Slow Train

For the song by Bob Dylan, see Slow Train (Bob Dylan song).

File:Midsomer Norton South Station 2122053 b4447ba8.jpg

Midsomer Norton, a typical country station, whose closure was lamented by the song Slow Train.

"Slow Train" is a song by the British duo Flanders and Swann, written in July 1963.

It laments the loss of British stations and railway lines in that era due to the Beeching cuts, and also the passing of a way of life, with the advent of motorways etc.

No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat,
At Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street.

Several of the stations mentioned survived the Beeching Axe: Chester-le-Street, Formby, Ambergate and Arram. Gorton and Openshaw also survives, as Gorton. Chorlton-cum-Hardy closed in January 1967, but re-opened in July 2011 as Chorlton Metrolink station.

Selby and Goole were not threatened by Beeching, though the line from Selby to Goole mentioned in the song was closed to passengers. The other line mentioned, from St Erth to St Ives was reprieved, and both stations remain open.

Michael Flanders' delivery of the lyrics seems to imply that Formby Four Crosses and Armley Moor Arram were station names, but in both cases he combined two consecutive names from an alphabetical list of stations. It has been suggested that he took the names of the stations from The Guardian, explaining at least some of the discrepancies between the names in the songs and the names of the stations.

Other versions

In 2004, Canadian classical quartet Quartetto Gelato released a themed album called Quartetto Gelato Travels the Orient Express, celebrating the original journey of Orient Express and featuring music from London to Istanbul. The album begins with a rendition of "Slow Train", with the final lines changed to reflect the route of the Orient Express.

A version of "The Slow Train" by the King's Singers is on electronica duo Lemon Jelly's track "'76 aka The Slow Train", combined with a cover of the Albert Hammond song "I'm a Train" also performed by the King's Singers. A live version by Stackridge was included in its 2009 DVD 4x4.

Michael Williams' book "On the Slow Train" takes its name from the song. It celebrates 12 of the most beautiful and historic journeys in Britain that were saved from the Beeching axe, including famous routes such as the Settle-Carlisle line and less well-known pleasures, such as the four-hour Preston to Carlisle route along the remote Cumbrian coastline.

English folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner included a version of the song on his 2011 compilation album, The Second Three Years.

List of stations referred to in the lyrics

Where appropriate, the correct name of the station is shown in brackets.

Station	Railway	Between	Coordinates	Grid reference	Opened	Closed
Millers Dale for Tideswell (Millers Dale)	Midland Railway	Buxton and Matlock.		SK135733	1863	1967
Kirby Muxloe	Midland Railway	Leicester and Burton upon Trent.		SK521035	1848	1964
Mow Cop and Scholar Green	North Staffordshire Railway	Stoke-on-Trent and Congleton		SJ844580	1848	1964
Blandford Forum	Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway	Templecombe and Broadstone Junction.		ST888067	1863	1966
Mortehoe (Mortehoe and Woolacombe)	London and South Western Railway	Barnstaple and Ilfracombe.		SS483438	1874	1970
Midsomer Norton	Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway	Bath Green Park and Shepton Mallet.		ST664537	1874	1966
Mumby Road	Great Northern Railway	Willoughby and Mablethorpe.		TF494754	1888	1970
Chorlton-cum-Hardy	Cheshire Lines Committee joint railway	Manchester Central and Stockport Tiviot Dale.		SJ818942	1880	1967
Chester-le-Street	North Eastern Railway	Durham and Newcastle.		NZ271512	1868	Remains open
Littleton Badsey (Littleton and Badsey)	Great Western Railway	Evesham and Honeybourne.		SP073448	1853	1966
Openshaw (Gorton and Openshaw)	Great Central Railway	Manchester London Road and Guide Bridge.		SJ889969	1906	Remains open
Long Stanton	Great Eastern Railway	Cambridge and Huntingdon.		TL399680	1847	1970
Formby	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway	Liverpool Exchange and Southport.		SD291069	1848	Remains open
Four Crosses	Cambrian Railways	Oswestry and Buttington.		SJ270183	1860	1965
Dunstable Town	Great Northern Railway and London and North Western Railway joint line	Hatfield and Leighton Buzzard.		TL024219	1860	1965
Dogdyke	Great Northern Railway	Boston and Lincoln.		TF210554	1849	1963
Tumby Woodside	Great Northern Railway	Firsby and Lincoln.		TF270578	1913	1970
Trouble House Halt	Great Western Railway	Kemble and Tetbury.		ST914953	1959	1964
Audlem	Great Western Railway	Market Drayton and Nantwich.		SJ653430	1863	1963
Ambergate	Midland Railway	Derby and Chesterfield/Matlock.		SK348516	1840	Remains open on the Matlock branch
Chittening Platform	Great Western Railway	Filton and Avonmouth.		ST535813	1917	1964
Cheslyn Hay (Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay)	London and North Western Railway	Walsall and Rugeley Town.		SJ983076	1858	1965
Selby	North Eastern Railway	Doncaster and York.		SE618322	1834	Remains open
Goole	North Eastern Railway	Doncaster and Hull.		SE744237	1869	Remains open
St Erth	Great Western Railway	Truro and Penzance.		SW541357	1852	Remains open
St Ives	Great Western Railway	Terminus of the branch from St Erth.		SW519401	1877	Remains open
Cockermouth for Buttermere (Cockermouth)	London and North Western Railway	Workington and Keswick.		NY119303	1865	1966
Armley Moor	Great Northern Railway	Leeds and Bramley.		SE267332	1854	1966
Arram	North Eastern Railway	Driffield and Beverley.		TA035442	1853	Remains open
Pye Hill and Somercotes	Great Northern Railway	Kimberley and Pinxton.		SK442527	1877	1963
Windmill End	Great Western Railway	Dudley and Old Hill.		SO957874	1878	1964

• Ten of the 31 stations were open in 2012, with five others on lines still open.
• Trouble House Halt opened in 1959, shortly before Beeching became BR chairman.
• Re-opening of the line through Cheslyn Hay in 1989 included a new Landywood station, half a mile to the south.
• Kirby Muxloe is regularly proposed for re-opening with the freight-only 'Ivanhoe Line' remaining between Leicester and Burton however a scheme re-appraisal by Scott Wilson in 2009 suggested there was little likelihood of the line reopening to passengers.
• Littleton and Badsey, Chittening Platform and Armley Moor are on lines still open. Chittening and Armley are in the Bristol and Leeds urban areas, and are proposed for re-opening.

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain

External links

• Lyrics of "Slow Train"
• Flanders and Swann website
• Disused railway stations