trains down the village street!

The Gruyeres-Fribourg-Morat system is a network of narrow and standard gauge lines in the west of Switzerland. To me the best bit is at Montbovon, junction with the Montreux-Oberland-Bernoise route, where the first half mile or so of the route runs down the village street. Although not that unusual in Switzerland it's still always a bit of a surprise to see the trains running down the middle of the road!

These shots are all June 1987, but the line is still running of course, though the trains may be a little more modern these days!

murren

(All 22.5.1987)

The small village of Murren lies on a ridge in the heart of the Bernese Oberland and is only reachable by train, there's no road. Until a few years ago you made the journey in two stages, by funicular from Lauterbrunnen on the BOB up to Grutschalp, and then by tram from Grutschalp to Murren. Unfortunately the funicular had to close recently due to the land becoming unstable (an early victim of climate change) and this section is now done by cable car, but the rest of the journey carries on as always, via the spectacular tramway.

This was all far in the future in 1987 of course, and I did ride on the funicular one more time in about 2004.

The tramway, like most minor lines in Switzerland, is metre gauge, and is well worth a visit. Be warned, the weather can be wintry well into May, as it was here on 22 May 1987, with quite heavy snow falling for a time.

 

wynenthal suhrenthal bahnen

ALL Muhen 20.5.1987 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

FACEBOOK - SWISS NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS

Back in 1987 I spent a wonderful month travelling round Switzerland visiting most of its narrow gauge railways. First stop was the Wynenthal Suhrenthal Bahnen in Canton Aargau in eastern Switzerland. This was a busy two line system, much of it being roadside or street running, and metre gauge. There have always been plans to extend the Schoftland line to the SBB route via the Sursee-Triengen Bahn, a standard gauge line that would be reduced to metre gauge, but this still hasn't happened.

Part of this line has relocated since these pictures were taken, the former route between Suhr and Aarau being moved to the former standard gauge line that (in 1987) still ran between these two places, so there has been some expansion of the metre gauge.

Some of the street running on this line has been moved to private right of way since 1987, but plenty remains. Part of the metre gauge route between Menziken and Reinach was moved from the street to the trackbed of the former Seetalbahn which formerly ran between these places, and which I was lucky enough to travel on.

Expect much more on Switzerland over the next few weeks as I have reached this point in my photo albums!

first generation DMUs in yorkshire

 

Micklefield is a busy little station in Yorkshire, the junction for lines from Leeds to York and Hull. Back on 6 April 1987 there was a constant dream of first generation DMUs running through, as well as some HSTs, class 45s, class 47s and one or two newer DMUs. Of course at the time I didn't appreciate any of this, but luckily snapped away anyway!

 

My favourite shot from this location was one of those really lucky ones. I was walking back to my lorry when I glimpsed this scene in the mist. I probably heard a train horn so knew one was approaching - result a lovely composition of soft afternoon light, straight lines, a first generation DMU and the gentle arch of the bridge dead centre! I've posted this on a general photographic group and people love the composition! A lot more pics of Micklefield are on the Rail Thing Facebook group Rails of Yorkshire.

a walk up the line

FACEBOOK - REVERSING BEECHING - REOPEN THE HORSHAM-SHOREHAM LINE

On 20 November 1986 I took a walk along the remains of the Horsham to Shoreham line, which retained track as far as the old Beeding Cement Works.

This was a strange closure, a double track line that provided an excellent alternative route from Brighton to London (with junctions facing the right way) and serving a number of sizeable towns on route. It actually closed on the very same day as the S&D, 6 March 1966.

I did actually see this line when it was still open to passengers, from the car as we were on the way to Bramber castle. I could see Bramber station but, being only 9 years old, was not allowed to visit it. On the next visit the line was closed and overgrown, and I still wasn't allowed to visit it!

Not long after closure the line was lifted apart from the 2 or 3 miles between Shoreham and Beeding. But eventually even that section closed. There was an abortive preservation bid, the main stumbling block being that the last short stretch of the line into Shoreham was still a busy BR route.

So on that sunny November day in 1986 I said goodbye to the line, though I didn't know it at the time. I walked the whole length apart from about 500 metres in Shoreham.

There have always been mutterings about reopening the route. It would seem a sensible time to start planning this now. There are a few of the usual stupid 'blockages', characterless houses plonked for some reason right on the trackbed even though it must have always been clear that the line would be needed in the future. Towns like Henfield and Steyning are ridiculously without railway stations! Other places like Bramber, West Grinstead, Southwater and Partridge Green have (currently unfulfilled) potential to be commuter towns. I can't see the Adur Valley being without trains for much longer, but for now the route is silent, yet another disgusting reminder of the stupidity and shortsightedness of the Flower Power generation.

west coastway

LANCING

(All 4.9.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury/The Rail Thing)

MINIWEB/BLOGSITE - SOUTHERN REGION

My childhood and teenage haunts were mainly along the Coastway West line, in West Sussex. This route was - incredibly - under threat of closure in the late 60s and early 70s, but I don't think the threat was ever real. It would have ruined my life had the line closed, as I used it to get everywhere!

I went to school in Durrington and used the train nearly every weekday between 1967-1972, Littlehampton to Durrington-on-Sea. I knew every inch of this route. Further east Lancing was a bit more exotic, though I did occasionally travel there after school to visit the J D Morris model shop, which had N gauge!

Years later I got these shots of Lancing which turned out to be a pretty good spot for photos. I must visit it again one day!

More info (from Wikipedia)

Lancing railway station is in Lancing in the county of West Sussex, England. The station is operated by Southern.

Platform 1 is for trains to Brighton and London Victoria, and Platform 2 is for trains to Worthing, Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton.

The station has 1 ticket office located on Platform 2, and 2 self-service ticket machines, one on Platform 1 and one outside the front of the main station building adjoining Platform 2.

There are no ticket barriers at the station, however regular ticket checks are carried out at the exits from the platforms, by Southern Railway staff and Rail Neighbourhood Officers

Services

Typical off-peak service consists of 5 trains per hour (tph) in each direction:

Eastbound

• 4tph to Brighton
• 1tph to London Victoria

Westbound

• 1tph to Southampton Central
• 1tph to Portsmouth Harbour
• 1tph to Littlehampton
• 2tph to West Worthing

Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.729 million
2005/06	0.744 million
2006/07	0.758 million
2007/08	0.801 million
2008/09	0.817 million
2009/10	0.833 million
2010/11	0.911 million
2011/12	0.952 million
2012/13	0.972 million

rails in the road

Many of my favourite lines include a stretch or two of street running, and I know a lot of rail fans are fascinated by these displays of the superiority of rail over road, so to keep you all happy I've just started a new Facebook group 'RAILS IN THE ROAD'.

Please feel free to join and add pics and stories of your own!