Re: Never served by rail

On Sep 30, 7:24 pm, "Bevan Price" <meVIAfreeukFULLSTOPcom> wrote:
<billetelic_ferroequinolog...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1191173917.324647.146030@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



On Sep 30, 6:20 pm, "David Biddulph" <groups [at] biddulph.org.uk>
wrote:
<billetelic_ferroequinolog...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

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On Sep 30, 3:03 pm, "Richard Hunt" <rh...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I was looking at some old maps the other day, and noticed how even
most
small towns were once served by rail. I wondered whether anyone knew
which was the largest town in mainland GB never served by rail.
A few spring to mind:

Ullapool
Shaftesbury
Torpoint
Salcombe
Mere
Waterlooville and Horndean
Biggin Hill
West Mersea (although this is on Mersea Island)
Hindhead
Rothwell (Northants) - was a long way from Desborough and Rothwell
station which purported to serve it
Braemar

Of these, I'd nominate Waterlooville/Horndean as the largest.

Depends, of course, on what you mean by "served by rail". Remember the
Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway?
--
David Biddulph
Now resident in Waterlooville/ Horndean- Hide quoted text -

A similar argument could be used about Skelmersdale,

although a station of this name did exist on the Ormskirk - Rainford
line (closed 5/11/56). I don't know that area well but I'd guess that
the New Town was built from the late 50s onwards, so might have been
served for a brief time.

No. With wonderful planning typical of many UK Governments, they closed the
railway just before the new town was developed. An electrified Ormskirk -
Skelmersdale line would have proved useful today, although it might have
been desirable to add a branch to serve some of the newer areas of the town.

Bevan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sounds a bit like Peterlee, as described above, and Killingworth,
where the overspill development was built away from the railway line
not long after its station (on the ECML) closed. Or Cramlington, which
was built sufficiently far away from the station of the same name and
the ECML for it to be of little use (although AIUI it is now quite a
busy park-and-ride station). Or Newton Aycliffe, which was built far
enough away from the Bishop Auckland line so that when a station was
finally built, it was on the very edge of the town and again of little
use.

Or even Milton Keynes, where only a British town planner could have
built the shopping centre and bus station almost a mile from the
railway station, which is not within walking distance of most of the
residential areas of the town either.

.

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