Slow Train

"Slow Train" is a song by the British duo Flanders and Swann, written in 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.cquote|"No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat,"
"At Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street."

Several of these stations managed to survive the Beeching Axe. These are Chester-le-Street, Formby, Ambergate and Arram. Gorton and Openshaw station also survives, but is now just called Gorton.

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

Michael Flanders' delivery of the lyrics seems to imply that Formby Four Crosses and Armley Moor Arram were single station names, but there never were stations with those names - in both cases Flanders 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 [ [http://www.badsey.net/will/station_rev.htm Littleton and Badsey Station (Revisited)] ] .

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", though the final lines have been changed to reflect the route of the Orient Express.

A version of "The Slow Train" as performed by the King's Singers is sampled on electronica duo Lemon Jelly's track "'76 aka The Slow Train" in which it is combined with a cover of the Albert Hammond song "I'm a Train" also performed by the King's Singers.

List of stations referred to in the lyrics

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

*Millers Dale for Tideswell (Millers Dale) — on the Midland Railway between Buxton and Matlock.
*Kirby Muxloe — on the Midland Railway between Leicester and Burton upon Trent.
*Mow Cop and Scholar Green — on the North Staffordshire Railway between Stoke-on-Trent and Congleton.
*Blandford Forum railway station — on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway between Templecombe and Broadstone Junction.
*Mortehoe (Mortehoe and Woolacombe) — on the LSWR branch line between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe.
*Midsomer Norton — on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway between Bath Green Park and Shepton Mallet.
*Mumby Road — on the Great Northern Railway between Willoughby and Mablethorpe.
*Chorlton-cum-Hardy — on the Cheshire Lines Committee joint railway between Manchester Central and Stockport Tiviot Dale.
*Chester-le-Street — on the North Eastern Railway between Durham and Newcastle.
*Littleton Badsey (Littleton and Badsey) — on the Great Western Railway between Evesham and Honeybourne.
*Openshaw (Gorton and Openshaw) — on the Great Central Railway between Manchester London Road and Guide Bridge.
*Long Stanton — on the Great Eastern Railway between Cambridge and Huntingdon.
*Formby — on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway between Liverpool Exchange and Southport.
*Four Crosses — on the Cambrian Railway between Oswestry and Buttington.
*Dunstable Town — on a joint line between Hatfield on the Great Northern Railway and Leighton Buzzard on the London and North Western Railway.
*Dogdyke — on the Great Northern Railway between Boston and Lincoln.
*Tumby Woodside — on the Great Northern Railway between Firsby and Lincoln.
*Trouble House Halt — on the Great Western Railway between Kemble and Tetbury.
*Audlem — on the Great Western Railway between Market Drayton and Nantwich.
*Ambergate — on the Midland Railway between Derby and Chesterfield.
*Chittening Platform — on the Great Western Railway between Filton and Avonmouth.
*Cheslyn Hay (Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay) — on the London and North Western Railway between Walsall and Rugeley Town.
*Selby — on the North Eastern Railway between Doncaster and York.
*Goole — on the North Eastern Railway between Doncaster and Hull.
*St. Erth — on the Great Western Railway between Truro and Penzance.
*St. Ives [While this St Ives is undoubtedly the one to which Flanders is referring, given its proximity to St Erth, it is worth noting that St Ives, Cambridgeshire also had a station just up the line from Long Stanton, on the Great Eastern Railway between Cambridge and Huntingdon.] — terminus of the Great Western Railway branch from St. Erth.
*Cockermouth for Buttermere (Cockermouth) — on the London and North Western Railway between Workington and Keswick.
*Armley Moor — on the Great Northern Railway between Leeds and Bramley.
*Arram — on the North Eastern Railway between Driffield and Beverley.
*Pye Hill and Somercotes — on the Great Northern Railway between Kimberley and Pinxton.
*Windmill End — on the Great Western Railway's Bumble Hole Line between Dudley and Old Hill.

Notes

See also

*List of closed railway stations in Britain

External links

* [http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/fas/anotherhat_slow.html Lyrics of "Slow Train"]
* [http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/fas/ Flanders and Swann website]
* [http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ Disused railway stations]

References

* Pre-grouping Rail Atlas (Published by Ian Allan)
* Rail Atlas 1890 (Tony Dewick)
* Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain & Ireland (Alan Jowett)