1394

m 2022 to 2024 includes resignalling Farncombe to Petersfield and upgrading
2 (inclusive - actually the week before half term!) involves work at five level
two, along with Liss Common and Kingsfernsden crossings, are quite early
four of these are due to be upgraded to Manually Controlled Barrier (MCB)
own when the actual upgrades will take place.

ect on 7 Jan 2022 at Sheet AHB crossing, north of Petersfield, where the line
echanism and pedestals is collectively known as a 'British Rail standard Mk1
grateful if a member with greater knowledge could confirm or correct this.
ian operated gates on the 'non-barrier' side of the road. (All John Cowburn.)

BELOW: 450015, leading the 13.13 Woking to Portsmouth & Southsea, prep
crossing, while 450023 leading the 12.24 Portsmouth & Southsea to Wok

pares to head south from Farncombe station and pass over Farncombe West
king approaches the doomed signal box heading north on Sat 29 Jan 2022.)

BELOW: 450114 leads the 14.15 Portsmouth Harbour to Waterloo over Andl

lers Ash Road at Princes Bridge AHB crossing south of Liss on Sat 29 Jan 2022.

362] Staines East Jn - Windsor & Eton Riverside: Following the 6-12 Mar 2021 branch closure to erect
new signal foundations and other work for the £380M Feltham to Wokingham resignalling project,
there is another seven day half-term closure from Mon 21 to Sun 27 Feb 2022. Work is to take place
on the track, third rail power supply and bridge maintenance, plus litter and (again!) graffiti clearance.

363] Bishopstone: (BLN 1372.709) A new illustrated integrated travel map here highlights rail and bus
connections at the station. It directs people to nearby leisure pursuits, showing them the best walks,
as well as places for horse riding, swimming, cycling, sailing, sunbathing etc. It is part of a joint project
from the South Downs National Park, Community Rail Network, Southeast Communities Rail
Partnership and the Friends of Bishopstone Station with support from Southern Railway.

:1394 SOUTH WEST PLEASE USE:: [email protected] :POST TO BLN EDITOR PLEASE.
(A silent locum is temporarily covering this section - thank you to all our SW contributors.)

364] ECS - Empty Cornish Sleepers: (BLN 1377.1445) The DfT has agreed additional overnight access to
improve the resilience of the line between Dawlish and Teignmouth, from 24 Jan to 17 Mar. NR is
building a 209m extension to the existing rockfall shelter at the north end Parsons Tunnel (extended
about 100 years ago last). This closes the Exeter St Davids to Teignmouth line overnight and the GWR
Night Riviera sleeper will not run Mon-Thur, only Fri and Sun nights. It causes less disruption than the
alternative of complete week or weekend closures whilst there are fewer passengers now.

From Mon 24 Jan a 23.42 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads and 03.08 return retains crew Class 57
traction competence. Sleeper knowledge for crew and rotation will be maintained by running ECS
sleeper trains. These are Mon-Thur: Reading - Paddington - Bristol and return; Mon daytime: Reading -
Long Rock; Tue & Wed daytime Long Rock - Exeter - Long Rock & Fri daytime: Long Rock - Reading.

365] Don't get cross over Truro crossover: (BLN 1393.227) Due to the previous item, the sleeper
(normally from Penzance) is booked to start from Truro Down P2 at 22.29 via the doomed London-end
trailing crossover on Fri 11 Mar only. (It also starts from Truro on Sun 13 Mar at 22.01 but RTT shows
the ECS from Laira running through P2 then reversing into P3. Trains operate St Erth to St Ives and
Truro to Falmouth Docks that day but the main line has rail replacement services Penzance to Truro.)

366] Today's Fishing Forecast: (TRACKmaps 3 p6B 2018) (BLN 1392.117) Further to the recovery of
Fish Dock Sdgs 1 & 2 at Temple Meads, buffers have temporarily been placed on Parcels Dock 1 (next
to the former P2 bay line) adjacent to the end of the shorter Parcels Dock Sdg 2 (before it crosses the
bridge over the New Cut). Parcels Dock Sdg 2 is temporarily OOU, covered with work materials etc.

367] Achilles Hele: (BLN 1306.1309) Work in 2018 to reduce the risk of the River Culm flooding the
GW Main Line near the site of Hele & Bradninch station is to be supplemented by a new £7.2M DfT
funded scheme. Heavy overnight rain on Wed 20 Oct 2021 resulted in flood water flowing across the
level crossing here and a significant line closure. When this crossing is closed, the village is cut in half.

Flood water backs up against Station Rd and is forced over the railway's low point at the crossing.
As flood levels rise, Station Rd and nearby properties flood. The scheme includes a new raised viaduct
at Station Rd, after the demolition of the existing bridge, a raised access bridge to Devon Valley Mill,
then demolition of the existing bridge, subject to agreement with the mill owners and reprofiling of
the flood basin. Station Rd will be closed for some 32 weeks with a five mile diversion via Bradninch.
A temporary footbridge will be provided over the line and possibly a shuttle bus service. Negotiations
continue with Stagecoach over bus service diversions. Plans were developed with the Environment
Agency and submitted by NR to Devon County Council in Dec 2021; planning permission is awaited.

368] Somerset Circle: Mendip District Council is working with Greenways & Cycleroutes Ltd to restore
14 missing links to help complete the 'Somerset Circle', a traffic free route between the Mendips, Bath
and Bristol. The last section within Mendip is Shepton Mallet to Midsomer Norton on the former
Somerset & Dorset line. The proposed route west of the A37 loosely follows part of the East Mendip
Way, over the B3136 Bath Road on the existing viaduct, through a 120m tunnel, finishing near Ham
Wood Viaduct. It is hoped eventually to include Charlton Viaduct to reach the east end of Shepton
Mallet, perhaps even Masbury. The trackbed has already been cleared around Windsor Hill Tunnels.

369] Bristol East Jn - permission not to be permissive: NR is not to reinstate permissive moves at
Bristol Temple Meads P15 and on the Down Through line. After full commissioning of Bristol East Jn
remodelling, a review confirmed that the permissive move function would not offer value for money
as this can be accommodated within the station and by alternative facilities such as Kingsland Road.
Decoupling trains on P15 is unaffected. (Permissive moves on the Up Through line will be reinstated.)

370] Marsh Barton: Work on the £16M Devon Metro new station, started last spring, is said to be
progressing 'well' and is on track for completion 'next winter'. Concrete piles and pile caps have been
completed on both platforms with concrete beams and slabs installed on P1. Work is underway on the
foundations for the station's new pedestrian and cycle bridge as well as access roads and pavements.

371] Hello to Buy Bi: First Group's invitation of expressions of interest to supply 15-30 bimode locos
(Item 322) includes an option for a further five for GWR's 'Night Riviera' sleeper. The supplier must
provide full maintenance provision at Long Rock and Reading depots. 'Night Riviera' locos must be
able to haul trains of up to nine Mk 3 coaches and with a power draw by the coaches of 340kW (higher
at 410kW for TPE's Mk5 coaches). They must also demonstrate their ability to manage the steeply
graded route west of Newton Abbot. The document also notes: It is desired to make a step change
improvement on communications between the locomotive and coaches, and it would be preferable for
the locomotive to be able to interface with the coaches for dispatch and alarm indications.
This suggests the Train Manager may despatch by buzzer rather than the traditional whistle and flag‽

372] Newquay, New Track: The branch was closed Fri 21-Thur 27 Jan (incl). 870m of track was relaid in
total at Roche and Bowling Green, near Bugle (that is 1,300 sleepers and 2,600 tonnes of ballast).

373] No turning back at Bathampton going forward: NR has withdrawn its 2020 plans for turnback
facilities at Bathampton Jn (from the Bristol direction), part of MetroWest Phase 1B. It is not known if
this reflects service reduction or extension to a location with a turnback provision already, such as
Westbury. (The plan for Yate turnback siding was dropped due to extension of services to Gloucester.)

374] Tarka (not to Ottery St Mary) & Dartmoor lines: Crediton - Okehampton/Barnstaple TCP Sat 19
Feb to Sun 27 Feb, for half term bridge repair work at Penstone. Trains operate Exeter to Crediton but
some early/late rail replacement services run from/to St Davids. As usual, due to the road network,
Yeoford (17,236 passenger 2019-20 and 7,884 in 2020-21) has a minibus shuttle from/to Crediton.

375] Dartless Line: From Mon 25 Apr to Mon 9 May (incl), rail replacement services run from Crediton
to Okehampton roughly every two hours, taking 40 min. On Fridays, the last replacement bus/coach
runs to St David's. (The option of using rail tickets on existing bus services is not being used, perhaps
as they don't directly serve Okehampton station, a steep climb from the central bus stops.) Barnstaple
line services run normally. It is for the Dartmoor line Phase 2 work, relaying the 40mph section with
jointed track from Crediton to 183m 79ch, which, it was originally said, would not affect rail services.

376] Gravity attracts railways: (BLN 1392.116, plan e-BLN, photos e-BLN 1393.X.13.) The former Royal
Ordnance Factory (ROF) Puriton site is part of the 635 acre Gravity Campus Science and Technology
Park which has a Special Development Order allowing construction to start without potential planning
delays of a year or more. [Please can the Portishead branch have one?] US electric car giant Rivian is
considering a £1bn plant here. Some clearance work on the trackbed of the freight only branch from
Huntspill (CG 31 Dec 1990), on the GW mainline, has already been carried out near its bridge over the
M5 and the exchange sidings site. A rail link requiring up to £50M, was proposed to the 'Restore Your
Railway' fund, for freight to/from Avonmouth or Royal Portbury Dock and with a passenger station.
Would this be the only railway bid for reopening that would create a new, rather than a reinstated,
passenger service? The final two standard gauge locos from ROF Puriton are at the West Somerset
Railway - the site also had a narrow gauge railway. See https://bit.ly/3HbMHWM for more about it.

377] Portbury: Trainloads of steel, reportedly slab from a stockpile, are running from Llanwern to
Portbury. A service left Llanwern at 13.16 on 24 Jan, arriving at the General Cargo Terminal at 15.49.
(The former Coal Terminal branch is severed.) Scheduled to leave 20.32, the return departed at 18.50,
reaching Llanwern 20.15, almost two hours early. Further services have run and were scheduled.

BELOW: (Item 364), 57605 on Red Cow Crossing before Exeter St Davids with th

he 11.06 Reading Depot to Penzance Depot sleeper ECS. (Mark Fishlock, 24 Jan.)

X.36] BELOW & TO FOLLOW: The West Midlands Metro Wolverhampton
However, a member can see little difference since his Nov visit. There is su
end loop points in the area of the taxi rank is incomplete. There are also in

n station extension (wireless) was supposed to have opened by the end of Dec.
ubstantial 'missing' track on Station Approach and the over-run beyond the far
nteresting views of the new station (complete)! (Richard Maund, 29 Jan 2022.)

















BELOW: To be continued? Birmingham is off top right, the EMR livery DMU is

s on a Birmingham to Shrewsbury service; note the closed PSB straight ahead.







[BLN 1394]

X.37] Trouble in the Trenches!

PREVIOUS: Unlike the rebuilt
Wolverhampton station the new
Warwick Rd entrance to Coventry
station is late in opening (no doubt
blamed on Covid). On 15 Jan a well
known local member walked past
and, after weeks of construction
workers milling around the new
entrance, including pouring literally
tons of water from large vessels
into the ground, presumably to
find out where it's going…

LEFT & NEXT: They had removed
all the new railings, thrown all the
new paving into a skip and begun
digging... deeper and deeper... in
fact if they keep going they will
penetrate the new underpass
linking the station under Warwick
Rd to the new bus station....
possibly where the water is going‽

Anyway from 'idle chatting' with
the many orange clad people on
site (as they lingered near
entrances etc)... this is now the
reason the station hasn't opened.
Certainly it's the most obvious!
We bet it will be blamed on Covid
though! (All Simon Mortimer.)





X.38] Worcester Yard; 37800 after running round, with 456018, 010 & 016 on

the 11.31 Wimbledon Park CSD to Long Marston. (Dave Gommersall, 26 Jan.)

X.39] BELOW & NEXT: (BLN 1393.163) Our Sat 29 Aug 1987 'Fife Coast Explo
branch, it is on the running line, the distillery sidings are to the right. Look

orer' https://bit.ly/3rnI9qy at Cameron Bridge (CP 6 Oct 1969) on the Methil
king towards Methil/Leven. There are some familiar faces! (Phil Robinson.)





BELOW: (Item 388) The current pointless layout/mess at the southern en

nd of the horse tram; Derby Castle is off bottom right. (Graeme Easton.)

BELOW: (Item 389.2) MER concrete sleepers, welded rail and an expansion joint
NEXT: (Item 390) On the Steam Railway at Douglas the signal box is undergo

t ahead; the other track is hidden by 'cuttings'. (Jenny Williamson, 22 Jan 2022.)
oing renovation; looking towards Port Erin. (Graeme Eastwood, 27 Jan 2022.)





1394 WEST MIDLANDS (Brian Schindler) [email protected]
378] Alrewas: CP 18 Jan 1965 between Lichfield and Burton-on-Trent, the station is being proposed
for reopening; this crops up periodically. Unlike some no-hoper 'Railway Mania' proposals elsewhere,
it does have merit but is not as simple as the local MP maintains. The previous station was on the
Lichfield side of Croxhall Rd Level Crossing - the former A513, a 'C' road since the opening of the
bypass. It retains a L&NWR signal box dating from 1899 with an Individual Function Switch panel
commissioned in 2005 (after the box was repaired following fire damage on 23 Oct 2005).

Alrewas (pronounced 'Ol-re-woz') has expanded considerably since the station closed and now has a
population of over 3,000. Although peripheral, the site is not inconvenient for the village; a big plus is
it would be only 300 yards from the entrance to the National Memorial Arboretum with over 300,000
visitors a year and 250 special events. The arboretum occupies the triangle between this line and the
Birmingham to Derby line with Wichnor Jn at its apex. It includes a Railway Industry Memorial,
unveiled in May 2012, and also a memorial commemorating the thousands of prisoners of war who
were forced to work on the infamous Burma and Sumatra Railways in the Second World War.

Problems include the single track immediately north of the level crossing to Wichnor Jn (1m 11ch).
The former south bays at Burton-on-Trent once used by services to Lichfield and Walsall have been
filled in and there isn't a convenient turnback facility there otherwise (unless services ran through to
Derby). There is a facing crossover at Lichfield Trent Valley Jn to access the Cross City Line P3,
unless P4 was brought back into use (but very expensive). Passengers to/from Birmingham would not
appreciate a change of trains at Lichfield and the new Cross City trains are, of course only EMUs.
The line is now busy with freight, a weekly PSUL and ECS but is also an important diversionary route
between Birmingham and Derby. Capacity is so restricted that, when the Cross City Line was six trains
an hour each way (New Street to Four Oaks), there would be planned cancellations to accommodate
the diversions and the Birmingham to Nottingham service cannot be accommodated as well.

Talks on reopening recently took place between Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, and the new rail
minister Wendy Morton (who represents the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency which is adjacent).

379] Leamington Spa: Bridge 54 (Rugby Road), a metal underbridge at Milverton on the Coventry line
over the A445, is to be replaced over Easter. It is wider than the double track as the platforms for
Milverton station (CP 18 Jan 1965) once extended over it; the main part of the station was to the
south with a goods shed, yard and engine shed to the north. CrossCountry will divert via Solihull.

380] New Street: ①Resignalling of Proof House Jn to Soho South Jn and New Street to Five Ways is
due to be commissioned from Tue 27 Dec 2022 then controlled from a new Birmingham New Street
workstation at West Midlands Signalling Centre, Saltley. ②At the London end of the station, the
points 603A from P6 line to access No1 Siding (between P6 and P7) had to be plain lined on 18 Nov.
Access to the siding is still available from the Wolverhampton end of the P5 line. The points are
expected to be repaired and restored to use in the week beginning 7 May.

381] Madeley (Staffs): (BLN 1393.233): A member, who spent much of his working life train planning,
is at a loss to understand why Madeley is a timing point for all trains on all lines as it is a 'non-place'
operationally. He wonders if there are any others? Yes, many! Between Stafford and Crewe, the
non-existent Betley Road Signal Box and Whitmore are also timing points. Another good one is
'Former Edge Hill Signal Box' only 26ch beyond Edge Hill station and 21ch before Bootle Branch Jn.

382] West Midlands Metro: A four zone fares system is to be adopted (boundaries to be advised), said
to be fairer and more flexible. The new ticket structure will allow unlimited travel within the chosen
area/s, instead of paying for journeys between specific stops. Individual and cross-zone tickets will be
available on trams. (The ticket machines installed when the Metro originally opened on 30 May 1999
only lasted a couple of weeks and had to be removed due to vandalism.) Some tickets will also
be sold on the MyMetro App. Network passes and day tickets will remain available, as will a range of
season tickets. At present a PlusBus ticket for Birmingham, Wolverhampton or Dudley & Sandwell
areas allows unlimited all day travel on the whole Metro (not just the portion within the PlusBus area)

1394 SCOTLAND (Mike McCabe) [email protected]
383] Inverness P7: The remote and barren P7 is booked to be used SuX by one train, the 19.29 Ardgay
to Inverness (arr 20.58) and 21.06 return to Tain (22.16). It then forms the 22.21 Tain to Inverness
(P6). P7 is used because the 9-car Azuma (ECS) from King's Cross blocks access to P5 & 6 while it is
refuelling. The Inverness Local Operations Manager has kindly confirmed that this all still happens.

384] Lockerbie: On Tues 7 Dec the 09.30 Euston to Glasgow struck a tree north of Lockerbie and was
delayed for 164 minutes, it eventually reached its destination at 17.11, then 189 minutes late. As a
result of the tree blocking both lines, the 12.40 Glasgow to Euston was turned back via the trailing X/O
at Beattock Summit to Euston where it arrived at 15.22. The 08.43 Euston to Edinburgh Waverley
crossed from the Down Main to the Up Main via Kirtlebridge trailing X/O and terminated at Carlisle.

385] Edinburgh Trams: The website advises that York Place tram stop (where the double track now
singles to the one terminal platform) closes permanently from Thur 10 Feb. Trams from Edinburgh
Airport will then turnback at West End (the 'Princes Street' suffix is no longer used) and take the
trailing crossover on departure. Tram tickets will be accepted on normal buses services and, for
those catching a train at Edinburgh, ScotRail trains from Haymarket. From Apr trams will run from
West End to St Andrews Square stop again - does anyone know the arrangements for this please?

York Place platform has to be demolished to install double track and extend it to join the extension
(ahead). The new Picardy Place stop will replace York Place when the extension opens next year.
The previous UK 'modern' tram stop to close was Station Street in Nottingham from 27 Jul 2015.

386] Ticket Offices: ScotRail runs 2,000 trains a day serving 359 stations of which 143 have ScotRail
staffed ticket offices. Opening hours have largely been unchanged for 30 years and it has consulted
(until 2 Feb) on reducing ticket office opening hours at 117 stations with closure of Cartsdyke (36),
Clydebank (38) and Woodhall (11) offices - figures in brackets are the average daily ticket sales SSuX.

This is based on 2019 data and not to do with Covid. 40% of tickets were bought at ticket offices in
2011; by 2019 it was down to 28%. In 2019 ScotRail's 355 ticket machines sold 26% and 18% were
bought online (which percentage has increased dramatically since) - the other 28% are largely sold on
trains. There is an interesting average daily ticket sales analysis as a PDF with e-BLN, including changes
proposed to opening hours. Croy wins the hourly rate with 174 tickets sold between 07.00 and 08.00
and 176 the following hour on average SSuX. Kyle of Lochalsh (open 09.46-16.50) averages 1-2 tickets
an hour with 7 sold between 13.00-14.00 and 16.00-17.00, rush hour is 10.00-11.00 when 20 are sold!

12 sales an hour is considered 'busy', the information highlights when offices are not. Glasgow Central
Low Level, a ScotRail office, is 'busy'; 06.00-23.00, the only one that is, and then averages three ticket
sales in the final hour before closing (Haymarket is the same but closes 22.00). Glasgow Central High
Level, Queen Street and Edinburgh are NR managed so are not included in the figures or consultation.
One presumes that if the survey was repeated now, figures would be significantly lower.

387] Fares: Scottish peak and off-peak regulated fares increased by 3.8% on Mon 24 Jan. The RMT
points out (correctly) that they have increased by 37.8% (compounded) since 2011, during which time
the average cost of a litre of petrol, the RMT says, has risen by 8.6% from 133.3p to 144.8p in Scotland.

1394 ISLE OF MAN (Graeme Jolley) [email protected]
388] Horse Tram: (BLN 1383.2223) The new Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall has confirmed that,
despite the previous direction from Tynwald, there are no plans now for his Department to progress
extending the tramway further south towards the Sea Terminal, not even to the War Memorial/Villa
Marina (stop 'g' on TRACKmaps 1 p23C 2017) or the Gaiety Theatre (stop 'f) cultural area where many
visitors congregate. Instead, the tramway will end about 300m to the north, on the seaward side of
Central Promenade, opposite Castle Mona Avenue (stop 'h' Esplanade). This reduces the tramway to
just under one mile compared with about 1¾ miles before closure. It seems that many locals and
seafront businesses in particular have had enough of the constant disruption from the promenade
upgrade which began three years ago. Another £1.2M would be needed to extend the tramway, even
though the original promenade £25M refurbishment budget was supposed to include the whole line.

Matters have not been helped by 70m of substandard track being laid north from Broadway to
Esplanade Mews where it transferred from the centre of the road to the sea side and singled. This was
not laid to the original published plans, which had an interlaced two track section before it with a
single track crossing to the promenade. Instead a double track non-interlaced crossing was installed
with a set of points where it singled further south. The faulty track has been lifted and replaced
(a different layout has appeared as a result - sorry you didn't do the previous one, no one did) at the
contractor's expense. The faulty point was sent over to England for rectification and is still awaited,
then it will take '3-4 weeks to install'. Meanwhile the whole Promenade project is at least £3M over its
total budget and (by Oct 2021) the single line to Sea Terminal had been 'taken out of the contract'.

There is a horse whisper that the tramway may start running on 28 Apr with training runs from 1 Mar.

389] Electric Railway: ❶Trailer 50 (built in 1893) is to be restored to service by a team of dedicated
volunteers after agreement was reached with IOM Transport for them to work on the vehicle. It was
last used at the end of the main 1978 season and withdrawn. Then Trailer 50 was offered for sale but
(fortunately) there were no takers, so it was stored at Laxey Car Shed until 2002. It was then moved to
Homefield Bus Garage. Continuing its tour in 2009, the trailer was taken to Ramsey Car Shed for five
years, then moved back to Laxey where it is now. Preliminary work has begun, it will be painted in the
nationalised green and white livery, as '50' was one of only three trailers to receive this colour scheme
after the line was nationalised in 1957. ❷North of Howstrake (1m 52ch) there is a closure with traffic
lights on the road from Poles 86 to 99, it appears that both tracks are being relaid between Poles 91
and 100. Well ballasted heavy duty concrete sleepers and continuously welded rail are used - they will
be canting it next! ❸(BLN 1393.258) North of Eskadale (Poles 161-164) the drainage pipes have
disappeared (presumed in use under the trackbed), ballast has been laid and, on Fri 28 Jan track was
being installed. Between the two areas of trackwork, there has been much serious hedge trimming.

390] Steam Railway: Douglas signal box is having some wood repaired and a repaint for the new season.

391] Timetables: 'Time' for some good news. The 2022 timetables (available with e-BLN) are similar to
the pre-Covid 2020 timetables with an extra end of season winter festival (very successful in 2021).

The MER starts on Tue 15 Mar, running on selected dates until Sun 30 Oct; daily from Tue 10 May until
Sun 18 Sep. Intensive timetable 'F' is daily from Mon 30 May until Thur 9 Jun and then from Wed 27 to
Sat 30th Jul, with 20 daily Derby Castle departures (two only to Laxey). The main summer timetable 'D'
(12 departures; 3 to Laxey only) runs at weekends from late Apr increasingly to Jun, then runs most
days from the start of Jul until 25 Sep. It has 'The world's oldest trams and open trams' on the 11.40 to
Ramsey and 13.40 return (Trams 1, 2, 16, 32 or 33 as available). Evening services run from the second
half of Jun until Sep. Timetable 'G' has a 20.55 FO ex-Derby Castle and 22.25 from Ramsey!

Snaefell Mountain Railway starts 'up' on Sat 19 Mar then runs the same dates as the Electric Railway
until Sun 30 Oct. The IOMSR gets up steam on Fri 4 Mar, running selected dates also until Sun 30 Oct.

The leaflet confirms that the Horse Tramway is intending to run from Derby Castle to 'Broadway' in
2022 but has no dates. The Winter Transport Festival is 26-30 Oct. Finally, a note for your 2023 diaries:
A 130th anniversary celebration of the Manx Electric Railway (Derby Castle - Groudle OP 7 Sep 1893).

… 1394 IRELAND (Martin Baumann) [email protected]
392] It can now be told (62), Cork to Euston: (BLN 1393.269) By Julian James (member 445). We were
travelling back from a hotel stay in Cork city. The train was packed, delayed by mechanical problems
and broke down at Portarlington. After waiting on the platform for about half an hour, we all joined
an already packed train from Westport. Our arrival time at Heuston made it evident that we would
probably miss the ferry. A taxi was taken but it was immediately obvious from his tremor that the
driver suffered some addiction. We set off not exceeding 15mph, until any set of traffic lights was
approached, when the driver put his foot down and raced towards and through the lights, whatever
their aspect. Turning in to Dun Laoghaire Pier, the ship was there. A docked ship we thought was our
evening sailing should have left. But no, it was a new one; earlier Sealink had hosted Taoiseach Charles
Haughey, he was delayed and the return to Ireland was late. We were encouraged to take as much
free food and free wine as we and the other passengers could, as the bottles had all been opened.

At Holyhead the connecting (last) train had just left. A local bus inspector was summoned to find
transport for 40 or so disgruntled passengers. After canvassing destinations, we were eventually
allocated a car with other passengers for Derby, four of us in all. Very cramped with the luggage, we
set off through the night. After the Derby diversion the leg room improved and we reached London
about 07.00 and offered the driver a rest after his 300 mile drive. He declined and set off at once as he
had hired a van that day in Holyhead to move house for himself and his family! (See also item 346.)

393] Northern Ireland Railways: (BLN 1393.254) The 12 Dec 2021 timetable resumes from Mon 7 Feb.

394] Clogher Valley Railway: This 37 mile long 3ft gauge rural railway (a tramway from 1887 to 1894)
in Northern Ireland, ran from Maguiresbridge in County Fermanagh. This station was shared with the
5' 3" gauge Great Northern Railway (Ireland) on its Dundalk - Clones - Enniskillen line. The Clogher
Valley line ran northeast through stations at Brookeborough, Colebrooke, Fivemiletown (along the
main street at 4mph!), Clogher, Augher & Ballygawley. Then the line turned southeast through
Aughnacloy (the line's operating base and HQ) and Caledon to its eastern terminus, Tynan & Caledon
station, County Tyrone, on the GNR(I) 5' 3" gauge to Clones to Armagh line. https://bit.ly/3r4e13x has
more and nine historic photos. Due to mounting losses, the line closed 80 years ago; the last train ran
on 31 Dec 1941 officially. However an extra late New Year's Eve railcar ran from Maguiresbridge to
Aughnacloy in WWII blackout conditions covering the section from Fivemiletown after midnight. (OK,
Mr Maund sir, it's a fair cop, this was part of the previous day's service but it does make a nice story…)

….. 1394 WALES & THE MARCHES (Chris Parker) [email protected]
395] TfW convenience ticketing (shops not toilets): Tickets for a range of local journeys have been
available from Payzone devices in 90 convenience stores, at least one close to each current station in
the South Wales Metro area, from 24 Jan. Payment options include cash, a facility lacking at most if
not all TfW station machines. The pilot scheme is the first of its kind in the UK and presumably will be
extended if successful. [Merseyrail does the opposite and has convenience stores in ticket offices.]

396] Llandudno Junction: (BLN.1393.263; TRACKmaps 3 p34C 2018) Our local agent visited on 16 Jan
and confirms that the new layout is largely a refettling of former Sidings 6 & 7. He doesn't know why
the original connection to the sidings is so far away from the old Down Slow line platform edge at the
western end, but it curves closer to that platform before reaching the middle of the station, where the
footbridge is. Beyond that, Siding 7 curves further north towards the space where the old Up Bay lines
were once (on the Down side, of course!). The current points might be roughly aligned with where the
buffer stops were. There is a single ground shunting point lever each end of the Siding 7 loop, on the
north side at the western end and south side at the eastern. From the access to the sidings, it is
possible to see sidings 1-5 are still in place, hidden by vegetation. The Tamper Siding on the north side
held DR 73907, a Colas Rail Plasser and Theurer Switch & Crossing Tamper, hopefully significant!

397] Severn Tunnel: (BLN 1393.270) The OHLE problem, caused by one faulty insulator on the Up side,
was fixed in time for the 07.12 Paddington to Cardiff Central EMU (2 x Class 387s) to run through on
Mon 17 Jan. That night, Orange Army members reported continuous arcing from a Class 800 passing
Patchway so the 07.12 was again terminated at Bristol Parkway the next day. No further defects were
found and ice forming on the OHLE was blamed. The 387s made the full round trip on and from 19 Jan.

398] Machen Quarry: (BLN 1385.2553) A new flow to serve HS2 began on 8 Dec with an inaugural
21.30 to the new Birmingham Lawley Street aggregate terminal (BLN 1393.240) - the first commercial
traffic there. 21 box wagons hauled by 66610 ran via Bristol Loop ('Rhubarb Curve') and Didcot West
Curve. The wagons had arrived from Appleford Sidings at 17.19. Regular service was due to begin in
Jan (a FSSuX path was included in the new Dec timetable) - it first ran on Tue 25 Jan. The wagons (from
Oxford Banbury Road) arrived via the very circuitous route of Reading West, Hawkeridge & Dr Day's
curves; the loaded working was again via Didcot west curve. There was no further working that week.

399] Toilet trouble on Core Valley Lines (CVL): Under a recent legal ruling, toilets have to be locked
OOU in all stock lacking retention tanks on CVL property. For the 5 Feb tour (item 400) the 'blockage' is
from 15.05 to 17.44! It is apparently to protect the new South Wales Metro infrastructure.





[BLN 1394]
ABOVE: (Item 402) Timber for Pontrilas Sawmills transfers from

rail to dedicated road vehicles in Abergavenny Up Sidings.
(Nick Slocombe, 17 Jan 2022.)

X.41] ABOVE LEFT & RIGHT: BLN 1394 Guess the Location, a Society railtour,
the BLN region is relevant. (John Robinson via Phil Robinson.)

400] Cwmbargoed: (BLN 1390.3168) Pathfinder's ticket letter for the (farewell?) 'Cwmbargoed Collier'
tour of 5 Feb advised of a recent landslip at the top end of the branchline (sic) causing the tour to
reverse at 19m 35ch (24ch short of the former NR boundary), exactly 1½ miles short of the end of line.
Coal trains have managed to 'slip' by it, some days two to Margam and one to Hope Cement Works.

401] Newport Transporter Bridge: (BLN 1313.MR192) This closed after operation on 27 Sep 2020 for
major restoration work and provision of a new visitor centre https://bit.ly/3fIhG0k with £8.75M of
National Heritage Lottery funding. It has been delayed by the liquidation and subsequent closure of
the original contractor, Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co, in Jul and Sep 2021 respectively; reopening
is now expected on 1 Apr 2023. It is one of only six remaining operational transporter bridges in the
world (eight are belie ved extant) and normally operates MTX, Apr to Sep. Its most recent 'engineering
work' closure was 16 Feb to 4 Jun 2011 (BLN 1141.696) but it was also closed long term for major
works from 1985-1995 (BLN 694.29) and again Nov 2007 for a £1.225M refurbishment (BLN 1120.800)
until RO 30 Jul 2010. Given these lengthy and expensive 'downtime' periods, it is fortunately a heritage
attraction managed by Newport Museums & Heritage Service rather than a real means of transport!

402] Timber traffic branches out: On 19 Jan Newton Abbot Hackney Yard was logged as the latest
timber loading point when Colas operated a 08.55 trial working to Abergavenny Up Sidings - which
became the latest unloading point! The 400 tonnes of trees were rapidly transferred to road vehicles
destined for, and provided by, Pontrilas Sawmills 13½ miles away. Then the rail wagons left at 21.02
(5hr 10min ahead of schedule) for the more usual destination of Baglan Bay. They were dispatched
from there at 14.39 on 17 Jan and are normally used on Chirk Kronospan workings. A previous short
lived, small scale operation years ago (thought to have been in the early privatisation era, but possibly
Speedlink) used the Up siding at Pontrilas itself but seems to have gone unrecorded in BLN; any details
of both this and the previous revenue use of Hackney Yard and Abergavenny Up Sidings welcome!
'Railway Herald' reports that the trial, due to HGV driver shortages, went to plan and is now being
assessed. A regular flow of 800 tonnes four times a month is the aim but requires extra wagons.

403] Glyn Valley Tramway (GVT) Trust: (BLN 1392.141) E-BLN has photos of work at Chirk GVT station.

404] Service changes: (BLN 1392.150) From 27 Dec Wrexham to Bidston was reduced to 10 journeys
each way, two-hourly, seven days a week in line with the existing SuO service level, although timings
differ. More positively, the Chester - Frodsham - Lime Street in fact continued SuO throughout;
full service resumed SO on Sat 15 Jan and a limited (seven instead of 11) SSuX service on 17 Jan.
From 24 Jan another five CrossCountry (XC) SSuX Cardiff to Birmingham services each way were cut
out along with two northbound and three southbound SO and one northbound SuO. SSuX there is now
no XC departure from Cardiff 10.45 to 15.45 and from New St for Cardiff 08.30 to 13.30. Replacement
buses are very few, leaving passengers reliant on other rail services and routes. Those that do run
have often been 5 or 6-cars. Again, the above changes conveniently seem to align with reduced and
changed travel patterns to save money more than staff absences; weekends are relatively unscathed.
However, Realtime Trains indicates that Avanti intends to restore its full Holyhead to Euston service
from the May 2022 timetable change. The Conwy Valley line remains without trains - the 'problem' is
that one bus alone can cover all the train services while keeping to time and saves money.

405] Swansea Avoiding Line: (BLN 1393.261) In a rapidly changing situation, the 10.41 ex-Holyhead
reverted to the Swansea District line from Tue 18 Jan and the 12.50 ex-Fishguard Harbour on 19 Jan.

406] Gowerton (South) - Gorseinon: (BLN 1320.119) A 21 Jan walk was taken over this southern
section of the Central Wales line (CA south of Gorseinon No2 Signal Box 15 Jun 1964). North of the
removed bridge over the South Wales Main Line at Gowerton is a tarmacadamed foot and cycle path,
part of Llwybr Gŵyr/Gower Way. A short section descends to the foot of the embankment and passes
an underbridge with a date stone of 1892 (that is set in stone then), when the L&NWR doubled it.

Access at Gowerton is by a footbridge over the Afon Llan by the site of the L&NWR river bridge.
https://bit.ly/3g8RSL6 is a delightful 12 min video of Swansea Victoria to Pontardulais (one 'd' until
12 May 1980) on its last legs in Jun 1964; CP 15 Jun 1964, then Central Wales services, reduced to four
each way, ran via 'Llanelly' to Swansea High Street ('grant aid' £400k per year, worth £8.64M now).





BELOW: (Item 403) Chirk, it looks like an archeological dig but is actually work at the Glyn Valley Tramway
station site with track (just about!) in the frost. At the main line station is a TfW train towards Chester;

upper right is the Kronospan wood panel works where timber trains end up from Carlisle and Baglan Bay.
This was beyond the call of duty given how frosty it was (PREVIOUS PHOTO). (Chris Parker, 18 Jan 2022.)