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I never knew there was a station there

When I was a boy BR put the cost of platform tickets up from 1d to 2d but my friends at school used to buy a 1½d childs single to Bordesley when train spotting at Snow Hill, then just hand it back in as they left saying that they changed their minds. A couple of years ago I was on Kidderminster station one evening and was amazed to see Bordesley on the destination board for my train and realised there was an evening match on at St. Andrews. You could have stayed on your train to The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Albion's ground which is now a busy station but used to be a Halt only open on match days. Because of the regulations about closing stations it is easier to stop one train a week than to go through the trouble of closing it.

It’s rammed and awful on matchdays

What do you think about the new Class 777 and a brand new station called Liverpool Baltic that is to open next year or in 2026.

I quite like the Class 805 Evero. The Class 807 AC only Evero is schedule to enter service before the end of this year.

I have been on the Bromley North branch line and stopped off at Sunbridge Park. Plus Southeastern now has 28 Class 707s with the other 2 to be transferred from SWR later this year.

I have been to Emerson Park and it is quite a nice little quiet railway station that serves Emerson Park near to Hornchurch and Gidea Park. And I also do like the Class 710 that I have been on. Perhaps you should do the Gainsborough Line (Marks Tey-Sudbury).

"Rush hour is 2 trains per hour."

I've been through both as I'm a local to the area and I never even clocked this lol.

Good video about our trains on the Wirral. Well done.

that's home- lived on the old Avenell road in the 70's and 80's. greetings from Barbados. thanks for the lovely memories

great video. one thing i noticed though was you said conway park opened in 1988 however it opened in 1998 as i remember visiting this new station in 1998 when it first opened as i was still a school kid

You missed out three stations, Bebibngton, Bromborough Rake and Bromborough

Opens when Birmingham City at home

While researching railway line proposals to the Hayes line via Biggin Hill valley to Westerham I seem to recall a 1930s map referring to a proposed extension from Bromley North to Biggin Hill Aerodrome Station. Would certainly have made Biggin Hill more accessible. Perhaps another “line” of enquiry!

We used to live towards the the top of the hill at 285 Osborne Road Hornchurch from 1978 to 1994. We had a very long garden and remember the branch before electrification and during the transformation. They never ran trains on a Sunday unless there was track work or whatever and my son and i were into trains then. Several occasions i think there were Class 47s and 31s on there on Sundays. He often asked the driver if he could come into the cab and got many rides. I cant recall the DMU class now but sure the 315s were the standard after electrification and very rarely 321s! Nice video, are you just covering the London area or all over the UK?

I grew up two stations away but Grime Hill Railway Station - now renamed to Wythall. In those we referred to it as Lakes Halt. Not sure whether it was The Lakes Halt though! The other station with the Halt suffix was Whitlocks End. I believe they were halts because they weren’t staffed. I believe all other stations, on the line, were staffed until the 1970s. Can’t be 100% sure about Wood End of Wooton Wawen though!

I can remember when it was well used. Loads of factories in the area - they closed one by one and replaced by businesses employing very few people. There are hardly any residential properties.

I have traveled on that line one :)

Thank you for the Frank Hornby mention in connection with your stop at Maghull North Station. His first house in the town, 'The Hollies', is very close to Maghull Station on Station Rd,and it has an English Heritage Blue Plaque on it. His 2nd Maghull house 'Quarry Brook' is now a part of Maricourt High School. There's a Frank Hornby Heritage Centre within Maghull's Meadows Leisure Centre open 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays. It's closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays. No entry fee and plenty of artifacts about Hornby and his world famous Binns Road Meccano Factory in Liverpool.

Kidsgrove has lots of greenery around it, especially on the side where trains go to and come from Crewe

The fact it can run to Crewe on the electric, then switch to diesel from Crewe makes it a winner for me.

Huyton station also has an island platform ? I don't know why ? Maybe because the track splits ? Great video. Thanks 😊

You failed to mention the three pedestrian only level crossings in this line 75% of such crossings on the whole Overground Network I believe.

Jointed track as well.

Frank Hornby used Maghull Station, as the model for his railway stations, in his Dublo train range.

Kool Vid, (Subbed)

The concourse was open last time I was there although it was a while back.

What is significant, is that many TfL bus routes start (and finish) here including 2 of the Super Loop services. The former sidings on the west of the station provide plenty of parking for bus layovers.

Had to use this branch once only- for an interview about 40 years ago. Didn't get the job, thank goodness or I'd have had to move there!

One a week? What's the point?!

A couple of fun facts: 1. The stations of Sundridge Park and Bromley North are so close together, there are no signals between them. Indeed, the starter signal at Sundridge Park indicates which platform at Bromley North the route is set for! 2. During the testing of the class 376 trains a few years ago, they ran in service from Bromley North to Central London. It's just a huge shame that this can't continue in normal circumstances.

great little vid on my old stomping ground; however, at 2.15: while there is great debate over whether it should be pronounced "playstow" or "plasstow", it has definitely never been pronounced as "plystow"!

Its a handy little service. I have used it a few times

It probably never got closed by Beeching because possibly he lived near Sundridge Park or Bromley North. 🇮🇪

Bromley North could potentially have a future Bakerloo line services along with Bromley South. Which means Bromley North could have an interchange point for those coming from Grove Park. Thats only if it happens though. As of right now, Bakerloo line trains are guaranteed at Lewisham

Another one from Branch Lines into the 80s!

Have you done slough to windsor and eaton central

Great video for, IMHO the weirdest branchline in the uk.

Until about 8 years ago it was one of the few lines on southeastern to still operate with a conductor

I worked on the filming of an RSSB RED safety video on that branch, they used it because it had no Sunday service and it was easy to "reset" the train for multiple takes. ruclips.net/video/nSJcyWM8PHk/видео.html

lived in the bromley area all my life and ive never met anyone who has ever used sundridge park OR bromley north! its a slightly shorter walk to the shopping area than bromley south but considering how many places and lines go through bromley south, its so much more of an easy journey in comparison to bromley north for most people. i dont even understand what sundridge park station is for - heard its just an area full of expensive houses but it would most likely be cheaper or even easier for everyone commuting into london to go to bromley south instead of sundridge park or bromley north even if you lived right by one of the two! its a shame though, i don't think it should be gotten rid of, they should do something with it.

I thought this only had 2 carriages running up and down it. Such a waste this branch line, surely they could make room for a couple of rush hour trains running direct to London. Reminds me of the Elmers End branch to Addiscombe a while back. They could have easily run direct trains to LB in rush hour and eased the pressure off of East Croydon and providing passengers with an alternative route into London.

i've even overheard people talking about how "useless" bromley north is compared to bromley south. i dunno though, bromley north station seems neat. the overall area is a lot better for buses though; a LOT of buses pass through and terminate at bromley north

Used to live close to Grove Park, and once a fortnight would ride the train to Bromley North to sign on at the Dole office, as it was close to the station.

I wonder London overground hasn't taken this line over, with the option of linking it up with the east London line at New Cross (via Lewisham?)

Thanks for the upload Chris. I used to live, and commute from, Grove Park, Petts Wood, Orpington and Bromley South back in the 80s. But never the North station. Nice memories 😃

Waterloo and City line is about 4 minutes?

This video takes me back to a book written in the 1980s called ‘Branch Lines into the Eighties’ by H.I Quayle and Stanley C Jenkins. They actually gave their definition of a branch line. At that time it was thought most were threatened with closure. In fact only a few have closed - whilst most of the rest are thriving. Bromley North is mentioned in the book. The other one close by is Addiscombe which has been superseded by the tram network! If you haven’t read it already and can get a copy, I’m sure you will enjoy it!

I've been on it many times! The main benefit for me is that it's in zone 4, whereas Bromley South is in zone 5. That makes it cheaper for journeys to central London. Yes, the concourse at Bromley North does open and there's even a ticket office and toilet. You might have noticed that the single ticket machine is located within the concourse, so is inaccessible at times. There are Oyster validators at the side entrance though. While Bromley North has 2 platforms, only platform 1 is ever used. In contrast, both platforms are used at Sundridge Park.