I'm a student at University of Cambridge and a member of Cambridge University Railway Club. It's so glad to see such high quality content during lockdown. Thank you very much.
A fine city and university - I worked for it for a while at Pembroke. Glad you enjoyed the film. Thanks for your compliments - do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series - let me know what you think of them too!
Once again a brilliant video! Camera work, music, graphics and especially the narration all superb. You seem to be a natural when it comes to narration. 👍🙂
Brilliant - I live in Cambridgeshire, and love looking through old maps of sadly now defunct lines. This really brought my local ones to life. Thank you.
I'm going to ask if you can get me a cab ride because I'd be failing in my duty to my hobby if I didn't, but I know what the answer is! It's good to know that drivers, both road and rail, are equally frustrated by this crossing!
What a beautifully presented video, with a wonderful sentiment at the end. Even though I'm not really a railway person, I find your style so interesting and evocative of the past. Thank you for sharing your knowledge :)
Very kind of you to say so, I'm really glad you enjoyed the film. It's all the more rewarding hear that from someone who is not a confessed aficionado of the railways. Do consider subscribing and enjoy my other films in the series.
Nice film but, you are slightly out with the location of Elm Bridge Depot on the tramway. The location you showed was actually the former Blacksmiths Arms (now the China Rose) opposite the Blacksmiths was the Duke of Wellington pub, which was a stopping point for the passenger trams prior to 1927. This is where the tramway crossed the road. The Depot was a bit nearer to Outwell at Birds Corner by the road junction to Emneth village where the line turned to run past Inglethorpe Hall. The site of the Depot has now been incorporated into the adjacent field.
I see - I was using this map (www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php#) as my guide and it puts Elm Bridge adjacent the China Rose / Blacksmith's Arms. Oh well you live and learn! Thanks for letting me know - glad you enjoyed the film!
That's very kind of you to say so and I'm grateful to have you aboard. Do look through my films and see what's occurring. Going through a bit of a transition at the moment - most of my films feature a musical accompaniment, but narration is beginning to find its place. Anyway, let me know what you think of each of my films.
Having lived and photographed in Cambridgeshire for many years and being familiar with most of the locations covered I can only lend voice to the excellence of this series. I know what it takes to get a job like this done - and this really is the way to do it. I am as delighted with the series as any of your other discerning viewers. The quality of the work is archival. Outstanding. Do please carry on. Rare to see such watchable production values. Better by far, indeed, than television. All day long. Many Thanks.
Thank you for your very kind words. I'm so glad that you and others find them to be of a good standard. Many more films to come, some narrated, some with music, some with both, but films aplenty in the months ahead. Thank you again.
I remember the line to Milldenhall I lived near to the line as a kid. As kids we would get on the track . As it crossed footpath to Fenditton south of the station Holt walk the line to the main line to go train spotting Once had to jump in the stinging nettles as a steam locomotive was coming from behind us. Good times
My life long buddy's family worked the railways too his mother and father was crossing keepers at Chesterton and his father went on to be a guard on the Milldenhall line remember his mother telling me she likes the troop trains with their bell on the front yes got a lot of memories of that line like fenditton Holt was prone to flooding thanks for a excellent video I know live in Norfolk. Just !! On the A 10 and I have walked the old wissie line as far as I could also remember the line crossing the A10 just before Downham market. As we had Holliday's in sunny hunny can remember steam locomotives to there too and as time go on just DmU or a rail bus from king's Lynn once again great video thanks
I used to explore these with the exception of Burwell, i once saw the train running from Upwell to Elm, around 1965, but never got the loco number, and viewed all the track in 1966 and 1967, and again in 1990, and 2005, Barrington once had a very good open day, with lots of shunting locos present and a Class 56 tended by March Driver Norman Betts.
Another brilliant video! Always find it interesting that there are ground position signals still active in areas that haven't seen trains for many years.
@@BridgerNinja There's a simple reason for this. Every signal modification work requires sign off by an IRSE signatory and, having the monopoly, they charge a million pounds a second!! Consequently it is simpler and cheaper just to put a bag over the still illuminated signals and ignore them. There are still red/green foot crossing warning lights north of Bishop Stortford even though the crossing was replaced by a footbridge years ago.
Thanks - I've made a film about the March-Spalding line, but I intend to remake it to a much higher standard in the spring/summer. Glad you liked this one!
Great historical documentary... It was a pity these tracks were let to go into rack and ruin... Maybe we could have used some of them today... Thanks for uploading
I lived in Barrington from 1962 till 1972 hence I moved to Liverpool, but I still have memories of the line being operational. I use to cycle down the track from Glebe Road to Foxton Road to get to work at the printing works in Foxton itself, Happy Days.
Very interesting and a great coincidence! Having just spent the weekend at the GCR diesel gala, we diverted our homeward journey via the “Kings Lynn Avoiding Line”, ie, the route to Norwich via Downham Market, which takes in the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway route, as well as being very pretty countryside. I will next re-visit your video about the Great Central Main Line. The Hornby Magazine channel has just posted a video about its next OO-gauge layout, based on Quorn & Woodhouse Station and the GCR! Thanks for your great work.
Really glad you enjoyed it and that it complemented your journey home! I just saw the Hornby video and it looks like a remarkable undertaking - what a joyous hobby to have!
I can remember seeing a Class 45 shunting cement tanks up near the Foxton junction, and seeing the cement tanks being hauled by Industrial diesel locomotives up to the sidings where the Class 45 took over. Barrington Cement works could be seen as far away as Great Offley in Hertfordshire
Great video. I grew up in Upwell and Wisbech, moved away from the area years ago. It's really good to see the old places and learn about their railway history.
A 5:42 it would be nice if some enthusiastic restorer looking for their next project found out who owns that 1950s Reading Bodied Albion Victor bus and saves it before it's too late. In its going day it probably bused tourists between the St.Peter Port ferry terminal and the railway station.
Erm, regarding Benwich, two miles further on is a town called Ramsey, on the western side of this town is a Pub called "The Railway" and opposite that is a large bit of derelict ground that contained a large Mill, old Cattle pens and what seemed to be the remains of a turn table. I was always told this was the terminus for the Benwich railway. Ahh, sorted it, this was the terminus of the GNR Holme branch line.
Watched several of your videos, their excelent documentation of what once was. Some beeching axes where right, some dubious and a only a few absolutely wrong. Obviously most rural road goods transport took away burden of lines wich in present day dioesn´t deserve to excist. Dubious those passenger services wich deserve a rail connection but have to do with a low quality bus service instead. Last rural or urban rail wich is neglected and could reduce road traffic, where reactibation is critical in this time. So we have it, variety of need for or not, time will tell !
Very glad you enjoyed the film. I agree. Some services are regrettably gone, others, such as a number featured in this film, had their time and fulfilled their purpose. One has to have a nuanced view of these things, I feel.
Thanks for the tip! You're absolutely right of course - I've also learnt a few tricks when it comes to sound editing, developed since I made the film - but always seeking to improve! Glad you enjoyed this episode.
If you need any help I have quite a few slides that are all documented with Location, Date and Locomotive that I can pretty well ID to Grid Reference if you would like to use them.
Can you do Weedon to Leamington line via Daventry please? Your presentation is so well done and I can find out so little about it. I have a section in my garden close to Braunston station (London Road).
Thanks - I thought that since Whitemoor is still operational that it wouldn't fit in with the 'lost' nature of the documentary. But a place like that needs a film of its own!
A rather informative presentation. Must say the narrative in lieu of captions allows one to focus on viewing what remains of the lost railways--which is this channel's implied mission, after all. Will miss the pastoral music but sacrifices must be made. You're improving rapidly, RLR (stole this from one of the other commenters, saves on typing), as the narration's audio is much smoother (eliminating the "dead air") than in your first effort. Well done. The Burwell Cement Works off Stephenson's Siding was quite the complex. Hard to believe such an industry once stood on the site given the modern-day serenity you captured. 3:18 Stop that man, stop him! He isn't wearing a proper mask!
The hooded and unmasked figure is my brother, who makes occasional cameos in my films! Some bleak landscapes here to be sure, but some great railway remnants!
Just when I thought these films couldn't get any better, you pull this one out of the hat! Living in Bedfordshire, I didn't realise the adjoining county had this many industrial railways! Love your narration too, even more informative than the captions! Brilliant!
Thank you so much for your kind words about my film. I'm glad you enjoyed it. My series is going through a period of transition from music to a mix of narration and music. So, still a number of captioned films in the library ready for upload, but thereafter they'll be a mix. I too live in the same county!
You just wish you could be transported back in a time machine to see what was what. I'd love to get a feel of the mindset in them day's, they must've hated the railway in the end as it symbolises the past and the car and lorry was the future. I always wonder if they'd mothballed the lot, branch lines and all I bet you it would be opened up, and here's another question all the disused track bed, who owns them, most of them I see goes through farmland and they don't integrate with the rest of their land they tend to avoid it so they may think of one day the government will want to open up all the track they destroyed in the 60s and we'll see a resergence of railways again siting global warming as an excuse. Correct me if I'm wrong
My understanding is that much of the former railway land reverted back to the original landowners' possession. As for the future of such land, my guess is that's entirely the choice of such landowners. In most cases, I believe many of these places will never see rails again.
Thank you very much. Future films will sometimes be music, sometimes narration, sometimes both. Hopefully, that way, there's something for everyone. Many thanks again!
Yes, the level crossing causes a lot of grief for motorists. They looked at options for replacing it a few years ago, but all were prohibitively expensive or inviable.
The company I work for are using some land very close to the old burwell cement works for filling in with muck. I heard the old cement works flodded over a weekend due to an underground spring bursting.
Thank you for this! If the quarry site is developed for housing, the spur could provide an electric 2 car train service or a rail bus such as that on the Stourbridge spur, eco friendly travel!
I agree - and a couple of others here have said a similar thing - some sort of light rail shuttle would at the very least take traffic off the streets of the village and ease some congestion in Cambridge!
Another fascinating video and hat's off to you for the painstaking research and excellent presentation as always. Upwell and Outwell are worth a visit on their own account as they are lovely villages.
I see, the film was meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive so I imagine that a few more lines were omitted. Used to live in Ely, lovely place!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yeah, my grandparents live in Stretham. Im only 25 but i remember going to the station site when i was younger and a lot more was of it there. Its been stripped away as time has gone on. Love your content as i love train history and am living in NZ with very little of it to speak of. Keep up the good work!
You'll find that my earlier films have a musical accompaniment rather than narration as I was uncomfortable with using my voice, but I hope they are still of interest 🙂
@@RediscoveringLostRailways oh no don’t say that, you have lovely clear articulation ! We will work our way through them all 🤣 we watch RUclips most of the time.
A tramway shares its course with ordinary road traffic, the track laid into the roadway for a considerable distance before the track may veer off into a dedicated corridor for some distance before returning to share space with rubber-tyred traffic. But a railway operates ENTIRELY on its own exclusive dedicated corridor.
Before the Duxford siding was built the tanks and hoppers were shunted into and discharged/offloaded at Great Chesterford. 07.30 Cambridge - Great Chesterford (also grain traffic for Shelford in season). Happy days!
4:50 There's one of them near me. Haha it's been repurposed by the local council to keep theives out of a timber yard that now exists where a station used to.
I thoroughly enjoyed your beautifully produced film recommended by a friend , and endorse all the well- derserved favorable comments .I well remember the Upwell - Wisbech railway and recall the excitement of hoping to see a tram running alongside the road on regular trips to see friends in Wisbech whilst travelling from Cambridge.Also the ungated road crossing in Upwell seemed incredible !.
Thank you for youvery kind words - do subscribe if you've not already done so and see what you think of my others in the series. The Upwell tramway is one of the most fascinating, quirky lines I can remember studying - I wish I had seen it in operation!
Glad you liked it - I'm sorry you have found the music intrusive on previous films - I always tried to choose it to complement the videos. Anyway, it will be a mixture of both in films to come, so I hope you enjoy them nevertheless!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I wasn't criticising - recently I have seen videos from others where you can hardly hear them for the music - and its not particularly good music either! Your's is not intrusive, which is the point.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I have always found lost railways fascinating. I can never get over the short sightedness of planners who persist in building over abandoned railways. Whether or not they should have been closed in the first place is a different question. But why lose a perfectly good through route to housing etc. At least keep them for cycle ways or future reinstatement (but cost of maintenance of bridges etc could prevent this). The most intriguing one I found was the Mid-Wales line that runs through Rhyader. What a waste! And of course the S&D and your series on the Great Central - another waste!
Very interesting! There are a few disused industrial railways where I live. Namely the Black Track (colliery line), the haunchwood brick and tile works (you can still see the loading bays!), as well as several disused branch lines. All in Nuneaton in the midlands. I would be happy to show you around if you were to do a visit for your videos.
Very interesting Another brilliant video The siding seems to be in a dry restorable condition and could easily be used for a new light service along the spur Thank you for another amazing video and stay safe in these hard and unpredictable times
I agree - the spur to the cement works could be a light rail service and take a lot of traffic off village roads. Really glad you enjoyed the film. Glad to say that I'm safe at home. Thank you for your good wishes - the like to you.
Superb - have lived along the route of the Cambridge to Mildenhall line most of my 70+ years, but till today could find no info on Stephenson's Siding despite living in Burwell. As a railway modeller too, this was the cause of some frustration. So thanks for putting things in place here - I saw the video title and thought 'I wonder if - - - - - - - ?' and you DID, so many, many thanks. Teresa - Burwell
I'm so pleased you found what you were looking for! Finding that bus in there was an additional surprise. Have you seen my Cambridge to Mildenhall railway film? Do subscribe and check it out.
My late husband was a generation older than me and a railway buff. As an experienced modeller, I built his 'retirement' layout and SO enjoyed it. Now, 30-40 years later I still run some of the locos I rebodied for him, on my latest layout, much to the amusement of hubby No. 2. I will now enjoy going into some of the films you have made and I have subscribed. I would love to see more of that bus you found. Thanks so much for sharing your work! Teresa
I have a possible idea for the Barrington Spur, they could convert it into a light railway to serve the new housing development. It would put good use to a recently refurbished siding. Maybe a shuttle service from there to Foxton and back?
@@RediscoveringLostRailways it also helps that they are thinking of a bypass for the A10 crossing so they could add an extra platform to Foxton. Even if it is only a couple of trains a day it would still help
Thanks for the Barrington cement works segment. Often on the A10 Foxtons level crossing gates lock down or there might have been an accident between Foxton and Royston roun about so driving to reconnect with the A505 one has to drive cross country. I’ve often had wondered what the railway was. Thanks good videos.
reminds me of the places 've seen got a few there still in use but aren't that good the only well there are three i know of, 2 are in soham the old works up there which used to have the remains of the old turn table, another one which leads to a dead end but there is a nice house next to it, the only other line which might be gone now as guided bus way was the one near cottenham,
Nice to see Foxton gates still being manned. I had thought by now it would have a flyover or underpass given it stops all traffic on the A10 I think. I remember when they had to run out and physically push the gates open and closed. Traffic used to back up for a mile in rush hour.
That must've been a thankless task with all those irate motorists! It is great that it is still functioning. There were plans a few years ago for an underpass, but as you can imagine, money was an issue...
There were, I believe, there were plans to build a flyover for the Royston Road, over forty years ago. The Barrington Road was diverted and the junction was moved about 250 metres to the north to accommodate this. I remember the diversion being built in the 1970s. Perhaps, one day, the bridge will be built. All this can clearly be seen on Google Earth. This is an excellent series! A fascinating subject well delivered. Many thanks for sharing.
Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscovering
I'm a student at University of Cambridge and a member of Cambridge University Railway Club. It's so glad to see such high quality content during lockdown. Thank you very much.
A fine city and university - I worked for it for a while at Pembroke. Glad you enjoyed the film. Thanks for your compliments - do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series - let me know what you think of them too!
A fantastic and really interesting, professional presentation! Better than anything you'll find on TV these days.
Thank you for being so kind about my film. So many more to come. Thanks again!
I agree.
@@RichardFelstead1949 Thank you ever so much
Yes Risvegliato is right about the Quality of this Video . I enjoyed it , Thank you .
Once again a brilliant video!
Camera work, music, graphics and especially the narration all superb.
You seem to be a natural when it comes to narration. 👍🙂
That's very kind of you to say so. I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film. It was among the wettest, windiest and coldest I've ever made!
enjoyed that and the voice over definately adds to the footage
I'm glad you think so - thank you!
Brilliant - I live in Cambridgeshire, and love looking through old maps of sadly now defunct lines. This really brought my local ones to life. Thank you.
Oh well I live next to Cambridge and a number of my films use it as their locus - see my lost lines of Cambridge play list!
Why not do six mile bottom and Haverhill
Really interesting! As a driver over the Cambridge GN route, my train was often (frustratingly) held for the cement train to reverse at Foxton!
I'm going to ask if you can get me a cab ride because I'd be failing in my duty to my hobby if I didn't, but I know what the answer is! It's good to know that drivers, both road and rail, are equally frustrated by this crossing!
Interesting and well presented! I sit in isolation and appreciate your efforts, take care, Mike
Thank you! I wasn't going to publish it for another month but thought it might be a diversion for anyone in isolation!
There's an industrial railway that used steam till 1971 and was the subject of the short film the day stan left
What a beautifully presented video, with a wonderful sentiment at the end. Even though I'm not really a railway person, I find your style so interesting and evocative of the past. Thank you for sharing your knowledge :)
Very kind of you to say so, I'm really glad you enjoyed the film. It's all the more rewarding hear that from someone who is not a confessed aficionado of the railways. Do consider subscribing and enjoy my other films in the series.
Nice film but, you are slightly out with the location of Elm Bridge Depot on the tramway. The location you showed was actually the former Blacksmiths Arms (now the China Rose) opposite the Blacksmiths was the Duke of Wellington pub, which was a stopping point for the passenger trams prior to 1927. This is where the tramway crossed the road. The Depot was a bit nearer to Outwell at Birds Corner by the road junction to Emneth village where the line turned to run past Inglethorpe Hall. The site of the Depot has now been incorporated into the adjacent field.
I see - I was using this map (www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php#) as my guide and it puts Elm Bridge adjacent the China Rose / Blacksmith's Arms. Oh well you live and learn! Thanks for letting me know - glad you enjoyed the film!
RUclips finally made a good recommendation. Subscribed!
That's very kind of you to say so and I'm grateful to have you aboard. Do look through my films and see what's occurring. Going through a bit of a transition at the moment - most of my films feature a musical accompaniment, but narration is beginning to find its place. Anyway, let me know what you think of each of my films.
Having lived and photographed in Cambridgeshire for many years and being familiar with most of the locations covered I can only lend voice to the excellence of this series. I know what it takes to get a job like this done - and this really is the way to do it. I am as delighted with the series as any of your other discerning viewers. The quality of the work is archival. Outstanding. Do please carry on. Rare to see such watchable production values. Better by far, indeed, than television. All day long. Many Thanks.
Thank you for your very kind words. I'm so glad that you and others find them to be of a good standard. Many more films to come, some narrated, some with music, some with both, but films aplenty in the months ahead. Thank you again.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways yes you work hard to make this very interesting
I remember the line to Milldenhall I lived near to the line as a kid. As kids we would get on the track . As it crossed footpath to Fenditton south of the station Holt walk the line to the main line to go train spotting Once had to jump in the stinging nettles as a steam locomotive was coming from behind us. Good times
Great memories - thank you!
My life long buddy's family worked the railways too his mother and father was crossing keepers at Chesterton and his father went on to be a guard on the Milldenhall line remember his mother telling me she likes the troop trains with their bell on the front yes got a lot of memories of that line like fenditton Holt was prone to flooding thanks for a excellent video I know live in Norfolk. Just !! On the A 10 and I have walked the old wissie line as far as I could also remember the line crossing the A10 just before Downham market. As we had Holliday's in sunny hunny can remember steam locomotives to there too and as time go on just DmU or a rail bus from king's Lynn once again great video thanks
I used to explore these with the exception of Burwell, i once saw the train running from Upwell to Elm, around 1965, but never got the loco number, and viewed all the track in 1966 and 1967, and again in 1990, and 2005, Barrington once had a very good open day, with lots of shunting locos present and a Class 56 tended by March Driver Norman Betts.
Yes, I'm sorry to have missed the Barrington open days. I've seen footage and they looked great.
Another brilliant video! Always find it interesting that there are ground position signals still active in areas that haven't seen trains for many years.
Glad you liked it. Yes it was a surprise to find that still on after goodness knows how long!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I'm a trainee driver in the South West, surprising how many disused but still functional signals there are!
@@BridgerNinja I'm so envious! Best of luck with your training!
@@BridgerNinja There's a simple reason for this. Every signal modification work requires sign off by an IRSE signatory and, having the monopoly, they charge a million pounds a second!! Consequently it is simpler and cheaper just to put a bag over the still illuminated signals and ignore them. There are still red/green foot crossing warning lights north of Bishop Stortford even though the crossing was replaced by a footbridge years ago.
Great video many thanks! I wondered though why March routes to Spalding and Wisbech disused lines weren't included? But I'm sure there's a reason 😊
Thanks - I've made a film about the March-Spalding line, but I intend to remake it to a much higher standard in the spring/summer. Glad you liked this one!
I was aware of the Duxford one. I’ll have to explore it myself, when we’re allowed out again.
It is worth a visit when the opportunity announces itself!
The waterway at Outwell/Upwell is the Middle Level, not the Nene.
A very well made and informative video. You do a great job with the voiceover as well.
Thank you very much indeed - glad you enjoyed it!
Great historical documentary... It was a pity these tracks were let to go into rack and ruin... Maybe we could have used some of them today... Thanks for uploading
It is a shame that these lines couldn't find an afterlife. Glad you enjoyed the film.
Good stuff. Look forward with keen anticipation.
I lived in Barrington from 1962 till 1972 hence I moved to Liverpool, but I still have memories of the line being operational. I use to cycle down the track from Glebe Road to Foxton Road to get to work at the printing works in Foxton itself, Happy Days.
Many thanks for your thoughts and memories, I live just round the corner from Barrington on the way to Wimpole...
Very interesting and a great coincidence! Having just spent the weekend at the GCR diesel gala, we diverted our homeward journey via the “Kings Lynn Avoiding Line”, ie, the route to Norwich via Downham Market, which takes in the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway route, as well as being very pretty countryside. I will next re-visit your video about the Great Central Main Line. The Hornby Magazine channel has just posted a video about its next OO-gauge layout, based on Quorn & Woodhouse Station and the GCR! Thanks for your great work.
Really glad you enjoyed it and that it complemented your journey home! I just saw the Hornby video and it looks like a remarkable undertaking - what a joyous hobby to have!
I can remember seeing a Class 45 shunting cement tanks up near the Foxton junction, and seeing the cement tanks being hauled by Industrial diesel locomotives up to the sidings where the Class 45 took over. Barrington Cement works could be seen as far away as Great Offley in Hertfordshire
That's quite an incredible distance! Would love to see those 45s again!
What a wonderful film. Very interesting information. History that has unfortunately now nearly disappeared, is brought back to life in your film.
Thank you for your very kind remarks! Keep well and safe in these uncertain times!
Superb video as usual and very informative.....soothes the mind in these troubled times!
Glad you enjoyed it! I'll be uploading my next narrated film at the beginning of May as a further antidote to the labours of lockdown!
Great film! I often fantasise about taking a small loco and venturing out on those abandoned tracks 😅
Thank you! Now that sounds like a trip I'd like to go on!
Great video. I grew up in Upwell and Wisbech, moved away from the area years ago. It's really good to see the old places and learn about their railway history.
Glad you enjoyed it! I've made several other films about lost railways in this area, so do check them out!
A 5:42 it would be nice if some enthusiastic restorer looking for their next project found out who owns that 1950s Reading Bodied Albion Victor bus and saves it before it's too late. In its going day it probably bused tourists between the St.Peter Port ferry terminal and the railway station.
Agreed, it is a shame to see it rot. It has been there a very long time...
Erm, regarding Benwich, two miles further on is a town called Ramsey, on the western side of this town is a Pub called "The Railway" and opposite that is a large bit of derelict ground that contained a large Mill, old Cattle pens and what seemed to be the remains of a turn table. I was always told this was the terminus for the Benwich railway.
Ahh, sorted it, this was the terminus of the GNR Holme branch line.
And you can see my film on the Ramsey branch lines coming out in the next few months!
Thanks for these! Such a pleasure to indulge oneself during this COVID-19 lockdown. Pls keep them coming (obvs when we can all get out n about 😷)
Thank you yes, I have a library of films that just need me to press the 'publish' button, so plenty more in the months to come!
Watched several of your videos, their excelent documentation of what once was. Some beeching axes where right, some dubious and a only a few absolutely wrong. Obviously most rural road goods transport took away burden of lines wich in present day dioesn´t deserve to excist. Dubious those passenger services wich deserve a rail connection but have to do with a low quality bus service instead. Last rural or urban rail wich is neglected and could reduce road traffic, where reactibation is critical in this time. So we have it, variety of need for or not, time will tell !
Very glad you enjoyed the film. I agree. Some services are regrettably gone, others, such as a number featured in this film, had their time and fulfilled their purpose. One has to have a nuanced view of these things, I feel.
That was really interesting. Thank you
I'm glad you thought so - thank you!
You need a deadcat (windscreen) for that microphone.
There are videos here on YT showing you how to make one.
Excellent video, by the way.
Thanks for the tip! You're absolutely right of course - I've also learnt a few tricks when it comes to sound editing, developed since I made the film - but always seeking to improve! Glad you enjoyed this episode.
15:02 same type of tram that Toby is from Thomas The Tank Engine.
That's right!
I enjoyed this video. Sorry you couldn't do a slit screen of the B&W photo with where the little shanty was located.
Thank you - yes, black and white photos of most of the locations in the film were either very hard to come by or are not otherwise available!
I liked your video, but why no mention of March, a major rail centre for nearly 100 years?
Thank you - yes that is an omission but it does feature in my latest film which will be out on Thursday afternoon 😀
If you need any help I have quite a few slides that are all documented with Location, Date and Locomotive that I can pretty well ID to Grid Reference if you would like to use them.
What a very generous offer - could you drop me a line at rediscoveringlostrailways@protonmail.com as I would love to discuss this further with you?
Wonderful videos much enjoyed. The narration add so much interest and info. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed this one, thanks for your comments!
A truly enjoyable and highly educational video... Thank you my friend...
Glad you liked it and so pleased you're enjoying my channel's content!
Can you do Weedon to Leamington line via Daventry please? Your presentation is so well done and I can find out so little about it. I have a section in my garden close to Braunston station (London Road).
I can certainly look into it, many thanks for the tip!
Another winner! Thank you.
My pleasure, thank you!
love the fact you got a shot of a pheasant crossing the line!
Yes, just the sort of thing you can't predict but a flourish that's nice to include!
Very professionally done. Yoo have a great media voice. Easy to understand for non native speakers.
Very kind of you to say so! I try not to overload the films with railway technobabble as I think this can just be distracting and exclusive.
Often watch videos on closed cement works why are they all closed there is building boom ?
That's an interesting question - cheaper imports perhaps? I really don't know...
Thanks, this is something I need these times.
I hope that this film (along with the others I've made) offer a gentle distraction from the extraordinary times through which we are all going.
A good production. Clear and with good narration. Some maps would have improved it. Gave it a like though.
Much appreciated!
Please do something like this for America. The USA is full of lost railways
I would love to! Have you a recommendation in particular?
surprised the march marshaling yard wasn't included as at one time was (iirc) the largest in the country. nice vid though.
Thanks - I thought that since Whitemoor is still operational that it wouldn't fit in with the 'lost' nature of the documentary. But a place like that needs a film of its own!
Splendid! Excellent production , very interesting and informative.
Thank you - I'm glad you thought so!
My Godson starts his training as a signalman tomorrow morning at Foxton crossing.
Best of luck to him!
A rather informative presentation. Must say the narrative in lieu of captions allows one to focus on viewing what remains of the lost railways--which is this channel's implied mission, after all. Will miss the pastoral music but sacrifices must be made. You're improving rapidly, RLR (stole this from one of the other commenters, saves on typing), as the narration's audio is much smoother (eliminating the "dead air") than in your first effort. Well done.
The Burwell Cement Works off Stephenson's Siding was quite the complex. Hard to believe such an industry once stood on the site given the modern-day serenity you captured.
3:18 Stop that man, stop him! He isn't wearing a proper mask!
The hooded and unmasked figure is my brother, who makes occasional cameos in my films! Some bleak landscapes here to be sure, but some great railway remnants!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I surmised that was your brother doing his Alfred Hitchcock impersonation: just my (lame?) attempt at a bit of humor.
Another great video!!! I'm always looking forward to the next one!
Really glad you enjoyed the film - many more to come!
Great. Thanks! Please do one for Bristol/portishead!
If I can get that way I will. Glad you enjoyed the film.
Thanks for battling the obviously lousy weather to bring this subject. The narration was great also.
Good grief it was awful! Did the Burwell Cement Works on Boxing Day before arriving at my in-laws absolutely saturated...
Just when I thought these films couldn't get any better, you pull this one out of the hat! Living in Bedfordshire, I didn't realise the adjoining county had this many industrial railways! Love your narration too, even more informative than the captions! Brilliant!
Thank you so much for your kind words about my film. I'm glad you enjoyed it. My series is going through a period of transition from music to a mix of narration and music. So, still a number of captioned films in the library ready for upload, but thereafter they'll be a mix. I too live in the same county!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Fantastic county is Bedfordshire - I love it!
I do love how in some shots, you’ve managed to have great timing with passers by, especially the shot with the 66 passing the signal box.
Always safe to assume its luck over judgment! Many thanks for your comment!
You just wish you could be transported back in a time machine to see what was what.
I'd love to get a feel of the mindset in them day's, they must've hated the railway in the end as it symbolises the past and the car and lorry was the future.
I always wonder if they'd mothballed the lot, branch lines and all I bet you it would be opened up, and here's another question all the disused track bed, who owns them, most of them I see goes through farmland and they don't integrate with the rest of their land they tend to avoid it so they may think of one day the government will want to open up all the track they destroyed in the 60s and we'll see a resergence of railways again siting global warming as an excuse.
Correct me if I'm wrong
My understanding is that much of the former railway land reverted back to the original landowners' possession. As for the future of such land, my guess is that's entirely the choice of such landowners. In most cases, I believe many of these places will never see rails again.
All gone, all gone 😞
Thank you. What a treat to be able to watch things like this. I really appreciate being able to do so because of all your hard work.
You're very kind. Making them is a real pleasure.
Another fantastic video, I have to admit I do prefer the videos you do commentary on.
Thank you very much. Future films will sometimes be music, sometimes narration, sometimes both. Hopefully, that way, there's something for everyone. Many thanks again!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways That's Ok I understand.
This is the reason the A10 is such a nightmare road...
Yes, the level crossing causes a lot of grief for motorists. They looked at options for replacing it a few years ago, but all were prohibitively expensive or inviable.
It’s kinda funny...
Nature takes back ..
Nature recovers..
Just like it’s doing across the world due to coronavirus 😂😂
It seems to be the way of things - thanks for your comment.
The company I work for are using some land very close to the old burwell cement works for filling in with muck. I heard the old cement works flodded over a weekend due to an underground spring bursting.
Crikey! What a thing to happen! It was so wet the day I filmed that sequence, the place seems to be a magnet for rain!
I think it was in the 1920"s or 30"s when it flodded..
As always I find these videos fascinating.
I'm so glad, thank you 🙂
This is brilliant! good work and thanks for making. A good commentary really ups your game!
Thank you very much indeed
A superb video thanks for sharing !
Many thanks for saying so!
Very interesting and informative video! Good to see some regally overlooked railways featured.
Thank you indeed!
Thank you for this! If the quarry site is developed for housing, the spur could provide an electric 2 car train service or a rail bus such as that on the Stourbridge spur, eco friendly travel!
I agree - and a couple of others here have said a similar thing - some sort of light rail shuttle would at the very least take traffic off the streets of the village and ease some congestion in Cambridge!
Another fascinating video and hat's off to you for the painstaking research and excellent presentation as always. Upwell and Outwell are worth a visit on their own account as they are lovely villages.
You forgot the one that spurred off at a ely that travelled south by stretham to service the agricultural operations such as apples.
I see, the film was meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive so I imagine that a few more lines were omitted. Used to live in Ely, lovely place!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yeah, my grandparents live in Stretham. Im only 25 but i remember going to the station site when i was younger and a lot more was of it there. Its been stripped away as time has gone on. Love your content as i love train history and am living in NZ with very little of it to speak of.
Keep up the good work!
We are hooked on this channel, lots of interesting information and all steeped in history
You'll find that my earlier films have a musical accompaniment rather than narration as I was uncomfortable with using my voice, but I hope they are still of interest 🙂
@@RediscoveringLostRailways oh no don’t say that, you have lovely clear articulation ! We will work our way through them all 🤣 we watch RUclips most of the time.
A tramway shares its course with ordinary road traffic, the track laid into the roadway for a considerable distance before the track may veer off into a dedicated corridor for some distance before returning to share space with rubber-tyred traffic. But a railway operates ENTIRELY on its own exclusive dedicated corridor.
Before the Duxford siding was built the tanks and hoppers were shunted into and discharged/offloaded at Great Chesterford.
07.30 Cambridge - Great Chesterford (also grain traffic for Shelford in season).
Happy days!
Ah I wondered what those sidings at Chesterford were... Thanks for clearing that up!
Duxford and fowlmere airfield use the Barrington site for aeorobatics, and display rehearsals
Yes just so!
Could you do the farnborough and cove railway?
I'll certainly look into it when work and lockdown permit - thanks for the recommendation.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways No problem. I often ride over bits of old track in cove. Plenty of it still there
Thank you a lovely watch as ever.
My pleasure and thank you for saying so!
4:50 There's one of them near me. Haha it's been repurposed by the local council to keep theives out of a timber yard that now exists where a station used to.
I imagine there must be so many hidden around and about!
I thoroughly enjoyed your beautifully produced film recommended by a friend , and endorse all the well- derserved favorable comments .I well remember the Upwell - Wisbech railway and recall the excitement of hoping to see a tram running alongside the road on regular trips to see friends in Wisbech whilst travelling from Cambridge.Also the ungated road crossing in Upwell seemed incredible !.
Thank you for youvery kind words - do subscribe if you've not already done so and see what you think of my others in the series. The Upwell tramway is one of the most fascinating, quirky lines I can remember studying - I wish I had seen it in operation!
Really superb as always, Northants will be a good hunting ground for another of these Industrial Vids. JonD
Yes another gentleman on here said as much - I need to get busy!
That’s well researched, thank you.
Thank you - I certainly try!
Very interesting video. But the best bit - NO (or very very litle!) intrusive music. Quiet is quiet, which is how it should be.
Glad you liked it - I'm sorry you have found the music intrusive on previous films - I always tried to choose it to complement the videos. Anyway, it will be a mixture of both in films to come, so I hope you enjoy them nevertheless!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I wasn't criticising - recently I have seen videos from others where you can hardly hear them for the music - and its not particularly good music either! Your's is not intrusive, which is the point.
@@DrivermanO I see, thank you for saying so. I do appreciate your kind remarks.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I have always found lost railways fascinating. I can never get over the short sightedness of planners who persist in building over abandoned railways. Whether or not they should have been closed in the first place is a different question. But why lose a perfectly good through route to housing etc. At least keep them for cycle ways or future reinstatement (but cost of maintenance of bridges etc could prevent this). The most intriguing one I found was the Mid-Wales line that runs through Rhyader. What a waste! And of course the S&D and your series on the Great Central - another waste!
1:53
It's a good job those red lights are there because a train might proceed from the branch line onto the main line otherwise.
I know - I think we can all rest easy knowing they're there!
@Michael Walton
I am.
Thank you for your recognition and commendation.
Very interesting! There are a few disused industrial railways where I live. Namely the Black Track (colliery line), the haunchwood brick and tile works (you can still see the loading bays!), as well as several disused branch lines. All in Nuneaton in the midlands. I would be happy to show you around if you were to do a visit for your videos.
Most kind and I will certainly take you up on that kind offer when I plan to film in that area. Thank you.
There is sign at the Hinxton Crossing mentioning night time closure due Rail track works between 8th and 10th June 2024
Righto, thanks
A copy of a Bradshaw covering the lost routes would be the icing on the cake.
That's a good idea...i can't believe I don't have one!
The W&U and the farm railways never really recovered from the influx of road vehicles after WW1.
I imagine not - as romantic as the image of this fine tramway is, I suppose it is no match for ruthless economics.
Excellent, 5 stars. I never thought Toby out of TTE was real til i watched this
Glad you enjoyed the film!
Very interesting
Another brilliant video
The siding seems to be in a dry restorable condition and could easily be used for a new light service along the spur
Thank you for another amazing video and stay safe in these hard and unpredictable times
I agree - the spur to the cement works could be a light rail service and take a lot of traffic off village roads. Really glad you enjoyed the film. Glad to say that I'm safe at home. Thank you for your good wishes - the like to you.
Superb - have lived along the route of the Cambridge to Mildenhall line most of my 70+ years, but till today could find no info on Stephenson's Siding despite living in Burwell. As a railway modeller too, this was the cause of some frustration. So thanks for putting things in place here - I saw the video title and thought 'I wonder if - - - - - - - ?' and you DID, so many, many thanks. Teresa - Burwell
I'm so pleased you found what you were looking for! Finding that bus in there was an additional surprise. Have you seen my Cambridge to Mildenhall railway film? Do subscribe and check it out.
My late husband was a generation older than me and a railway buff. As an experienced modeller, I built his 'retirement' layout and SO enjoyed it. Now, 30-40 years later I still run some of the locos I rebodied for him, on my latest layout, much to the amusement of hubby No. 2. I will now enjoy going into some of the films you have made and I have subscribed. I would love to see more of that bus you found. Thanks so much for sharing your work! Teresa
It's just so ,so sad
Yes, I think in many cases it is
Colne valley railway has one Barrington cement works locos and its called Barrington
I wondered where it might've gone, thank you!
Do you have any footage of the Soham to Newmarket Freight line that was dimantled in 1966 please?
Hi there - that line is still in operation, connecting Ely to Ipswich via Soham and Newmarket.
I have a possible idea for the Barrington Spur, they could convert it into a light railway to serve the new housing development. It would put good use to a recently refurbished siding. Maybe a shuttle service from there to Foxton and back?
I thought precisely the same thing - a light rail connection would be a splendid idea.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways it also helps that they are thinking of a bypass for the A10 crossing so they could add an extra platform to Foxton. Even if it is only a couple of trains a day it would still help
Erm it's a town, NOT a city. It has no cathedral and it hasn't been given a royal charter making it a city.
Thanks, but it was made a city in 1951. A quick search online confirms this from multiple reputable sources. Anything else?
Thanks for the Barrington cement works segment. Often on the A10 Foxtons level crossing gates lock down or there might have been an accident between Foxton and Royston roun about so driving to reconnect with the A505 one has to drive cross country. I’ve often had wondered what the railway was. Thanks good videos.
My pleasure - it is a crossing I have had to endure many times, so I share your pain!
Rediscovering Lost Railways so fallen foul of the legendary Foxton level crossing.
The first part of this video, in Duxford, is known to us at network rail as Ciba Geigies.
Interesting... I'm bound to ask why?
reminds me of the places 've seen got a few there still in use but aren't that good the only well there are three i know of, 2 are in soham the old works up there which used to have the remains of the old turn table, another one which leads to a dead end but there is a nice house next to it, the only other line which might be gone now as guided bus way was the one near cottenham,
Thanks very much - I'll have to look these up once lockdown comes to an end!
History of Northamptonshire railways perhaps? It always seems to be left behind :(
That could well be on the agenda...
Rediscovering Lost Railways I’m already excited! :))
Nice to see Foxton gates still being manned. I had thought by now it would have a flyover or underpass given it stops all traffic on the A10 I think. I remember when they had to run out and physically push the gates open and closed. Traffic used to back up for a mile in rush hour.
That must've been a thankless task with all those irate motorists! It is great that it is still functioning. There were plans a few years ago for an underpass, but as you can imagine, money was an issue...
There were, I believe, there were plans to build a flyover for the Royston Road, over forty years ago. The Barrington Road was diverted and the junction was moved about 250 metres to the north to accommodate this. I remember the diversion being built in the 1970s. Perhaps, one day, the bridge will be built. All this can clearly be seen on Google Earth. This is an excellent series! A fascinating subject well delivered. Many thanks for sharing.
@@rolandharmer6402 thank you for saying so!