It's Saturday ... the 2nd ... of March
hello March!
i'm on my way to parkrun this morning, but somtimes before you do a parkrun you just need to squeeze in
a quick least used station
and what i'm amused about is when Vicki and I came through Middlesbrough
in 'All The Stations' in 2017
i only thought Middlesbrough station only had one entrance, and I've since found out
that's it actually got ...
three! so th ere's this one
'cause there's also this one ...
and also this one ... this is the one that Vicki and I used in 2017
and at the time I thought was the only entrance
it's 6.45 in the morning because, and i can see him coming here he comes ... here he comes
where were you? i was bright and early! everyone say ...
Oh god, you're taller than me! hang on ...
if I go on tip-toes, Hi Rob
Rob, where we going to today? we're going to the least used station
in Britain - in the WHOLE of Britain - the new one, which is ...
Redcar British Steel.
Can i get a Tess ... Tyne and, Tyne and Tees Rover ... they're about £23 right?
additionally ... just to add to the passengers stats on purpose
can i get a return, from Redcar Central to British Steel Redcar please
and then presumably as a local ... is it RedCAR, or RedCER ?
and this ... this is lovely
there's the whole ... underpass .. corridor
would you call this a mural, Rob? or just ... it's very nice
- Rob : Kind of lovely as well
you knows what, i feel a little bit bad i feel like we're gonna get a Pacer
i'm gonna get schtick in the comments, because Vicki ain't here
Ooops! sorry
- Rob Sorry Vicki!
it's that a Scotrail liveried Sprinter?
Scotrail train! is this our train?
I think it is! Oh that's the Whitby service
We ... we are the only people on the train
Did you pick up a timetable?
I did - Yes!
Rob's studying the timetable, now ...
This is the thing about British Steel Redcar, and we're going with Redcar right?
Redcar, yes. Right.
When Vicki and I came through in 2017, it was a two trains a day situation
One eastbound in the morning, and one westbound in the evening the idea is ... with Tata Steel Works there
If you worked, if you lived in Middlesbrough
or the surrounding area, you could go to work around 8, 8:30 in the morning
and there was like a 4 or 5 o'clock return, and then Rob ...
what did you notice about the timetable?
So ... in May 2018, Redcar British Steel now gets four trains a day
two in each direction, which now means you can actually visit the station, albeit for 25 minutes, aaand, and see what's around
So what we're doing, but we're starting at Middlesbrough we're gonna go through British Streel Redcar
go to ... go to Redcar Central, then go one stop west
on the stopper, at British Steel Redcar
get out .. you have 27 minutes on the platforms
and then get the stopper going Eastbound
back to Redcar Central, and then come back to Middlesbrough
it's not complicated at all - Yeah!
and we're now leaving Middlesbrough
Redcar Central!
So THEY got a pacer! the ... lucky so and sos!
we don't get one! - All the way to Carlisle
a Pacer all the way to Carlisle!
That is bumpy - That is some sore bottoms
They're not going to Carlisle, surely? they're just going to
i'd be surprised if anyone's going to Carlise
We've got a problem, i'm just checking ... Real Time Trains
at Redcar Central, the 08:28 ...
is, Cancelled!
and that is the 08:24 out of British Steel Redcar, i'm not joking
they've cancelled it! - Shall we get a replacement taxi booked?
Seriously, they've cancelled it!
Err, Rob, i'm not kidding, it's been cancelled, the return train has been cancelled
Rob's ... Rob's on the phone
This is a face of ...
i've travelled ... several hundred miles to be here and got up very early on a Saturday
Is it possible to stop the next train though?
Rob, is literally on the phone
to Northern ... asking if the one after, can stop
in addition, otherwise
we've had a completely wasted journey well ... I have, he gets to see the football
i'm really annoyed right now!
Uuurgh!
I am really annoyed
What happened?
So they're gonne call me back
it doesn't look likely that they'll be able to stop another train for us but ... who knows
We will see
So under the terms and conditions of carriage
they're legally obliged to ...
provide us with an alternative form of transport
but that means leaving, walking through the grounds of
the steel works - Off of private land
Of private land, going up to the gate
and getting a taxi, paid for by Northern to get us to Redcar
What drama! This'll make a great video
I've never seen a slidey, a slidey gate
level crossing before, instead of a
It's a ...
Everybody make the hand action
* phone rings *
Hello Rob Thomas
Hello there
Brilliant!
Ah that's fantastic
Yes,, yes!
are they gonna stop it ??!
No way! We get to do it!
Rob, what's happened?
They're gonna stop an additional train at Redcar British Steel
YEAAAAAHHHHA! HA HAA Ha hAAA!
But the thing is, i really want to go to Redcar Parkrun right, Rob
So that'll get back into Redcar at eight fifty-eight
So i've got two minutes, to jog down to Locke Park
and then start the Parkrun late!
Or in the hour we got at British Steel
you could do a 5Km parkrun there
I could do like .... 100 laps of the platforms like
You don't understand Rob, I'm more obsessed about
my parkruns, than i am about ticking off stations
and that's saying something!
and is it RedCAR, or RedKER
RedKER. Redker.
i think if you're from Redcar you say RedCAR, and if you're from RedCAR you said RedKER
How many times have you had a passenger on or off, at British Steel?
None. i don't think ... i don't think anybody has really
Onto the platforms!
And there's nothing here!
Thank you so much.
Rob, you're here how does it feel?
It feels ... deserted
But good! I'm glad we did this
I love the landscape
I know, there's a very dramatic industrial landscape
So quick, let's do a quick facilities
There's two shelters None of which have seats in
Is there a litter bin, Rob?
- No
Is there a Dot Matrix Indicator? - No
Is there a ticket machine?
Is there a Permit to Travel machine? - No
Is there a Car Park? _ No
Is there a ticket office? _ No
Are there bus connections? - No
Is there ANYTHING apart from the shelters without seats, and a footbridge
So ... fun and games
at Redcar Brirish Steel, Rob what's just happened?
So, as soon as we got off the train
a securiy guy has spotted us, and
asked his ... powers that be, to whether we need to leave the station
this is, Network Rail territory so, they have no we are not allowed
to leave the station - So we're not allowed, which is what we assumed
you're only allowed to stay on the platforms you're not allowed to wander off the platforms
but! you can't go anywhere, anyway, because ...
to the steelworks, thre was like an underpass
which has been blocked up, and that's now been bricked up
Ron, this is your big moment though
this where, oh the sun the sun, look at the sun it's lovely errrm, so!
until two years ago
so British Redcar Steel opened in the 1970's they diverted the track
brought people to the site here, opened in 1978
used to get like 1,000, thousand a hald, 2,000 people
and then, what happened in 2016
What happened in 2016, basically all the steel works closed
yeah, the sun is really bright - That sun IS really bright!
Does, it, does it warrant my sunglasses?
oh i thought you were gonna show your Plymouth Arygle shirt! i was gonna say
it shows off my orange parkrun shirt nicely are you gonna put your shades on?
*laughs* Rob's putting his shades on!
i should of brought my shades!
So two years ago it dropped to ... - Sixty
And then last year it dropped to ... - Forty Which makes it ...
The least used station, in the country
As well as, Cleveland, North Yorkshire
Amusingly
I've been ... my whole series of least used station videos
is to do it, by county
And this is a whole, open up a can of worms
in the bar of our hotel last night
what happened, 'cause we said to three people behind the bar
So we were talking to ourselves
which county, are we doing the least used station of
and we couldn't decide, so we asked the people at the bar
what county are we in?
'cause we'd heard, Teesside ...
County Durham, Cleveland
we'd heard North Yorkshre
we asked three separate people, and got three separate answers!
So the first person said we're in Cleveland
second person said we're in ... Teesside
and the third person said we're i North Yorkshire
So last night, late
i spoke to my friend Dave, so technically ...
Welcome to ...
The least used station in north yorkshire, previously cleveland, formely teeside, originally the north riding of Yorkshire
In the disance, there's a wind farm
and there's clearly industry
Over there, i can now see the bricked up
tunnel, that's where it used to lead through to the steel works
and now it doen't go anywhere
so where at what would be the end of the eastbound platform
- There' still nothing there!
i'm having a genuine moment of "I can't believe we came here"
but we did it! i love that we did it
So Rob, what times are the trains at?
- Rob Well there's usually one at 08:24
but that's cancelled, so ...
what they're going to do they're going to stop the 08:48 off
of Middlesbrough, especially here
at about ... 08.55, to pick us up
Thanks Northern!
So we're on the, the westbound platform, waiting shelters
this the path, that leads off
to a bricked up entrance, that goes, that goes nowhere
and we are not allowed ... to cross this line
I cannot stress that, highly enough
This is our train
erm, in the distance
it's like an air-raid siren
very eerie!
that's eerie!
can you hear that?
*HAUNTING SOUND Of AN AIR RAID SIREN IN THE DISTANCE*
and in the distance
- I hope it stops! - The pace, the pacer is
is coming - thankfully
it's 08:55
i'm gonna have to change into my running shirt on the train
in the 3 minutes i've got
Give you my camera, better say bye, bye Rob, thanks Rob
for the adventure that was
British Steel Redcar, and err ...
the train is stopping.
Thank so so much! - this is very rare
Made it to parkrun!
Just!