1371

on 17 Feb 2021 (note the works compound and access lower right). (NR.)

BELOW & NEXT: (Item 491) Repairs to the damaged bridge parapet be

etween Stonehaven and Montrose - the line reopned on 22 Feb. (NR.)





603] The Great Towers of East Linton: NR is consulting on the new station;
underpass would not meet modern access standards). BELOW: An impressi

; it is on a tall embankment with OHLE so has two enormous lift towers (an
ion (they seem to have forgotten the aircraft warning lights on the towers).

X.43] BELOW: 1954 one inch to a mile Ordnance Survey map; Alloa is off bo
right is Dollar station - the line continued through the delightful sounding R
operated by railbuses, the line CP 14 Jun 1964 (CA beyond Dollar Colliery w

ottom left where Tillicoultry station is seen just past the level crossing. Top
Rumbling Bridge and Crook of Devon stations to Kinross Junction. Latterly
which CG/CA in 1973.) Dollar to Alloa is a delightful six mile track bed walk.

X.44] BELOW & NEXT: The low extant single platform at Dollar statio

on in Clackmannanshire (CP 15 Jun 1964). (Kev Adlam, 24 Jan 2021.)





THIS PAGE & NEXT TWO: The 3-mile trackbed walk from Dollar to Tillycoultry is now a Sustrans path.
As well as the old single platform still in situ at Dollar, three different over bridges are intact.





604] Rannoch: The station is noted for its remoteness (Corrour next down the line has no public road)
Covid cuts made trains trip to Fort William and back on the same day impossible, with no alternative.
Almost certainly for the first time ever since the station opened on 7 Aug 1894, a passenger service
now starts at Rannoch. The 09.10 TThO all stations to Fort William (10.25) allows 75 mins for essential
shopping and appointments before returning on the final train of the day south from Fort William at …
11.40. The 2-car DMU is added to the 06.03 from Mallaig at Fort William and detached at Rannoch.
To their great credit, ScotRail arranged this extra service at one week's notice after being asked to help.

605] Glensanda Quarry: (BLN 1370.417) Workers can only stay in the accommodation block if weather
prevents safe crossing of Loch Linnhe or if they are responsible for rock blasting, which only takes place
at night. There is no road access but you can walk across the moors into the site. There was a landing
strip for very small planes but after about 2000 the Civil Aviation Authority said it no longer met safety
standards. Two company ferries take workers to the site but neither operates from Oban (although
some commute from Oban). From the north workers are ferried from Port Appin, opposite the quarry.
From the south the main route for workers and materials is from Rhugh Garbh. The concrete segments
for the roof of the British end of the Channel Tunnel used Glensanda stone, shipped to the Isle of
Grain, for manufacture of the segments which were then taken by rail to the tunnel mouth.

… 1371 WALES & THE MARCHES (Chris Parker) [email protected]
606] Bow Street: (BLN 1370.322) The original gradient here was 1:89, regraded to 1:300 for the new
station, rising towards Aberystwyth. 1:500 is normally the maximum for a new station but derogation
was made due to the prohibitive cost of achieving 1:500. There is provision for a 50m future platform
extension at the Aberystwyth end. TfW website gave two days notice of the ROP of this slightly resited
station, first proposed by British Rail as long ago as 1993 (BLN 719.18). The milepost mileage is the
subject of some debate but grid reference is SN 621 844 and the Sectional Appendix gives 91m 28ch
(platform centre). It is hoped anticipated that, post-Covid, it will generate 30,000 extra journeys a year.

First train to call publicly was the 08.49 Machynlleth to Aberystwyth at 09.13 on Sun 14 Feb (after an
interlude of exactly 55⅔ years!) with a local councillor and cameramen in attendance but without
ceremony due to Covid; on its return as the 09.30 Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury it was the first Up
service. https://bit.ly/3dfqoDk has photos. The original station, 50-100yds north, CP 14 Jun 1965.

607] Park Hall: (BLN 1369.275) A signalling expert points out that, as stated in the Board of Trade
accident report, the 1918 head on collision did not involve Tyer's No6 single line equipment but
McKenzie & Holland's long section tablet instruments (Dutton & Neville's patent) (McK&H). These had
distinctive square tablets and, following trials on the Neath & Brecon Railway, saw some use on the
West Highland and Somerset & Dorset lines as well as the Cambrian but remained rare in Britain.
http://bit.ly/2Z2NG7f has information/photos, also see the Signalling Record Society's biography of
the signal engineer Samuel Telford Dutton p25. They had been used on the Ellesmere Jn to Oswestry
North section since Feb 1904. Tyer's No6 instruments were used for short section working when
Whittington box was switched in, as they had been since about 1913, and continued until its abolition
on/just before 4 Jan 1960 when the station CP(A). Our member thinks that the rarity of the McK&H
design may well be significant. Tyer's No6 equipment was 'tried and tested' and any faults would have
been ironed out long before 1913. Presumably the McK&H instruments were much less established
and, from the accident report, of inferior design. Their rarity further increased after the crash as they
inevitably fell out of favour; by 1943 Tyer's Electric Train Tablet equipment had replaced them here.

Your Regional Editor, a local resident, would be grateful for any information as to the circumstances
regarding the closure of Whittington (High Level - as it was after 1 Jul 1924) station five years before
any other stations on the Cambrian main line (disregarding Scafell Halt) in a relatively well populated
area. It was wooden and damaged by fire in 1958 https://bit.ly/2N7NfpB his childhood memory is of
another fire soon after closure. Was the closure brought forward by the 1958 damage, deterioration or
subsidence of the structures perched on an embankment or purely road competition? Numerous
enquiries, locally and elsewhere, have drawn a blank and BLNs of the time are silent!

BELOW & FOLLOWING: (Item 607) With th
the signalling diagram is 1903 and the following

hanks to Kidderminster Railway Museum,
g instructions are all dated 1904. (Chris Parker.)







BELOW: (item 606) Bow Street looking north towards Machynlleth on Mon 22 Feb 2021.

BELOW: Looking south towards Aberystwyth. (By local member Graeme Jolley, during permitted travel.)

ABOVE: The original Stationmaster's house. Despite purchasing a former Stationmaster's house the
present owner (a confirmed NIMBY) was unhappy about the station reopening, hence the slogan on
the side of their property. BELOW: The original Bow Street station had a loop and two platforms…

X.44] Wrexham -Bidston: (BLN 1370.317) A local member viewed one of th
Dee Marsh during a permitted walk along the adjacent Greenway on 10 Feb

he track replacement locations between Burton Point (CA 5 Dec 1955) and
b. Road-rail vehicles and a Colas tamper were in operation. (John Luxton.)









BELOW: (Item 614) Bridge 83 which is being 'refurbished' , the 16 span 106
Glaslyn between Minffordd and Porthmadog, looking west to Porthmadog

6 yd Traeth Mawr Viaduct (118m 37ch to 118m 42ch) over the Afon (River)
g ahead with 'The Cob' running right across in the distance. (Network Rail.)

BELOW: (Item 608) Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram 1905 of

the area (pre-ICI Dowlais branch, of course - see plan with item 608).

N Pant To Pontsticill Jn 608] Dowlais: (BLN 1368.66) This site was
chosen for a 'shadow factory' additional to
and Brecon DOWLAIS AREA Billingham to produce ammonia, as it was
Not to scale. Only considered safe from air attack. Local
Morlais principal lines and manpower was available, water and raw
materials (by products from gas works and
To Morlais Jn Tunnel ICI branch shown. other coal burning activities). Run by ICI as
a government agency, it began production
and Merthyr on 13 Jan 1940. It seems a bit odd that it
continued supplying Billingham after the
ICI HL Pantysgallog Halts war but there was obviously a reason for
Ivor Jn LL To Dowlais Top this as it became ICI property in 1949.
Penywernand Newport
Jn

To Abergavenny The factory was connected to the Brecon
& Merthyr's Dowlais branch at Ivor Jn.
Dowlais Central Dowlais High St (LEFT: Simplified plan, by Dave Cromarty;
Dowlais the area is northeast of Merthyr.) The
Cae Harris trains, once and very occasionally twice
Pre-Grouping owners daily, were initially routed via the link to
Brecon & Merthyr Penywern Jn and then the L&NWR
London & North Western Merthyr Tredegar & Abergavenny (MT&A)
Great Western/Rhymney Jt 'Heads of the Valleys' line to Abergavenny.

To Nelson & Llancaiach Cwm Bargoed However, from 22 Nov 1954 through
CSD via Cwm Bargoed freight traffic was withdrawn from the
branch

MT&A. This also seems to have marked

the demise of the Ivor Jn - Penywern Jn spur as it was not covered by the famous SLS MT&A last train

on 5 Jan 1958. (BELOW: It was an anonymous Senior Member's second railtour - Richard Maund.) The

tour notes observed that the curve was extant but Penywern Jn box was 'disused'. The ammonia trains

were rerouted to run via Torpantau, Talyllyn Jn

east loop and Three Cocks Jn, worked by Hereford

men both ways. They were normally double

headed by pannier tanks; the pilot loco ran round

to act as banker on the steeply graded Talybont-

on-Usk to Torpantau and Kinnersley to

Moorhampton sections. Presumably Hereford

men previously worked the train via Abergavenny.

The southbound empties derailed between
Hereford and Three Cocks twice, at Kinnersley station and approaching Hay-on-Wye respectively,
both fortunately without injury. The route changed again from 5 Dec 1960 (believed to be on account
of concerns about the strength of the Whitney-on-Wye river bridge, part of which duly collapsed in a
flood on 28 Dec 1961) and the working then became Pant (reverse), Deri Jn, Bargoed, the Fleur de Lis
to Maesycymmer Jn link and the Vale of Neath line to Pontypool Road. The rail movement ended
1 April 1963 (so the line between Pant and Deri Jn fell OOU, although its Electric Token Block System
was not 'suspended' until 3 Aug 1963). It is understood that the tanks used - grossing 32 tons each -
were originally lettered WD (for War Department presumably with the upwards arrow?), but were
relettered MOS (Ministry of Supply) in the mid-1950s. It appears they did not belong to ICI until about
1960. The Dowlais plant closed in Oct 1963, when ammonia production was moved to Avonmouth.

609] Cattle: (BLN 1366.3476) Another port which transhipped this traffic to rail was Cardiff!! Lairage
facilities adjacent to Roath Basin are shown on 1899-1938 OS maps, but not 1947. They are also listed
in the 1938 Railway Clearing House 'hand-book', annotated 'For despatch of imported live stock only'.

ABOVE: A tiny part of the Cardiff Docks rail system (1899 map 6" scale). 'Dock Station' upper far left
was later Bute Road and is now Carfiff Bay. Far right middle is Roath Dock; the rail served Lairage area
is marked with a purple spot. Note 'Coal Staiths - no 'e' in three places - but we won't start that again.

610] Landore Jn - Briton Ferry East: The Wed 3 Feb 03.46 Swansea to Paddington used the Down Main
in the Up direction as booked, but not on 4th as the possession finished early. So it was bye-bye, bi-di!

611] Grand Union Trains (GUT) gutted: (BLN 1337.2502) The ORR has rejected this operator's
proposals for an open access Paddington to Cardiff Central service of seven trains daily from Dec 2021
which it had hoped to extend to Carmarthen two years later. This is solely on the grounds of forecast
abstraction of passengers from existing services, given the uncertainties of post-Covid passenger
demand and economics: At this time, and taking account of the pandemic's impact on railway finances,
we consider the passenger benefits would not outweigh the significant negative impact on public funds
that this might have. All other hoops had been successfully negotiated. GUT commented: The people
of South Wales may wonder at the reasoning that sees continuing competitive services approved for
the East Coast Main Line which now operates to four different destinations, while the Great Western
Main Line remains devoid of any competition. Grand Union is grateful for the support it has had from
its many stakeholders during this process and is currently considering its options.

612] Morlais Jn: (BLN 1370.468) During the closure, diversion of freight via the 1:50 Cockett Bank
instead of the Swansea District 1:120 at Llangyfelach has costly effects as Robeston - Westerleigh oil
trains have been restricted to 14 tanks maximum instead of 25. Margam - Trostre Works steel traffic
has had to be 'top and tailed' as they temporarily have to reverse at Llandeilo Jn and Genwen Jn.

613] TVMs: (BLN 1370.461) By 11 Feb ticket machines had been installed at Gobowen, Ruabon and
Chirk. Gobowen booking office's information screen (in Shropshire) now displays in Welsh!!

614] Barmouth - Pwllheli: (BLN 1370.320) TCP was mainly, if not exclusively, for £1.85M of work on
Bridge 83, the 16 span 106 yd Traeth Mawr Viaduct (118m 37ch - 42ch) over the Afon Glaslyn between
Minffordd and Porthmadog. 'Refurbishment' is something of an understatement as the structure is a
smaller version of the timber section of Barmouth Bridge/Viaduct (BLN 1364.3253); similar spare part
surgery with replacement of many pier components was involved. Further work is planned for 2022-3.

615] Britannia Bridge: (BLN 1354.1789) On 17 Feb contractors began refurbishing the road/rail Grade
II listed Menai Strait crossing. Fibre-reinforced plastic support beams will be installed under the 24
stone lintels at the top of its three so called 'land towers' named 'Anglesey', 'Britannia' & 'Caernarfon'.
Two are on the eponymous shores but 'Britannia' and hence the bridge itself owes its name to the rock
in the middle of the notoriously treacherous Strait on which it stands! Scaffolding built up from the rail
(lower) deck level was to be installed on the towers on 17 & 18, 22 & 23 and 24 & 25 Feb, with minimal
disruption to road traffic and none to rail. NR is using the same firm as at Traeth Mawr (previous item).

616] Chester: With Railway Heritage Trust financial support, NR is giving the station a much needed facelift
repainting the latticed metalwork supporting the roof above P3 & 4's central sections in bright colours.

617] Shrewsbury: Rather more radical changes to this station are proposed by the local councils,
Business Improvement District, TfW and the West Midlands Station Alliance (including West Midlands
Trains & NR). The public entrance would be replaced by a new pavilion building on the north side with
new access to the platforms via lifts from, in the short term at least, the present Dana footbridge with
a public footpath over the station but no direct link. As this is a listed structure, obtaining planning
permission could be a problem! 'Quality public squares' would be created north and south of the
station; these and the entrance pavilion would absorb all existing parking. There would be a drop off
point and adjacent bus stops but car parks would be some minutes away. However, the green
credentials are undermined by no mention of any improved bicycle facilities! The plans form part of a
'Masterplan Vision' for the town; http://bit.ly/3ua29wh has links to PDF and consultation documents.

BELOW: (Item 618) Tram rail dug up in Llandudno (Photo by local member Paul Marshall, 16 Feb 2021.)

618] Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway: (BLN 1370.463) Road works in Llandudno have
exposed a short section of track at the western end of Mostyn Broadway, by North Western Gardens,
just northeast of the NR station. Two sections of typical grooved tramway rail have been removed
from the excavation. The west to east tramway route followed Mostyn St through Llandudno, then
Mostyn Broadway through Craig-y-Don to Bodafon Fields and on to Rhôs-on-Sea and Colwyn Bay.

1371 MINOR RAILWAYS (Peter Scott) [email protected]
With apologies to our MR Editor Peter Scott, in BLN 1370, during formatting, a section of MR26 was
unfortunately inadvertently added to MR23. Both are repeated below in full for clarity. [BLN Editor.]

MR23] Aln Valley Railway, Northumberland (MR p9) (BLN 1364.MR174): The Railway announced on
18 December 2020 that the ORR had given permission for limited operations to recommence,
following the banning of all movements after their visit to the Railway in July 2020.

MR26] Llangollen Railway, Denbighshire (MR p9): Volunteer activity on the work to complete Corwen
station has been adversely affected by pandemic restrictions. However, the following work has been
completed: The new island platform (reached by a subway) including surface and drainage, signal box,
glazing, installation of the ground frame and adding safe walkways for operational volunteers.
An opening date of the extension and new station of Friday 28th May 2021 has been agreed by the
Llangollen Railway Trust Board. This is, of course, subject to progress and Welsh pandemic restrictions.

Offsite the S&T Dept has been preparing a signalling plan for the new station, including the style and
position of signals and the proposed 'pull' order on the lever frame. These plans have to be approved
by the Board of Directors and then offered to the Railway Inspectorate for final operational and safety
approval. Once built, the lever frame is given a thorough 'work out' by approved testers before being
finally signed off as safe for the passage of trains. This will be a considerable time in the future, hence
the temporary use of a ground frame for locos to run round their incoming trains when it first opens.

[A member has since advised that the Office of Rail & Road (ORR) doesn't, and can't, give permission
for Minor and other railways to do things - and does not have the powers to do so. They were all
removed with the ROGS (Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations) in 2006.

For example, on the South Tynedale Railway when Slaggyford signal box was designed, our specialist
member checked and approved the principles, the locking was designed by a competent locking fitter,
and the frame was installed. It was then subjected to an independent locking test (by a competent
tester not involved with the planning or development of the frame) - once it had passed, the tester
and our member signed the frame in to use. The ORR was not consulted or involved at any stage.]

MR28] Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway, Falkirk (MR p10): Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has awarded
the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) £158,654. It covers enhancements to the interior of
the Railway's coaches, with screening installed for social distancing. The remaining money will help the
Society carry out a business review with consultants to enable them to make the most of the Railway,
which normally sees more than 60,000 visitors. Steve Humphreys, SRPS chairman, said: The Bo'ness &
Kinneil Railway and Museum of Scottish Railways have been developed by SRPS volunteers for over
40 years. We were unable to open to visitors at all last year. SRPS Railtours Ltd, our mainline tour
subsidiary, was unable to run tours in its 50th anniversary year. As a result, we did not raise the income
we would normally get to put back into our preservation of Scotland's railway history. We are grateful
that HES has assisted us at this time of great difficulty. There are many traditional skills which will be
lost if we cannot pass them on to the next generation and the upgrades to our existing infrastructure
that this grant will cover will assist us greatly. The enhancements we have been able to make due to
this funding mean passengers will be able to travel once again behind a mighty steam train at Bo'ness
or on a SRPS rail tour around Scotland as soon as we can return safely to running services.

NEXT: (Item MR 28) Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway. During the SRPS 50th anniversary year, No17 'Braeriach'
leaving Bo'ness station, to the left is the Swindon InterCity DMU. (Peter Scott, 8 Jul 2011.)









PREVIOUS: (Item MR 29) Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway. 'Leader'
(Peter Scott, 27 May 2012.) BELOW: (Item MR 30) Blenheim Park Railway; AK3

brings the 14.35 from Kemsley Down into Sittingbourne Viaduct station.
39 approaches Palace station on a bitterly cold day! (Peter Scott, 7 Apr 2013.)

BELOW: (Item MR32) Ise Valley Railway; the Kentrail Enthusiasts Grou
In the centre, 8th from each end, is your BLN Minor Railways Editor, P

up visit, Sun 25 Sep 2011, with some familiar miniature men (and lady).
Peter Scott. (Four pictures thanks to the organiser, Simon Mortimer.)

BELOW: Ise Valley Railway; 'Francis'

is on the railtour at Ise Dock station.

BELOW: Ise Valley Railway, taken on the move; view forwa
NEXT PHOTO: Quarry Siding, the tour is a