Talk:Oulton Broad North railway station

Untitled
Somebody appears to have a 'politcal' agenda as they keep making changes to suggest that the station ought to take on the duties of Oulton Broad South by building an extra platform.

With respect, I don't think an encyclopaedia is the place for political lobbying.

And in addition:

I don't think you can actually see the Ipswich train from OB North when it goes by, but I could be wrong. If you look at a map it passes some distance away.

If OB South closed, then it would no longer serve south Lowestoft.

Hmmmn - is someone trying to get the Ipswich line closed down in the hope of improved services to Norwich? That would be disasterous for the many East Suffolk line users to whom the service is a lifeline!

I've corrected the grammatical mistakes and tried to moderate the changes, although I think a paragraph explaining that another train line passes nearby is rather pointless.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.104.12.60 (talk • contribs)

Rail line passes too far away
I travelled down the line from Lowestoft to Ipswich recently, and I carefully observed the line as it passed the OB North area.

It is just possible to briefly glimpse the extreme end of the very long north platform of the OB North station when the line splits into two. However this part of the platform is unused and heavily overgrown with grass and weeds.

The line itself passes a considerable distance from OB North station, there is a modern housing estate between the two. To build another platform directly to the south of OB North you would have to demolish several houses. I think it would be difficult to build another platform even where the lines split as it would be a long walk from the road - I will have to have another look at this the next time I travel on that route.

I shall probably alter the text of the article and remove the suggestion that another platform can be built.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.253.52.89 (talk • contribs)


 * I used to work as a train driver on both Norwich - Lowestoft and Lowestoft - Ipswich routes. Oulton Broad North Junction where the line to Ipswich branches off is only about 100 yards from the platforms at Oulton Broad North station. (see link on Windows Live Maps)


 * It would be technically possible to build another platform serving the Ipswich line if the (single) track was re-aligned to allow space due to the new development. The fact this has never been done in over 150 years (?) makes me wonder if there would be a demand for it.


 * -=# Amos E Wolfe talk #=- 23:06, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Platforms
Travelled on the line again and had another close look at the possibility of extra platforms for the Ipswich line. It would be impossible today as you would have to demolish houses in the new housing estate.

I wonder why the Victorians didnt build two extra platforms at OBN instead of having a seperate station at OBS? They would have needed two platforms because it was a double track in those days. Perhaps the Ips-Low line was built first, or perhaps they wanted a station to serve south-west Low because of the extra customers and then a larger station 3/4 mile away was not justified.

They could have built the station a little to the east on the other side of the junction and only needed 2 platforms, but they didnt do this either.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.253.44.30 (talk • contribs)

Rail Companies & Service
There's every chance, although I need to check, that the company that built the Lowestoft - Norwich line wasn't the same as the company that built the Lowestoft - Ipswich line, hence different stations.

OR

There were deliberatly two stations built in Oulton, so that communities in North & South Oulton both had a convenient station to get to Lowestoft. I imagine that at te time of the lines being built (1870s?) few people travelled to London and/or Norwich from places such as Oulton although this is bordering on guessing. LewisR (talk) 22:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)