I present
Dagenham dock
hell on earth
Dagenham came to mind when I saw the thread title
The UK's bleakest railway station competition
- Thread starter PacificOcean
- Start date
Dagenham came to mind when I saw the thread title
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
I agree about Swanscombe Station - vile.
How about Reddish South - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddish_South_railway_station or Denton - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denton_railway_station
famous for having one train a week. that's one train a week, in one direction only.
Watford West is probably even more so - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_West_railway_station
in theory it's still 'open' although the train service was replaced by a (very infrequent) bus a while ago.
How about Reddish South - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddish_South_railway_station or Denton - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denton_railway_station
famous for having one train a week. that's one train a week, in one direction only.
Watford West is probably even more so - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_West_railway_station
in theory it's still 'open' although the train service was replaced by a (very infrequent) bus a while ago.
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Chatham station is pretty grim. I can't find a picture which is probably down to the fact there's not enough light in the big hole it sits in for cameras to work properly 
Goole station is OK west bound but east bound is filthy and accessible only by a piss stained tunnel or the un-signposted disabled access in the muddy, unpaved car park hidden behind TSB.
Goole station is OK west bound but east bound is filthy and accessible only by a piss stained tunnel or the un-signposted disabled access in the muddy, unpaved car park hidden behind TSB.
Ich bin ein Mod
does his make up in his room
Positively bustling compared to some mentioned
Milliken Park station in Johnstone
Milliken Park station in Johnstone
Nine Bob Note
Self-Isolating before it was fashionable
Carnforth used to be bleak despite it's film star history.....it must have once been grand....now you change for the Barrow trains. The trains carrying nuclear waste to Sellafield used to squeak their way through now and again to give atmosphere
I think the station building itself is actually rather nice. Tea rooms, gift shop, flowers, the works. They even hold table top sales on the platform. The other side, however, the painted wall and the stairs, well... Even worse is the approach: forty years of rail history stood rusting away and a couple of hideous, almost scary '40s Soviet-like structures... To my shame I've never seen Carnforth. I've passed through the station hundreds of times, only once waited on the platform (after the breaks on my train failed and we were all kicked off) but never ventured further.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
IIRC, they operate a token system over stretches of that line. No train can proceed until it picks-up a token from the train coming the opposite direction at certain points.
They did install a high-tech signaling system a few years back too but IIRC, the harsh conditions did for that in record time.
Round this way, they use the "one train in steam" approach - once a train has entered the token-controlled block, it's got the run of the place until it returns back to the token entry point (Tenby).
My partner's son once woke up at the terminus, when he should have disembarked at the penultimate stop. "No problem", said the train staff, and reversed the train back to the station so he could disembark and meet his waiting mum...
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
a brief encounter, then?
I heard it had had a make over, it was about '85 I used to change from the Leeds train on my way to Barrow.
editor
hiraethified
Cefn Onn used to be my favourite station, situated deep in a cutting with no road access and barely a passenger in sight.
http://www.urban75.org/photos/wales/cefn_onn.html
http://www.urban75.org/photos/wales/cefn_onn.html
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
Blimey, some of these make Angel Road look like St. Pancras International! 
Andy the Don
Wise men say only fools..
South Bermondsey station.. bleak and grim..
Not sure what makes it so bleak.. maybe its the travellers site, the view of the waste reclaimation plant or Millwall FC or because I travel toa nd from it every day for work..
Not sure what makes it so bleak.. maybe its the travellers site, the view of the waste reclaimation plant or Millwall FC or because I travel toa nd from it every day for work..
The rusty passing loop is probably controlled by a ground frame at each end, so literally someone has to hop off the train and throw the points themselves. The other road (to the left) is probably the one in daily use.
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
If we are including abandoned railway stations, then Cwm Prysor on the Bala to Ffestiniog line is a good candidate. 1200 feet above sea level, and so remote that at one time station staff from Trawsfynydd had to cycle five miles up to it in order to operate the station.
That said, it is now one of the greatest railway walks in the country, so perhaps bleak is a bit much...
http://www.pbase.com/gefailgof/cwm_prysor_railway&page=1
That said, it is now one of the greatest railway walks in the country, so perhaps bleak is a bit much...
http://www.pbase.com/gefailgof/cwm_prysor_railway&page=1
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
What amazes me about things like this is the effort they went to for lines that would never be busy, that is quite a viaduct for a remote rural station.
I did read that railway building was the dot com bubble of the 1850's, but still.
dent is the highest station in britain .. waited for a train there once and while beautiful views and there are houses nearby it is bleak and in the winter would be regularly snowed in
http://www.dentstation.co.uk/
http://www.dentstation.co.uk/
yeah stop dissing north london .. it's beautiful!! ( that stretch from tottenham hale north really is depressing till you go over the M25 )Blimey, some of these make Angel Road look like St. Pancras International!
thats beautiful not bleakCefn Onn used to be my favourite station, situated deep in a cutting with no road access and barely a passenger in sight.
reminds me of one of london best secret stations ( well not secret bykwim ) bayford in herts 
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
thats beautiful not bleak
Is it in the tunnel?
Campcrusader
Member
This is Birkenhead Green Lane on the Wirral, which actually looks brighter than normal in these pictures. It's very bleak, and waiting there isn't particularly pleasant at night... It's in a cutting in a declining industrial area. Half of the station is covered, and the other half has girders but is open to the elements.
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...e+station&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...e+station&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&start=18&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&start=18&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&start=54&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...e+station&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...e+station&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&start=18&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&start=18&um=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...&hl=en&rlz=1R2SNYS_enGB338&sa=N&start=54&um=1
PacificOcean
Unhinged User
What a bizarre station!
It's like it wanted to be as bad as Snow Hill in Birmingham but didn't have the funds and gave up.
I don't think I have seen a station with moss growing up the walls like that before!
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
From a look at the satellite photos on Google Earth, and checking the info on the subrit articles for the closed Birkenhead Woodside and Birkenhead Town, it looks as if those girders and retaining wall were associated with the line that took GWR trains from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside, so in its heyday it must have looked better.
