Also UK lets close almost half the track miles and over half the stations in the rail network in one single fell swoop definitely wont have knock on effects closing all the feeder lines... Oh oops that didn't go to plan decades later still trying to fix that mistake.
How about Japan, running a train station for a single person. www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/01/japan-keeps-this-defunct-train-station-running-for-just-one-passenger/423273/
@@alexwright4930 Yes, generally stations/lines are kept running as a result of a contract which requires public input as to whether or not it should be closed. A train has to go to the station, but it doesn't matter if it gets cancelled because no one actually uses it.
I would like to visit the station but I live all the way In London, would I have to leave London the previous day in time to get the 2 trains a day that stop at British steel Redcar
The sirens are tested every day from the works. I live not far from here. Wilton site is not far from here. Sirens go of in an emergency and are tested daily.
If the steelworks is still open, the siren sounds when one the molten steel torpedos/bells discharges its load, I have been fortunate enough to witness such a sight at Scunthorpe back 2015.
I live in Redcar, the siren is from a nearby Gas Works. It goes off when there is a gas leak. Its to tell locals to stay indoors and to close doors/ windows. Theres a second one after as an all clear signal. Much love my dude ❤️
@@jort93z you are technically correct, which is the best kind of correct. However, I feel that the public understanding of "gas works" pertains to gas created for the purpose of burning rather than merely gas which could burn. The Teesside ethylene plant creates feedstuff for manufacturing polymers etc.
@@jamielawson6737 What would a gas plant be limited to methane gas? Thats just one specific gas(also a chemical btw.). Why wouldn't a plant producing a different gas also be a gas plant? The term chemical plant doesn't just apply to one chemical either. So why should gas plant.
Whilst we enjoyed visiting the station, it would be disrespectful not to mention WHY the figures have dropped to just 40 passengers a year. When the Steel works closed in 2016, it meant over 2,000 job losses for the area - obviously a very sad thing. Read the BBC News Story on the closure: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34509329 Or watch this video: ruclips.net/video/_sMcyc7uZAQ/видео.html
The "air raid" siren was one of the local plants doing its weekly fire alarm checks. Not sure which plant I work on the other side of the river in Hartlepool 😀
Speak to my old man in his 70s about this! Every man and his son was employed by British Steel in his day! Although i definitely prefer my Thameslink commute than this one!
PiousMoltar That’s Hartlepool NOT Redcar. Redcar is historic North Yorkshire, Hartlepool IS County Durham and Altho on a map they don’t look far apart they are a heck of a long way apart by road as you need to go back to Middlesbrough to cross the River Tees. At a rough guess it’s about 20 miles by road. But I won’t argue for 5 miles either way.
'Guys, we have a spike in the number of passengers here...' Plot twist in 2019: Redcar British Steel isn't the least visited station in Britain because of these two men. 😂😂😂
According to the BBC, quoted in Wikipedia: "The station received a boost in its usage figures during the 2018-19 period, recording 360 up from 40 during the previous period. This is highly likely to be as a result of its then title of Britain's 'least used railway station'."
My brother is a train driver for DSB (Danish State Railways), and we have a similar station located located at a military base. It is only served 4 times a day (on request) and only has a wooden platform serving northbound trains. My brother once got a request from the train guard. there was a group of chavs who refused to buy tickets, and instead of dropping them off at the next scheduled station, they dropped them off at that platform. The guard laughed his ass off when the doors closed.
I used to get this train to work in the 90s. The only (stopping) eastbound service left Darlington at 07:14 and was absolutely freezing inside. I happened to do this journey in the cold and dark months of Nov, Dec and Jan. There were only two of us "regulars" on the train from Darlington to British Steel Redcar (via MBR) with one guy occasionally joining us at Eaglescliffe. We arrived at British Steel Redcar station at 07:48, the train only beginning to warm up as we alighted. It was still dark, before sunrise. Fascinating journey through miles and miles of steel works in the dark, with occasional bursts of flames emanating from various plants. Felt like something from a Ridley Scott film.
One of my model railways will have to be based a Redcar British steel Deserted station Steel works And two people sitting in the shelter with cameras in front of them And the best bit: Dapol made a northern 142 pacer model and the destination sign are saltburn to Bishop Auckland and the station is on this line
So if the entrance to the steel works is bricked up and you physically cant go anywhere - what are the 40 people doing? just visiting for the day like Geoff to tick it off? or are they just buying the tickets?
Imagine stopping a whole train during rush hour that isn't meant to stop at the least used station in North Yorkshire in Teesside in Cleveland in wherever the hell it is in Britain that doesn't even get used for its sole purpose anymore just so 2 guys can explore the platform for 25 mins. What a liberty 😂
Yes, thanks to Northern for stopping the extra train. Thanks for a great video, Geoff, really appreciate all that you do in making these. The prep and the logistics must be incredible.
Yes good old Northern, can stop at a station nobody uses when it's not supposed to, but can't even show up for the 10:01 from Ormskirk to Preston when i need it, bastards...
@@trainmaniacstudios8216 not sure about that, the stop is actually at a business park (it's just that IBM took up 99% of it). of course IBM are long gone, and business park is now empty, so i wonder if IBM Halt will soon become another zero passenger station - there is no reason for anyone to ever get off, and no way for anyone to get to it to get on a train. (ps i'm in Greenock where the station is).
@@trainmaniacstudios8216 actually i've just had a look and IBM Halt has had its service removed, so it's now a "dead" station, as of late 2018 at some point.
@@chenks76 IBM stopped having trains call there from the December timetable change so is now zero passengers! www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/stations-and-facilities/ibm
According to the OS 1:25k maps, British Steel Redcar is access land. Although depending upon the size of the security guard, you may not wish to argue...
So... there's a security guard... employed to guard an abandoned site... that is actually land legal to access? I wonder who thought that needed to be a thing?
In Plymouth an air raid siren is sounded out through the whole city every Monday at 11.30am. An air raid siren was featured in this video. This video features a man called Rob Rob is wearing a Plymouth Argyle shirt. Who knew a video about Redcar could unintentionally make so many references about Plymouth?
Back when I was at uni in Middlesbrough, my best mate was a guy from Plymouth. We visited Redcar together with a few other friends (locals actually). Good times.
The Plymouth siren is in the dockyard where they decommission nuclear submarines. Monday morning is a test. If it goes off any other time you are supposed to ......er...... run away?
@@atlanteanxx it’s a nuclear siren, everyone in the comments thinks it’s from the works in Redcar but I’m pretty sure it’s from Hartlepool nuclear plant
@@johndododoe1411 Yeah maybe people who bricked up the steelworks came by train but I think they would have done that immediately after they closed it so not that year, maybe some people who either owned the land of the steelworks or had permition to go there by the owners to do maintenance or to be security were the passengers
I'm just wondering what happens if someone gets off that station by accident. Do they risk trespassing to get to a nearby public road? Do they camp overnight to wait for the next train in the morning? Having a station with no exit gives me a weird claustrophobic feeling...
You would either walk across the land and the security can't do anything. Tresspass is a civil offence not criminal, or if just call 101 and have the police asscort me across the land. The police aren't going to allow you to stay stranded over night when you'd don't nothing wrong
Great video Geoff. You’re right, people from outside Redcar call it Redka and we Redcar people call it Redcar. The siren you heard is from the old ICI chemical site at Wilton. It’s a warning for chemical leaks, fires etc. It doesn’t usually go off on a Saturday so something must have happened. There’s a practice siren every Tuesday at 10am and has been probably since the site opened in the late 40s. Keep up the good work!
The whole thing with the other least used stations is that technically they could be used, to come from or go to somewhere, so passenger counts could include actual users amongst train idiots like us The fact that you can't even leave the platforms now means literally the only passengers are there for the lol *books tickets up north*
Probably all railway enthusiasts who wanted to say they had got off at British Redcar Steel. Pointless station but with the cost and paperwork involved in closing a station it's usually easier to leave it open.
@@AlexEwan1 Being that it's essentially a private stop originally established for a particular company for a particular reason (ie, steel workers commuting) that closing it would be a lot easier than closing a stop intended for public use. I'm curious to know if any of the scheduled trains ever actually stop unless a ticket has been purchased or a stop requested.
I don't didn't see/hear Geoff or his companion ask the guard to have the train stopped and they didn't flag the train down on the return leg. They also didn't say it was a request stop. I don't believe buying a ticket to a request stop means you don't have to request it unless of course its the guard that sells the ticket. I could be totally wrong though!
I love how after you post this video, the official number of passengers shoots up from 40, to 360! (but we'll ignore the fact they then still permanently closed the station at the end of the year!!)
I grew up in Overton, Hampshire, where the paper mill - next to the railway station in fact - used to test their old WW2 air raid siren fire-alarm each Friday at around 3pm. I don't know if it's just the understanding of why the siren was there, and what it would have meant at the time, but hearing one in real life is still easily one of the creepiest and most haunting noises I've ever heard.
Today is the first monday of the month, which in The Netherlands means that all the sirens around the country are tested at 12:00. An old joke is that the Russians will have it easy when they attack at that time, because nobody will expect a thing.(Yes, the Spanish inquisition was big here, why do you ask?)
The university where I'm a grad student has one (maintained for general emergency alert purposes) that they test occasionally. The younger students seem to just find it annoying, but anyone old enough to remember the Cold War is visibly unsettled, I assume because it was programmed into us as kids that that sound meant the end of the world.
That train station has more amenities than many of the MOST used stations here in Canada. It's nice to see what a mature passenger rail system looks like.
So this is a station that’s no longer needed really.. I’m not convinced that this even counts as a station anymore given that you’re not allowed to leave the grounds 🤷🏻♂️
Any stop is a 'station' on a railway - one point of many along the line - and in the old days was called a 'Railway Station'. This seems to have changed to 'Train Station' - which sort of doesn't make sense ! The world's going the same way !
cannot believe you were here because on Saturday I wanted to go to that ParkRun but was going to play Tennis. I was also stood on a bridge on Saturday at around 14:00 and waved at a train going to Saltburn I am gutted. glad to see that you will bring tourism to our area as of your visit. Thanks
the "air raid siren" was a posion gas alarm test, used to be on a tuesday at 11.15 no need to worry... unless its not a drill but just so happens to be on a tuesday at 11.15
I'm guessing that the "All The Stations" series has probably inspired an entire new generation of train nutters. So while I reckon there would be some security/caretaker staff in that mix, I think the majority would be enthusiasts wanting to "tick off" this station.
@@warhamsterful My reply was half tongue-in-cheek, but I'm guessing that these videos would cause an upsurge in such visits. These aren't exotic foreign locales - in theory, anyone in Great Britain can go to a ticket office, pay some money, and go see them for themselves.
@@johnmccnj nah I get you. I just never thought about it logically and I guess you are correct this would 'inspire' visits. I got to keep reminding myself that train spotting isnt as big of a thing here is Australia as it is in the UK.
Or some of them are probably splitting their tickets to save money or it might be an example of one of the journeys where you can get a ticket further than you're going and it costs less.
All heavy industries have been hit hard in this country ever since Thatcher started dismantling them all in the 80's. Brexit is doing its bit now. Honda are closing down their factory in Swindon and it's looking like Nissan are going to do the same with their Sunderland facility.
Geoff, Love the series. That said you spaced this series WAY to far apart. To the point where I eagerly waited for the next one, to where it is now - it's been over such a long period of time I forgot several times that you were actually still doing them.
Yes, they are, often as alarms for chemical spills, toxic gas, and other crazy stuff that can happen at an industrial site. That siren specifically is a poison gas alert, except it's doing the weekly test in this.
As of December 2019, trains to this station have been suspended. They're planning to revamp the whole steelworks site however, so the station will probably get a revamp as well.
Welcome to Northern Rail Mr Marshall! Pacer Trains that absolutely EVERYONE would consider the breaking of the last straw if London was given Pacer Trains and CANCELLED TRAINS and you thought Southern was bad!
I lived in Ingleby Barwick from 2012 to 2016 and attended Middlesbrough College. It was really nice to see the overpass outside of the rail station again, I remember walking from the College down to the overpass and under it when I couldn't be bothered to wait for the shuttle bus. The whole time I lived there, I thought we were in County Cleveland, but Wikipedia says that right now the ceremonial county is North Yorkshire. Not sure if it changed since I moved back home to Texas or if I was just wrong the whole time I lived there, haha.
This is similar to the MBTA Riverworks Station, in Lynn, Massachusetts - north of Boston. It's situated on General Electric Company property where factories once employed thousands of workers. Today, only the few people who still work at GE are allowed to use the station, though it may eventually be opened to the public as part of new development in the surrounding neighborhood.
@@SomeBritishDud1 Labour costs have a small impact. However the main problem is that energy is much cheaper in China (and indeed in other countries as well), and steel manufacture requires a hell of a lot of energy.
This is very interesting, I’m really enjoying your videos even thou I’m not really a train fanatic. It’s just the way you’re always able to display your passion and knowledge in each video that makes them so fun to watch
The bricked up tunnel didn't lead to the steel works, it was the access to Steel House, the office block for British Steel. The station was mainly used by employees who worked in Steel House (unofficially known as Alcatraz) . I worked in Steel House for a short time and used this station regularly.
Judging by the low numbers and the fact that there is no there, there, all the people are like you, wanting to go to a least used station. Who knew anyone else was as crazy as you? Glad you made it and recorded it for posterity.
Nice one lads. Im from the north east and used to visit grandparents at redcar and never got off at this station. Used to love watching all the freight trains from grandparents window
Plot twist: This stop wasn't for a steel mill, it was a place where people could go to listen to the Judas Priest album _British Steel,_ but now that everybody's got that album on MP3, nobody goes there any more. ;)
It is least used station in North Yorkshire, I looked it up. As of 14th December 2019, Northern have suspended all services to the station, because of the steelworks closure and you are not allowed to leave the station.
I would be tempted to pack up a pop up tent, sleeping bag, stove, food and get the last train that stops there and camp on the station until the next train in the morning!
The 18:17 arrival at British Steel today is the (possibly) last stopping service, as from tomorrow - 15th December - it states in the new timetable that trains will no longer stop at British Steel until further notice.
I once flew over this station with my girlfriend on a vintage DC-3,took off from Teesside International Airport and flew out to sea over Redcar British Steel,then looped back in and landed where we took off from .God rest your gorgeous soul Samantha xx
Thy doubled the number of trains because they know that since it’s considered the least used station, people will now intentionally go to that station because of that fact so they need to prepare for increased usage
Geoff, the gates at Redcar (pronounced by local as Redkah) Central are unique. They replaced the motor boom gates which struggled in bad weather. The country in which Redcar lies in Redcar and Cleveland, which was Cleveland until 1996, which was just inside the County Borough of Teesside until April 1974, which was previously part of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
As a teesside the siren is common at 10am very Tuesday and Wednesday morning throughout the teesside area as each site test they sirens for event of emergency and it just becomes white noise after a while but always scares non locals that some terrible may fall out the sky hah
As someone not from Redcar but who spent 4 years in Middlesbrough, it's always seemed like an incredibly small and pedantic thing to care about. It's not like in my native Norfolk where people mispronounce Wymondham (which is pronounced Windham), Garboldisham (Garblesham), or Happisburgh (Haysbrough)
This station was suspended on 17th December, and in 2019 saw a sudden increase of passengers in a twist of irony, in that it's title of "least used railway station", likely led to people visiting the station more. Like those "Top 10 things you didn't know" videos that people watch, and then those fact become well known _for being_ unknown facts (ironically making them known), or something.
If you can't actually leave the station, isn't it quite dangerous to allow anyone to alight there? What if there was an incident after you got off and there was then no trains for days?
The sirens are used on industrial estates to warn people to take shelter in the event of a leak or accident. Normally used by dangerous industrial companies. For example, gas, electrical, chemical etc. Companies have to test them as part of health and safety legislation.
Been down this line before a couple months back and between Middlesbrough and Redcar central is the strangest and probably the most eerie place I’ve even been too and certainly the most in the uk. If you ever get to go in daylight I recommend doing it as the whole area is just strange, abandoned factories, flat barren land, mostly cloudy and gloomy skies, doesn’t feel real, like something out of a movie
So the air raid siren is literally a warning siren for people on the steelworks if there’s an emergency. I live in Scunthorpe which has a steelworks and they test is once a week and it is VERY loud - you could hear it miles and miles away
Jamie Pugh The one on there wasn’t. It was from a nearby Gas works. Goes off when we have a gas leak and when we have an all clear. Tells residents to stay indoors and close windows/ doors
Did you know that the film "Atonement" was filmed on location at the closed-down Redcar Steel Works and on the beach & pier back in 2009? Really enjoyed your Adventure!
can you imagine the look on that guard's face when somebody told them to stop at Redcar British Steel?, i can imagine it would have been something similar to the look somebody makes when theyve seen a ghost
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Norway: Lets close many stations that millions of passengers use.
UK: Lets keep this station open as it has a whopping 40 passengers using it.
Lmfao
Also UK lets close almost half the track miles and over half the stations in the rail network in one single fell swoop definitely wont have knock on effects closing all the feeder lines... Oh oops that didn't go to plan decades later still trying to fix that mistake.
Isn't it just that it's easier to keep a skeletal parliamentary service than it is to formally close the station?
How about Japan, running a train station for a single person. www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/01/japan-keeps-this-defunct-train-station-running-for-just-one-passenger/423273/
@@alexwright4930 Yes, generally stations/lines are kept running as a result of a contract which requires public input as to whether or not it should be closed.
A train has to go to the station, but it doesn't matter if it gets cancelled because no one actually uses it.
I know what the air raid siren was for - they were shocked to find people using the station
I would like to visit the station but I live all the way In London, would I have to leave London the previous day in time to get the 2 trains a day that stop at British steel Redcar
The sirens are tested every day from the works. I live not far from here. Wilton site is not far from here. Sirens go of in an emergency and are tested daily.
If the steelworks is still open, the siren sounds when one the molten steel torpedos/bells discharges its load, I have been fortunate enough to witness such a sight at Scunthorpe back 2015.
It's the alarm at olefins 6 iirc
@@Matthewsbuses1997 yeah, that's what Geoff did
I live in Redcar, the siren is from a nearby Gas Works. It goes off when there is a gas leak. Its to tell locals to stay indoors and to close doors/ windows. Theres a second one after as an all clear signal. Much love my dude ❤️
That's reassuring
I suppose you can call the ethylene plant a "gas works", but that wouldn't be what most readers think the phrase "gas works" means.
@@jort93z you are technically correct, which is the best kind of correct. However, I feel that the public understanding of "gas works" pertains to gas created for the purpose of burning rather than merely gas which could burn. The Teesside ethylene plant creates feedstuff for manufacturing polymers etc.
@@jamielawson6737 Well, how do you define a gas plant then?
@@jamielawson6737 What would a gas plant be limited to methane gas? Thats just one specific gas(also a chemical btw.). Why wouldn't a plant producing a different gas also be a gas plant?
The term chemical plant doesn't just apply to one chemical either. So why should gas plant.
I am a big critic of Northern Railways, but their stopping at Redcar British Steel for, which basically it is, is impressive.
Man, idk about northern, but boi, *southern* always has to re-arrange stuff on the go
Gary Woolton stop cancelling your trains ‘northern apologise! Nah mate do they really? If there sorry they should stop cancelling there trains smh
Well that is until they closed the station
Whilst we enjoyed visiting the station, it would be disrespectful not to mention WHY the figures have dropped to just 40 passengers a year. When the Steel works closed in 2016, it meant over 2,000 job losses for the area - obviously a very sad thing.
Read the BBC News Story on the closure: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34509329
Or watch this video: ruclips.net/video/_sMcyc7uZAQ/видео.html
The "air raid" siren was one of the local plants doing its weekly fire alarm checks. Not sure which plant I work on the other side of the river in Hartlepool 😀
Speak to my old man in his 70s about this! Every man and his son was employed by British Steel in his day!
Although i definitely prefer my Thameslink commute than this one!
@@ryansullivan4092 The amount of jobs lost in this area has been truly devastating.
@@Salixhartlepool Wiltons do it I believe.
I think its the Hartlepool Pipe Mill, one of the few remaining steel based things
Update: Trains are no longer stopping “temporarily” at Redcar British Steel as of December 2019...
True
Yep. The station has permanently closed.
So now what's the new least-used railway station in Britain?
@James Atkinson In Angus. 🏴
Sounds as if it could become another Weymouth Quay Situation. That station has been "temporarily" out of use for 33 years !
@3K subs before 2035? Ovarsly
*Air raid siren goes off*
*Sound of distant explosions*
*Notification pops up*
"Scotland declares war on England"
Can we crowdfund this?
SomeBritishDude Oh well back to Culloden then. 🤣
*insert Scottish anthem here*
PiousMoltar That’s Hartlepool NOT Redcar.
Redcar is historic North Yorkshire, Hartlepool IS County Durham and Altho on a map they don’t look far apart they are a heck of a long way apart by road as you need to go back to Middlesbrough to cross the River Tees. At a rough guess it’s about 20 miles by road. But I won’t argue for 5 miles either way.
I am crying 😂
'Guys, we have a spike in the number of passengers here...'
Plot twist in 2019: Redcar British Steel isn't the least visited station in Britain because of these two men. 😂😂😂
Prince Righty I Now There Are Only 42 People Visiting 🚗 British Steel
Maybe whenever the least used station is changed, Geoff could arrange a visit somehow. Although I suspect most of them would be Northern stations...
According to the BBC, quoted in Wikipedia: "The station received a boost in its usage figures during the 2018-19 period, recording 360 up from 40 during the previous period. This is highly likely to be as a result of its then title of Britain's 'least used railway station'."
It is the 2020 least used cuz its closed...
Used to be Warrenby Halt!
My brother is a train driver for DSB (Danish State Railways), and we have a similar station located located at a military base. It is only served 4 times a day (on request) and only has a wooden platform serving northbound trains. My brother once got a request from the train guard. there was a group of chavs who refused to buy tickets, and instead of dropping them off at the next scheduled station, they dropped them off at that platform. The guard laughed his ass off when the doors closed.
I actually know the station. Is it Høvelte?
I used to get this train to work in the 90s. The only (stopping) eastbound service left Darlington at 07:14 and was absolutely freezing inside. I happened to do this journey in the cold and dark months of Nov, Dec and Jan. There were only two of us "regulars" on the train from Darlington to British Steel Redcar (via MBR) with one guy occasionally joining us at Eaglescliffe.
We arrived at British Steel Redcar station at 07:48, the train only beginning to warm up as we alighted. It was still dark, before sunrise. Fascinating journey through miles and miles of steel works in the dark, with occasional bursts of flames emanating from various plants. Felt like something from a Ridley Scott film.
One of my model railways will have to be based a Redcar British steel
Deserted station
Steel works
And two people sitting in the shelter with cameras in front of them
And the best bit: Dapol made a northern 142 pacer model and the destination sign are saltburn to Bishop Auckland and the station is on this line
ultramarine0123 oof
Any possibility you can show me the model if you have it? Display it on a youtube video? If you want.
The siren was to warn Viki that Geoff was on a pacer without her.
LMAO
This channel is actually amazing
agreed
Welcome to travelling on Northern. The risk of getting your train cancelled is part of the fun.
Your
They canceled my morning train last summer for 2months....
Southern: “Hold my beer”
Southern, thameslink, overground and southeastern are just as bad
"getting you are train cancelled"
So if the entrance to the steel works is bricked up and you physically cant go anywhere - what are the 40 people doing? just visiting for the day like Geoff to tick it off? or are they just buying the tickets?
Was thinking just that
Good question. Maybe a blip in the incredibly complex calculations.
Security staff perhaps?
40 journeys is just 20 people making a return journey. So I think probably just enthusiasts like Geoff and Rob.
I was wondering the same. But it must be station spotters.
6:57 This is the happiest I've heard anyone be in quite a while. Put a smile on my face.
Imagine stopping a whole train during rush hour that isn't meant to stop at the least used station in North Yorkshire in Teesside in Cleveland in wherever the hell it is in Britain that doesn't even get used for its sole purpose anymore just so 2 guys can explore the platform for 25 mins. What a liberty 😂
Yes the only comment ever in history that mentioned Stockton
It was a Sunday .....
ck166666 it was Saturday
Yes, thanks to Northern for stopping the extra train.
Thanks for a great video, Geoff, really appreciate all that you do in making these. The prep and the logistics must be incredible.
Yes good old Northern, can stop at a station nobody uses when it's not supposed to, but can't even show up for the 10:01 from Ormskirk to Preston when i need it, bastards...
wait, so this is a station you're legally not allowed to leave?
IBM in Scotland was the same, ive heard
@@trainmaniacstudios8216 not sure about that, the stop is actually at a business park (it's just that IBM took up 99% of it). of course IBM are long gone, and business park is now empty, so i wonder if IBM Halt will soon become another zero passenger station - there is no reason for anyone to ever get off, and no way for anyone to get to it to get on a train. (ps i'm in Greenock where the station is).
So why is it even serviced anymore?
@@trainmaniacstudios8216 actually i've just had a look and IBM Halt has had its service removed, so it's now a "dead" station, as of late 2018 at some point.
@@chenks76 IBM stopped having trains call there from the December timetable change so is now zero passengers!
www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/stations-and-facilities/ibm
According to the OS 1:25k maps, British Steel Redcar is access land. Although depending upon the size of the security guard, you may not wish to argue...
So... there's a security guard... employed to guard an abandoned site... that is actually land legal to access?
I wonder who thought that needed to be a thing?
@@PiousMoltar I'm assuming they have problems with vandalism and the like
What are they going to do? There is no castle doctrine in UK hell you guys can't even have a butter knife without a permit
In Plymouth an air raid siren is sounded out through the whole city every Monday at 11.30am.
An air raid siren was featured in this video.
This video features a man called Rob
Rob is wearing a Plymouth Argyle shirt.
Who knew a video about Redcar could unintentionally make so many references about Plymouth?
Back when I was at uni in Middlesbrough, my best mate was a guy from Plymouth. We visited Redcar together with a few other friends (locals actually). Good times.
I've never heard sirens in Plymouth. If it helps I go to mount batten near turn chapel on holidays to visit family
The Plymouth siren is in the dockyard where they decommission nuclear submarines. Monday morning is a test. If it goes off any other time you are supposed to ......er...... run away?
@@atlanteanxx it’s a nuclear siren, everyone in the comments thinks it’s from the works in Redcar but I’m pretty sure it’s from Hartlepool nuclear plant
I live in Plymouth! It's a little bit of a shock when you hear it sometimes but what happens if there is an emergency at half eleven on Monday?
So what do the 40 passengers per year do when they get there? Are they all just ticking off least used stations?
I'd imagine just maintenance workers for the steel works
Yes not to mention the 60 in 2016-17 when there were just 2 trains a day and people were stranded on the plarform for 7 hours
@@n1thmusic229 Or actually working for Tata British Steel for 7 hours, like bricking up that tunnel or moving around some old steelworks equipment.
@@johndododoe1411 Yeah maybe people who bricked up the steelworks came by train but I think they would have done that immediately after they closed it so not that year, maybe some people who either owned the land of the steelworks or had permition to go there by the owners to do maintenance or to be security were the passengers
They're keeping the station tidy once a fortnight. (for American readers that's fourteen days)
I'm just wondering what happens if someone gets off that station by accident. Do they risk trespassing to get to a nearby public road? Do they camp overnight to wait for the next train in the morning? Having a station with no exit gives me a weird claustrophobic feeling...
You would either walk across the land and the security can't do anything. Tresspass is a civil offence not criminal, or if just call 101 and have the police asscort me across the land. The police aren't going to allow you to stay stranded over night when you'd don't nothing wrong
@@lewiss626 "Asscort" is my new favorite word.
As a Redcar citizen, hey, nice of ya to drop by! I know it was a year ago, but its nice my hometown got featured in a youtube video!
Update: the station was closed in December 2019 due to the steel site no longer being publicly accessible.
Wow seems like those videos are actually putting the absurdity of such no-exit stations on display!
Great video Geoff. You’re right, people from outside Redcar call it Redka and we Redcar people call it Redcar. The siren you heard is from the old ICI chemical site at Wilton. It’s a warning for chemical leaks, fires etc. It doesn’t usually go off on a Saturday so something must have happened. There’s a practice siren every Tuesday at 10am and has been probably since the site opened in the late 40s. Keep up the good work!
The whole thing with the other least used stations is that technically they could be used, to come from or go to somewhere, so passenger counts could include actual users amongst train idiots like us
The fact that you can't even leave the platforms now means literally the only passengers are there for the lol
*books tickets up north*
So 40 people go to w place where they can't leave the station and you got to wonder why
Probably all railway enthusiasts who wanted to say they had got off at British Redcar Steel. Pointless station but with the cost and paperwork involved in closing a station it's usually easier to leave it open.
Well they probs work there...
20. 40 journeys, 20 people.
@@AlexEwan1 Being that it's essentially a private stop originally established for a particular company for a particular reason (ie, steel workers commuting) that closing it would be a lot easier than closing a stop intended for public use.
I'm curious to know if any of the scheduled trains ever actually stop unless a ticket has been purchased or a stop requested.
I don't didn't see/hear Geoff or his companion ask the guard to have the train stopped and they didn't flag the train down on the return leg. They also didn't say it was a request stop. I don't believe buying a ticket to a request stop means you don't have to request it unless of course its the guard that sells the ticket. I could be totally wrong though!
You're like a couple of kids 😃 and you increased the daily passenger stats by 2000% for that day.
I love how after you post this video, the official number of passengers shoots up from 40, to 360! (but we'll ignore the fact they then still permanently closed the station at the end of the year!!)
I grew up in Overton, Hampshire, where the paper mill - next to the railway station in fact - used to test their old WW2 air raid siren fire-alarm each Friday at around 3pm. I don't know if it's just the understanding of why the siren was there, and what it would have meant at the time, but hearing one in real life is still easily one of the creepiest and most haunting noises I've ever heard.
Today is the first monday of the month, which in The Netherlands means that all the sirens around the country are tested at 12:00. An old joke is that the Russians will have it easy when they attack at that time, because nobody will expect a thing.(Yes, the Spanish inquisition was big here, why do you ask?)
The university where I'm a grad student has one (maintained for general emergency alert purposes) that they test occasionally. The younger students seem to just find it annoying, but anyone old enough to remember the Cold War is visibly unsettled, I assume because it was programmed into us as kids that that sound meant the end of the world.
That train station has more amenities than many of the MOST used stations here in Canada. It's nice to see what a mature passenger rail system looks like.
Apparently as of the 14th December 2019 trains are no longer stopping at this station, according to Wikipedia.
I adore how happy you two got about a train station. Excellent video!
I was expecting an outtake at the very end of Rob jumping over the station boundary.
What a delightful adventure! Rob was a great sidekick, not to mention convincing Northern to stop a train for you.
Your skills at filming and editing are at another level. Along with the great content it makes top viewing thank you 🙏
thanks James, that's very kind and i appreciate it.
The siren is for Chemical spills at the nearby Chemical plants, my family work there
So this is a station that’s no longer needed really.. I’m not convinced that this even counts as a station anymore given that you’re not allowed to leave the grounds 🤷🏻♂️
Any stop is a 'station' on a railway - one point of many along the line - and in the old days was called a 'Railway Station'. This seems to have changed to 'Train Station' - which sort of doesn't make sense ! The world's going the same way !
cannot believe you were here because on Saturday I wanted to go to that ParkRun but was going to play Tennis. I was also stood on a bridge on Saturday at around 14:00 and waved at a train going to Saltburn I am gutted.
glad to see that you will bring tourism to our area as of your visit. Thanks
the "air raid siren" was a posion gas alarm test, used to be on a tuesday at 11.15 no need to worry... unless its not a drill but just so happens to be on a tuesday at 11.15
If it's not a drill and you're stuck on the platorm for 8 hours as your train was cancelled, then what
They used to do something similar with a scheduled drill at Sullom Voe oil refinery - then a real incident occurred at the same time as the drill...
So this station serves nothing? what are the 40 passengers a year doing? Are they the security guys just coming in and out?
I'm guessing that the "All The Stations" series has probably inspired an entire new generation of train nutters. So while I reckon there would be some security/caretaker staff in that mix, I think the majority would be enthusiasts wanting to "tick off" this station.
@@johnmccnj ok I guess I can see that. Didnt know that visiting all the stations was a thing outside of this guy and his channels.
@@warhamsterful My reply was half tongue-in-cheek, but I'm guessing that these videos would cause an upsurge in such visits. These aren't exotic foreign locales - in theory, anyone in Great Britain can go to a ticket office, pay some money, and go see them for themselves.
@@johnmccnj nah I get you. I just never thought about it logically and I guess you are correct this would 'inspire' visits. I got to keep reminding myself that train spotting isnt as big of a thing here is Australia as it is in the UK.
Or some of them are probably splitting their tickets to save money or it might be an example of one of the journeys where you can get a ticket further than you're going and it costs less.
6:59 R.I.P headphone users
Rob: "They are going to stop an additional train at Redcar Biritish Steel."
Geoff: "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
great video and sad to see the steel industry hit so hard
All heavy industries have been hit hard in this country ever since Thatcher started dismantling them all in the 80's. Brexit is doing its bit now. Honda are closing down their factory in Swindon and it's looking like Nissan are going to do the same with their Sunderland facility.
As someone from Teesside, the siren is from the chemical works...
Geoff, Love the series.
That said you spaced this series WAY to far apart. To the point where I eagerly waited for the next one, to where it is now - it's been over such a long period of time I forgot several times that you were actually still doing them.
12:49 - surely Rob must be familiar with the sound of an air raid siren? There's one that goes off every Monday at Devonport dockyard in Plymouth!
Are sirens used in industrial settings do you know?
@@matthewstone902 Not as far as I know.
Yes, they are, often as alarms for chemical spills, toxic gas, and other crazy stuff that can happen at an industrial site. That siren specifically is a poison gas alert, except it's doing the weekly test in this.
As of December 2019, trains to this station have been suspended. They're planning to revamp the whole steelworks site however, so the station will probably get a revamp as well.
Welcome to Northern Rail Mr Marshall! Pacer Trains that absolutely EVERYONE would consider the breaking of the last straw if London was given Pacer Trains and CANCELLED TRAINS and you thought Southern was bad!
plenty of trains in London are cancelled
@@HighlandCall he means the pacer trains
I got a hearty laugh out of your careful definition of the correct name of the county!
So you went the British Steel Works. A shame that at the beginning Northern Rail steels the train you wanted.
im not going to steel your joke but i will but i will work on a better one
It’s a good way to test one’s metal...!
I lived in Ingleby Barwick from 2012 to 2016 and attended Middlesbrough College. It was really nice to see the overpass outside of the rail station again, I remember walking from the College down to the overpass and under it when I couldn't be bothered to wait for the shuttle bus. The whole time I lived there, I thought we were in County Cleveland, but Wikipedia says that right now the ceremonial county is North Yorkshire. Not sure if it changed since I moved back home to Texas or if I was just wrong the whole time I lived there, haha.
I've no idea how many times I've watched this!!!
This is similar to the MBTA Riverworks Station, in Lynn, Massachusetts - north of Boston. It's situated on General Electric Company property where factories once employed thousands of workers. Today, only the few people who still work at GE are allowed to use the station, though it may eventually be opened to the public as part of new development in the surrounding neighborhood.
So sad to see a great industry being ripped apart by other countries being able to produce the steel for cheaper. Also...
PACER!
I definitely heard that in Ivan Miranda's "SPACERS" voice!
The main problem is labour costs. It's much cheaper to import steel from China than to make it here because Chinese labour costs are much lower.
@@SomeBritishDud1 Labour costs have a small impact. However the main problem is that energy is much cheaper in China (and indeed in other countries as well), and steel manufacture requires a hell of a lot of energy.
Atkinson worldwide Kaylum m
This is very interesting, I’m really enjoying your videos even thou I’m not really a train fanatic. It’s just the way you’re always able to display your passion and knowledge in each video that makes them so fun to watch
Like this if Geoff should do a “most used station” series
Chazthomo0807 well we know what will be number 1
@@LNER_TRAINS22543 Barry Links, of course!
The bricked up tunnel didn't lead to the steel works, it was the access to Steel House, the office block for British Steel. The station was mainly used by employees who worked in Steel House (unofficially known as Alcatraz) . I worked in Steel House for a short time and used this station regularly.
Legend. North east is never on my RUclips feed. Class!
Never seen this channel before - I LOVE how excited they are.
Judging by the low numbers and the fact that there is no there, there, all the people are like you, wanting to go to a least used station. Who knew anyone else was as crazy as you? Glad you made it and recorded it for posterity.
Geoff, I don't understand why 40 people go there a year, because there is NOTHING to do :P. Northern are a legend to pick you up like that!
Pretty much all of them are probably trainspotters that want to be able to say that they've been to Redcar British Steel.
Nice one lads. Im from the north east and used to visit grandparents at redcar and never got off at this station. Used to love watching all the freight trains from grandparents window
There's also an abandoned station at Grangetown that they would have passed through on their trip down from Mbro.
Oh my god, is Rob wearing the Plymouth Argyle home shirt from the season just gone? Because I'm sat at home wearing the exact same shirt! COYG
I live in Marske, just down the line from Redcar on the way to Saltburn. Great to see you up here Geoff
Getting annoyed whilst travelling on Northern rail basically means that you have gone native Geoff, it a regional pass time.
I was waiting for this video for ages. I'm so happy
That airrade siren is for the ICI, its a fire drill, presuming you did it on a Wednesday around 11 am
Plot twist: This stop wasn't for a steel mill, it was a place where people could go to listen to the Judas Priest album _British Steel,_ but now that everybody's got that album on MP3, nobody goes there any more. ;)
Something tells me Geoff was a bit happy at 06:58 (but only a little bit) :P
I've turned into a massive train geek in the last 2 months thanks to these videos.
I thought Rob Thomas was really Smooth the way he dealt with that cancellation problem.
And Rob Thomas is not going to let them Push him around.
It is least used station in North Yorkshire, I looked it up. As of 14th December 2019, Northern have suspended all services to the station, because of the steelworks closure and you are not allowed to leave the station.
I would be tempted to pack up a pop up tent, sleeping bag, stove, food and get the last train that stops there and camp on the station until the next train in the morning!
Monty's Television great idea; I’m gonna do it before they close in December.
The 18:17 arrival at British Steel today is the (possibly) last stopping service, as from tomorrow - 15th December - it states in the new timetable that trains will no longer stop at British Steel until further notice.
That was an ex-scotrail train moved to Northern after the shotts line was electrified
I once flew over this station with my girlfriend on a vintage DC-3,took off from Teesside International Airport and flew out to sea over Redcar British Steel,then looped back in and landed where we took off from .God rest your gorgeous soul Samantha xx
Thy doubled the number of trains because they know that since it’s considered the least used station, people will now intentionally go to that station because of that fact so they need to prepare for increased usage
He's the guard that I had when I drove through!!!! He even let me on when I was half way down the platform and could've just driven off without me
hartlepool nuclear reactor is not too far away, sound can travel very well in right conditions
Geoff, the gates at Redcar (pronounced by local as Redkah) Central are unique. They replaced the motor boom gates which struggled in bad weather.
The country in which Redcar lies in Redcar and Cleveland, which was Cleveland until 1996, which was just inside the County Borough of Teesside until April 1974, which was previously part of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
I enjoy watching all your vids Goeff and I realised I was on the 06:59 to Newcastle and I was standing on Platform 1
Great to see you out and in about in my local area Geoff, always find it abit surreal seeing my commuter station on your videos!
why do trains even stop here as you can't get anywhere ?
It closed in 2019 :(
As a teesside the siren is common at 10am very Tuesday and Wednesday morning throughout the teesside area as each site test they sirens for event of emergency and it just becomes white noise after a while but always scares non locals that some terrible may fall out the sky hah
"hmmm, maybe I should go there too"
"oh, it closes in nine days"
I looked it up and the air raid siren is part of safeguarding (fires, plant deviations etc) at Wilton Industrial site. It's very eerie!
As someone who's from Redcar, it is pronounced Redca, everyone around teeside/ NE England would pronounce it like that.
I'm from Teesside and I say "Redcar" rather then "Redca"
Everyone is a pretty general statement, go towards marske and saltburn and i'd imagine it's the other way round
As someone not from Redcar but who spent 4 years in Middlesbrough, it's always seemed like an incredibly small and pedantic thing to care about.
It's not like in my native Norfolk where people mispronounce Wymondham (which is pronounced Windham), Garboldisham (Garblesham), or Happisburgh (Haysbrough)
ok geordie here would never say redcuh but is it really??
I pronounce it Indiacar or Bradfordistan
This station was suspended on 17th December, and in 2019 saw a sudden increase of passengers in a twist of irony, in that it's title of "least used railway station", likely led to people visiting the station more. Like those "Top 10 things you didn't know" videos that people watch, and then those fact become well known _for being_ unknown facts (ironically making them known), or something.
If you can't actually leave the station, isn't it quite dangerous to allow anyone to alight there?
What if there was an incident after you got off and there was then no trains for days?
Trespass is not illegal in the UK so you could walk though the private land if you had a destination and were in this circumstance
The sirens are used on industrial estates to warn people to take shelter in the event of a leak or accident. Normally used by dangerous industrial companies. For example, gas, electrical, chemical etc. Companies have to test them as part of health and safety legislation.
Sorry to see British Steel closed. Once it had been one of the biggest employers in the area. Sad story...
If I had heard that air raid siren while in such a deserted area I would have freaked out.
Geoff is now mentioned on the station’s Wikipedia page
Been down this line before a couple months back and between Middlesbrough and Redcar central is the strangest and probably the most eerie place I’ve even been too and certainly the most in the uk. If you ever get to go in daylight I recommend doing it as the whole area is just strange, abandoned factories, flat barren land, mostly cloudy and gloomy skies, doesn’t feel real, like something out of a movie
Ridley Scott, who's from the area, was partially inspired by this for Blade Runner
So the air raid siren is literally a warning siren for people on the steelworks if there’s an emergency. I live in Scunthorpe which has a steelworks and they test is once a week and it is VERY loud - you could hear it miles and miles away
Jamie Pugh I used to live in thornaby, I could hear it there sometimes!
Where I live in London the council still has one for flood warnings, its seldom tested but its creepy as hell when it is
@@GreatSageSunWukong Where in london is that one?
Professor James Moriarty Ealing borough somewhere, used to be in Acton but the town hall is sold now for luxury apartments
Jamie Pugh The one on there wasn’t. It was from a nearby Gas works. Goes off when we have a gas leak and when we have an all clear. Tells residents to stay indoors and close windows/ doors
Did you know that the film "Atonement" was filmed on location at the closed-down Redcar Steel Works and on the beach & pier back in 2009? Really enjoyed your Adventure!
11:42 when did you last see a pacer not stopping at the station
can you imagine the look on that guard's face when somebody told them to stop at Redcar British Steel?, i can imagine it would have been something similar to the look somebody makes when theyve seen a ghost
Ah Middlesbrough Station, it's been a while. And the Cornerhouse of course. A great many Sumos were had.
Someone remembers SUMO! No longer there and no more night club below the station.
@@liamgbooth SUMO is still a thing, it's Friday night at the empire.