DI Alex Drake
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Post by DI Alex Drake on Jan 5, 2020 16:54:20 GMT
ADMIN NOTE: This thread created from separating the following posts from "The Railway Children (Film)" thread. GH.I think the new version is called The Bus Replacement Children. The sequel to that would be "Standing Room Only Children" I had to commute to Exeter on the train every day from 2015-2017. Both of those things bring back nightmares! I don’t know if any of you are aware of the stretch of line between Exeter and Teignmouth. It made headlines in 2014 when part of it fell into the sea! I remain grateful that I wasn’t involved in that commute then but all trains were regularly suspended in bad weather because the track is literally feet from the sea. It was so stressful; you never knew if it would take 1 hot or 3 to get home and I didn’t finish until 7pm as it was. But, that said, it is a beautiful route when the weather behaves!
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jan 5, 2020 17:10:54 GMT
Yes, the Dawlish sea wall, the most expensive section of track to maintain, on a mile for mile basis in Britain. I've been along it once, in a rail tour to Paignton in 1984.
It was built along the coast to avoid the cost of tunnelling and there was a proposal in the 1930s to build an inland avoiding line but the war stopped work and the idea was abandoned
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 5, 2020 17:12:50 GMT
The sequel to that would be "Standing Room Only Children" I had to commute to Exeter on the train every day from 2015-2017. Both of those things bring back nightmares! I don’t know if any of you are aware of the stretch of line between Exeter and Teignmouth. It made headlines in 2014 when part of it fell into the sea! I remain grateful that I wasn’t involved in that commute then but all trains were regularly suspended in bad weather because the track is literally feet from the sea. It was so stressful; you never knew if it would take 1 hot or 3 to get home and I didn’t finish until 7pm as it was. But, that said, it is a beautiful route when the weather behaves! A few years ago I was lucky enough to have a carbide along the seawall stretch in high Summer, it was a glorious view all along the route. Since my brother moved down to Bristol Depot he's been driving on it and occasionally tells me about the really bad weather that effects it so much. Unfortunately the Southern Railway inland route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton was downgraded back in the '60s, if the entire route was still intact now and still up to mainline standards it would be very useful in bad weather, alas I doubt it will ever see enough investment to see it done properly. Villain
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jan 5, 2020 17:20:19 GMT
I had to commute to Exeter on the train every day from 2015-2017. Both of those things bring back nightmares! I don’t know if any of you are aware of the stretch of line between Exeter and Teignmouth. It made headlines in 2014 when part of it fell into the sea! I remain grateful that I wasn’t involved in that commute then but all trains were regularly suspended in bad weather because the track is literally feet from the sea. It was so stressful; you never knew if it would take 1 hot or 3 to get home and I didn’t finish until 7pm as it was. But, that said, it is a beautiful route when the weather behaves! A few years ago I was lucky enough to have a carbide along the seawall stretch in high Summer, it was a glorious view all along the route. Since my brother moved down to Bristol Depot he's been driving on it and occasionally tells me about the really bad weather that effects it so much. Unfortunately the Southern Railway inland route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton was downgraded back in the '60s, if the entire route was still intact now and still up to mainline standards it would be very useful in bad weather, alas I doubt it will ever see enough investment to see it done properly. Villain Wasn't there a viaduct on the Southern railway route which had severe weight restrictions?
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 5, 2020 17:21:28 GMT
Yes, Meldon Viaduct, originally built with one track over but doubled later on. Villain
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DI Alex Drake
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Post by DI Alex Drake on Jan 5, 2020 17:38:18 GMT
I had to commute to Exeter on the train every day from 2015-2017. Both of those things bring back nightmares! I don’t know if any of you are aware of the stretch of line between Exeter and Teignmouth. It made headlines in 2014 when part of it fell into the sea! I remain grateful that I wasn’t involved in that commute then but all trains were regularly suspended in bad weather because the track is literally feet from the sea. It was so stressful; you never knew if it would take 1 hot or 3 to get home and I didn’t finish until 7pm as it was. But, that said, it is a beautiful route when the weather behaves! A few years ago I was lucky enough to have a carbide along the seawall stretch in high Summer, it was a glorious view all along the route. Since my brother moved down to Bristol Depot he's been driving on it and occasionally tells me about the really bad weather that effects it so much. Unfortunately the Southern Railway inland route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton was downgraded back in the '60s, if the entire route was still intact now and still up to mainline standards it would be very useful in bad weather, alas I doubt it will ever see enough investment to see it done properly. Villain Oh people scream and shout about it every winter but it’s such a huge job, as you say, I don’t think it will ever happen. It’s such a shame how much of our rail network has gone. It’s amazing when you see old route maps ... you could have gone almost anywhere!
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 5, 2020 17:47:23 GMT
A few years ago I was lucky enough to have a carbide along the seawall stretch in high Summer, it was a glorious view all along the route. Since my brother moved down to Bristol Depot he's been driving on it and occasionally tells me about the really bad weather that effects it so much. Unfortunately the Southern Railway inland route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton was downgraded back in the '60s, if the entire route was still intact now and still up to mainline standards it would be very useful in bad weather, alas I doubt it will ever see enough investment to see it done properly. Villain Oh people scream and shout about it every winter but it’s such a huge job, as you say, I don’t think it will ever happen. It’s such a shame how much of our rail network has gone. It’s amazing when you see old route maps ... you could have gone almost anywhere! If Beeching and Ernest Marples had had their way in '63 there would be no railway beyond Plymouth, imagine that, the roads (such as they are) would be chaos all year round by now! They also wanted to close the Midland Mainline between Leicester and St.Pancras, thankfully it didn't happen due to John Betjamin's efforts to raise awareness of the issue at the time. And don't get me started on the closure of the Great Central line... Villain
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jan 5, 2020 18:03:59 GMT
Oh people scream and shout about it every winter but it’s such a huge job, as you say, I don’t think it will ever happen. It’s such a shame how much of our rail network has gone. It’s amazing when you see old route maps ... you could have gone almost anywhere! If Beeching and Ernest Marples had had their way in '63 there would be no railway beyond Plymouth, imagine that, the roads (such as they are) would be chaos all year round by now! They also wanted to close the Midland Mainline between Leicester and St.Pancras, thankfully it didn't happen due to John Betjamin's efforts to raise awareness of the issue at the time. And don't get me started on the closure of the Great Central line... Villain Up this way; the last pit to close was Maltby Main about 2 or 3 years ago, and prior to that Hatfield - Network Rail have been pretty sharp in ripping up quite a bit of the supporting track work.
One route was quite useful, which was used as a diversion route to keep services running in the event of problems on another line. This was being ripped up 2 weeks ago.
They are now kicking themselves about closing the old Sheffield-Manchester "Woodhead Line" in 1981 - as people are shouting for a fast link across the Pennines. The only link between Sheffield and Manchester (without going via Leeds) is the Hope Valley Line - which shares 2 fast services, a slow stopping service and a myriad of Freight Traffic from Earles Sidings and Peak Forest nr Buxton.
It gets exciting when it Snows too....
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jan 5, 2020 18:33:18 GMT
Never travelled on the Woodhead route, the passenger service on it finished in 1970,but it remained in use for freight until 1981. I always thought this was a waste as the line had been electrified in 1954 and a new tunnel at Woodhead built at the same time. There is still a commemorative plaque on the wall at Manchester Piccadilly Station, end of platform 1 about the new tunnel.
The only bit of the route left now is the section from Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield, which I have been on quite a few times
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 5, 2020 19:50:32 GMT
If Beeching and Ernest Marples had had their way in '63 there would be no railway beyond Plymouth, imagine that, the roads (such as they are) would be chaos all year round by now! They also wanted to close the Midland Mainline between Leicester and St.Pancras, thankfully it didn't happen due to John Betjamin's efforts to raise awareness of the issue at the time. And don't get me started on the closure of the Great Central line... Villain Up this way; the last pit to close was Maltby Main about 2 or 3 years ago, and prior to that Hatfield - Network Rail have been pretty sharp in ripping up quite a bit of the supporting track work.
One route was quite useful, which was used as a diversion route to keep services running in the event of problems on another line. This was being ripped up 2 weeks ago.
They are now kicking themselves about closing the old Sheffield-Manchester "Woodhead Line" in 1981 - as people are shouting for a fast link across the Pennines. The only link between Sheffield and Manchester (without going via Leeds) is the Hope Valley Line - which shares 2 fast services, a slow stopping service and a myriad of Freight Traffic from Earles Sidings and Peak Forest nr Buxton.
It gets exciting when it Snows too....
The stone traffic that comes out of Earles / Hope / Tunstead / Peak Forest is part of our bread and butter work, and has been for a long time now. It comes down onto our patch via the WCML or the Midland Mainline depending on the day of the week and the customer's requirements, we take the loaded train down to the unloading terminal in London on the site of the former steam loco shed at Stewarts Lane and bring the empties back up country. I'm on one of these jobs in the early hours of Tuesday and Thursday this week, taking the Tunstead - Battersea trip down the WCML and through Kensington Olympia before crossing over the Thames at Imperial Wharf, where the closing scenes of The Sweeney episode 'I Want The Man' were filmed in the old coal sidings which are sadly now long gone. Occasionally we take it across London via a different route, from Willesden we take a sharp right over the canal and head down through Acton Central and South Acton stations (both featured in 'Villain') then on past Kew Est Junction, Chiswick, Barnes (where we cross over the Thames), then through Wandsworth and Clapham Junction down to Battersea where we reverse right alongside the dogs home. I like taking this route as my Mum's half sister's house backs onto the line right behind Barnes Bridge station, she likes me to toot the horn as I waft past, unfortunately her neighbours aren't exactly keen on me doing this at 4am.... Villain
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