I decided to travel to the Buxton branch via Crewe, involving a change at Crewe. The view below shows platform 5 looking north as I waited for the Euston-Piccadilly Virgin service. Down Manchester trains from London normally cross to platform 5 at Crewe South Junction so as to avoid conflicts with other routes at Crewe North Junction as they depart on the Manchester line.
Crewe: View from platform 5 looking north (Buxton by rail).
At Stockport, I changed again, catching the usual superannuated 'Northern Rail' diesel multiple unit from platform 0 which noisily ground its way up the hills to Dove Holes.
Stockport platform 0 looking south, showing 'OFF' and 'RA' indicators for Stockport No. 1 signal box signal 23 (Buxton by rail).
Dove Holes, looking north towards Stockport (Buxton by rail).
These were the published timings of the trains I used:-
| Wolverhampton-Dove Holes-Buxton | Arrive | Depart |
| Wolverhampton | 09:20 | |
| Crewe | 09:55 | 10:12 |
| Stockport | 10:36 | 11:02 |
| Dove Holes | 11:41 | 13:41 |
| Buxton | 13:49 |
Not knowing how long my meeting would last, going on from Dove Holes to Buxton was only an aspiration. Trains stop at Dove Holes every two hours but I was lucky and, following my meeting, managed to get the 13:41 to Buxton.
Dove Holes, waiting for the 13:41 to Buxton: Looking north towards Stockport, as the 13:40 departs for Manchester (Buxton by rail).
Buxton was always special from the railway point of view, not least for the two parallel stone-built terminal stations, one Midland Railway the other London and North Western Railway with twin train sheds provided with imposing gable end walls featuring massive fan windows. Each railway provided its own extensive freight and locomotive facilities and complex junctions joined the various routes. Gary Dixon has shared this early track plan:-
Old Track Plan of Buxton (Shared by Gary Dixon)
Click here for larger size
When I was young, the railways at Buxton were still impressive but are now a pale shadow of what once was there. Sadly, the Midland station has been closed, demolished and the land redeveloped. Peak Rail was set up with the aspiration of re-instating the Midland route to Buxton as a tourist line and preservation activities were originally conducted from part of the old Midland station yard. Before I became a member at Peak Rail, I remember the 'steam shuttle' operating on a short demonstration line at Buxton.
Peak Rail 'steam shuttle' at Buxton
But, stymied by the removal of the original bridge over the road just outside the station it was decided that Peak Rail activities would be transferred to the Matlock end of the route. I've been a driver at Peak Rail for some years now and there are a number of posts in this blog with the label Peak Rail.
So, after my short journey from Dove Holes, my train arrived at the remaining, former L&NWR station, now shorn of its overall roof but retaining the magnificent gable end wall and fan window, with the name of the original owning company incised in the stonework.
The LNWR station building at Buxton which originally faced a similar Midland building (Buxton by rail).
7mm/ft scale model of the now-demolished Midland station, on display in the remaining (LNWR) station.
Buxton is full of impressive stone-built edifices befitting its history as a popular Spa Town. I went as far as the elegant Buxton Crescent, currently undergoing major restoration work.
Buxton Crescent under restoration. The building on the left is the pump room (Buxton by rail).
The Pump Room now doubles as a tourist information bureau.
The Pump Room, Buxton (Buxton by rail).
I would have liked to spent longer in Buxton but my walking is not brilliant and I decided to walk back to the station and travel back to Stockport on the 14:34 from Buxton.
Buxton Station looking quite important with three DMU side-by-side (Buxton by rail).
Network Rail were in the final stages of completing an extension to sidings on a disused council trip to allow DB Cargo and Freightliner to increase the length of stone trains working through Buxton from 18 to 26 wagons, giving 2,500 tonnes trains. I believe the sidings were brought into use shortly after my visit.
Almost-complete siding extension at Buxton (Buxton by Rail)
Another view of the siding extension works at Buxton (Buxton by Rail)
At Stockport, I changed trains, taking a Cross Country 'Voyager' via Stoke back to Wolverhampton. As is often the case, the train was packed with commuters mainly travelling from Manchester as far as Macclesfield but, luckily, I managed to secure a seat at Stockport. But it's rarely a very pleasant passenger experience on the overcrowded trains which Train Operating Companies love to run.
These were the published timings of the trains I used on my return journey:-
| Buxton-Wolverhapton | Arrive | Depart |
| Buxton | 14:34 | |
| Stockport | 15:20 | 15:36 |
| Wolverhampton | 16:39 |
References
You can find detailed signal box diagrams for the routes I used as they were back in steam days in the excellent series of publications from the Signalling Record Society 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.
If you want to see what remains of the routes today, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition (or preferably later), published by Trackmaps.
Related Posts on this Website
The following post describes a trip on the Buxton Branch as far as Dove Holes in 2013:-
The Buxton Branch
My pictures
I'm sorry, taking pictures in a modern train often gives poor results. Where necessary, clicking on an image above will display an 'uncropped' view or, alternately, pictures may be selected, viewed or downloaded, in various sizes, from the albums below:-
Buxton by Rail
Pictures from this album have been divided and added to various albums each covering a roughly-defined geographical area. Within each of these albums, photographs are normally arranged by date taken. Thus, by searching through the appropriate album, you can find changes through time. My trip to Buxton added pictures to a number of albums as I moved through various areas.
Railway pictures:
West Midland Railways (Wolverhampton).
Stafford Area rail.
Crewe Area rail.
Buxton Branch (Trips in 2013 and 2019).
Manchester Area Rail.
Buxton Town:
Buxton.
