1424 SOUTH EAST - NORTH & EAST ANGLIA (Julian James) [email protected] 1257] Felixstowe Beach: OP 1 May 1877 as Felixstowe Town, it became Felixstowe Beach from 1 Jul 1898 and was 1½ miles from the new Felixstowe Town (Felixstowe after 20 Feb 1969) which opened that same day in 1898. Some passenger trains continued for ¾ mile beyond Felixstowe Beach to Felixstowe Pier until that station CP from 2 Jul 1952 (bottom left on this 1954 map). From 2 Nov 1959, services to Beach station (as labelled on map) were reduced to summer only plus a few Sundays before/after the summer timetable; the station CP 11 Sep 1967. Most of the Pier branch is part of the south access to the Port of Felixstowe; the final section is a container stacking area. Felixstowe Beach platform is on TRACKmaps 2 p9A 2020. Demolition of the station buildings at Easter 2004 has been marked annually since by the placing of a wreath; this year by a former town mayor and another resident, along with a notice which explained the circumstances. In 2004 the then Suffolk Coastal District Council did not implement a six month stop notice for the demolition through concern about the impact on future projects for the site. A resident prevented the station from demolition on Mothering Sunday (21 Mar) that year as the correct procedure had not been followed. The site owners pledged to give three days' notice and posted a notice of demolition on Good Friday carrying out the work on Easter Sun, 11 Apr 2004. The area was then left to accumulate weeds and rubbish. The station, close to the beach, was built through the enterprise of one George ('Colonel') Tomline as part of his vision for the development of the southern part of Felixstowe. He was founder and chairman of the Felixstowe Railway & Pier Company which built the Felixstowe branch and established the Port of Felixstowe; Tomline Rd in Ipswich, parallel to the railway, is named after him. One of our signalling experts doesn't think that he has seen an external photo of Felixstowe Beach box in the 1970s before. It had a 14-lever LNER ground frame inside, designed as literally ground mounted. In that configuration, photos show the lever tails would be at the right height just above the ground to lead off the rodding horizontally. In this case the frame has been slightly elevated above ground level by the floor of the hut above the brickwork level, vertically arranged cranks have been used in the point rodding to transfer the motion back down to ground level at the lead-offs - a neat solution. Presumably, some pulley wheels have been positioned for the signal wires below the floor to position those at the correct level? He wonders why they didn't install the Frame at ground level and build the floor up around it, so the quadrants ended up flush with the floor as with a conventional frame 1258] Chelmsford - A good start to the day: On Tue 4 Apr five sleepers were damaged during an overnight possession. While repairs were made, four trains starting with the 05.00 ex-Witham ending with the 05.20 from Colchester took the Down Main from Arbour Lane facing crossover (30m 30ch) to Shenfield where they called at P4, 5, 4 and 2 respectively. Interestingly, one of the four, 05.12 from Ipswich, also crossed to the Down Main at Kelvedon London end facing crossover (42m 02ch) to call at Witham P3, before returning to the Up Main on departure. Later the earlier mentioned possession was shortened, enabling trains to reach the Down Main via Church Lane (trailing) Crossover. Eleven trains did this starting with 05.05 from Norwich and ending with 08.11 from Clacton-on-Sea; all used Shenfield P2 except for 07.55 from Harwich Town which used P1. (All trains were to Liverpool Street.)
1259] Amersham: (BLN 1422.1018) (TRACKmaps 4 p15B 2022) BLN has reported that recently all Chiltern Down stopping trains of five or fewer cars have been routed via P2 (normally devoted to terminating Metropolitan Line trains heading for the sidings to turn back) rather than P1. A member waiting on Southbound P3 in late March observed a Metropolitan line 'S8' train in P2. Rather than proceeding to one of the two turnback sidings, it was the subject of attention by worried looking staff. He wonders if the problem was with the train or access to the sidings. Also, on Mon 3 Apr the 14.52 Met departure was unexpectedly from P1 (normally used by Northbound Chiltern services) over the rare southmost trailing crossover. There is no access from P1 to the turnback sidings but the Down Main line to the north would appear to be usable for turnbacks from P1 to P2, and then Southbound. LU terminology Southbound and Northbound changes to NR Up Main and Down Main at Amersham. 1260] March: A member travelled on the 20.13 Norwich to Nottingham on Sat 15 Apr. At March, where there was no booked stop (it was April not March), the train slowed, used the facing crossover east of the station to cross to the Up Main, ran nonstop through P2 and crossed back to the Down Main at March West Jn. In doing so the train overtook the 20.00 Cambridge to Birmingham New Street, held in in P1 while the police dealt with a disturbance on board involving rival football supporters from Peterborough and Cambridge, whose teams had played each other that afternoon. Police on site had to call for reinforcements due to escalation of the situation The 20.00 Ipswich to Peterborough did the same move and called at P2 rather than P1. The Birmingham train finally left 62 min late. Cambridge United won at home 2-0, scoring three points but no crossovers for those fans. 1261] Sat 29 Apr 2023; Class 321 Farewell: This charity tour was organised by Greater Anglia (GA), with bookings via their website; it was advertised at BLN 1422.1084 and the Society was represented. Tickets, £70 Adults and £35 Child (5-15), could be collected at any national station ticket machine with the payment card and usual security code or for an extra charge could be posted. Formed of EMUs 321307+314 this farewell ran perfectly on a bright sunny day; punctual running and an early return. Unusual sections of track were carefully included by GA's chief timer who was on the train with his wife. The route and other points of interest: ●Bow Depot Jn Down Main to Up Temple Mills, then to Down Temple Mills to Stratford Central Jn East to Avoiding Line to Stratford P10A. ●Ilford Down Passenger Avoiding 'Independent' line. ●Seven Kings crossovers from Down Electric to Down Main. ●Chelmsford Down Passenger Loop. ●Colchester Down Goods at rear of carriage sidings. ●Colchester P1 to Colchester Town via the Up & Down Clacton - three crossovers - (not the Up & Down Avoiding). ●Clacton-on-Sea P1 for an early lunch break with time to see pier. ●Thorpe-le-Soken P1 with the old station and signal box still visible (reverse). ●Walton-on-the-Naze allowing time to see the old station, now housing, and view the pier. ●Colchester P1 (reverse) via the Up & Down Avoiding Line. ●Harwich Town. ●Ipswich Down Main P3. ●Stowmarket P2, reversing via south trailing crossover. ●Ipswich Up Main (middle line). ●Marks Tey Up Passenger Loop. ●Witham Up Passenger Loop and through P1. ●Shenfield Up side P1 (reverse). ●Southend Victoria P1 where the non-listed signal box (abolished 1992) remains, as does the out of use Post Office Terminal. ●Shenfield Southend Loop (after a stop at Billericay due to trespassers), then carefully crossing to the Up Main in front of a slightly late running up Norwich train. ●Ilford Up Passenger Avoiding 'Independent' line to... ●Manor Park Up Passenger Avoiding line. The tour ended in Liverpool Street P17 slightly early. The on-train raffle raised over £1,000 and the ticket sales over £22k (from well over 300 passengers) for GA's three charities: East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), Havens Hospices and Railway Mission. The last day of Class 321 scheduled service use (as opposed to ad hoc use) was Mon 3 Apr on the Colchester to Walton route. 1424 SOUTH EAST - SOUTH (Julian James) [email protected] 1262] Lewes - Newhaven: Itford User Worked Crossing (53m 36ch), immediately north of Southease station is unusual. It has two full width powered barriers normally closed to road traffic, with extended deep skirts and key operated controls to raise them for authorised users only. There is a conventional compulsory 'STOP' sign for road traffic with many instruction signs. Southease itself, with 23,564 recorded passengers in 2021-22 (the highest number in recent years), is served only by alternate trains on the Brighton to Seaford run, although this still gives it an hourly service in each direction.
BELOW: (item 1262) The unusual Itford User Worker Crossing; Southease stati
on is off right with its Permit to Travel Machine. (John Cowburn, 20 Apr 2023.)
ABOVE: Plans thanks to Martyn Brailsford. Island P5 & 6 has also been widened. London is to the left and Brighton right. P1-3 are fully bidirectional for through running. Up services can no longer depart from P6, only arrive. There is now a fixed red at the London end of P6 (Sig 244) allowing turnbacks from the south. Up trains can depart from P4 & 5 and Down services can depart from P5, 6 & 7. 1263] Gatwick Airport: (BLN 1418.485) (TRACKmaps 5 p15B 2019) The key track change achieved during the lengthy (and no doubt expensive) work on the station platforms and buildings has been the change in layout in and out of the former Reversible Loop serving P6, now named the Platform 6 Line. Its connections to the Down Fast at each end of the station, which predated the provision of the new Down Platform Loop (old name) at P7, now known as the Platform 7 Line, have both been relaid as connections to the Platform 7 Line. The non-electrified overrun at the country end of P6 has been realigned, extended and electrified to form the Platform 7 Line connection at the south end of the station. The crossover to the Down Fast at the country end continues to exist and permits Up trains from the Up Fast to access P6 while a Down train is signalled into or through P7. The station can now operate with two Up direction fast platforms, where previously there was only P4 but three platforms (P5, P6 and P7) available for fast Down moves. Line renamings were set out in BLN 1415.97. The station entrance is now hardly recognisable compared to how it looked before the project started. An extra 500 m² of space has been created for passengers on the concourse and the overall passenger experience has been transformed by new flooring comprising around 6,300 floor tiles over a total of 2,200 m², new gatelines with wide access gates, customer information screens and much bigger selfservice ticket vending machine area with 17 machines. The passenger figures are interesting with 21.2M in 2018-19, then 1.69M in 2019-20, recovering to 5.92M 2021-22 plus 0.9M interchanging.
1264] Halling: (BLN 1407.2047) On the Medway Valley line, 17 trains have run this year (but none from 9 Mar until 4 May) to and from the Cemex concrete sleeper facility (ex-Rugby Cement Works Sidings) which trail into the Down Main north of the station. There was also a lull from 18 Nov until the train on 10 Jan. There are works in place to create two further sidings at the concrete loading pad. 1265] Reading Green Park - an Open and Shut case? (BLN 1412.2643) Did the new station at Reading Green Park open to passengers on 10 Apr 2023 and close on 10 Apr 2023, Easter Monday? Engineering work* at Basingstoke that day required rail replacement services, including to and from Reading. GWR provided both direct services and ones stopping at intermediate stations (excluding Reading West which was served by Newbury services only). To avoid passengers for Basingstoke accidentally joining the much slower stopping services, these were not shown on information screens as running to Basingstoke from Reading but only to Bramley, the penultimate stop (even though they did continue in service to Basingstoke, of course, for passengers joining en route). If you wanted to go Reading to Basingstoke, there were the faster direct services. Towards Reading, however, the stopping services were shown as running to Reading Green Park, the last stop before Reading, also displayed on the printed destination sheets carried on the buses and on the list of stops supplied to the bus drivers. The first few buses did run via Reading Green Park until rail replacement coordinators became aware of these services going via a station not yet open to rail services. Drivers were then advised not to call there and the printed destination lists had Reading Green Park crossed out. However, the Passenger Information Screens at Basingstoke (also presumably Bramley and Mortimer) could not be so easily amended and continued to show services to Reading Green Park all day! Rail passengers could actually have boarded/alighted there earlier, so does that constitute a station opening? Presumably the Reading Green Park ticket machines were unavailable and were likely to be inaccessible anyway, so no tickets would have been sold from there. As an aside, do members know of any stations where the first timetabled services were unable to be rail and had to be rail replacement buses or coaches? Between Ely and Bury St Edmunds, Soham station OP Mon 13 Dec 2021 rather than the start of the new timetable the day before as originally planned, as rail replacement buses were running Sun 12 th . (*The junction at the east end of Basingstoke station was being relaid.) Returning to Reading Green Park, a train actually called at about 10.00 on Tue 4 Apr 2023, passengers alighted and rejoined. It was an invitation special with DMU 165113 for dignitaries and Press only. 1266] Southampton Query: On Sun 19 Jul 1981, a member travelled by boat train from Waterloo to Southampton hauled by 73108 to join the 'Oriana'. However, with all the excitement he failed to note if the train went to Southampton Eastern or Western Docks. Any ideas please as boat trains could use either then? Our member has tried internet searches but has found nothing definitive. 1424 SOUTH WEST Robert Green [email protected]. 1267] St Blazey Round Up: NR, assisted by many partners from the industry, succeeded in upgrading the track and restoring St Blazey turntable to its former glory in time for 'The Royal Duchy' - a Railway Touring Company (RTC) Charter on 30 Apr. It was hauled from Bristol TM by 'Flying Scotsman' which was duly turned. The turntable had been out of use since 11 Jul 2019 (BLN 1334.2072). The project was made possible by a generous grant from Railway Heritage Trust and specialist companies providing equipment and staff free of charge. Volunteers from Network Rail teams in Exeter, Par and Plymouth assisted with track refurbishment. RTC has plans for 'The Royal Duchy' to be hauled by other historic locos to travel this route again in Jul, Aug and Sep and the working turntable will facilitate those visits and others in the future. Some trips had only run with steam to Plymouth for turning on Laira triangle. 1268] Devon & Cornwall Residual Life Extension: (If only it was available for people too.) Translation: they can't afford complete new resignalling. Apparently,the post which supports Plymouth signal P70R is life expired. It is on the Down Main just short of Notter Viaduct between Saltash and St Germans. For the modest (?) sum of £200k, this signal is to be replaced 55m nearer on approach to optimise the position in accordance with future resignalling plans for the area and improve sighting. A new structure and head will be installed and the AWS will be moved to the standard 180m position. Commissioning of the signal, controlled by Plymouth Power Signal Box, is planned for July during routine possessions.
X.48] On 4 May, 68003+68004 propel out of Bridgwater Yard, with 3 FNA wago
ons. The MOM (who could indeed be a Mom) has to operate the Ground Frame.
BELOW: 68003+68004 departing Bridgwater heading to
o Crewe Coal Sidings. (Both Mark Fishlock, 4 May 2023.)
1269] What Am I? (1): Identify features other than stations on the present BLN South West region network. I am 1,092yds long near the top of a well known incline. An English journalist's observation of an event here many years ago was later discredited and subsequently rewritten by a Scotsman. 1270] Falmouth Branch (Maritime Line): The single platform at Penmere (311m 13ch) has been carefully maintained by Friends of Penmere Station with all signage in British Railways Western Region (BR(W)) colours of cream lettering on brown background. Opened as Penmere Platform by the original Great Western Railway on 1 July 1925, it was named Penmere Halt from 1938 until 1956 according to the Hand-Book of Stations and the 'Platform' suffix was lost from 5 May 1969 (Quick). The station still retains Penmere Platform designations on the two running-in boards (photos show that they are clearly reproductions but nicely done) and BR(W) double-sausage post signs with 'Penmere' in the main sausage and 'Platform' in the lower part of the second sausage. It is a very pleasing outlook from the train. 185,000 passengers were recorded for 2021-22, not that far short of the pre-Covid levels. Perranwell, OP 24 Aug 1863 as Perran and renamed 19 Feb 1864, is also adorned with brown and cream signage including a nicely restored GWR cast iron running in board and modern signs in those colours. It once had two platforms, a passing loop and an unusual signal box elevated above a goods siding. The Down platform is used now, again well maintained, for its 29,566 passengers in 2021-22. Penryn (with its crossing loop and extended single platform), Falmouth Town and Falmouth Docks are also tidily maintained but have signage in modern black and white with contemporary GWR logos. The originally broad gauge branch is heavily engineered (and was expensive to build) with six tall, lengthy viaducts and two tunnels, as it was to have been the double track main line of the Cornwall Railway. As an anomaly of historic interest, the 'branch' was always designated as a main line on company maps, well into British Rail days. It had the final GWR Cornish wooden viaducts and would now welcome a visit from tree surgeons but for the moment the carriage windows are brushed clean. 1271] Newquay Branch (Atlantic Coast Line), a cutting remark: When the tree surgeons have finished on the Falmouth branch, they could 'operate' on the line to Newquay! Has their budget been pruned? 1272] Castles Kept: (BLN 1413.2778) Further to earlier reports of their demise, GWR is now retaining the four 2+4 'Castle Class' HST sets that it owns until at least Dec 2024. Those on lease will still go back to their leasing company. This extends the planned phased rundown of the fleet through 2023. The HSTs mainly work between Cardiff and Taunton/Penzance with occasional forays to Worcester (and once Malvern until they discovered that the walkway to change ends at Malvern Wells had been removed with relaying). The withdrawn ones will be replaced by bimode IETs. The planned cascade of Turbo DMUs to the West of England, released by the introduction of Class 769s in the Thames Valley, has been abandoned as the '769s' have now gone off lease without carrying a single passenger. 1273] Marsh Barton: Several 'passing' members (on trains!) report that the station looks ready for opening but no date has yet been announced. It takes longer to sign them off than build them now. 1274] Castle Cary - Cogload Jn: The line was blocked from Sun 30 Apr until Wed 3 May for drainage and structural work. Only Bristol to Weymouth trains served Castle Cary. Trains between Paddington, Taunton and beyond mostly divert via Swindon and Bristol TM others terminate at Westbury. 1424 WEST MIDLANDS (Brian Schindler) [email protected] 1275] Bescot: (TRACKMaps 4 p21A 2022) On Thur 20 Apr at 19.00 the trailing points at Bescot Jn were badly damaged by a run through, so were secured for running along the Up Grand Junction line only pending repairs. Trains from Walsall on the Up Walsall were unable to join the Up Grand Junction line at Bescot Jn towards Birmingham. Up services from Rugeley to Birmingham took the facing crossover (0m 14ch) from the Up Walsall to the Down Walsall, crossed the Grand Junction lines on the level (an interesting flat crossing) then ran via the Down Bescot Goods Loop (after it had been inspected) at 30mph round the back of Bescot P2. Fortunately, it is all bidirectionally signalled. Did these diverted passenger trains then cross to the Up Grand Junction line at Newton Jn at the Birmingham end of Bescot Yard or Bescot Middle Jn (as seems more likely)? On Fri 21 Apr at around 19.00 the points were fit to use in the trailing direction with a speed restriction and full repairs were completed by 1 May.
Wolverhampton to Walsall via Birmingham all stations services turned back at Tame Bridge Parkway, with buses to/from Walsall via Bescot Stadium (which could not be served by train in the Up direction) - most Rugeley services don't call there anyway. Down services to Walsall used their normal route but were delayed by late running of Up trains and double conflicts with them crossing to the Down Goods Loop and back again afterwards. Down Crewe - Stoke - New Street services were diverted via Tipton. 1276] Birmingham New Street: ❶Our Sat 29 Apr Society visit, thanks to NR, confirmed the existence of tunnels below the west side of the station. Formally used for mail and parcels traffic, they are now primarily used by CrossCountry to move supplies to their trains. The last of the ramps remaining is to P12 - lifts are now utilised to P1-P11. The tunnel to the former Royal Mail Sorting Office (now the Mailbox) is in situ with the first 100yd or so owned by NR and used for storage; the rest is gated. A tunnel which originally accessed the Main Post Office in Victoria Square is bricked up beyond P1. ❷(BLN 1420.770) After P5&6 were returned to use, there was a week with all 13 platforms in use. P7 & P8 were taken OOU from 7 May along with (middle) Siding 2 for repairs to the 60 year old concrete roof, which has been subject to spalling (cracking and delamination). They are due to reopen on 4 Jun. ❸From 28 Apr P12 has been restricted to trains with a maximum of 8 vehicles and includes a ban on HSTs. This is due to new hoarding which restricts the platform width at the 'B' (Bristol) end. There is an 'S' board at the start of the hoarding for trains approaching from the Proof House Jn 'A' (London) end. 1277] A wild crossover: (Well, it wasn't Tame Bridge Parkway.) At 11.37 Tue 25 Apr P'Way staff found a broken rail on the Up Sutton - towards Birmingham - at Gravelly Hill. A block was taken at 14.32 and handed back at 21.03 for the rail to be replaced. Cross City south services turned back at New Street. However, an 18.30, 19.30 & 20.30 from Wylde Green to Lichfield Trent Valley started (turned back) from P2 and utilised the trailing crossover at 4m 00ch from the Up to Down Sutton. This crossover is thought to be ultra-rare, has any member done it and, if so, what were the circumstances please? Normal policy nowadays is to replace the whole line with buses or arrange ticket acceptance on buses. 1278] Lichfield Trent Valley: (BLN 1403.1554) High Level P3, the Cross City Line platform, is in a bad way and was closed for emergency repairs from 1 May until 4 Jun 2022 inclusive. It will be replaced later this year at a cost of £5.8M. The existing P3 will be removed during an already planned closure of the WCML between Rugby and Stafford beneath it from Thur 13 until Sun 23 Jul. No trains will be passing Lichfield TV P3 then as Lichfield TV Jn (18m 13ch) to Corks Farm N o 2 Crossing (18m 66ch) is closed for 78 days from Sat 27 May until Fri 11 Aug to install an HS2 underbridge with the through route severed (BLN 1418.46). Nothing happens to P3 until a planned WCML Christmas 2023 closure when a new platform will be installed. NR say that this saves them £1.5M a day in 'compensation' they would otherwise have to pay train operators to close the WCML especially just to install the platform. [A reminder of the Facts of Life: with our railways still on what Roger Ford in 'Modern Railways' calls 'life support' post-Covid, it would actually be the DfT paying itself mostly, of course. It does cost a great deal of money to recycle money within the rail industry too (John Major's money-go-round). Ho hum.] So, poor passengers, from 8 Jul 2023 until Jan 2024, Cross-City services terminate at Lichfield City with replacement buses to/from Trent Valley. Rich passengers just use their cars. This is significant as many from the Cross City Line now head north to use the hourly service from Lichfield TV to Stafford etc. At Lichfield City the New Street end facing crossover will be used on arrival for all trains to turnback in P2. It would have been used, in the other direction, by trains from Lichfield City towards Walsall via Brownhills prior to the line's closure. Lichfield TV P3 with its lifts provides step-free access between P1 and P2. A temporary footbridge will be provided, most unusually using the existing staircases and lifts. 1279] The Down Trent Valley goes down: On Mon 20 Mar, after axle counter failures and resets that morning, a faulty axle counter head caused by track voiding was found. The Down Trent Valley Fast and Slow lines were blocked from 15.24 until 16.06 which resulted in the 14.30 to Glasgow, 14.33 to Manchester and 14.43 to Liverpool, all from Euston, travelling over the Up Trent Valley Fast from Ashby Jn (97m 72m) to Amington Jn (108m 74ch). Three early evening failures/resets required rail contacts to be replaced. It was blocked again from 20.30 until 21.58, with eight more trains from Euston sampling the same move; the first was 19.30 to Carlisle and the last was 20.43 to Liverpool.
X.49] BELOW: 196112, 002 & 002 in Hereford Sidings, refettled for stabling, at t
he Birmingham end of Worcester Shrub Hill Yard. (Bob Hemming, 4 May 2023.)
X.50] BELOW: Class 196 DMUs now run through rural Herefordshire; here ap
pproaching Colwall from Malvern for Hereford. (Peter Hughes, 29 Apr 2023.)
X.51] BELOW: Although HSTs are becoming rarer at Worcester Foregate Stree the really unusual thing here is a GWR train in P2 (a Great Malvern to Stoke G
et and not expected to put in appearance after the 21 May timetable change, Gifford ad hoc ECS via Tunnel Hill Jn reverse). (Darren Morgan, 30 Apr 2023.)
1280] West Midlands Metro: With still no official date for the start of services on the Wolverhampton Station extension, suggestions are that then no service will be provided to Wolverhampton St Georges with all trams running to the station initially. When the Dudley extension is complete, services from there will operate to Wolverhampton St Georges (so, a very long wait for the next tram there then). 1281] May Timetable: There is a major recast on the Snow Hill Lines, which is an admission that the pre-Covid timetable of 6tph between Birmingham and Stourbridge Junction with 3tph Birmingham to Whitlocks end is not going to happen again anytime soon. On the positive side, service intervals are half hourly (rather than 20 then 40 minutes) to Whitlocks End (hourly SuO) and Stratford-upon-Avon is very fortunate to retain 2tph - one via Henley-in-Arden and the other via Solihull. The latter do not load well despite being 12 min faster between Stratford and Birmingham and will additionally call at Lapworth which, years ago, was a Birmingham outer suburban service terminus. Kidderminster is also fortunate to retain 4tph to Birmingham (but there are still cancellations due to lack of train crew now, particularly in the evenings, more so Saturdays). It means there are very few Stourbridge Junction turnbacks except Sundays when an hourly service from Dorridge arrives into P2. New service pattern: ●1tph Kidderminster - Whitlocks End ●1tph Worcester Foregate Street - Dorridge ●1tph Kidderminster - Stratford via Whitlocks End ●1tph Worcester FS - Stratford via Dorridge Most Worcester passengers prefer Foregate Street due to its central location rather than Shrub Hill. Previous timetables had 2tph from Snow Hill turning back in Foregate Street P2, also used by hourly New Street to Hereford services both ways just a few minutes apart from each other. Delays quickly spread in both directions, so the present timetable has some turning back at Shrub Hill instead. This has been unpopular with passengers, so from May Worcester-Dorridge-Stratford trains turnback at Foregate St P1 (via Shrub Hill reverse, turning back there if late from the north). Foregate Street P1 will also have the new hourly Bristol service turning back and North Cotswold Line 1tph each way. A complete change is that Worcester Snow Hill line services call at Lye, Old Hill and Langley Green, served by Kidderminster terminators for years which will now run semi-fast to Birmingham instead. The new timetable is said to be more reliable, consistent and easier to understand. All services on the line have been retimed to provide greater operational resilience, intended to deliver a more reliable and punctual service less susceptible to late notice cancellations, stop skipping and terminating early, which we know has happened all too often on the line previously. Small Heath and Tyseley both have 3tph each way rather than the present post-Covid 2tph. The Lakes, Wood End, Danzey and Wootton Wawen all become mandatory rather than request stops in the new timetable. The wooden platforms at The Lakes are only 40m long and just one door of the first car is opened at the Harrington Hump. As with any timetable change there are winners and losers, Worcester trains no longer stop at Hagley or Blakedown off-peak but will for school traffic (very heavy on this line, both ways). They retain 2tph but these will be Kidderminster terminators where a change may then be needed to/from the south. Other lines: The 23.22 SSuX New Street to Hednesford (00.09), all stations via Aston, facing crossover on arrival - is reinstated. There is a similar SO service already from Wolverhampton. Class 196 DMUs will be introduced to the Nuneaton - Coventry - Leamington line. It is worth noting that on Sundays these services run though Coventry (when they started, they were shuttles either side of that station). 1424 IRELAND (Martin Baumann) [email protected] 1282] Rosslare - Waterford: On Thur 4 May 2023 Irish Rail Multipurpose Vehicle (MPV) 790 ran from Rosslare Strand Waterford Line Jn (110m 59ch) - booked 09.45 - onto the South Wexford Line to weedspray. The last such working was on 23 Jun 2022. The notice did not say how far it was to run, before returning to Rosslare,but described the section as Rosslare Strand/BarrowBridge so no further west than the bridge (82m 01ch) which closed to all rail traffic from 18 Aug 2022 (BLN 1408.2186). This vehicle cannot be guaranteed to operate track circuits and Rosslare Strand Cabin had to be staffed and switched in specially. The driver of the MPV had to apply extreme caution (do they have a control for this), stopping short of level crossings along the route and ensuring the gates were closed to the public road before passing over. It was due to return to civilization (Rosslare Strand) at 14.50.
1283] Bord na Móna: (BLN 1419.656) On 5 May the Industrial Railway Society had another report. All rail operations are now expected to finish by Aug. The five main areas where peat is being drawn off by rail are Coolnagun, Bellair, Blackwater/Boora, Derrygreenagh/Croghan/Edenderry Power Station and Mountdillon. They are mostly on recent Bakers, the Irish Quail/BLS 2019 TRACKmaps. Coolnagun (Baker 15th Edition - 2020 - p54 C2, near the Sligo line) starts 07.00 and concludes by 16.00. They are drawing about four wagon rakes a day on short shuttles from Coole Bog, about two miles each way to/from the tippler. Like Bellair, they have a road haulage issue, only 16 lorries on average a day. The peat then goes by road to Croghan Tippler (p70 A2 centre) and the massive stockpile for Edenderry Power Station once it comes back on line in Oct, but peat burning is banned after 19 Dec. Bellair (p70 A1), which passes beneath the Clara to Athlone main, line is similar, the same hours SSuX. Loaded trains to the tippler climb a 1:27 gradient so have a Wagonmaster banker. It is an impressive sight and sound as the two locos slip and struggle to push the loaded 13-wagon rakes up to the tippler. The shunter at the tippler is an ancient RH 4wDM; a visit is highly recommended by the IRS reporter. Boora/Blackwater: (p69 A2 & p70 A1) Peat is being drawn off Bloomhill (south) on the bog by the Bee Hives near the crossing. Not much peat is left, although it will be in operation until the end of May, just about. The new ¾ mile Clon Lyon Glebe branch (not shown on Baker) is the second place (with seven or so piles to draw) and Kilgarvan (nine piles). The latter is the bog almost furthest north approaching Athlone. All three are served by six wagon rakes, two run to each bog from Derrinlough Yard at 07.00 sharp. The Glebe rakes take an hour to reach their bog and depart there around 10.30-11.00 for the return run. Kilgarvan is a much further, 48 km (three hours) each way. They leave there around 11.30 after loading and meet up with the two trains at Bloomhill bog, then all four set off back around 12.00 to reach the Derrinlough Briquette Factory (southeast extremity) by 15.00. The Derrinlough Tippler operator can advise if they will use the Bloomhill circuit anticlockwise or clockwise that day and the train drivers can advise roughly at the time they will be at any given set of level crossing gates. Derrygreenagh/Croghan/Edenderry Power Ltd (EPL) Power Station: EPL is only using four rakes; it was six but there are only five drivers left (any volunteers?). Two morning runs use two rakes to Croghan Tippler (p70 A2 centre of rectangle) and the peat mountain. They depart 07.00 and the trains are loaded within half an hour, using two diggers and a big tractor shovel. They return and do a second trip to Croghan Tippler. The first rakes arrive at Croghan 08.00 and are back again for the second load by 11.00. They run only one double rake in the afternoon; it normally arrives there about 14.30. Two rakes still go to the Daingean system north end (p75 A2 west side), where there is little peat left, it will all be over in early Jun. The first rake goes at 07.00 following the Croghan rakes out to the spur on the Croghan branch, they turn left and from the EPL it is about 30 minutes each way to the bog. Mountdillon (p75 C1) southwest of Longford runs four double rakes, leaving Mountdillon Works for Granaghan Bog 07.00, 10.00, 14.30 and 17.00. It is an hour each way and another hour to load trains. 1284] They don't rush on the Portrush Branch: The two intermediate stations of University and Dhu Varren are closed 28 May until 10 Sep incl (*revised dates*) to extend their single platforms from 3 to 6-car length (6-car trains are unable to call at present). This was supposed to have started in Jun 2021. 1285] Belfast Grand Central: (BLN 1411.2545) By 8 May the first section of platform and canopy was complete at this new 8-platform station, visible from trains arriving at nearby Great Victoria Street. 1286] Portadown: On Thur 11 May the 16.50, 19.00 & 2050 Dublin to Belfast and 18.50 & 19.50 Newry to Bangor were booked to run through Portadown P3 - all three platforms are bidirectional. ….. 1424 ISLE OF MAN (Graeme Easton) [email protected] 1287] An enthusiastic steam Governor: On 2 May the Island's Lieutenant Governor, His Excellency Sir John Lorimer, and his wife Lady Lorimer paid a visit to the Railway Museum in Port Erin co-hosted by the Heritage Railway Volunteers and the IOM Steam Railway Supporters Association. In a handwritten letter of thanks he said: The Steam Train heritage on the IOM is so important. I am looking forward to being able to join everyone in celebrating those amazing 150 years. The railway system is absolutely part of the Island's DNA. Hopefully those sentiments will reach the current government review!
BELOW: (Item 1290) MER, work on Parsonage Road Crossing (17m 63ch It is thought that this was to remove some cabling ready NEXT: (Item 1290) The buffer stops at the 'temporary' (2017) tram stop on th
h), the currently closed Plaza MER terminus is left, Laxey is to the right. for subsequent work... (Jenny Williamson, 22 Mar 2023.) he south side of the crossing after the collision. (George Hobbs, 5 May 2023.)
BELOW: (Item 1290) New track! Relaying the MER across Parsonage Road Crossing (17m 63ch) towards Ramsey Plaza ahead. The last passenger tram to use this section was on Sun 30 Oct 2016. Reportedly it will permanently reopen for the TT (6 Jun). Thanks to our local agent George Hobbs (9 May 2023).
1288] Cabbage patch: A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that Diesel N o 21 needs around a further £40k to make it operational. Work needed includes gearbox repair, replacing a cracked axle, motor refurbishment and bogie re-assembly. So far £288k has been spent trying to sort it out on top of the £420k purchase price. This takes the total spent to £748k. Ironically, the Government refused IoM Transport's original request for £750k to buy a brand new engine. The FOI response also said that the work is subject to the outcome of future decision making. The engine was delivered in Dec 2013 and last ran on 25 Oct 2019. [£750k would have gone quite some way towards reinstating the full Horse Tramway.] ABOVE: Local cartoonist Phil Woodford's view on what should be done with this recalcitrant diesel locomotive (with thanks to Graeme Easton). 1289] Manx Northern Railway: (BLN 1418.512) Despite previous reports suggesting economic and health benefits from reinstating three bridges on the trackbed to improve its use as a cycle path, the Council of Ministers now says there is no money available as the IOM's fiscal position is 'challenging'. 1290] Electric Railway: On 4 May the motorman on the second tram of the day (Car 16 + Royal Trailer 59) didn't brake in time and hit the new buffers (BLN 1417.376) at Ramsey, making a nasty mess of them - the solidly built tram showed no visible damage. Perhaps he was trying to re-enter the former Ramsey Plaza terminus? Work has been undertaken on Parsonage Road Level Crossing (17m 63ch) between the current terminus and Plaza with reports that this section reopens for the TT (6 Jun). 1291] The stamp of approval: On 25 May the IOM Post Office issues a set of stamps to celebrate 150 years of the IOM Railway (Douglas - Port Erin). They feature current or historic pictures of all 16 IMR locos by local photographer Barry Edwards or from his collection. See: https://tinyurl.com/3d2bwum7 1424 SCOTLAND (Greg Beecroft) [email protected] 1292] Stirling: Like Taunton (BLN 1411.2526), Stirling has platforms which are numbered but not available for passenger trains. P4 and P5 are north end bays, designated the Centre Sidings. They are electrified but not signalled to passenger standards, are accessed by a hand point for stabling and cleaning units. Currently, a train stables in P5 overnight but there is no scheduled use of P4. 1293] Leith South: (BLN 1343.164) (TRACKmaps 1 p11 2021) On 27 Apr a member visited the Leith South branch. There has been no commercial traffic for a considerable time (certainly not for over three years). The most recent train was probably track recording unit 950001 on 4 Aug 2022, which cannot have reached beyond Seafield Level Crossing (2m 16ch). The track is reasonably clear as far as there but increasingly overgrown towards the once very busy Leith South Yard, which was used for holding trains to and from terminals within the docks. Lines beyond Marine Road level crossing are owned by Forth Ports Limited and are out of use. Leith South freight terminal is derelict. The last railtour was nearly five years ago, the SRPS 'Routes & Branches' on 2 Jun 2018 with 37025 & 37403, it went over Seafield Crossing to the far end of Leith South Yard 19 Road: https://bit.ly/3M2CNLM 1294] Cowlairs: The Summer Sunday additional trains to and from Oban will start and finish at Glasgow Queen Street this year, instead of Edinburgh. Therefore, passenger use of the PSUL curve between Cowlairs East Jn and Cowlairs North Jn is confined to the 'Royal Scotsman' (prices from £5,800!), diversion of the Caledonian Sleeper if the line via Bathgate and Glasgow Queen Street (Low Level) is unavailable and occasional excursions. The last use of the curve by the Oban to Edinburgh train was on 28 Aug 2022. Transport Scotland was content for the passenger service between Dalmeny and Winchburgh Jn to be withdrawn without a statutory closure procedure, so it seems the same applies to the Cowlairs curve. The Edinburgh to Oban service has been operated as an ordinary passenger train only since summer 2011 but there were regular British Rail sponsored excursions in the 1980s. In some years they were sufficiently frequent to appear in the working timetable.
BELOW: (Item 1292) Stirling 'Centre Sidings' - north bays P4 & 5 - looking no
orth, no chance of a passenger train though... (Andy Overton, 27 Apr 2023.)
ABOVE: (Item 1294) A British Rail excursion on Sun 23 Aug 1981 from Edinburgh, Falkirk Grahamston and Cumbernauld to Oban, at Craigendoran Jn. 55021 Argyll & Sutherland Highlander heads a push pull set with a buffet car added. The second man is at the cab door to pick up the token. (Greg Beecroft) BELOW: (Item 1993) Leith South - the limit reached by the 2 Jun 2018 SRPS railtour. (John Hampson.)
ABOVE: (Item 1293) The line to Leith South past Seafield crossing, with the points set right for the route to Leith South Yard and the docks. The line ahead served the freight terminal. (Rodger Wilkinson, 27 Apr 2023.) BELOW: No steam or electric trains are expected at Leith South, this sign may have been erected after a child was severely injured in 2019 on coming into contact with the OHLE at Tyne Yard. DB Cargo was fined £2.7M.
BELOW: (Item 1293) The 2 Jun 2018 SRPS tour in Leith South Yard 19 Road
- the bottommost of the five loop siding yard on the plan. (John Hampson.)
BELOW: In the other direction, looking back to the other en
nd of the yard and towards Portobello Jns. (John Hampson.)
BELOW: Leith South 11 Mar 1989, surveyed by Rodger Wilkinson. O RMC = Ready Mixed Concrete (now Hanson). FPA = Forth Ports Autho Marine Road Level Crossing is top left of centre. The layout is now s
OLC = Open level crossing, SAI = Scottish Agricultural Industries Ltd, rity. Seafield Level Crossing is middle far right towards Portobello Jns severely cut back; see also TRACKmaps 1 p11A Dec 2021 and earlier.
BELOW: Corrour station, the most isolated on the network and the 2
,260th busiest (of 2,576) in 2021-2022. (Greg Beecroft, 19 Mar 2018.)
BELOW: The signal box as newly converted to overnight accommodation, 22 Jul
2016. The wooden platform edge of the station is bottom left. (Greg Beecroft.)
BELOW: The signalling floor is a sitting room for overnight guests. NEXT: The
e summit sign, about ¼ mile north of the station. (Greg Beecroft, 22 Jul 2016.)
BELOW: Station House on 20 Apr 2023. NEXT & FOLLOWING: Next day, in
n the restaurant and 66739 & 73968 leave for Fort William. (Paul Griffin.)