us wonderful glimpses of the 20 th. Century life in the UK and around the world.

[@TheStevemcgregor]

Just love the 'time gone by' stories like this. The way things used to be. Were they happy days? I think that people were more contented with their lot. There was more rural life.

[@TheStevemcgregor]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn Why would you ask that? Of course I have but what's your point? There was more rural life, today the whole country is run by urban based and thinking administrations and if you go back a bit further we could reverse your assumptions by asking if you have heard of the Enclosures Acts between 1604 & 1914? The industrial revolution impoverished the rural population by 'stealing' their land.

[@bcgrote]

Mr. Hill is soooo lonely - but gets 2 trains a day. That other place gets one train a week to bring a crate or two of supplies to a village of people.

[@None-zc5vg]

One of my local stations has had one train each way a week since the late '80s, but its line still carries freight-traffic on a single-line that had been 4-tracked by 1890.

[@soundnicetome]

No rush...and completely PC free...and nobody to tell you what to do...oh bliss? Great piece of railway history by the way.

[@RHR-221b]

Rest in Peace, Mr S Hills. 💚

[@SteamboatWilley]

Port Victoria railway station closed in 1951, but the area is now occupied by Thamesport container terminal.

[@placeholdername4068]

*begins screaming about industry killing industry*

[@andrewchaston503]

Yep and now thats died too!

[@marty8535]

Most of the branch still exists as a freight only line to the terminal. The pilings of the original Port Victoria station (replaced by the one in the film) are still visible at low tide.

[@ChaimkeProductions]

awww i feel so sorry for the station manager

[@justliam2768]

The narrator clearly didn't know Steve too well. Far from being lonely, his house parties were off the chain.

[@CamcorderSteve]

@@kevinstephenson4674 Would you like to delete that comment Kevin. I assume you were in a very bad state of mind when you posted it. Why not explain why you think that Just Liam was making an 'asinine' comment. I am thinking that Just Liam knew or knew off Steve, in which case it would be interesting to get some more information regarding this gentleman.

[@TheRedAirOn]

@@kevinstephenson4674 fun, fellowship, and festiviy is indeed splendid every so often and well-deserved.

[@MistahJigglah]

@@kevinstephenson4674 @Peter Freeman Wow, the sticks up your asses must be immense

[@LeftIsBest001]

@@peterfreeman6677 - You miserable git.

[@JamPunchStorytelling]

I love this channel.

[@joshslater2426]

I feel like most railway modellers or novelists love emulating this style of rural branchline: a tiny town with a tiny station with under 5 trains a day. There’s something so lonely but also charming about it.

[@sparky7558]

Looks like he had a great job

[@Mandalorian_Goblinslayer]

sparky 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 yeah he did bro, god rest his soul. He didn’t deserve to be lonely

[@mortenfrosthansen84]

Well... maybe for a day or two. Unless you had accommodation with internet and plenty of ice tea.. then I could get along too. With a little "green"house in the back hehe

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Like the video very much.loads of detail.Hope there more.

[@user-yy3gu9me1g]

Depuis les rails à ces images Merci à celles et ceux qui contribue à nous faire voyager que ça soit dans le temps où au travers , j'ai beaucoup apprecié ces balades et en garde des souvenirs de découvertes non seulement par tous ces paysages qui défilent mais aussi à l'arrivée pour chaque nouvelle destination .La Ligne continue et les réseaux sont devenu automatisés mais il n'empêche que le train c'est toujours une aventure

[@monkofdarktimes]

so lonely but so happy

[@sarahmartiniom]

I love railways and trains =)

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

I like destroying old lines, if they are disused, and repurposing the land for the benefit of the modern community. The tracks can be ripped up and sold for scrap. The land can become footpaths or cycle routes. The stations and goods yards can be demolished and sold for housing or industry. The steam locos can be cut for scrap and melted in the induction furnaces to make new traction and other useful stuff.

[@ZeroDrizzy]

its amazing to watch people who no longer live tell Thier story.

[@alangiles2763]

I aways feel that. I heard a 1965 radio documentary the other day, and you wonder how things turned out in the end, in what seems a different world.

[@beeble2003]

I sincerely doubt that it's his story: the tale of the lonely stationmaster fantasizing about the past sounds like a load of patronizing, made-up twaddle to me. His station was within a few hundred yards of the village of Isle of Grain, which I think would have been a decent size at the time: over 1500 people live there today. Yes, his working day would have been quiet and largely solitary but the film makes him out to be losing his grip on reality from hardly ever seeing another human being. The claims about royal trains also seem somewhat stretched. Yes, Queen Victoria did sail from Port Victoria, and more than once. Apparently, it was her favoured departure point on her trips to Germany to visit members of her family there, but the last of those trips was in 1895, 52 years before this film was made. If the stationmaster remembered those trips, he would only have been a child at the time.

[@timcolledge3732]

Charming old film!!

[@TransmissionEpicts]

Ha! Yep, and potentially quite dark if he goes crazy with an axe. "The Shining (station)". Could be a film, that.

[@kevinstephenson4674]

Another berk spouting twaddle.

[@martinleicht5911]

Cheers !! 🍺 😎 👍

[@geoffreylee5199]

Who wrote that? The guy who cut the trains?

[@ChrisJohnson-nc4il]

That village station was most likely closed thanks to BR's "hero", Dr Beeching

[@stewartellinson8846]

There was no village - it served a pier but by the time this was made, the pier had gone. no wonder there was no traffic!

[@nevillebloodybartos]

It’s still in use as a freight branch... it’s still very busy... we move stone and sand, as well as concrete tunnel segments for the Thames super sewer... I’m writing this message from the stationmasters old office... which is also still in use

[@davidk6271]

Remote villages or countryside would be nice

[@somebloke5565]

Poor Stephen. Alone.

[@AgnosticProle]

How about showing the disparate parts of the u.k like Wales Scotland Cornwall etc.

[@Mandalorian_Goblinslayer]

0:46 can I ask where was that train station located?

[@louispaulroosen]

Transatlantic ship :)

[@RichardABW]

Don't know if you would have it but maybe do the introduction of the NHS? I'm lead to believe that it was not popular with doctors. Would be interesting to hear some opinions from then that may be counter to today's conventional wisdom.

[@gussyt1761]

First train is literally Thomas pulling Annie and Clarrabell

[@adelestevens]

what line was Blackermill halt on?...anyone?

[@ilikebananassometimes3608]

Blackwell Mill Halt, to give it it's proper name (no idea where he got the "er" from), was between Buxton Midland and Miller's Dale, both of which closed to passengers in 1967.

[@borderlands6606]

t was on the London to Manchester main line, between Buxton and Bakewell. It was one of the contenders for smallest station on the network (though I can think of one with no platform and some portable wooden steps).

[@kennybroomfield8402]

Vote for Race Cars for next month.

[@wallydug2256]

British Airports the early years

[@AtheistOrphan]

Where is 'Mr Lonely's' Port Victoria?

[@AtheistOrphan]

Immediate Training Devon - Thanks very much.

[@stewartellinson8846]

The isle of Grain, kent - past the modern grain oil depot.

[@nevillebloodybartos]

The track and the station office is still in use... it’s a very busy freight branch... most the jet fuel for Heathrow comes from Port Victoria (isle of Grain) as well as construction sand and concrete ... It’s one of the locations I work at... the ticket office is still there... it’s my shunters tea room

[@garryclayton2001]

Hell is .... Other people. Lucky old Stephen

[@benbisley]

They should never have closed the Buxton to Matlock line.

[@georgeknowles5327]

It's now the valuable and popular Monsal Trail. If it were to become a railway again it would be horrendously expensive to restore and run, and would just be a play railway for a few die-hard enthusiasts.

[@SteveInskip]

George Knowles apparently it’s a priority 1 for re-opening for aggregate transport.

[@georgeknowles5327]

@@SteveInskip Not according to the Peak District National Park Authority, who own the trail. At the moment any south-bound aggregate from Topley Pike and nearby quarries travels via the A6. The amount of aggregate going that route probably amounts to the equivalent of one train load per day, if that. The national park authority will resist as will thousands of users of the trail in Derbyshire and neighbouring counties.

[@SteveInskip]

George Knowles They’re obviously looking at expanding the aggregates so it looks like an interesting scrap in the making then! You aren’t dealing with die-hard enthusiasts though, more big business and Government departments. Have fun!

[@georgeknowles5327]

@@SteveInskip It's also interesting that some of the pressure to re-open the line comes from traders in places like Bakewell and Matlock who think it will improve the tourist trade. A bit of a contradiction there! Quarrying in the Peak District is strictly controlled by the park authority. It's forbidden. I don't think that Topley Pike quarry is within the park boundaries. I'm always up for a good fight where recreational asserts are threatened.

[@thekingofdimes724]

One like one this vodieo for Stephen

[@KOLDBLU3ST33L]

He's got the perfect job. Try working for a current day Rail service. Argh😖

[@falcons1988]

Army Bands during the inter war period including the wars

[@TimtimzroyalXx]

Civil and Military Jet age?

[@danielferstendig]

Where sir toppham hatt.

[@nicholaslemon6762]

While it liked the video, it makes me wonder what happens to Stephen later in life. What happened?

[@gm16v149]

He died.

[@karlosbricks2413]

station closed in 1951, so Probably ended up retiring and doing not much else

[@metalman4141]

Was he really MAD !!!!!

[@bqqq3617]

Комментарии написана на английском языке.Нет перевода.

[@bigwings1891]

cars

[@georgeknowles5327]

The first segment showing Blackwell staion was on the now defunct Buxton to Derby via Bakewell, Matlock, Ambergate and Belper railway. The section from Topley Pike quarry to Bakewell is now the Monsal Trail and has some of the best scenery in the Derbyshire Dales area. There's been a few campaigns to re-open it as a railway but, thankfully, all have failed. It's more useful and popular as a hiking/cycling/horse riding and wheelchairing asset than a play railway for a few enthusiasts. The row of houses at Blackwell today look pretty much the same and are now accessed by a gated road, I think.

[@bmwman1981]

George Knowles I think it would be a good idea to reopen monsal trail as a train track but I would also build a new footpath as well along side it .

[@georgeknowles5327]

@@bmwman1981 That would be a wonderful idea. Going for a nice, quiet, gentle afternoon stroll and a train thundering past a couple of metres away! I'm afraid that won't work for a number of reasons. There would have to be a high steel fence between the trains and the public. The trail is used by horses. You can't have horses next to a railway line that close. The views to the north of the trail are spectacular. There's just a cliff rising up on the south side. If the trail became a tourist passenger line the railco would insist that the passengers were on the scenic side and not the cliff side. There tunnels along the trail (six, I think) that are open and part of the trail. There is no way that you could share a tunnel between trains and the public. Health and safety. Any footpaths around the tunnels are steep, in some cases dangerous, and totally unsuitable for horses, bikes or wheelchairs. There's more to walking, cycling, horse riding and wheelchairing than just physical exercise. It's about moving through beautiful countryside and enjoying the experience. It's good for mental health, especially in today's world. You don't need to worry about traffic, families with young children especially. There are very few places where wheelchair-bound people can move about in the countryside. Wheelchairs and Stiles tend to be incompatible. There could only be single track because the trail is not wide enough to have double track and a pathway. Knowing how things work, if a single track were put in with a parallel path, after a few years the powers-that-be will say that the trail is not used much now (due to the obvious reduced usage since no-one wants to walk alongside a live railway) so let's get rid of the trail altogether and put in the second line ("which was what we were intending to do anyway but couldn't come up with a valid argument at the time"). The Monsal Trail is an important and valuable asset to us all. There's more to life than getting from a to b as fast, as noisy, as polluting, as expensive and as uncomfortable as possible. There will be great resistance to any proposal to do this.

[@bmwman1981]

George Knowles in America they can reopen any train lines that are shut at any time if we had this rule and beeching had shut the line down it would of just been mothballed until such time that they needed to reopen it and I’m sorry I know people who work trackside and we don’t have enough train lines to cover if there is a problem with the track that we have

[@georgeknowles5327]

@@bmwman1981 Fortunately, this is the UK and not the USA. The trail is owned by the Peak District National Park Authority. They are opposed to it being re-opened as a railway. It would actually require the government to make a compulsory purchase of the land. I'm not sure what you mean in the last part of your response.

[@bmwman1981]

George Knowles more like unfortunately if beeching had been stopped before he had a chance to shut done all the lines we would not have to pay billions for a white elephant of hs2 because we have not got enough capacity on our train lines

[@ct4009]

Why does he speak very fast?

[@jonml5642]

peam supawit fafa

[@ct4009]

thanks

[@ct4009]

And I think his accent is weird

[@Larry]

That was the narrating accent of the 1930s, no one actually spoke like that, only to make news reels.

[@Jay-xg9bu]

@@Larry transatlantic accent