This train is the Southern Service to Uckfield
We are now approaching Buxted
Gooooood morning, YouTube.
Hi, and by morning, I mean afternoon
'cause it's already after midday and gone 12:30
the condition's couldn't be more perfect.
It's raining, which I love.
There's a beeping forklift truck over there.
It's all my favourite things.
My favourite things to do another video in my random series
which is ticking off and visiting every station
I.e. where I go to stations and actually get out at them
so I can tick them off properly on my spreadsheet.
Today I'm on the Oxted line, the Uckfield branch
off where there are six stations that I've never got out at.
Well, one, I kind of, we'll get to that in a second.
So I've got my map and I'll show you where I'm going today.
As we tick them off and my train heading back north.
Cause I don't need to go to Uckfield
So I'm starting today here at Buxted
Buxted by the way, which on the
on the bars and arrow sign out of the front of the station
the front of it is in black in a non railway font.
And when you sort of sneak behind
you can see like the old, proper font in blue.
I do wonder why that's in black and not in blue.
Anyway, Buxted tick, five more to go.
Buxted by the way, really long platforms
with this tiny class 171 train.
There's no way that that full length of that platform
has ever been used in recent times.
Heading on the train,
back up north now towards Hever, at that point onwards,
that's where the track doubles mostly.
Between Hever all the way down to Uckfield
it's all single track with a couple
of passing loops at stations and whatnot put in place.
I just wanna of get out my map just to show you the plan
for today because I've got out at Uckfield before
and I've got out at most of the stations
on the East Grinstead branch.
I'm definitely Edenbridge Town before.
Cause I've walk between Edenbridge and Edenbridge town.
However that leaves Hever, Cowden, Ashurst,
Eridge, Crowborough, and Buxted to do.
Annoyingly, the service pattern here is mostly hourly
but there's a couple of gaps
where there aren't any trains and it's two hourly.
So I've come down to Buxted to tick that one off
I will then go up to Hever wait there, reverse.
Do the classic back and forth thing.
Get the train then down to Crowborough, wait there.
Go back up to Cowden then down to Eridge,
Then one stop back up to Ashurst
going backwards and forwards all the way
and then head back on the train into London.
And that is how I will do the six stops on this branch
(beeping and train sounds)
Hever, tick that one off.
Again, incredibly long platforms.
I'm sure you are already telling me in the YouTube comments
that in the peak they obviously run 10 or 12.
Car trains are not just the old stubby class 171
Four-car trains in the peak.
There is a footbridge it's double tracked.
This is a passing loop, but hang on.
There's also a railway carriage
which we need to investigate.
So quite often you'll find that one of these
has been turned into like a cafe or a library
or something like a local community centre,
but there's nothing. There's no sign here.
There's nothing up that says why this carriage is
next to the car park at Hever station.
The old station building is a beautiful
old station building. It has even a sign
that says The Old Station.
I think it once may have been called Hever Halt,
it's now been turned into a business centre.
There's a few heritage features there.
So this may be linked to the heritage features
but I don't know why it's here
or who owns it or what it's all about.
If you look on the Wikipedia page
for Hever station, nothing is mentioned.
If you know why or who owns or what the purpose is
of this railway carriage at Hever,
please let me know.
(train beeping)
Made it to Crow where quite fortuitously, I seem to
have stumbled upon some building work taking place there
and there, I mean, there's literally a cement mixer turning
over where there are churning up concrete because it
appears that they're adding in a new footbridge
and what very much looks like lifts to me.
So another step free station come to the network
which I kind of knew.
Cuz when we get to Eridge in a second,
I'm gonna talk about how step freeness
and lifts came to that.
But I didn't realise that they were doing it
to Crowborough as well. So a bit of a bonus there.
Lovely old station, great canopy getting step free access.
Well done, Crowborough.
Back on this platform "Come to Crowborough
for the finest outdoor pursuits"
"Come to Crowborough to do a ramble".
I love it.
"Come to Crowborough, the gateway to Ashdown Forest"
There's more.
In Crowborough, it's the lambing season, apparently.
It's- there's a lake in Warren Woods in Crowborough
Rural Rotherfield it's great.
Ashdown Forest again winter birches and
Ashdown Forest again for walking,
I gather Ashdown Forest might be a popular destination.
At this point, I need to put my camera at the dot matrix.
I've just noticed something really annoying.
Earlier, I mentioned that in some parts of the day,
it drops from an hourly service to two hourly.
Not sure why that is.
And then I remember thinking what if they cancel a train
that means you have an even bigger gap in service
and that's exactly what's happened.
So the 16:10 going south from Crowborough,
They're saying it's cancelled
and that the 16:44 is cancelled coming up this way.
Meaning that you've got a three hour gap between trains
And that is gonna muck up my schedule.
And it means I can't.
I mean, I have to,
that's really annoying.
Outside the front of Crowborough station
there's a gorgeous soldier post box there
but there's also this, I love little things like this
a little old plate for Corby Cabs.
Does that still work in big reveals?
That the local area dial code for Crowborough
is obviously 01892 call Corby cars,
65, 36, 18 like a radio advert.
It's just that's so- I love it.
So I'm reading and it seems
that the footbridge here at Crowborough might be
out of use 'cause the new one will just replace it.
So if you- walking footbridges is your thing come
and cross the Crowborough footbridge before,
I don't know will they dismantle it
or they leave it in place? Who knows?
I'm more annoyed about the fact
that there's this cancelled train, 'cause I think it now
means that they're going to have to sail
straight through Eridge and I've gotta
make a decision between Ashurst and
what was it? Cowden?
Annoyingly, if I'd have sort of been
stuck here at Crowborough,
Crowborough's a big town with cafes and shops and bus
connections. The, the other two Cowden and Ashurt
look like little tiny, smaller nothing stations
in the middle of tiny villages.
So I'm gonna get on the train and make a decision.
And I really hope that maybe a later train can,
I dunno, we're gonna find out.
(ding dong)
So due to that cancelled train
I've got no time to stop at Eridge today
but that's okay, because I was actually there a couple
of weeks ago with the official opening
of the lift there to make it a step free station.
If you go to Eridge, it is of course
the destination to travel on the Spa Valley Railway
diesel and steam locos, an absolute treat.
So make sure you get down there at some point.
Yes, that's right, Oxted.
That's where I've come from.
If we look at the map here, I've come all the way up north
because of that cancelled train.
I've been looking at the times and it's just not possible
to fit in both Cowden and Ashurst.
So I whizzed on through fast.
I came through, came here.
I could charge my phone, go to the toilet,
get a drink, all those essential things.
Wait for the cancelled train, going south to not run.
And now I'm getting the next, next train.
And on the way through Ashurst and Cowden
I looked and Cowden looks the most interesting.
That might be something there. Still have to wait an hour
while the sun goes down and it becomes dark.
So I will now go a couple of stops south to Cowden
and then leave on the northbound train, which isn't cancelled
and Ashurst will have to wait for another day.
So it's only four stations ticked off today.
This is much harder than it looks don't.
Don't try and tick off every station in the country.
It's ridiculous.
We are now approaching Cowden.
Trying to remember the last time- what that bird is-
trying to remember the last time there was a station
with the little things that let you
scrape the mud off your shoes.
There's a lot of birds in the trees here.
I suddenly feel like I'm at one with nature.
I know that there are bird people-
Hi- that watch my videos.
Can you tell me what that is?
Just put in the comments there.
(mimics bird)
(birdsong)
I love it. I just dunno what it is.
Let me know what it is. Thanks.
So I'm at Cowden.
I'm having a bit of a moment, YouTube.
Do you know that it is well written
and documented that if you're feeling sort of anxious
or depressed or having a hard time, the most
simple advice that medical professionals will give you-
I'm being real serious- is to sort of get out.
Did you know this? Get out into the countryside
and just sort of enjoy being outside a little bit of nature.
And I feel like I'm experiencing that here with the trees.
I feel like I'm in some woods
there's so many birds in the trees
and it's very quiet and it's very still, I'm all by myself.
And this is what I really like about train travel.
Like I know I'm just doing this weird thing
of just like ticking off stations
and getting out at them, you know, for what purpose?
Well for this purpose
'cause I've come to like a random station
to which I would've never have come to otherwise.
And I'm just really enjoying being here by myself
It's melodramatic, right? But it's true.
I'm loving it.
Cowden a great place to come, if you just want a bit
of peace and quiet and solitude.
(birds singing)
(train passing by)
For our closing shot, my two favourite things in the world.
One is a bin bag just there.
And secondly, it's the colour.
Look at the blue, this light here, this time
of day coming up on six o'clock just
as the sun is setting and the light is fading for the day.
That was the 17:53 heading south towards Uckfield
It'll cross over at Ashurst
the one station which I didn't manage to tick off today.
And my train is currently there coming northbound.
It'll pick me up here at six o'clock
and take me north towards London.
So I will have to come back one day to the Uckfield branch.
In fact, here it is now to tick off that station.
This is my train to take me home.
Thanks for joining me, press subscribe, bye.