The Old Railway Line that will NEVER Reopen - Might Actually Reopen?
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- Опубліковано 23 бер 2024
- The Old Railway Line that will NEVER Reopen - Might Actually Reopen?
The Leek to Stoke Railway Line last saw regular traffic back in 1988. There has been regular rumblings about this reopeninf for both passenger and freight trains, could this soon become a reality?
In this disused railway walk video i pick up the route at Endon Station passing through various villages with former railway stations, closed back in the 1950s and 1960s.
Could this line see life again?
Archive footage by / @northstaffssulzers
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#abandoned #railway #disused #station #closed #reopen - Розваги
Since I have retired I have found that I'm becoming so much more like Victor Meldrew (played by Richard Wilson in One Foot in The Grave). I am now the angry old man that I thought I would never become. But with age comes wisdom. How dare the Politian's who are supposed to serve us just throw away our heritage. The things that our grand fathers and great great grand fathers toiled to build in order to bring about a better England. For me it started with the Beeching report (can't call him a doctor because he wasn't). A patsy hired from ICI to bring about an outcome already decided to benefit one (if not more) politician, in this case Ernest Marples (Minister of Transport 1959 - 1964) later Baron Marples (shows how corruption has it's rewards). Marples was a corrupt politician due to his family interests in road construction. If the same review of Britain Railways would happen today, lines like this one would never have been closed. In a different world, one where the green agenda is becoming more urgent, we need the railways. All of them!!!!
Couldn't agree more, worked through harsh winters to build the inferstuctre for what. To be cast aside to rot, due to a poxy report!
However this particular route closed to passengers and freight before the Beeching Report was produced. I have done a lot of reading on the subject closures in the Edinburgh area and most of the stations and branches were closed before the Beeching Report with many closed by the LNER in the thirties.
Sorry but Beeching was necessary the railways were overstaffed and not making money.
The problem caused was not leaving the route open so the lines could be reinstated as per great central.
Imagine being able to retire!
Yes Beeching was just the hatchet man ,the real crook was Marples.
Cut a few trees down, scrape the moss off the rails chuck a bit of ballast down, jobs a goodun😂😂😂😂 What an excellent vid, not a bramble in sight!!!! Thanks Ant👍👍👍👍
We did basically that at Immingham when we reopened sorting sidings few years back , I never knew sorting sidings existed till run some Loco's through it ! . In hindsight track wasn't to good full of rotten sleeper's but this track looks ok
I live not too far from this route and was aware that most of the track was still down but I've never actually been so this is my first ever look at it. Quality stuff as always, Thanks.
Hi ant cracking video as always !! As a stokie i can shed some more info on your video. Its pronounced cauldon as is cauldron but with don on the end !! The reason the ballast is missing at endon station is the station was totally overgrown and when they changed the use to the tearooms they were going put tables outside on the platform so totally landscaped it !! A massive part you missed is the ticket office at milton is still there but its above the road as like stockton brook !! The foxley canal is mainly intact to its end and still recogniseable as a canal !! Also the line from stoke to cauldon was set with a clause when mothballed that it had to be kept maintained and ready for use within 72 hours !! Regards john 😊
Cauldon Low is a limestone mine and portland cement factory. Was the area also used for wartime munitions storage? It’s remote enough and mines were often used that way.
I joined a branch lines rail tour which began at Helby [?] near Runcorn. This was in 1983. A DMU was the order of the day and we traversed many freight only and now closed branch lines in Cheshire and a little into North Staffs. This was one of the lines we travelled along as far as Oakamoor. I do recall photographing from the train the cantilever bridge over the canal at Endon [?]. It was a great day out. Sadly many of these lines are just byways for dog walkers today. I believe there are plans at some time in future to use this line as part of the reconnection project from the proposed new station at Leek back to Stoke mainline station. We'll wait and see!
The steel used for these rails would be and still is much better than the crap used today. Often it can be re-used especially if for a heritage line used at 25 mph maximum line speed.
Hello, absolutely fantastic video! I’m delighted that you included some of my old railway videos from 1976. I’ve been planning to post some new videos of freight trains on the Stoke - Leek line for some years and your video has finally made me decide to get on with it! I’ve got some of the old clips remastered with AI and that makes a real difference. I used to live in Baddeley Green - between Milton & Stockton Brook and spent many hours watching trains go by. I’ll start publishing the new clips in the next month or so. Thanks again for a great video!
That looks similar to a line near me, the Bramley Line from March to Wisbech, closed to passengers in 1968, then used as a freight line serving Metal Box in Wisbech with Steel coils, finally fully closed in 2000, but all the track in place to the outskirts of Wisbech, the Bramley Railway trust regularly go out cutting back brambles etc that are encroaching on the line. The local MP is pushing to reopen it as a light Railway.
Confirmed. This rail line is in the process of being recommissioned.
No it isn't. A business case has been submitted for funding. The decision hasn't been made yet. The local MP is making claims they can't back up, they dishonestly claimed work was ongoing to reopen, but they were stood back to a stretch used for training.
I can assure you this won't reopen.
Freedom of information requests to obtain the business case have been rejected. It's not hard to work out why.
@@RW-nr6bh Actually, it WILL reopen - it's just taking longer than would be the ideal
Nice to see lines re opening be great if this does . Traffic in and out of stoke is horrendous. Anything that can reduce it would be welcome.
Epic video, Ant. Great to see so much of the tracks still around 🤩
Great walk. Such a thrill to see so much Infrastructure especially rails still in situe. Most unusual these days.. what really rubs me up is the way Joe Public treats bridges and cuttings as his personal rubbish dump. Thanks Ant.
Another great video. Well filmed and narrated. Thank you for all the research. Old photos so good. Well done Ant. Another masterpiece.
Love this video Ant, excellent content & it's what im so interested in thank you! ❤😊
Thanx for this. Brilliant video as always. I lived in Endon and you've ignited all my childhood memories of playing and walking the line and canal in the 70's. Keep up the good work. I also have inherited the Bucknall Signal Box Sign from my late Father...
Another classic video Ant, Incredible the track is all still down. well researched and great photography as always.
Your knowledge and passion shines through in every video, and it's incredibly nostalgic to journey along with you. Keep up the fantastic work!
That was amazing..thank you. To see all that track still in place. A couple of places along the route would require a heckof a lot of work to re-open even part of it. Very enjoyable...all the best.
Yet another cracking video and drone footage.
Old photos and info fab.
Thanks again Ant 👍
Thank you for a most informative (and enthusiastic) presentation. Let us hope and pray that the line will be reopened to passengers and freight in due course.
I hope so too! So pleased you enjoyed it and thanks for watching :)
Another brilliant video thanks so much Ant 👍
I tend to put your episodes on regular through the telly on the youtube app - makes up for the lack of quality TV shows these days! Tip for another - checkout a time capsule that is Broomielaw station, near Barnard Castle.
It's a real shame that there's no longer a direct rail route between north-east and north-west England such as the Lake District, formerly served by the Tebay line.
Love the video!! I went staffs uni and stumbled upon this rail track when I was going to get my first ‘Rona vaccine in 2021 because the maps on my phone took me a really convoluted way under a bridge on the last section of track, which I had a little nosey at. Me and my friends walked this railway quite a bit that year, it was a lot of fun when we weren’t really allowed to get up to a whole lot from lockdowns. So this was a fantastic throwback and really good memories. Great to hear all the history behind it.
another awesum video Ant so many disused railway lines to discover Thanks mate.
That's amazing, Ant! An abandoned railway with still intact track. I think it would be quite a job to clear that lot! Especially all those trees growing near and through the track! Fascinating! I didn't know such railways existed still!
Thank you for sharing. This is amazing ❤
Hi Ant, thank you for the video, love it, that track bed looks amazing, keep up the fantastic work.👍
Very kind and thanks so much for watching 😊
It's pretty rare to find a disused railway as intact as this one nowadays, Ant! Our corner of NE Derbyshire was proliferated with places like this around 15 years back, alas, Network Rail lifted the lot. ☹️ Terrific stuff, again. 👍
Another superb walk. How interesting that for so much of the line, the trees did not grow between the rails and you were able to walk quite easily! Loved the little tunnel too, of course! I do hope that it does get re-opened - maybe the Churnet Valley should take it on?
Yet again another outstanding documentary into our history in this case rail .
Thank you for going out of your way to bring this to our screens it’s much appreciated indeed!.
I do look forward to your comprehensive commentary / documentary with the use of drone footage that adds a different perspective.
It would be fantastic if this line was reopened if for nothing More than a tourist attraction .
Well done sir !
Hi. What a fantastic video. I grew up near stocton brook . There was a signal just before endon station. I use to climb up the ladder at weekend when no trains ran. The track that is now the cycle way closed in 1976. Norton and Whitfield collierys used the track to transport there coal
This is an ace video! Brings back memories of how this interest all started for myself. Back in the early 90's as a kid my dad took me walking along the disused tracks from Dereham to Wymondham in Norfolk (think it closed to freight in the 80s also) Luckily in the years since it got restored and is now a great heritage railway fingers crossed this one gets the same result! Also hopefully there are some more gems like this left you can capture
A really great video Ant, just a pity about that last bit towards Stoke station. I reckon that this would be a fantastic line to re-open, but the strengthening of that tunnel has left the headroom too low for conventional 12 to 13 feet height rolling stock to go through, unless, the track could be lowered, but then it could become flooded out. Many thanks, Ant for this production.
Fascinating video! Thank you so, SO much for uploading. This was especially interesting to me as I have walked the section from Endon to Leekbrook during a holiday in the area several years ago. So, there is still hope!
Glad you enjoyed it! I.m thinking of going back myself to do the Endon to Leekbrook section
@@TrekkingExploration Thank you for kindly replying to my comment. I really appreciate your doing that! Yes, you'd enjoy the section which I walked. Thinking about it, this was in 2017. This looks very similar with the track in situ throughout. There are, however, (or were!) some remaining semaphore signals.
Great walk, along what could be a very scenic railway, if it's ever reopened. Let's hope it is. Thank's for sharing some beautiful images.
thanks for this film. have done the caldon canal back about 10 years ago and was all visible then. caroline
Very interesting, thanks for posting.
The sand in the wagons would be Silica Sand quarried by British Industrial Sand (B.I.S.) at Oakamoor and was used to make glass. It contained very little iron so was white.
Great video, great narrative. Thank you.
I really enjoyed your video, well presented and interesting.
I am all for reopening these abandoned lines wherever possible. The problem with most is that at some point they have been completely closed off so they can only ever be a short branch. This one can go no further than the outskirts of Leek as its Station is now I believe a car park. It would be great to see it in use again but at what cost, and there are others that would probably be more financially viable like the Midland line between Matlock and Great Rocks.
Thank you, really interesting to see the tracks going all the way (I assume), and the architecture of the bridges etc. Shocked at the amount of litter!
Especially at the stoke end
Fantastic video as usual. It’s rather thrilling to have all that railway line. It’s a pity people have no respect and throw their rubbish everywhere. I did love the area you went thru. Lovely trees, railway lines, must make a great video. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care
The line that runs up the middle of Anglesey to Amlwch is another with trackbed still intact. Used to serve the Bromine plant which is also worth an explore
Currently being cleared by Lein Amlwch.
Thank you for this day’s video. Always a trek back in time. Reconstructing the remaining will not be simple. Invasion of trees in the lines path have to removed, ballast formation has to reconstructed, and maintenance has to be maintained. The idea of resurrection is fine in theory, but costly in expense. Reopening? In theory yes, in associated costs, I doubt it. Again, thank you for the video this day, Ant. Always a pleasure to watch. Cheers Ant! 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸
This one brought back some memories. I walked the section from Stockton Brook to Fenton in June 2016 and apart from a bit more seasonal greenery it’s exactly the same now as then. I posted my walk on the app/website Outdooractive (titled Stockton Brook to Fenton) and my text for the Fenton end was “the last access point is via Berry Hill Road.From here to the end (of the route) is good until between two factories it suddenly becomes impassable.” So the flooded area that you found was exactly the same 8 years ago! You also mentioned The Biddulph Way which I also have walked and posted on the same app/site. There is also the old potteries loop line which is now a walkway and several other old railway lines in north Staffordshire/south Cheshire which are quite interesting.
Interesting !! But the line can't be reopened until they get Royal Ascent from Queen Victoria by a séance and that takes time??!!!😄😨
Another excellent video Ant, have you heard about the Anglesey Central Railway? unused since the 90s all the track is still down and there are plans to reopen it, might be worth a look
I have realllly enjoyed thiis. Thank you.
Well done Ant super video. It makes you wonder how the track was left as normally its the first thing they do on closure is rip up the track.
It wouldn't be difficult to reopen. A contractor could easily clear the trees and brambles in a month. The trees are mostly birch, which grows straight. They can be sent to a sawmill for processing. Replace the rotton sleepers and trains can run again. The rails look in good condition.
It isn’t that simple, plus, who pays?
@@22pcirish Indeed, the Dartmoor line to Okehampton took £40 million, and that already had trains running on Sundays. It's absolute pie in the sky
@@RW-nr6bh Railway infrastructure is necessarily more expensive. But just reopening for the sake of reopening doesn’t make (financial) sense.
@@22pcirish I totally agree. It seems many people like the idea of a railway without thinking of the reality. The passenger services on this line were ceased before Beeching, which ought to tell people something.
In my personal view conversion to a guided busway would be better.
The bus could then leave the line and come into Leek Town centre, and wouldn't need a new platform in Stoke.
It would be far more flexible than a train and would remove delays to busses from regular traffic.
Seeing as the bus services have been eviscerated locally it's difficult to see that happening.
In Indonesia, they would just use a strong locomotive down these rails, a few man applying sand. And the line would be reopened....
It was a good idea doing that walk in winter.
You can see that during the year, there will be thick foilage everywhere making things much harder, even for photography.
In a summer drought season, you could complete that walk to Frenton, but remember that there will be foliage.
Things like that we need to make a note of, in our diary's, because come hot weather, it's so easy just to think of rushing off to the beach.
Unusual to find all that track still in place on an abandoned line. I bet you were really pleased to find that one Ant.
Glad you enjoyed it thank you :)
Good video, thank you 😊
Great video!
Another great video Ant ,you certainly do your research , shame there is so much rubbish strewn about lets hope they do get the rail in use again it will start in leek just across the road from where i live
A great vid. Possibly one of your best. Thks
Very kind Brian thank you ☺️
No problem. Your the one that is putting in all the time and effort. You keep making vids. and I'll keep watching. thks@@TrekkingExploration
Between Stoke and Leek. Walked along it myself two weeks ago. Very muddy at the moment, but will be great in the summer.
Amazing! Guessing this might have just been mothballed then initially, as presumably the tracks would’ve been lifted to reuse the steel otherwise?
George James Crosbie Dawson my 2nd cousin 4x removed was Chief Engineer of the North Staffordshire Railway from 1886-1914. They built it well under his supervisoin. Nice to see some of it being reused.
Lovely, thank you!
What a well produced program, way and above what we would expect on prim time TV, well done...👍👍
Very kind thanks very much
Love stuff like this. Completely fascinated by history as it is in cities etc
I have walked this track bed twice from Stockton Brook while taking a boat up the Caldon (on two occasions - 2019 and 2023). As soon as I saw the YT video still I knew which railway it was - and I was right :).
Thanks for watching. I may go back and do the other half soon
I just took this excellent video to the 1k mark. Loved it Ant.
Awwww thanks for watching ☺️
Great informative video thank you 🙏
Very kind Gordon thank you 🙂
Not aware of any other country that has closed so many lines. Especially when so many of them could find a valid use in the current times. An excessive and inflated operating cost of the current UK railway model does not help the cause...
They should renovate it into something similar to like the Avon Valley Railway, With a Cycling/Walking Path separated by a Fence with a Running Line the opposite side.
Great video at 19:45 you can just make out what looks like the front of a steam loco to the left of sulzer😊
Great walk good to see rails down don't think I've ever been on any railway walks with rails still down great to see shud try forge valley line most of buildings there still
Glad you enjoyed it i'll have a look online for your suggestion
What a superb video, actually quite sad too, very poignant
The Blaenau Ffestiniog to Bala railway has track from Blaenau to the powerstation (disused) at Trawsfynydd. There is a section from just after the viaduct back over the viaduct and on towards Trawsfynydd is through such stunning scenery both sections are well worth a look
Newton Abbott to Heathfield branch, Devon. Currently mothballed/disused. Walked parts of it last summer. I had my baby Daughter in a push chair, so could only look at parts from the parallel old canal towpath.
Quite a video, sir. You'd think that with a bit of restoration now, they could put a 'Parly' style School Train or the like, up and down there a couple of times a day. Certainly, the Notion of supplying any industries along the route would be a possibility. With so many houses around it, you'd think it could support itself. Maybe the Heritage Group mentioned could extend and upgrade their own status to a TOC over Light Rail Rules at least. A spark of colour and life to a lovely stretch of Line. Nice one, chap. Cheers!
We travelled on this line in the late '70s in a DMU special from Stoke to Cheddleton.
I'm from Leek. Only a few days ago I read that MP Karen Bradley is backing this and if I'm right on what I've read on this. Some of the money that was going to be used on HS2 is going to be used on this line aswell. But I have had that some of the residents in Endon aren't happy with this line reopening. As it is its a really good idea. Especially for people travelling from Leek to Stoke and from Stoke to Leek. Plus it will bring move tourism in the area
Thank you very much for posting. I do not know the area but very interesting to learn about this line.
Thanks very much for watching :)
you are welcome; very beautifully filmed.@@TrekkingExploration
Good video! Have you been up to the East Lancs Railway - that was one line saved by enthusiasts, but now there have been odd murmurings that it should be taken over and returned to being a commuter line to Bury and Manchester. Isn't life great when you have 20/20 hindsight?
Makes you wonder if a train could fit through the reinforcement now.
Pity. Great video, might go myself
Wellies perhaps
The Churnet Valley Heritage Railway. I Know the Town of LEEK is their Main Destination at the Moment for the Northern Terminus in the Future & they Run Trains to the East from Leek Junction.
Fenced off bridge before about 20 minutes - it was fenced off thanks to some of the charming young locals dropping bricks from it onto passing cars IIRC.
Mothballed is a far better decision than eviscerating every trace of what we regard as a railway. It needed doing however, on a much wider basis.
I agree it would have safeguarded many other routes
its a shame if they dont do anything with the disused railway looks like a nice walk, not far from a canal and also some nice history also thanks for sharing ant 😊
Another mothballed branch is between Wisbech and March, maybe 6 to 7 miles. National Rail issued a 2022 report considering restoring it for light rail passenger service. Most of the track in place and several rural crossing have gates and track. Wisbech passenger ended 1968 to the south station and that area redeveloped as housing in 2000. Before the station to west was a wye with west leg servicing the Nestle Purina factory. To south entering the wye was Metal Box (now Eviosys) which last received steel coil freight service in 2000. Don't know the station details. Most of the track is a straight line and mostly fields and a few level crossings. New Medworth Incinerator to start construction 2024, south of Wisbech with plans to use the railway right of way to run steam heat to Nestle Purina about 1 mile north.
Hey very nice video I want to ask you what camera do you use?
There's a similar concrete side channel on the old tracks leading away from Littleton Colliery in Cannock, I'd wondered what it was for but it appears to be missing the sump at the end otherwise it would have been obvious
I would expect that section of track is used by walkers using the line as a footpath, keeping the tree growth down, great video ...
Top marks Ant,thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video
For heritage use, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of that rail was still good. Ties (sleepers) would need to be replaced, and ballast, but the steel is likely to be useful still in the right type of service (not so much for commuter passenger or revenue freight, I would think).
Im guessing at the end this line would have worked under the 'One Engine In Steam' principle hence no signalling.
Also some of the track seems to be concrete sleepers with bullhead (ie chaired) rail.
The Churnet Valley Railway is the most likely candidate to reopen it. A lot of firewood would be available too
Excellent video...
Many many thanks
Me and a friend walked this line a few years ago, thoroughly enjoyed it!
It is a good one I'm surprised it's taken me so long to do it. Thanks for watching
Another excellent video. I couldn't help but think of the English engineers who would have made the sleepers, the fishplates, the chairs, etc rather than what we have to refer to now as british. What a wonderful scenic railway the journey would have made long enough to properly enjoy a real railway.
I wasn't going to vote in the GE but now I'm thinking it would be a derrogation of my duty. I hope, but I think in vain, that there will be a box to put my tick that says English.
Let's hope Nigel Farage gets some funds and decent candidates gathered together then he can contest the next General Election, I reckon he would landslide a victory ! Voters are fed up with the Tories and their inaction about the hundreds of thousands of Migrants coming illegally and we all have memories about the shambles the last Labour government made of everything and their Mass Immigration nobody wanted !! also they have useless Starmer as a leader who did nothing about Jimmy Savile when he (Starmer), was head of the CPS.
There was talk of roadstone from Cauldon Low a few years back.but it never came to anything !
Would be a lovely walk in the summer ! The sleepers have been worn away through people walking on them
When I worked at Springs Branch Depot in the 60's to 80's I remember that there was a regular Sand Train from Oakamoor to the glass works at Platt Bridge which was on the branch from Wigan to Manchester Exchange. It was always a double -headed Class 25 workinhg.. Sadly, the glassworks closed in the '80's and the whole site is now given over to housing.
Hello Ant , Do you think with the tracks still down it was never meant to close ? There where few railways in the area that close like Congleton , Sandbach , Alsagers bank , and Macclesfield to Bollington and Marple, Ruston Spencer .