Digging through old photos and negatives I found a handful of images taken one rainy day in the summer of 1996 (IIRC) at Manobier and Pembroke Dock station...
With the passing of time I have little recollection of their purpose, other than my general interest in trains. What they show is the general decline in service and a view typical of the period at many country stations. Weeds, rationalised track arrangements, extensive former goods yards - all before being sold off for housing developments and retail parks. Annotated with what little I can remember, perhaps they may be of interest or use to somebody, somewhere.
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| Manobier from the level crossing, summer 1996 (IIRC). The former station now a private dwelling / holiday home undergoing some renovation. Quite why I chose to take photos on such a drab and wet day is lost in the sands of time. James Hilton photo. |
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| Pembroke Dock, summer 1996, looking towards Pembroke and the line beyond to Swansea, Cardiff and the rest of the world. The track is poorly maintained and full of weeds and rubbish, lacking much ballast! Yet IIRC High Speed Trains still served the branch on summer Saturdays! James Hilton photo. |
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| The station at Pembroke Dock, summer 1996, I don't recall how much of it was still serving as a station - certainly I don't remember there being any staff there when I visited - but it may well have been a Sunday. Here the ISO400 film is struggling with the light and dark and my poor camera imparts both light bleed. James Hilton photo. |
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| The end of the line at Pembroke Dock - the dock branch used to continue between the two houses across the road and through the back gardens and passage through to the military base on Milford Haven. To the right was an abandoned and overgrown waste ground, the former goods yard, but the second platform was still extant and the run round loop in place. Circa summer 1996, James Hilton photo. |
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The rather sad state of affairs matches the look we had here is the US during the early days of Amtrak.
ReplyDeleteThe loop was removed in 2015 I think, and here a HST visits shortly after: https://flic.kr/p/JXgkkt
DeleteToday the IEP Class 800s visit in the summer - but I'm not sure if the station has seen any paint since my visit in 1996! https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/53181/pembroke-dock-new-inter-city-express-train-rolls-into-town/
A single track (now) terminus prototype that received HST units yet is dilapidated and overgrown enough to provide lots of scenic interest - if that's not inspiring fodder for a small (though perhaps long) shelf cameo layout, I don't know what is.
DeleteYes James and if it’s a shelf based cameo, why model the whole HST!
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