Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm seeing pictures on my Facebook feed of an old station site in Wiltshire. Lovely to see - but please if you are taking such pictures, please be safe, please follow the rules which are there to keep everyone - including you the photographer - safe. i really don't want to be writing your obituary here.

This post is not directed at any current Coffee Shop members - it's posted here as a permanent reminder to everyone, and as a link I can use when writing elsewhere. But never the less it's a reminder to us all:
   * to be safe
   * to act in such a way that others feel safe
   * to set a good example to others


The warning could be worldwide - picture from New Zealand but same message for the UK - let's look at what you can and can't (legally) do in the UK ...

Network Rail's website includes a couple of links - neither of which really addresses taking pictures of old station sites on still operational lines. However, quoting here as they are useful background.

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/delays-explained/vandalism-and-trespass/
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/railway-enthusiasts/railway-enthusiasts-and-photography-at-stations/

Update - Using drones to reach places you cannot go yourself. NO - not if it's at all close to the railway.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/safety-in-the-community/drone-safety-law-unmanned-aircraft-vehiclesuavs/

* Yes, you may take pictures from public areas of the railway - platforms, footbridges, subways (not that you'll see much from a subway), etc.  At a staffed station, please let the station team (duty manager if the stations's big enough to have one) know. Please do not do anything that will get in the way or be dangerous - blocking walkways, being near the edge of the platform, and do not use flash photography - especially (but not limited to) when photographing trains. 

* No, you may not stray off the public areas to take pictures elsewhere from the railway land.  You may not think it dangerous, but you may not be aware of the dangers - the rotten cover on the old cesspit, the old rail waiting to trip you up, the train that's running through the site and coasting so you don't hear it until it's literally on top of you.

* And of course you may take pictures from public places which have a view of the railway - overbridges, footpaths, views across the valley, etc.  Even there, be careful.  Imagine ... an overbridge on a quiet lane, train approaches and you take a picture and dash across the road to take a picture of it from the other side; sadly, the lane may be quiet but as you dash across the road, a car comes along ...

* Footnote 1 - care on public level crossings, especially on foot crossings with just fixed signs.  "Stop, look, listen, then cross quickly but not rushed when you are sure it is safe" is good advise.  And that advise does not include allowing time to stop, pick daisies or take photographs.

* Footnote 2 - some old stations on working lines have been demolished.  At others, station building have been sold off and are now may be a business or a private residence.  Please respect the business / owner's privacy - do not go trampling through their garden, just as you would not want people wandering around your own garden at home.  Nothing to stop you seeking permission and it may be granted, but bear in mind that whilst it may be your first visit, the owner will probably have had many, many others asking him in the past.

Finally, a recommendation to take a look at the excellent http://www.disused-stations.org.uk - Disused Stations - which included a huge number of pictures and data from up and down the country, with links to sources and groups who can help you in your quest to record history in a legal, decent, honest and safe way.

Sometimes, you might have be picture appears to be taken from a dangerous location, but are safe ("legal decent and honest"). I'm thinking, for example, of pictures taken during the very occasional special tours and at open days. If you're publishing such a picture in a context where the exceptional nature and safety of it's taking aren't obvious, please include a footnote / explanation with your post.

Disclaimer - I am not a legal or safety expert; the above is written to the best of my knoweldge and you should check authoritatve sources if in any doubt. Please let me know of any issues you feel I should add or clarify so that I can get back and clarigy this article too.  I know I won't be popular with certain parties who feel that they're above the law and that they were only on the tracks "for a couple of minutes" - but if I reach even a handful of people and make them think safe I will be happy and can take the flack from those parties.

Here are five pictures of closed stations on open lines - all in Wiltshire, all my pictures, all taken in accordance with the above guidelines.  Not the best pictures - but then I'm not one who spends much time recording closed stations.   How many can you identify?

1.
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/fpx_1.jpg)

2. Lacock - Bmblbzzz
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/fpx_2.jpg)

3. Corsham - Martyjon
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/fpx_3.jpg)

4. Wilton South - Rogerw
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/fpx_4.jpg)

5.
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/fpx_5.jpg)

Edit to add identities and identifier as they're worked out.

I think 2 is Lacock and 1 might be Wootton Bassett.

3. Is no.3 Corsham ?

No. 2 in indeed Lacock and No. 3 is Corsham.  No. 1 isn't [Royal] Wootton Bassett though.

4 looks to be Swindon's "other station" - Swindon Town

Hmm ... not looked around there very much.   Sorry, no, it isn't.

4 is Dinton.

Is it called that, or is that one stop along?  I call it "Wilton South"

Wilton South it is.  The problem of having adjacent stations designed by the same architect  :-[

To complete ... No. 5 is Staverton and No. 1 is Salsibury (Fisherton Street GWR station, now SWR Depot)

I have updated the 'lead' article on this thread to add a comment about drones - which you CANNOT use to access the places you're not allowed to go to because you would be trespassing!

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/safety-in-the-community/drone-safety-law-unmanned-aircraft-vehiclesuavs/

Further comment from a members only area:

From the Bournemouth Echo (https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/17523728.drone-spotted-being-flown-over-swanage-railway/) - a slightly different drone story

And another, from Gizmodo (https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2019/04/irritating-drone-owners-warned-to-keep-their-toys-away-from-trains-too/)

Here's the NR press release (https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/network-rail-and-british-transport-police-issue-warning-to-drone-pilots-following-incident-in-surrey#) behind that.