Monks Risborough (MRS)

Information
Type:	National Rail (Aylesbury- Princes Risborough Line)
Station code:	MRS
Opened:	1929
Platforms:	1

Monks Risborough is a small station on the branch line between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough (which is nearby and the next station up the line). The station opened as Monks Risborough & Whiteleaf Halt under the GWR in 1929 [1]. Later on it was transferred to London Midland Region and is now managed by Chiltern Railways.

It is a simple station with just a single platform and a few basic facilities such as a ticket machine and a permit to travel machine. As well as the two destinations mentioned above some trains also go straight through to London Marylebone.

Monks Risborough and the branch line it lies on have always been fairly quiet. In steam days a single carriage autotrain was usually sufficient and the branch line became the last bastion of the British Railway first generation DMU with Class 121 "Bubble Cars" still operating on the line until this year [2].

Chiltern 165 005 departs bound for Aylesbury

In case you lose your bearings

Permit to travel machine

Looking towards Princes Risborough

[1] Kevin McCormack, The Western Around London (Ian Allan, 2004) p. 77
[2] "Bubbles blown for last time", Modern Railways (May 2017) p. 58

Euston London Underground (ZEU)

Information
Type:	Transport for London (Northern & Victoria Lines)
Station code:	ZEU
Opened:	1907
Platforms:	6

London Euston mainline station opened in 1837 and soon became very busy being one of the major routes into London from the North. Naturally taking advantage of the passenger traffic travelling through the station was attractive to the developers of London's underground railways in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Two companies gained approval to build underground links through Euston, the City & South London Railway and Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway. However the land was owned by the London & North Western Railway and the companies had to build separate station buildings [1]. The stations, although separate, were connected by passageways underground. In 1914 the two companies were united as part of the Underground Group and rationalisation began with one of the station buildings being closed. These two separate lines became the two branches of the Northern Line, Euston having platforms for both branches.

The biggest change came with the arrival of the Victoria Line in the 1960s (along with the major rebuilding of the mainline station above). A new larger ticket hall was built under the mainline station concourse and the one of the lines of Bank branch Northern Line was diverted to allow for new wider platforms replacing the original narrow island platform [2]. A number of the original passageways were closed off to the public though remain in use for staff use and storage. Some still retain posters from the 1960s. The main entrance into the tube station is now via the mainline station concourse.

Euston tube station is a very busy one with over 40 million entries and exits a year. It could get even busier in future if plans for a new Crossrail2 station connecting with the tube station are realised.

Northern Line 95ts train 51674 arives

One of the former passenger tunnels

Posters dating from the 1960s still in place in the non-public tunnels

Platform viewed from the air shaft

More posters and some of the original tiling

Former ticket office for people interchanging between the two separate lines

Victoria Line platform

[1] Chris Nix and Siddy Holloway, Euston Underground Station - the lost tunnels (London Transport Museum, 2016) p. 4
[2] Ibid p. 12

Ledbury Town Halt

Ledbury Town Halt was opened by the Ledbury & Gloucester Railway in 1885. The line - also known as the Daffodil Line - was built over part of the Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal which was leased to the GWR in 1863. Work began in the 1880s on converting part of it to a railway which ran from Ledbury Junction (the current Ledbury station) to Gloucester.

Information
Type:	National Rail (Daffodil Line)
Opened:	1885
Closed:	1959

Traffic on the line was light, the line being singled during the First World War, especially towards the end when a single railcar sufficed [1]. Closure of the line began in 1959 when Ledbury Town Halt was closed, though parts of the line did continue for freight until the early 1960s.

Nowadays there is little trace of Ledbury Town Halt, the track bed is now a walking trail (the Ledbury Town Trail) which was filled in to bring to the same height as the surrounding land. Photos of the station can be seen on this web page.

Looking North towards Ledbury station

The station was just about here but no trace remains

[1] Michael Welch, Diesels on the Western (Capital Transport, 2013) p. 8

London Euston (EUS)

Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line & Watford DC Line)
Station code:	EUS
Opened:	1837
Platforms:	18

London Euston is one of the busiest stations in the country and is the London terminus of the West Coast Main Line. It is also the terminus of DC electrified services from Watford.

Euston was opened in 1837 by the London & Birmingham Railway, later operated by the LNWR, LMS and British Railways. Nowadays it is managed by Network Rail.

The original station building was fronted by a huge Doric propylaeum called the Euston Arch and a train shed designed by Robert Stephenson. These were demolished in the late 1960s as the station was completely rebuilt [1], not without some controversy. The new station was a much less grand affair and has attracted criticism for its functional design though rebuilding was needed as the station could not be expanded anymore in its original state. The station was redesigned to aid passenger flow especially between the underground station (see Euston tube station) and the mainline station as well as enabling much greater retail space [2]. The original stated vision of the new station design was unfortunately never quite realised. In 1966 the electrification of the WCML was completed between Euston and Manchester/Liverpool [3].

Under plans for HS2 Euston could be rebuilt again adding more platforms, and maybe even the return of the arch.

Station frontage

Virgin Trains Pendolino

Main concourse

Virgin Trains 390 130

The arch is commemorated on this tile motif on the Victoria Line station platforms

[1] Chris Heaps, BR Diary 1968-1977 (Ian Allan, 1988) p. 16
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Designed 1948-97 (Ian Allan, 2016) p. 86
[3] John Glover, BR Diary 1956-1967 (Ian Allan, 1987) p. 104

Conway Park (CNP)

Information
Type:	National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code:	CNP
Opened:	1998
Platforms:	2

Conway Park is the newest station on the Wirral Line. It was opened in 1998 and is located between Birkenhead Park and Hamilton Square on the Wirral Line branches to New Brighton and West Kirby.

The station was built to provide a more convenient station for passengers for Birkenhead town centre than the two stations either side of it on the line.

The station was built by excavating down to the 19th century Mersey Railway built tunnel nearly 20m underground which brings the line from under the Mersey, and opening it out. Tunnel sections remain on both approaches to the station though the station itself is open air (if quite some way below ground level).

Green light means go

Platform view

Exterior view

Looking down the platform