Period Railways

[biffvernon]

New to me and maybe both new and of interest to you - Network Rail's archive of railway architecture and other stuff. Just the front page looks nice: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/virtualarchive/

 

[Flyfisher]

I used to frequently use Welwyn North railway station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welwyn_North_railway_station) which is now listed.

Today, the station is a simple stop on a main line, just north of the impressive Welwyn viaduct, but when first built it was a significant centre of activity with goods sidings, livestock pens and even a stable for housing the horse that was used for shunting railway wagons.

None of which is unique, of course, and times will inevitably change, but I've always thought it is such a shame that there is no longer a resident station master as there once was. Instead, the station building stands empty when it could so easily provide a home for someone, with all the advantages of having the station occupied around the clock instead of just for a few hours in the morning.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Biff - a fascinating site. Thanks for posting it.

I love the section describing the building of the GWR line to Bristol:

The first Great Western Railway bill encountered strong opposition, most notably from Eton College who were horrified that building the line may encourage the boys to “seek the doubtful dissipations of London town”. :shock:

 

[Gareth Hughes]

My childhood local station doesn't seem to have changed all that much, on the outside, apart from some nasty yellow paint
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1672400
But I bet there isn't a stationmaster who keeps a coal fire burning in the waiting room, and plants out annuals round the white-painted stones that spelled out the station name on the opposite side of the track (this was in the 1970s, not the 1920s).