Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

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Chico1968
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Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by Chico1968 »

A recent slide purchase,this is 42196 at Ardrossan South Beach station during a RCTS / SLS Scottish Rail tour on 22.06.62Image42196 Ardrossan South Beach station / RCTS / SLS Scottish Rail tour 22.06.62 by Charles Gordon, on Flickr
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by 0802 »

Is that a bridge at the far end of the platform?

I take it that took you to the plantation.
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by down south »

Yes, that's right, 0802. It was reached at the other end by a lane beside St Andrew's Church , between it and the burn; now I see built over by a new house. The bridge was taken away in the early 1970s.

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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by 0802 »

down south wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 4:36 pm Yes, that's right, 0802. It was reached at the other end by a lane beside St Andrew's Church , between it and the burn; now I see built over by a new house. The bridge was taken away in the early 1970s.

Susan
Interesting. How was the platform on the other side accessed? Was it connected to the same bridge at the far end?
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by Retsum »

Further down from the train there was a wooden foot crossing. That is, the wood was inserted between the rails. It was always a good idea to check if anything was coming before using it!
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by down south »

Yes, 0802, the bridge was sited on the platform on both sides. There was access on the plantation side to the lane that leads from Bute Terrace to the plantation. But that, and the lane on the other side, were closed off from the station platform in the mid 60s and the bridge became a purely internal one to the station; no doubt too many people had been sneaking on to the trains without paying.

Here's a close-up view of the bridge, showing its metal latticework :

Station bridge 1950s.JPG
Station bridge 1950s.JPG (15.21 KiB) Viewed 8773 times

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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by 0802 »

Thank you both for the insight. I cant recall the other platform being in use? I’m (only!)35 the single use platform seems to have been around most of my days..
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by Penny Tray »

Retsum wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:10 pm Further down from the train there was a wooden foot crossing. That is, the wood was inserted between the rails. It was always a good idea to check if anything was coming before using it!
Retsum,

That was a crossing point intended for use only by station staff when wheeling freight between platforms, but which resulted in numerous commuters being charged by the British Transport Police for trespassing on the railway line. The situation was complicated by an adjacent notice instructing people to "always to use the footbridge" which really meant they should climb one set of stairs on to South Beach Road, cross the road bridge, and descend by the opposite set of stairs.

The situation caught many people out because human nature being what it is, the most direct route between platforms was too much of a temptation, and the notice complicated things.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
Chico1968
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by Chico1968 »

Cracking picture Susan,many thanks.
down south wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:12 pm Yes, 0802, the bridge was sited on the platform on both sides. There was access on the plantation side to the lane that leads from Bute Terrace to the plantation. But that, and the lane on the other side, were closed off from the station platform in the mid 60s and the bridge became a purely internal one to the station; no doubt too many people had been sneaking on to the trains without paying.

Here's a close-up view of the bridge, showing its metal latticework :


Station bridge 1950s.JPG


Susan
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Re: Ardrossan South beach Station Scottish Railtour visit 22/6/62

Post by Chico1968 »

Many thanks for the info Penny.
Penny Tray wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:15 pm
Retsum wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:10 pm Further down from the train there was a wooden foot crossing. That is, the wood was inserted between the rails. It was always a good idea to check if anything was coming before using it!
Retsum,

That was a crossing point intended for use only by station staff when wheeling freight between platforms, but which resulted in numerous commuters being charged by the British Transport Police for trespassing on the railway line. The situation was complicated by an adjacent notice instructing people to "always to use the footbridge" which really meant they should climb one set of stairs on to South Beach Road, cross the road bridge, and descend by the opposite set of stairs.

The situation caught many people out because human nature being what it is, the most direct route between platforms was too much of a temptation, and the notice complicated things.
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