I was born in the Derbyshire market town of Buxton,
and always enjoy a visit, especially when there's something of railway
interest to see. Here's the scene at the station on Saturday 11 October
2003, just after the arrival at 14:40 (five minutes late) of the 12:19
train from Blackpool North, formed of 'Sprinter' two-car diesel 150
145 seen in platform 2 on the left of the picture.
150 150, on the right in Platform 1, is about to depart as the
14:38 to Blackpool. This station, built by the London and North Western
Railway in 1863, once had an overall roof: the end wall with its fanlight
window said to have been designed by Joseph
Paxton of Crystal Palace fame) remains and can be seen in the background.
For a number of years First North Western have tried to run the timetable by sending back the same train after just 6 minutes turnround time, a disastrous idea when traisn are travelling all the way from Blackpool over all sorts of conflicting junctions and along congested routes is sure to cause delays. All off-peak trains departed from Platform 2 under this scheme. Recently, however, a revised and far better system has been adopted in which trains spend an hour at Buxton, thus giving chance to recover any lateness, which is especially likely at this time of year with the leaf-fall season upon us. The track layout of Buxton station does not allow trains to arrive in Platform 1, so each arrival has to go back out of the station and shunt in to this platform to await departure: in the picture above, 150 145 can be seen making this manoeuvre after the departure of the 14:38. In the background is the Diesel Multiple Unit depot built in 1957 for the arrival of the Clas 104 diesels, and now lying derelict as all servicing of this stock is carried out at Newton Heath depot in Manchester.
However, the reason for our visit was 1Z10, the Scottish Railway Preservation Society charter train from Edinburgh (departure time 05:05 ...) which offered its passengers three hours in Buxton. During the layover the train, which had arrived via the Hope Valley Line and Peak Forest and would return via the LNWR line to Stockport, was stabled in the Up Refuge Sidings outside the station on the site of the one-time steam loco shed. The two Class 37/4 diesels remained at the same end of the train, EWS having provided 60 004, one of the fleet used to haul limestone trains in the area, to act as release loco. The tour was advertised to depart at 15:10, but for some reason it was almost that time before the 60 hove into view past Buxton signalbox, between the abutments which once carried a 'flying junction' line allowing freight trains from the Midlands to access the Stockport route without blocking access to the station, and into Platform 2 - well, some of the coaches anyway. To the right of the picture is the Buxton Mineral Water works, sadly not served by rail at present even though an EWS 'Enterprise' freight trip regularly passes through Buxton.
A quick transfer to the footbridge which carries a footpath between Brown Edge Road and Fairfield Road, to watch the train, ten Mark 1 coaches hauled by 37 419 leading 37 427, attack the climb to Bibbington summit which I believe is a 1 in 60 gradient. The summit, about two miles along from this point, is well over a thousand feet above sea level, actually one of the highest rail summits in England, although this fact gets little publicity, partly because the actual height never seems to have been measured. (Unless any reader knows better.)
The sound of the two 37/4s working was certainly a joy to hear! On the horizon can be seen the folly called Solomon's Temple, Buxton's landmark. The LNWR steam loco shed stood in what is now waste ground to the left of the picture.
Shortly afterwards, seen from the foot of the footbridge steps, 150 145 sets off up the hill on its return journey at 15:35 to Blackpool. Currently most trains are departing Buxton three minutes earlier than usual as part of a plan to mitigate the effects of the leaf-fall season: the National Rail Timetable book makes a complete hash of this information, mentioning it in a vague footnote on the Buxton line Table 86, but not mentioning it at all in Blackpool table 82 which does give departure times from Buxton.
I headed home aboard the 16:35 Buxton - Blackpool: here's the view at leafy Davenport station at 17:20, with a Midland Main Line HST passing, presumably the 14:00 from St Pancras running about 20 minutes late. The rolling stock is slowly getting re-done in MML's ugly new livery (but note the third coach in Virgin red), although there's still little sign of the promised buffet cars.
Special thanks for assistance with this item to Gareth Roberts, mechanical engineer extraordinaire, to John Lancaster, who always has the info on what's happening, and of course to all the railway staff of the Buxton branch which is my lifeline to civilisation.
Other related picture reports on our site:
The Buxton Peaks steam charter, July 2003
Chapel-en-le-Frith: a railway idyll - September 2000
Steam on the Buxton Branch - February 2000
You may also enjoy the North Wales Coast Railway Website