Station's Between Reading Didcot

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Many years ago when I first started showing photos on Geograph I took photos of my local station at Cholsey thinking it needed recording fro the future. Roll on around ten years and it was lucky I did because electrification came through and all the stations changed. I also decided to visit all the local village stations at Goring, Pangbourne and Tilehurst which was the last one I got to and just in time to get photos of the old Victorian Foot Bridge before it was demolished. I will start at Tilehurst and show what it looked like before electrification and how the stations looked after the electrification

I had intended to visit Tilehurst for a while but by the time I visited I found the old Victorian Loading shed had been removed and a new footbridge was in its place and nearly finished. The first photo by Ben Brooksbank shows the station looking down from the old footbridge, the second by Chris Wood a little further along shows platform one and the loading shed a bit further along. The third by Graham Horn shows the loading shed. The photos after that show the platforms and old and new footbridges

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SU6775 : Down Hereford express passing Tilehurst station by Ben Brooksbank SU6775 : Tilehurst Railway Station, Reading by Chris Wood SU6775 : Tilehurst station by Graham Horn SU6775 : Tilehurst Station by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Platform one by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Platforms One & Two by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : End of Platform two by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Back along the platform by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Platform Three by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Waiting room on Platform Four by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Sign on the canopy by Bill Nicholls

The reason I visited was to get a photo of the old original footbridge before it was removed two stations in the section have footbridges

SU6775 : Footbridge to Platform One by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : On borrowed time by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Steps on the platform by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : The Old Bridge by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : View of the Footbridge by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Steps on the Platform by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Steps to two & three by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Walkway over the Railway by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Steps to the bridge by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Please close the gate by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Platform Four by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Footbridge from Platform Four by Bill Nicholls

The new bridge was well on the way to be completed

SU6775 : New bridge at the Station by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Fencing round the bridge by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : The New Bridge by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : Local line to the New Bridge by Bill Nicholls SU6775 : From the old to the new by Bill Nicholls

SU6775 : Tilehurst railway station, Berkshire by Nigel Thompson

Pangbourne station has a tunnel running under the lines that is virtually unchanged from the time it was built. The one thing I noticed was there was no platform on the fast line but I have since found out that there used to be and the first two of Ben Brooksbanks photos below tends to back this up. Also if you look at the approach to the tunnel entrance in 6th photo you can see there was a platform there.

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SU6376 : Approach to the station by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Pangbourne station by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Stairs to the tunnel by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Tunnel under the platforms by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Subway, Pangbourne Station by Rich Tea SU6376 : Footpath, Pangbourne Station by Rich Tea SU6376 : Road by the embankment by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Stairs to platform one by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Platform one by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Canopy over the stairwell by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Platforms one and two by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Along platform one by Bill Nicholls

The fast line with the platforms showing in Ben Brooksbanks photos and in the later ones you can make out the area the platforms were. The wall was built to block off the access but you can see there is a larger gap between the line and where the platform was compared to the platforms used now

SU6376 : Dean Goods 0-6-0 running down through Pangbourne station by Ben Brooksbank SU6376 : Paddington - Oxford semi-fast entering Pangbourne by Ben Brooksbank SU6376 : Railway lines, Pangbourne Station by Rich Tea SU6376 : Fast lines through the station by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Looking out the station by Bill Nicholls SU6376 : Looking towards Tielhurst by Bill Nicholls

I have not been back to get photos of the stations with the electrification in place but Peter Trimmings and Nigel Thomson have. I will get down there one of these days

SU6376 : Pangbourne Railway Station by Peter Trimming SU6376 : Pangbourne Railway Station by Peter Trimming SU6376 : Pangbourne railway station, Oxfordshire by Nigel Thompson

Next along the line is Goring Station and I took a few photos before the place changed back in 2009. The only real change to then was the removal of building on platform one when the 125's started running on the line

1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright

SU6080 : Goring & Streatley station, 1994 by Ben Brooksbank SU6080 : Goring Station by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Waiting room by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Under the canopy by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Looking back up the line by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Looking over the line by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Looking at Platform 4 by Bill Nicholls

the views up and down the line I doubt have changed much either
SU6080 : Goring & Streatley station, with cross-country express, 1964 by Ben Brooksbank SU6080 : Coming down the fast line by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Bridge in the distance by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Line to Reading by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Train is long gone by Bill Nicholls

But it was the old Victorian over bridge I wanted to record. Either around that time the did some restoration work on it but this was to no avail because electrification was coming and the old bridge was torn down which I found out one was in 2015. Since then I had not been back to update my photos
SU6080 : Footbridge over the line by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Over the footbridge by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Bricks on the Platform by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : End of the footbridge by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Stairs in the middle by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Stairs to the platforms by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Insulator out the window by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : The Far Side by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Changing Face of Goring Station by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Demolition on the Platform by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Making Way by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Part of the Old Bridge by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : The Central Section by Bill Nicholls SU6080 : Working on the Bridge by Bill Nicholls

Lucky Chris Wood and Nigel Thomson both have taken some of what has changed
SU6080 : Goring and Streatley railway station, Goring, Oxfordshire by Chris Wood SU6080 : Goring and Streatley railway station, Goring, Oxfordshire by Chris Wood SU6080 : Goring & Streatley railway station, Oxfordshire by Nigel Thompson

The next station in the article is that of Cholsey one I have watched change over the years and the first one I covered when I started with Geograph.
Cholsey station is another with a tunnel running under the railway lines for people to access the platforms. There used to be a side entrance where people with prams or wheelchairs could go and be escorted across the railway lines, unfortunately too many people were killed while crossing unattended not only here but other stations so it was closed. Cholsey also used to have a branch line that ran to Wallingford that is locally called the Bunk Line but that was closed back in 1961 under Beeching. the line is now a preserved railway operated by Cholsey & Wallingfrod Railway.

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SU5886 : Wallingford branch auto-train at Cholsey & Moulsford Station by Ben Brooksbank SU6089 : Wallingford Station, with auto-train and (detached) 0-4-2T by Ben Brooksbank SU5886 : Welcome to Cholsey by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Bricked up by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Platforms This Way by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Tunnel uncovered by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Newly painted by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Missing from Platform 3 by Bill Nicholls SU5885 : Great Western Railway at Cholsey Station by Philip Halling SU5886 : Platforms four & three by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : When did that appear? by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : New and old by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Platform 3 & 4 by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Waiting for the train by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Platform 2 by Bill Nicholls SU5885 : Under Silly Bridge by Bill Nicholls

In 2015 the Electrification of the main line came through Cholsey and everything changed and not for the good of the looks of the station either

SU5886 : Welcome to Cholsey by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Line of lampposts by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Platform two by Bill Nicholls SU5885 : Clear Skies by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Barriers on the lampposts by Bill Nicholls SU5886 : Waiting for the train by Bill Nicholls

I have decided to finish this article here because the next station along the line is Didcot and a bit like Reading I think I could write an article on it alone


KML
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