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Location notes
Lidlington is located on the Bedford-Bletchley line, between the stations of Ridgmont and Millbrook, in the middle of the village it serves.
Railway type and traffic
The Bedford Bletchley line is operated by London Midland trains that run a mostly hourly service between the two stations, with all trains stopping at all of the stations on route, Monday to Saturday. Trains stop by request at Kempston Hardwick. There are no scheduled passenger trains on Sunday. These are operated by a small fleet of sprinter 150/1 units.
There are a number of freight workings, the most numerous being DB Schenker departmental workings to and from Forders Virtual Quarry (just to the east of Stewartby station). These workings serve locations on both the WCML and MML. There is also a Saturday morning Bletchley to Peak Forest stone empties, which leaves Bletchley between 10:20 and 10:40 - although earlier and later timings have been noted.
There are a number of freight workings, the most numerous being DB Schenker departmental workings to and from Forders Virtual Quarry (just to the east of Stewartby station). These workings serve locations on both the WCML and MML. There is also a Saturday morning Bletchley to Peak Forest stone empties, which leaves Bletchley between 10:20 and 10:40 - although earlier and later timings have been noted.
Environment
The foot crossings are little used; the path to the four crossing to the west of the station is well used by dog walkers but they rarely use the actual crossing, with the first crossing to the west from the station the most used. I’ve never seen anyone use the crossing to the east of the station.
Road directions
From the M1, Junction 13:
Exit and follow the A421 towards Bedford. Just after the village of Bogborough is an exit on the right hand side of the road sign posted Lidlington. Follow this road until you come to the level crossing at the station, the best parking is just past this on Bye Road. If you miss this turning the next turning on the right also leads to Lidlington.
From the A507:
The exit from this road is on your left, if you are coming from Milton Keynes, and is well sign posted Lidlington. Once you descended into the village itself the station isn’t well sign posted, so look out for Station Road also on your left.
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Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east map co-ordinates
Exit and follow the A421 towards Bedford. Just after the village of Bogborough is an exit on the right hand side of the road sign posted Lidlington. Follow this road until you come to the level crossing at the station, the best parking is just past this on Bye Road. If you miss this turning the next turning on the right also leads to Lidlington.
From the A507:
The exit from this road is on your left, if you are coming from Milton Keynes, and is well sign posted Lidlington. Once you descended into the village itself the station isn’t well sign posted, so look out for Station Road also on your left.
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Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east map co-ordinates
Parking
There is plenty of space to park along Bye Road which runs parallel with the railway to the west.
Public transport
By far the easiest way to this location is to use the rail service from either Bletchley or Bedford. There are two bus services to Lidlington, the number 159 from Bedford and the 160 from Leighton Buzzard. Bye Road is the road behind the station.
If you have parked on Bye Road or travelled via train this footpath is to the west of the station. Walk down Bye Road and continue along the footpath that continues straight on. The foot crossing is just off the footpath on the right.
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If you have parked on Bye Road or travelled via train this footpath is to the west of the station. Walk down Bye Road and continue along the footpath that continues straight on. The foot crossing is just off the footpath on the right.
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Amenities
There are a few local shops and pubs on the High Street/Marsdon Road which is five minutes walk from the station and crossings
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east
Streetmap links
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east general view map
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east
Googly map
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east general view map
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Lidlington, North Common Farm Crossing - east
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Photographic notes
See the individual photo notes.
General views - All photographs © Richard Tearle unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking west
Shadows in the summer can be a problem at this location, so a longer lens might be a better option, as in this shot. This was taken from the south side of the line pointing towards Bletchley with an 85mm lens on a sunny July morning.
Western Foot Crossing #3 can just be seen towards the rear of the train.
Fig 2 - Looking west
Shadows and the tight nature of this shot don’t really recommend a shot at this location. This was taken from the south side of the line pointing towards Bedford with a 50mm lens on a sunny July morning.
Fig 3 - Looking east
By standing back, and using steps (not used for this shot), a better afternoon west bound shot can be had. This was taken from the south side of the line pointing towards Bedford with a 65mm lens on a bright August evening.
Fig 4 - Looking east
This shows the very tight curvature of the line on the north side, and there’s nothing really to recommend it. This was taken from the north side of the line pointing towards Bedford with a 65mm lens on a bright August evening.
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The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
