Butlins Holiday Camp Stations

[dunks]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filey_H...ailway_station

I always find these stations quite interesting - am I right in thinking there were others at Minehead & Pwllheli? Judging by the above link, the one at Filey still remains (albeit trackless). Interesting also the services that traversed them such as: (Filey seemed pretty popular!)

London Kings Cross - Filey Holiday Camp through Restaurant Car Express
Manchester Exchange - Filey Holiday Camp
Manchester Victoria - Filey Holiday Camp
Liverpool Lime St - Filey Holiday Camp

Manchester Exchange - Pwllheli Holiday Camp (as I understand it through trains to Pwllheli ran via the now closed line via Carmarthen via Bangor?)
Liverpool Lime St - Pwllheli Holiday Camp
London Euston - Pwllheli Holiday Camp
Birmingham New St - Pwllheli Holiday Camp.

I'm probably missing more through trains, they came from all over, or in the case of Filey, its triangular junction meant London - Scarborough trains could simply reverse into the branch & continue on.

An interesting Filey story to round off: http://www.hunmanby.com/harrycrash.html

[DSY011]

Minehead station is still open and is part of the East Somerset Railway, Britain's longest preserved line.

[swisstrains]

I think the holiday camp stations and the trains that served them were perfect examples of how the railways often went to great lengths to help the ordinary British family enjoy their well-earned annual holiday.
I don't know much about the Filey services but as a North-West trainspotter in the late 50's, early 60's I certainly remember the Pwllheli services.
The actual station serving the Butlins camp was called Penychain and it still exists today in a slimmed down form. As you said the trains serving Penychain branched off the North Wales Coast mainline at Menai Bridge (near Bangor) and passed through Caernarvon (not Camarthen) before joining the ex-GWR line at Afon Wen. A reversal was then necessary to reach Penychain station. The line from Menai Bridge to Afon Wen was mostly single track and as a loco change and a reversal was required it gives some idea of the trouble the railways went to to provide extra holiday services on summer Saturdays. I know trains ran from Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington and Stoke direct to Penychain but I don't remember a London Euston service during my trainspotting days. The Euston - Portmadoc "Welshman" service conveyed through coaches to Pwllheli but not specifically to Penychain for the Butlins camp. I would have thought that London was outside the Butlins Pwllheli camp catchment area in those days especially as they had camps on the south coast.
Between Bangor and Penychain the holiday trains were often worked by Stanier 2-6-4 Tanks changing to Stanier Black 5's or Standard 5's once on the mainline. Happy days

[paul miller]

Butlins bought some steam locos, after their withdrawal by BR, for display at the camps.
I know that "Royal Scot" was at Skegness, and was it "Duchess of Sutherland" that was at Minehead? I am pretty certain that "Princess Margaret Rose" was at Pwllheli, because I read something about its movement some years ago, hauled by either a class 25 or 24.
After years of kids climbing over them at holiday camps,at least 2 of them have run on the mainline again.
Paul.

[swisstrains]

I think "Duchess of Hamilton" was at Minehead, Paul.
"Duchess of Sutherland" was at one of Sir Billy's other camps.........possibly Ayr.

[DSY011]

As far as I can find, these are the sites that had steam loco at Bulin's camps

No 6203 Princess Margaret Rose built LMS Railway. Pwllheli

No 32640 Newport built LBSC Railway, also Pwllheli

No 6100 Royal Scot built LMS Railway. Skegness

No 6229 Duchess of Hamilton built LMS Railway. Minehead

No 32678 Knowle, also Minehead.

No 6233 Duchess of Sutherland built LMS Railway. Ayr Camp

No 32662 Martello, also Ayr Camp

Clacton, Pwllheli and Filey had miniature railways and Minehead had a Monorail as well as a miniature railway. Skegness had a monorail and its own airport.

[swisstrains]

Thanks Syd.
All those locos and I never saw one of them........we always went to Pontins...........Book early

[paul miller]

Thanks for the info Syd.
I remember seeing "Royal Scot" from the roadside at Butlins once when I went to Skegness. The last time I had seen it before that was on the Erewash Valley mainline when it was a Nottingham loco. That would be about 1961, I was still at school and the line went at the bottom of the school playing field. Did some quite useful spotting in the science lesson.
Paul.

[dunks]

Originally Posted by swisstrains

I think the holiday camp stations and the trains that served them were perfect examples of how the railways often went to great lengths to help the ordinary British family enjoy their well-earned annual holiday.
I don't know much about the Filey services but as a North-West trainspotter in the late 50's, early 60's I certainly remember the Pwllheli services.
The actual station serving the Butlins camp was called Penychain and it still exists today in a slimmed down form. As you said the trains serving Penychain branched off the North Wales Coast mainline at Menai Bridge (near Bangor) and passed through Caernarvon (not Camarthen) before joining the ex-GWR line at Afon Wen. A reversal was then necessary to reach Penychain station. The line from Menai Bridge to Afon Wen was mostly single track and as a loco change and a reversal was required it gives some idea of the trouble the railways went to to provide extra holiday services on summer Saturdays. I know trains ran from Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington and Stoke direct to Penychain but I don't remember a London Euston service during my trainspotting days. The Euston - Portmadoc "Welshman" service conveyed through coaches to Pwllheli but not specifically to Penychain for the Butlins camp. I would have thought that London was outside the Butlins Pwllheli camp catchment area in those days especially as they had camps on the south coast.
Between Bangor and Penychain the holiday trains were often worked by Stanier 2-6-4 Tanks changing to Stanier Black 5's or Standard 5's once on the mainline. Happy days

My Father went on a Pwllheli Butlins Special in the early sixties - he said the train was absolutley packed. Mind you, those Hi-de-Hi style holidays were still very popular then.

Also if you were lucky to work on the railway, like my Grandad, you travelled for free to most places. I guess that was in the days before mass car ownership.

[HelloControl]

Indeed, Duchess of Sutherland at Ayr. I've put a photo in the Gallery of her on her way to start her new life on the Main Line.