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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to consider buying a house that used to be a railway station?

233 replies

LookingUpIn21 · 01/02/2021 11:02

I'm not linking it!

But it's a beautiful Victorian building that used to be the station master's house and the railway station.

The train tracks are still in use - about every 40 minutes a train goes past.

The house is to-die for gorgeous, the garden is on all sides and the view is magnificent.

The house has been on the market for about 6 months now, so I think it must be off-putting.

Would you consider it? I think I could probably get used to the noise, myself. And the fence looks sturdy so I wouldn't worry about DC, although we do have cats. But I wonder if I'm blinded by the interior and would regret it in the end...

OP posts:
Feedingthebirds1 · 01/02/2021 11:40

My dad grew up only 100m from a railway line. It took coal wagons, so ran night and day. When he first married mum and they got their own house it took him several weeks to be able to sleep properly without the train noise. You do get used to it!

whoamongstus · 01/02/2021 11:41

I would! Sound amazing.

I live near a light rail line now - it runs from 5.30am - 1am ish and I never notice it.

redsquirrelfan · 01/02/2021 11:42

I suppose you would need to check that you weren't on the Varsity line that they want to reopen :) But yuo say it's a working line already, so I guess the issue would be whether there is any likelihood of it getting busier.

Maybe do a search to see if there are plans to upgrade that stretch of line. I guess if you lived along the Borders line in Scotland you might have got a surprise when they reopened it. I don't think it could happen to the line I mentioned further up this thread as there is now a big dual carriageway on a section of it.

Monsteraobliqua · 01/02/2021 11:43

God it sounds like an absolute dream (but then I am a bit of a closet trainspotter!).

PPs make a lot of excellent points but I would particularly want to know what the engine noise is actually like from the house, whether it is low enough to get used to or really screeching and loud; whether I would be genuinely confident the kids and animals would be safe, or no more at risk than they currently are with the dual carriage way; and as a PP says, that there are no plans to change the use of the line or station.

One 2 car train every 40 mins doesn't sound too bad to me personally and prob quieter than your current road.

I would 100% go and see the property

ChattanoogaShoeShoe · 01/02/2021 11:44

Name for this as potentially outting.

I live in an old Victorian station and love it. The railway line was sadly torn up by Beeching, but the station master preserved the building and converted it into a fabulous home.

I was concerned that it might be draughty, but previous owners invested in excellent insulation.

What type of brick is the house you're looking at made of? Our house is made of an engineering brick which is pretty much bomb proof. The bricks haven't weathered at all despite being there almost 170. Houses nearby built in the last decade look much more jaded by the weather.

Occasionally the kids freak each other out by speculating about whose bedroom used to be the gents toilets!

Occasionally I could cry a little when I look at the photos of the evacuees coming off the trains during the second world war and feel sad about how alone they must have felt stepping down onto the platform. But to cheer myself I try and imagine Love Actually style emotional reunions taking place along the platform where my bins are stored - it makes bin day more palatable.

If money was no object I would like to get the canopy recreated along the old platform, but that will have to wait for now. I love living in a historical building. (Although in non-covid times, I sometimes feels that I would prefer to live near an operational station than in a historic one)

Candleabra · 01/02/2021 11:45

House sounds amazing.
Is the line electrified (overhead or 3rd/4th rail)?

scoobydoo1971 · 01/02/2021 11:48

I can see the appeal, but with cats I wouldn't do that. I know from my own indoor cats, they have a habit of making a break for it occasionally. I would rather chase mine up the road, than on an electrified track! Additionally, a lot of families with children would not want to buy it from you if you ever choose to move away. Your heart might leap at it, but your head should think about putting a lot of money into a property that you have a limited market for later on. Additionally, look carefully at the deeds for covenants that might include strict rules on what you can, and cannot do with the property. These may have been written into the deeds when it transferred from Network Rail commercial ownership into a domestic freehold. This might be things connected with health and safety, or other matters that restrict your living environment in some respect. Also consider structural matters...a property impacted by the vibration of high speed trains.

Seeline · 01/02/2021 11:50

We back onto a railway line - probably about 30m to the tracks, which are raised about 3m above our garden.

It is a commuter line in south London, between 2-4 trains an hour from about 5.30 - midnight. You really do get used to it. They are electric in the main - the odd diesel is much louder. And they are not going at speed as the station is just up the road. You do need to halt conversation if in the garden, but fine indoors with double glazing.

We tend to notice more if the trains aren't working for any particular reason - work on the lines etc

Confusedandshaken · 01/02/2021 11:51

I'd go for it. You will probably get used to it very quickly I grew up in a house that backed onto the London/Brighton railway line so lots of trains, lots of noise. I didn't even notice it. Now my house is about half a mile from the same line. On quiet nights with the windows open I can hear the trains and it's so soothing.

It will be dusty though - would that bother you?

LakieLady · 01/02/2021 11:51

I fell in love with a house in Suffolk that used to be a railway station. The trains were little local trains, very quiet and not very frequent, so very unobtrusive.

I wouldn't want to live anywhere that had high-speed trains flying past though, they're noisy buggers.

WorraLiberty · 01/02/2021 11:57

My MIL lives next to a very busy track in London and it's amazing how quickly you get used to the noise.

As for being haunted, perhaps it's the ghost trains? 😂😂

Branleuse · 01/02/2021 11:59

I wouldnt as I have cats and dogs and id always be worried that theyd be killed by a train, but if it wasnt for that, then Id probably quite like it

tara66 · 01/02/2021 11:59

You MUST be there when the train goes by to see how noisy it is - also does train shake the house? Does any whistle go off?

SlopesOff · 01/02/2021 11:59

I looked at a lovely house with a railway line at the back. The house shook when a train went by.

Someone I knew had an old house that overlooked a platform, so right next to the line, it was permanently grimy.

With cats I wouldn't buy it, or dogs for that matter, lots of little bodies are found on tracks when they make a break for it, even indoor cats nip out if you forget to shut the door or window.

Colouringaddict · 01/02/2021 11:59

My parents lived in a house that had train tracks at the end of the garden. We all got used to it, it was far more noticeable on Christmas Day when they didn’t run than when they did!

bloodyhairy · 01/02/2021 12:05

I can't imagine my cat jumping on a train line. Not unless it had mice running along.
It sounds lovely, OP. I think your heart is saying a big fat 'yes' Grin Best of luck.

CleverCatty · 01/02/2021 12:05

I'd buy it. Lovely old house it sounds like.

You would get very used to the noise - my nana lived by a train track near a busy train junction for years and it was actually very soothing and you got used to it quickly - no double glazing either!

starfishmummy · 01/02/2021 12:08

I used to live within 100 yards of a branch line. Couple of diezel trains an hour, less in winter. Like other posters, most of the time I didn't notice them.
The one thing I did notice was when they were doing line maintenance in the middle of the night - the noise of the stoney ballast being moved was very odd when I first heard it and had no kdea what was going on!! . But that didnt hapen often.

CeibaTree · 01/02/2021 12:10

If it was something like this one and I had the money I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

EachandEveryone · 01/02/2021 12:12

Not with cats i wouldnt

TibetanTerrier · 01/02/2021 12:13

No way would I risk my cats' lives. I love them too much and they are so much more important than any house, no matter how lovely.

MojoJojo71 · 01/02/2021 12:17

My first house was right next to a busy railway station, I could even hear the platform announcements in my living room. It’s surprising how quickly you get used to it. My DS was a baby in that house and he could sleep through anything now. Once, there was a train strike and the silence was weird.

The only thing that would concern me would be how easy it would to be resell if it’s been on the market for 6 months but if you’re planning to stay there forever that’s less important.

titchy · 01/02/2021 12:19

Is there an electric track the cats could get onto? The danger would be there all the time if there is, not just when a trains coming.

One service every 40 mins sounds ok, but presumably there's also one every 40 mins in the opposite direction?

How do you feel about your property being directly against where the public are? Do you want to sit in the garden and chat to commuters? Go to bed and hear drunk people staggering off the last train? Check you can get insurance.

And be aware that having network rail as your neighbour could have issues. What will they give planning permission for on their land? More mobile masts? Electricity sub-stations? How about how long they'd inevitably take to respond to things you want to do?

SummerBlondey · 01/02/2021 12:22

Hard to comment when you won't share a link to it.

oddworld · 01/02/2021 12:23

I used to live in a house with a tube line at the end of the garden, and just got used to the noise. Even if we were in the garden, we'd just pause conversation when a train went past. I think an old station building would be lovely.