I can picture my grandparents standing on the platform waiting for the train at the start of their journey to Australia in 1924.

Some very good pictures of a Station I remember as a child. However, at least two of the pictures were not at Victoria. At least one of those was Nottingham Midland Station.

Aka Bilk...Stranger on the shore...On Colombia Green Label... Once held the record for longest time in the charts!

Railway politics of the time were to blame, sadly. The GCR has a fascinating, if short history.

@robtyman4281

4 жыл бұрын

The newest main line to be built......and the first one to go.

@PreservationEnthusiast

3 жыл бұрын

@@robtyman4281 It was not politics though. It was a duplicate line serving many minor intermediate halts which needed to be closed and demolished.

@robtyman4281

3 жыл бұрын

@@PreservationEnthusiast I don't agree. It was a major line that was just simply 'unlucky'. It happened to run to Marylebone, which is both smaller and not as central as St Pancras is. Sure there were small 'halt' stations on it that needed to go, but it also had Rugby, and Leicester Central stations on it - hardly 'halt' stations. All that needed to be done was keep the busier or larger stations and close the smaller stations- then it would have become v fast and direct. Money could have been found but wasn't. It's funny how tiny Berney Arms station (on a sleepy line in Norfolk) survived; as did Sheerness (a remote town on a virtual island on the north Kent coast). But it also happens to be where Beeching was from. So apparently this was reason enough to save it from closure.....but not the GCR. It was all complete folly, and YES it absolutely was all to do with politics. So you're mistaken on that one.

@geoffreyking4515

2 жыл бұрын

Pure vandalism

@andrewtaylor5984

Жыл бұрын

@@PreservationEnthusiast It was not strictly a duplicate main line. On the Midland Main Line, on the way from London to Sheffield, you would pass through either Leicester or Nottingham, but not both. The Great Central DID serve both. Further south, the Great Central was the only main line through Aylesbury. Since closure in 1966, Brackley and Lutterworth have expanded considerably; both are now railless. The Great Central also provided a direct north/south route from Sheffield to Banbury, with links to most of the South. Nowadays, one is forced to go via London or Birmingham, with additional mileage which the passenger has to pay for. Nottingham Victoria was a priceless asset; was there ever a better sited big city station. Nottingham's rail communications with the rest of the country are absymal, with the possible exception of London, and even there, one of the two Midland routes has been closed. Nottingham's only remaining station is a long way from the City Centre, and is a rather miserable affair for a city of 250000 inhabitants. The planners have done a great deal of damage to Nottingham since c1960. Reopening the Great Central would have been far cheaper than HS2, and more use.

Travelled from here to Leicester daily 1961 and early 1962. Non corridor coaches and B1s I think

Oh I was hoping for London Victoria.

perhaps the worst case of Institutional Vandalism in the country.

@peterdean8009

6 жыл бұрын

Stan Chandler: Londoners of a certain age would say that about the demolition of the Euston Arch in 1961.

@stanchandler5393

6 жыл бұрын

understood, probably the most serious case in London/SE

@PreservationEnthusiast

3 жыл бұрын

@@stanchandler5393 GCR and Victoria station needed demolition. It was a white elephant line serving many smaller places and had next to no passengers.

@andrewtaylor5984

Жыл бұрын

@@PreservationEnthusiast There were only fewer passengers because for some inexplicable reason British Railways management wanted to get rid of the line. The first blow came early in 1958, when most of the line was transferred from the Eastern to the London Midland Region. (It was BR policy that, ultimately, no city, other than London, should be served by more than one region.) By this time, Marylebone Station was Western Region, Manchester to Woodhead was London Midland Region, and the Eastern Region had the rest. Nobody seemed to be able to co-ordinate operations. At the beginning of 1960, the Marylebone to Manchester trains were discontinued, apart from the overnight train, replaced by three trains from Marylebone to Nottingham. There was then only one main line train each way between Nottingham and Sheffield, during the day, the Bournemouth to York service. There was a local service of sorts, but most of them took the Chesterfield loop, and waited an eternity in Chesterfield Central Station. At this time, the railways were running at a loss, but the Great Central was no worse than many other lines which survived Beeching. More to the point, Nottingham Victoria was a priceless asset, right in the centre of the city. The Midland Station is miles away. At the London end, Marylebone is not far from Euston, and is much more central than Paddington, although I will accept that it was not connected to the Underground until 1906, seven years after it opened. Until then, passengers would have had to use nearby Baker Street.

@PreservationEnthusiast

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewtaylor5984 It was replaced by the Victoria centre, a really great and useful asset for the people of Nottingham which gets 20 million visitors a year.

Shame there's non related pictures in the video.

Remember it well

What a terrible waste to demolish this beautiful station and to then destroy all traces of the Great Central .

@pmonkeygeezer6212

6 жыл бұрын

john barlow I was pleased that this station and the line was demolished. It was a redundant railway.

@peterdean8009

6 жыл бұрын

john barlow: It was a crying shame that they demolished the station and built that concrete abomination, but they didn't destroy all traces of the GC: Chiltern Railways run from Marylebone as far as Aylesbury VP; Leicester Central survives, albeit as a warehouse; and there are two Great Central heritage lines, one of which terminates at the refurbished Loughborough Central.

@pmonkeygeezer6212

6 жыл бұрын

Peter Dean The Heritage lines should also be dismantled. This will complete the demolition of the Great Central!

@robtyman4281

4 жыл бұрын

More crimes were committed against our Victorian buildings and transport infrastructure in the 60's and 70's than was carried out by the Luftwaffe during the war. All in the name of 'progress' apparently. Ever wondered why so many of our big rail stations/termini looked abit rough after WW2? ....successive governments purposefully ran them down so as to make the case to build more roads (namely motorways). Funny how we had enough money to carry out nuclear bomb tests in the 50's but didn't have enough money to maintain our major railway stations, or transition from steam to diesel or electric locos - as every other European country was doing at that time. By the time we did, the railways were in such a state that the majority of the public had already made up their minds and had effectively 'abandoned' the railways, especially long distance rail travel. It's beside the point that this route (the GCR out of Marylebone) was considered a 'duplicate' to the Midland mainline route out of St Pancras. I think it was purposefully starved of money, as the powers that be decided to stick with the Midland Mainline only. Such a shame that this glorious station and perfectly engineered railway (among the straightest of all the main lines in the UK) was sacrificed, and Nottingham Victoria demolished (save for the clock tower). It would have been ideal for HS2, without the need to be a brand new line. The other irony is that you cans still travel between London and Birmingham on two different routes - the faster (Euston - New Street), and the more scenic (Marylebone - Snow Hill). So Beeching didn't manage to get rid of all duplicate routes!

@PreservationEnthusiast

3 жыл бұрын

@@robtyman4281 It would not be ideal for HS2 because it does not serve Birmingham. It is a tortuous route serving many minor halts. Just accept the facts and move on.

yeah but look on the bright side...they replaced it with the beautiful Victoria Flats and iconic Car Park - such a marvel of architectural design - NOT !!!! bulldoze that pile of crap and rebuild NVS once !!!! I.K.Brunel - turning in my grave !!!!

Yes the ",Vic" is long gone, but at least Birmingham Snow Hill was revived