 Hello, thank you for joining me. Today's video is a special video to say thank you very much to all of you I've reached 8,000 subscribers, so I'm really pleased to have reached that milestone So what I thought I'd do do this little video today just to do a little something to celebrate now if you're wondering How would I celebrate getting to 8,000 subscribers? Well, I'm gonna do I'm here on the Abbey line That way is looking towards what for Junction that way is looking towards St. Albans I'm gonna go to the next station and Have a cup of tea because a tea room has recently opened in the station building And I thought it would make a nice walk now. There's a train coming. I could get the train It's probably not gonna cost much because it's um, it's not even a mile But if it's a while till the train comes right now the next train Okay, the next train is at 1252 and it's a bus. So there's no trains today. So It's not really a problem. I'm just gonna walk not obviously not along the track There's some really nice walks you can do in this area. I'm just gonna take you out the station. So Well, I think I'll do I'm probably gonna go the more direct route through the houses and then I'm going to Come back down through the valley. It's what I'm thinking. So we get to here. We have now left the station It's quite an interesting when you leave the station. There's not a lot There's a few houses, but this is Howard. It's not the only railway station called Howard There is one in Scotland, but that's about Howard all in one word Look here. Perhaps this is something we could do one day. Not to them. Look, Abbey Line train And you can actually walk all the way from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey railway station and come back by train or if you got tired along the way what you could do Is um, you could break a journey at one of the intermediate stations So perhaps we'll do that in the future. We could do a branch line Britain video Let's go across the track just because we can I don't normally hang around on crossings Even though it says still stops. Look listen. Beware of trains Always exercise caution because just because no passenger trains doesn't mean, you know Tampa or something could come along. I'm not sure what the reason for replacing bus is But you know, there's a chance a train could come along and then from here We get a little look at the station. Another thing I've noticed Shut the gate See that yellow post there. That's a mile post The line itself is only about six and a half miles. I'm not sure whether miles are measured from that's the half miles Some so many and a half miles. We are I'm going to go back across the crossing now And I'm going to walk up to Brickett wood station So you just saw the rail replacement bus go fast or coaches. It actually was We were at Howard station. I've just found this road here. That's actually called Howard and There's a sign there saying local shops The next station the other way towards St Albans Abbey is Park Street And I've noticed that this is Park Street Lane Park Street really is quite a small place now if we have a look up here See what's wrong with that sign? It's The double arrows are the wrong way around funny enough on this side there the right way around so look you've got mirror imaged Double arrows right way and wrong way around I'm going to continue on down here And beyond those trees over there. That's where I should find Brickett wood Just passed some signs there says welcome to Park Street Which is interesting because if you're driving in that direction you get to Howard station first now The reason I'm shouting you can probably hear there's a fair bit of noise We've made it to the m25 and that bridge there that carries the Abbey line Over the m25 if the trains are running Bit quite a good place to stand and watch the train go over the bridge but we'll have to do that another day because We're not going to see any trains today. I'm going to continue on that way and I need a cup of tea So having now walked from Howard station. I've come over to the other side of the line I'm about to cross the road in front of us. There we are it says Brickett wood station now the reason why we're coming here in particular is I should show you in a second. This is across the road The old station building have a look at that. It says there the tea room at Brickett wood station and it's open Which is just what we want In front of us is the nice old station building. It's recently been restored last time I came here Quite a few years ago. I just remember it was all Boarded up and just you know an empty building. So it's really nice to see they found a new use For the station. So we're going to have a quick look at the station first and then we'll go In and we'll have a cup of tea. There's a couple of interesting pictures on the outside I wanted to show you this line opened in 1858. So there's the original station in 1890 it's a wooden building Have another picture there. We're busy there No, it's single track at that point a bit like today really We'll start crowds going to the fair in that picture. So Lots of people pretty more than we're going to see today. Well, there's no trains today Pinterest doesn't know how many passengers are using the railway replacement bus But here we are. This is the entrance now to The railway station that trains for what's the junction trains for St Albans Abbey He wears the overhead wires wonder if that's which doll. I'm not going to try and find out what's one of those switched on because No need to be really. So yeah, I've got the oldest star finds way out and the room which is where we're going to go in a minute So when is the next? It's the 1347 So this was the station now In 1913 they put in a passing loop So two trains were able to pass here and they keep talking about bringing back a passing loop But as of yet that hasn't happened The problem with this line is I think it's about every 45 minutes. There's never been a clock face. It was hard to have a clock face timetable With a passing loop two trains could pass now the most recent idea Or was to not build a second platform again. So there's been a footbridge up there in a second platform Look the bridge Is certainly wide enough the next two bridges are wide enough two tracks. They were talking about having Extending the platform on really really long platform So a train would effectively wait here and then the other train would come the other way And you'd have the two opposing trains facing each other And then there'd be the loop and the train would then pass around the other train The idea of doing it that way is you don't need two platforms and the bridge You just have one very long platform a place. I can think like that I think it's pennering on the form of docks branching Cornwall that has that system So it wouldn't be completely unique, but I do hope it happens. It was every few years I'm at one point. I was talking closing the railway and replacing it as a guided bus though, which I think would have been a real shame Says passion just must not pass this point. So probably better than not, but really I don't see the harm it would do If I did I'm telling you I'm not a passenger. Anyway, I've noticed you might just be I'll see there's a mile post there That yellow that is mile post three and a half. So the half mile post we saw how would must have been mile post four and a half So that is Brickett wood station for you. I'm now going to go and have a cup of tea and cake Although before I have the tea and cake I've spotted some more old pictures about a very busy picture there There's the station looking pretty much the same as it does just the cars are a bit more modern And that's how it looks when it had a passing loop So you can see there's a footbridge that picture must have been taken from That bridge up there. That's actually a footbridge as well. It's a brick footbridge. The next bridge is a road bridge It's funny. The other funny thing about the station is Most of Brickett wood is over there But to get to it by road or even on foot you've got to come all the way around and into by here They could almost do they ever did put a second platform in an entrance out that way. That would be used by a lot of people Another thing is a class 20 coming through. We're a good train. You don't often see class 20s running Apart from on heritage lines most first diesel era although there's a class 50 there with the wires I think I remember they did use to occasionally use class 150s under the wires. They used to use Occasionally class 313s I've traveled on 321s to dusty bins and I've traveled on 319s on the road Now when it is a train, it's a class 350 Just thought so lightly. Yeah, you've got the London north-western railway Also, you have to remember when this line was built. This was the only line to St. Albans. St. Albans had to wait quite a bit longer To get the middle of the main line. So originally this would have been sort of the main route into London So it would have been a lot busier Anyway, it's time for my tea and cake I think Oh, here we are in the tea room. I've got my tea and cake. So this is the old station building I think it's really nice how they have made it into this little tea room. It's quite busy as you can hear So I'm not going to talk too much. I'm just going to enjoy my tea and cake If you're ever having a trip on the St. Albans Abbey line, it's worth, you know, breaking your journey here having tea and cake I've enjoyed my visits at the tea room. I'm now walking back to where I started I'm walking along beside the River Thur And just up that way, Courtland miles up that way Is the River Thur's compliments with the River Colm. So this water will eventually flow out into the River Thames You know what you think about the River Thur? It's called V-E-R. So it's got It's River Thur So it's got the in the word river. I don't have any other rivers. Does anyone know any other rivers? You know, so that'd have to be something like a really short named river in the word river if you get what I mean Um, if you can think of any do comment and tell me anything not too far away. Maybe I'll go and make a video up there This is the River Thur. It's um Continues towards St. Albans. You may have heard St. Albans. He's also known for like Roman name Verilaneum That's where it comes from. That's a bridge here. So I've not been down here before. There's a lot of nice walks There's a little interpretation board there about The River Thur. I've got to do this. Let's cover that. Thur Thur River Thur Anyway, um, I'm going to follow the footpath over this bridge and then I'll take that to where I started So once again, thank you very much to everyone who has subscribed I do really appreciate you subscribing. It really helps the tunnel more subscribers you get the more You know, potentially you can get asked to come and make videos at various interesting places So it will really help. So, you know, please do like share comment and subscribe Thank you very much for watching and from a bridge over the River Thur. Goodbye