September 2010

It's easy to take for granted the awesome endeavours of 19th Century railway pioneers which thread us through, around or over the nation's natural barriers. It was an age of speculative adventure, built on innovation, will power and elbow grease.

But many magnificent creations were abandoned during the industrial vandalism of the Fifties and Sixties. Forgotten Relics of an Enterprising Age celebrates some of them.
Operating Notices

Welcome to the September update of Forgotten Relics.

We don't feature many 'disused stations' here, largely because Nick Catford covers them so wonderfully on his website of that name.

But a recent trip to see the remnants of the Severn Rail Bridge (more of that next month) offered an opportunity to check out the delightful Wye Valley stopping point at Tintern, soon to become part of a Sustrans footpath if local opposition can be appeased. Overlooked by the signal box, the main station building looks in particularly good order.

Tintern now features in our masthead along with one of the two Crook O'Lune viaducts whose elegance oozes from another of our galleries this month. The eastern structure is though ready for a bit of TLC.

To supplement Andrew King's recent pictures of Hill Tunnel, we cover the three diminutive bores at Coppet Hall which also formed part of the narrow-gauge Saundersfoot Railway. These were on its coastal branch. Steve Power has ventured north of the border to capture the tunnel running beneath London Road on the Glasgow Central Railway, torn from the timetable in 1964. And there's also a two-for-the-price-of-one viaduct from Helmshore in the Lancashire valleys.

New this month
Crook O'Lune viaducts
The two viaducts over the Lune near Halton are back in service for pedestrians but only after a hole was filled in the western one's deck.
Tintern Station
It became a tourist hotspot in the 19th century and, despite the railway's closure, Tintern still is today. Check out the old station as well as its abbey.
as well as...
Coppett Hall tunnels
Little tunnels for a little railway and still in business 70 years after the trains disappeared.
London Road
Tunnel
A cut-and-cover enterprise - one of several manufactured for Glasgow's Central Railway.
Helmshore
Viaduct
Mill and viaduct make comfortable neighbours in deepest Lancashire.

You can reach pages about these relics by clicking on their name.

Across the site, new content is identified by a symbol whilst updated pages have a .
Main site areas
The site has stories about some of our more notable railway relics, with a hike through their history and reminiscences from those who worked there. You'll also find galleries showing dozens of bridges, viaducts, tunnels, earthworks, stations and junctions.
News
stories
Online coverage of our disused network.
Bridges & viaducts
Great structures spanning a gap.
Tunnels & earthworks
Holes blasted
through hills.
Stations & junctions
Destinations torn from the timetable.

All the site areas are available via links in the tab bar and right hand column.

We'll add more relics over the coming months. We hope you enjoy your visit and come back to see more Forgotten Relics soon.

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