(phone alarm rings)
(light switch clicks)
(drapes clatter)
(door clicks)
(papers shuffle)
(door clicks)
(elevator button beeps)
(elevator door swooshes)
[Automated Elevator Voice] Going down.
It's a...
[Automated Elevator Voice] Doors closing.
It really seems like my Request Stop Map
knows that there are some Request Stops nearby.
Should I be looking in the mirror or at the lens?
Level five.
Lens.
(traffic noise)
Yeah, I came up to Glasgow yesterday.
Video here in the corner if you've not seen it.
And rather than go straight back home to London,
I figured I'd stay over one night,
because at this end of the country,
in the amazing, beautiful Cumbria,
there's some more Request Stops I need to tick off.
(traffic noise)
So I need to go to Carlisle.
I'm gonna get the 10:40 on this Pendolino,
go one stop and pick up a Rover Ranger ticket,
a Cumbria Ranger ticket at Carlisle.
(paper crackles)
So here's my map, which I printed out in paper.
But let's drop to the on-screen graphic
and we'll dissect it there, that way, instead.
Here's the map of the Cumbrian Coast line.
And to travel today,
I've got a Cumbrian Coast Day Ranger ticket,
which gives you unlimited travel on the stations
between Cumbria all the way down to Barrow.
Note that this isn't the same as a Cumbria Round Robin
or a Cumbria Day Ranger, those tickets cover larger areas.
And I'm looking at ticking off Drigg, Bootle, Silecroft
and Green Road, four Request Stops,
and maybe Kirkby-in-Furness too if there's time.
If not, I'll have to come back
and grab that along with Flimby and Parton some other time.
(train engine roaring)
(door whooshes)
Sun's out.
Welcome to Cumbria (laughs).
Welcome to Green Road.
There is a level crossing.
Tick this one off, this is the first of four,
so we're bouncing back and forth.
There's quite a few things,
there's shelter, ticket machine, murals, community garden.
So a few shots of Green Road and we'll then head back north.
And it's just worth saying that,
definitely, in the wake of all the stations,
there was always a feeling that
the best parts of the country were always,
A, Devon and Cornwall,
B, anywhere in Wales,
C, anywhere in Scotland,
and add to that list Cumbria and this line in particular.
The scenes, the beaches, and out across the water, anywhere,
as the railway line literally hugs the coast,
just stunning and scenic.
So you should come out for a day on this line.
The DMI on this side,
the train is going to Barrow-in-Furness,
but it says, well, two things.
One, it says "Furn" rather than "Furness".
Why is it truncated?
And also, I think the "I" should be not capitalised.
And also, shouldn't it be dash?
So Barrow-in-Furness?
(tractor engine roaring)
I was gonna say let's ring the phone,
but there's no dialling tone and it doesn't work, so.
It clearly says "Northern", with the old logo,
"Green Road Railway Station" and a phone number
that doesn't work and no dialling tone.
So Northern, this phone doesn't work.
(telephone clicks)
And as I wait for the crossing to come down,
ooh, bird feeder, just seeing that,
on this platform to go back any second,
I've just noticed how there's an old-style sign
here, but it's in the green.
The Green Road sign should be up there
and it's slipped and fallen and is down.
It's a shame that it's not in its rightful place.
Right, time to maintain clear.
Train should be coming in a few minutes' time.
(train rattles)
[Automated Train Voice] This is the
Northern service to Carlisle.
I hope I will see you again.
Thank you. Look after yourself.
Thank you.
Welcome to Drigg.
I don't know whether to get a shot of the train leaving
or the manual crossing.
There's a manual crossing at Drigg!
'Cause when we were on all the stations, 2017,
was it Brundall?
It was either Brundall or the Brundall Gardens,
I can't remember which one of the two it is,
up on the railway lines out of, uh,
going to Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
But that whole section of line had a lot of manual gates,
and they've all now been replaced by Network Rail.
Well done, Network Rail, working hard.
And I didn't know how many
other manual crossings got left in the country.
(gate clicks close)
I'm having a great day.
A bit of a gem of a discovery,
what's clearly the old station house
on the southbound platform at Drigg,
is now Spindle Craft.
What's clearly the old station house
is now a craft and coffee shop.
So I just spoke to the lovely proprietor,
I got myself a cup of coffee, a cake,
and it's like a craft shop, but there was a book section
and picked up myself a copy of
(paper crackles)
"Cumbria's Lost Railways".
So that, I'll be reading on the train home tonight.
(gate squeaks)
I do like a station with a gate.
I also like a station with a Harrington Hump.
You should know, I passed through Harrington
on the way down this morning.
When I do the northern part of this line, at some point,
to tick off the other two Request Stops up there,
I'll also make a fuss of going to Harrington
and the original Harrington Hump.
I also like a station with a ticket machine and a shelter.
I don't like a station
which has, I just wish.
Do you remember, let bin bags breathe?
And these don't do that,
although I know they're better.
All right, the delightful Drigg.
It really is exceedingly cute and quaint.
And my train is in about 8:50.
(train clacking)
I just realised, just talked to the nice person
that works the manual gate.
How many crossings are there where somebody comes out
and manually operates it, would you reckon?
Without signals?
Yeah.
So you've got some bees here.
I said, "How many gates are there?"
and he said, "Lots."
(laughs) Oh.
Silecroft bought these barriers.
Barriers, yeah.
They're gonna get a definitive answer from him in a second.
Yeah, you're about the eight mark.
About the eight mark.
Dude, thank you so much.
Have a great day. But how many are there left in total?
Will we ever get rid of all the manual crossing gates?
Network Rail, do you wanna make a video about
getting rid of manual crossing gates?
What happens to the staff?
What happens to the people that work
the manual crossing gates?
Do they end up...
What happens?
Do they get displaced?
How does that happen?
Let's do a video on that.
(train screeches)
[Automated Train Voice] This is the Northern service
to Barrow-in-Furness.
(train screeches)
Silecroft.
And is it a manual gate?
There's a signal box.
Oh, it's...
Oh, I've missed it, it's an automatic gate.
Silecroft, tick.
(car engine roars)
Made it to Silecroft.
There's a bars-and-arrow, like double-bars-and-arrows,
which I don't think the other two stations had, did they?
Let's have a quick recap
as to where we are with the map.
The map should be on-screen now.
You can see the three I've done.
One more to do, we're doing the classic
bounce back and forth.
Maps are great, right?
I do love putting in a map on my videos,
especially on these Request Stop videos
where I'm bouncing back all over the place,
'cause it makes it easier to visualise where I'm going.
And some people do ask me how I draw my maps.
I draw them using a vector-based design programme.
There are several out there for you to choose from,
but then you have to learn how to use it.
And one of the best ways to learn programmes to draw maps
is with an online course,
and that's why this video is sponsored by Skillshare.
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(train alarm beeping)
(train screeches)
Hang on, semaphore signal and a manual crossing gate?
Oh boy.
So I've come in, and within five minutes,
there was a train going back south,
which I could catch, but weirdly,
this is the time of day where it goes
from being an hourly service to a half-hourly service
and it's like an infield, maybe like to pick up workers
from Sellafield, perhaps, maybe, I don't know.
So I'm gonna let this one go
and then get the one in about half an hour,
and that will still get me to Lancaster for 7:00,
in time to catch my train home.
Manual crossing gate, signal box, semaphore signal,
a delightful station building
and a waiting shelter on this side.
Bootle is nice.
There's a Double Arrow as well.
This is almost as quaint as Drigg,
but I think Drigg is still winning the quaint quota,
which is now a phrase, apparently.
(train screeches)
There's the crossing, and there's the crossing sign,
and there's a sign to the beach.
(birds chirping)
(sneakers squeaking)
So there's a station cottage here,
very much the original station house.
It's got a bike rack, it's got a magnificent waiting shelter
on that side, as well as the private residence this side.
Oh, look, imagine if that, is that their back door?
And that back door comes out onto the station.
If they wanna catch the train,
they just climb the fence, don't they?
They don't look around.
(train engine roaring)
Did that slip down?
(laughs) Very annoying.
There we go.
I'm in the waiting shelter on the northbound platform.
And that brings us to the end,
so that's four more Request Stops to tick off.
So one, my amazing Request Stop Map, link below,
which you can download, which again,
I drew and designed at home.
If you want to learn how to draw and design
and have those skills,
there is a link to Skillshare also in my description.
Thank you to Skillshare for sponsoring this video.
That is it, that is more Request Stops,
slowly getting around them all.
I'll have to come back and do Kirkby-in-Furness
and then the two up towards Cumbria some other day.
So Cumbria, I will be back.
I love this line.
All the staff have been very friendly.
Northern, you've got some great drivers
and guards conductors on the line out here.
I love it so much.
Do come and visit.
Also, don't forget Netherstone, Breystone,
sorry, Nethertown.
Breystones was a whole separate video
that Vicki and I once did for "Least Used - Cumbria".
Check that out as well.
That's it, I'm just waffling now,
but it's just, it's so nice here.
Okay, thanks, press Subscribe.
See you next time.
[Automated Train Voice] This is the Northern service
to Barrow-in-Furness.
The next stop is Silecroft.