Favourite Station
 

Do any of you chaps have a favourite station, one where you'd quite happily spend a whole day or two?

Mine is Kingscote on the Bluebell, a superb country Southern station and I like its quietness. It can be better when it ceases it's end-of-line status, which I am looking forward to. The buildings are wonderful in their interesting and sculpted architecture, the greenery and general ambience are superb and the still working adjacent timber yard give an air of quiet purpose to the loading dock are, even if they are no longer in commercial use.

Second is Isfield on the Lavender line for it hotch-potch-ness, if that's a word!

Bury Bolton Street for me. Trains pottering about during the day, then a real ale bar on the platform for the night. What more could you want?

I like Horstead Keynes, Loughborough, and Medstead & Four Marks, but they all have to be visited out of peak times to avoid the crowds and achieve the full spooky time-warp feeling.

I am quite partial to Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland. Beautiful mountain scenery and great food and drink in the station buffet. The melodic jingle of cowbells ensure that even between trains there's never a quiet moment.

The bridge at Loughborough seems to be very popular with photographers, since its so low, though I wish they would extend the platforms. Ive always wondered whats the deal with the deserted platforms that appear after the 'little tunnel' on the Southern side of the station.

My favourite stations would be the following Wassen(on the Gotthard), Spiez or Olten.
All give plenty of variety and the last two have restaurants and good beer.

In England I would probably go for Appleby (Friendly people) or Hellifield (Good Bacon or Sausage butties):

Swinton Manchester.

It has no redeaming features. It generally smells of urine and is served by two trains an hour - pacers or sprinters. It has a booking office that is open until early afternoon. It's had two major upgrades since opening, the first was an electric lightbulb, the seccond was a chip-and-pin reader that generally dislikes my Visa. The GMPTE have put a bus stop sign outside and have then had the gall to label it an "interchange".

I love it though, purely cause it was the first railway station I ever stood foot on. It's my roots. So yeah.

:p

Ooh, so far it would have to be a toss up between York and Shrewsbury!

Grosmont. Not actually on the station you understand, but sat outside that pub next to the level crossing. A pint of guinness and plenty of locomotive movement in and out of the station. A great way to spend a few hours.

Ropley on the Mid Hants and Horsted Keynes on the Bluebell are great favourites for me.