The two railway viaducts at Monmouth. That in the foreground was on the Wye Valley line from Monmouth Troy to Chepstow (via Tintern), while the bowstring viaduct in the distance was on the Ross & Monmouth Railway, which linked the two towns in its title. The latter viaduct is now used as a railway path between the sites of Monmouth Troy and May Hill stations. (Ralph Rawlinson)
Larpool Viaduct, near Whitby, on the former railway line from Whitby (West Cliff) to Scarborough. This magnificent structure is now open to the public as part of the railway path from Whitby to Scarborough. For further details, see entry for November 2000 on the News pages. (Richard Martin)
It’s a long way down! This is the view from the parapet of Larpool Viaduct, which is 120 ft high, 915ft long, and stands on 13 arches. The railway line in the distance is the still operational branch from Middlesbrough to Whitby. (Richard Martin)
The northern portal of Paxton Tunnel on the Crystal Palace High Level branch, photographed on Saturday 23 June 2001. This branch of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway started at Nunhead (on the line from Victoria to Bromley South), but closed on 20 September 1954. Despite the early closure, a high proportion of the trackbed can still be traced. The subdued lighting is the result of the luxuriant growth of trees along the railway margins. (Tom Scott)
A view from Thame towards Princes Risborough along the new Phoenix Trail, which was opened officially on Wednesday 20 June 2001. This trail re-uses part of the former GWR line from Princes Risborough to Oxford, and is of particular interest to members of Railway Ramblers, since the club provided the grant which paid for the purchase of the trackbed, and the legal conveyancing. (Sustrans Ltd)
A close up of the Phoenix Trail information board, seen in the right of the previous picture. The club’s logo is second from the left at the bottom, but unfortunately, our apple green does not show up very well compared with the bolder colours used in the logos of the other organisations which supported the scheme. We will have to consider darkening our logo by a few shades! (Sustrans Ltd)
Miraculously, Belah signal box on the former trans-Pennine route between Barnard Castle and Kirby Stephen still stands, although it has clearly seen better days. Shortly beyond the signal box, this once busy freight line soared above the valley of the River Belah on a towering wrought iron viaduct, but that was dismantled for scrap shortly after closure in 1962. 19 August 2000. (Richard Lewis)