Atomic Systems

Can anyone think of railway lines now long gone that if they had been allowed to remain open would actually be providing a useful transport link?
I live in Lincolnshire which suffered severe railway butchery in 1970. To borrow an appropriate passage from 'The Lost Railways Of Lincolnshire' referring to the line between Lincoln and Boston that ran alongside the river Witham through Washingborough, Five Mile House, Bardney, Southrey, Stixwould, Woodhall Junction (Kirkstead), Tattershall, Dogdyke and Langrick. 'It seems strange to reflect that the quiet villages and hamlets along the riverside, only some of which see an occasional market-day bus today, enjoyed regular reliable daily public transport for two hundred years, first by boat and then by train. Is this really progress?'
I recently visited Woodhall, Stixwould, Southrey and Five Mile House. Woodhall is still there replete in it's LNER splendour. The platforms of Stixwould station still exist as does the signpost for the station in the village (the station is quite a distance from the village). Southrey has both platforms and massive concrete nameboards and the sight of the trackless station sitting forlornly on the bank of the Witham is a sobering one. Nothing is left of Five Mile House.

Yup all of them matey they now know they got it all wrong.
Funny thing is there are still wagons at Snape Maltings in Suffolk
how longs the railway been gone from there gotta be over 40 years.

Regards, Rick

The Somerset & Dorset From Bournemouth to Bath then onto Bristol, in Summer it had a lot of Holiday traffic from the Midlands and the North.

If it was still in use it would have been quicker for Virgin to use this route from the Midlands to Bourenemouth than going via the Didcot Reading, Basingstoke route. Also Freightliner would find it quicker than the above routing.

It branched off the Weymouth line near Hamworthy, the most famous train over the route was The Pines Express.

Obviously Woodhead. Maybe the Great Western from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, if that were still in situ (and not the Midland Metro), it could have taken a lot of pressure off Birmingham New Street (minus the Jewellery Line of course, so it is a give/take). Not to mention the old departmental wagon at Wolverhampton Low Level station that's been sitting there for at least 30 years, possibly more, and is still listed on Network Rail's registry system, I believe.

http://www.departmentals.com/photo.php?photo=975995a And there you have it, apparently it's still owned by EWS.

michaelh wrote:The Somerset & Dorset From Bournemouth to Bath then onto Bristol, in Summer it had a lot of Holiday traffic from the Midlands and the North.

If it was still in use it would have been quicker for Virgin to use this route from the Midlands to Bourenemouth than going via the Didcot Reading, Basingstoke route. Also Freightliner would find it quicker than the above routing.

It branched off the Weymouth line near Hamworthy, the most famous train over the route was The Pines Express.

On my recent holiday to Wareham I naturally visited the Swanage Railway and of course like all rail fans was magnetically drawn to the bookshop on Swanage station. There in the bargain reduced price pile I found a fascinating book by Mac Hawkins called The Somerset & Dorset Then and Now. Mine for only £9.99 , which judging by the efforts Mr Hawkins went to to exactly recreate scenes originally captured by Ivo Peters (all in the book) is a snip!

It is interesting to see just how completely the railway has disappeared in some places whilst entire platforms still remain where no advantage would have been gained by their removal.

In some shots entire cuttings had disappeared. Millions of cubic yards of infill from Dorset road improvements (often new cuttings) being dumped in the disused track bed to recreate the landscape as it must have been before the cuttings were dug. A truly unusual example of man-made landscaping, all the more ironic as it represents what many now see as the problem having removed what many see as at least part of the solution! In other areas near Broadstone the track bed became part of the local road layout.

A visit to just about any rural town in France will find a local rail line with a service. Many link to the TGV network (like feeder airlines in the US feeding international and long haul domestic flights) with modern railcars and ticket technology cutting manpower costs...... BUT most of all with a strong commitment to rail as a public service and subsidies to keep lines open. All the technology exists here now, but we tore up the tracks and despite the rhetoric have NO commitment to services!

Geoff

michaelh wrote:The Somerset & Dorset From Bournemouth to Bath then onto Bristol, in Summer it had a lot of Holiday traffic from the Midlands and the North.

If it was still in use it would have been quicker for Virgin to use this route from the Midlands to Bourenemouth than going via the Didcot Reading, Basingstoke route. Also Freightliner would find it quicker than the above routing.

It branched off the Weymouth line near Hamworthy, the most famous train over the route was The Pines Express.

I can still hear the chatter ta chatter ta chatter ta of spam cans going up from Broadstone to Corfe Mullen.

My parents lived at Broadstone in the early 1960s and the sound of the trains made a welcome change to the quiet of RAF Feltwell where I was stationed. I should explain that there were no aircraft at Feltwell, only Thor IRBMs which fortunately never flew to their intended targets.

John

sutton wrote:Can anyone think of railway lines now long gone that if they had been allowed to remain open would actually be providing a useful transport link?
I live in Lincolnshire which suffered severe railway butchery in 1970. To borrow an appropriate passage from 'The Lost Railways Of Lincolnshire' referring to the line between Lincoln and Boston that ran alongside the river Witham through Washingborough, Five Mile House, Bardney, Southrey, Stixwould, Woodhall Junction (Kirkstead), Tattershall, Dogdyke and Langrick. 'It seems strange to reflect that the quiet villages and hamlets along the riverside, only some of which see an occasional market-day bus today, enjoyed regular reliable daily public transport for two hundred years, first by boat and then by train. Is this really progress?'
I recently visited Woodhall, Stixwould, Southrey and Five Mile House. Woodhall is still there replete in it's LNER splendour. The platforms of Stixwould station still exist as does the signpost for the station in the village (the station is quite a distance from the village). Southrey has both platforms and massive concrete nameboards and the sight of the trackless station sitting forlornly on the bank of the Witham is a sobering one. Nothing is left of Five Mile House.

Hi
I expect your fully aware of these websites.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.enef ... tm#workers

and

http://www.louthtobardney.co.uk/

Living near Wragby gives me an added interest, the old station here used to belong to a colleague,and has just come onto the market again...unfortunately I'm about £200,000 short.



Cheers
Jon

Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth via Much Wenlock and Ironbridge would be a Fantastic venture if it was still open. with interests in nearly all towns

Shrewsbury: Castle, Library, River Severn, Quarry, etc.
Berrington: Riding schools and hall.
Cressage: Lovley typical shropshire village.
Harley: tiny hamlet with a pub owned by AFC Telford Uniteds ex boss Jake King.

Much Wenlock: Wenlock Edge, Town pubs many country walks.
Bildwas: small village, start of Ironbridge Gorge.
Ironbridge: the bridge itself, the village, the power station closing in 2017.
Jackfield: tiny nice village with a modern bridge.
Tasley: little village outside Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth: high and low towns, start of present day SVR.

The Severn Valley actually starts in Oswestry and goes to Gloucester. and really could benefit from the missing Shrewsbury - Bridgnorth link, which sadly due to housing and other landsales isnt possilbe.

Perhaps Colne to Skipton. Ironically Colne was a terminating destination from the Yorkshire side many years ago, now it's a dead end on the line from Preston. Single track from Gannow Junction at Burnley, it is just weed and rubbish strewn. At one time you could board a train at Euston direct to Colne. Now it's a 142 pacer or class 150 from Preston.
There is talk from the local MP of a desire to reopen the line but the route is also earmarked for the Colne-Foulridge bypass. It could be done though. Most of the trackbed is there although most if not all of the bridges would have to be replaced, a ski jump built over the road from the M65 and a new section built around the industrial estate on the track bed at Earby. There was one level crossing on the route. As far as I can recall the crossing box is now on the KWVR. According to the MP this would open up the Yorksire Dales to the people of East Lancashire. Though perhaps it could create an alternative TransPennine freight path and freeing up the Caldervale route.
Will it ever happen? Will Burnley ever be in the Premiership? Err, NO!

Even at the time the lines were closed "they" knew that there would soon be a clamour for reopening, which is why the tracks were lifted with unseemly haste.

Braintree to Bishop's Stortford; now commuter belt territory passing Stanstead Airport!

John

Of all the closed railways that would be most usefull, I think the London Extension fits the bill. Bear in mind that it was built to the Bern loading gauge, and was without level crossings, it would provide a perfect spinal route for European trains. Also it would have provided a high speed link between Notingham and London, probably the easiest line in the country to run trains in excess of 150 mph.
Jim

I could make a list of closed lines that didn't make money, but probably could now had the trackbeds remained in railway ownership. One that springs to mind is the direct line between York and Hull via the once busy junction station at Market Weighton. Both the cities are cramped for car parking spaces and both Stations are within walking distance of the centres.
I read in a magazine that a feasibility study has been done and the line could be re-opened at a cost of (waite for it) £239m.
Don't know how they would get through Market Weighton though as the station site has since been developed.
Yes, Somerset and Dorset, but would it have made money today? with the influx of the motor car, I think not. And at the end of the day, it's all about making money.
Had relatives in Bath and in my youth could walk to the end of the street and see the smoke rising fron the sheds at Green Park.
We would travel down on the overnight train from York to Bristol and change at Mangotsfield very early morning waiting for the Bristol to Green Park local.
Get fed-up of spam cans, stds and LM locos? yes we did, so climbed up to Twerton tunnel to watch those big green shinny engines and eventually the warships and blue pullmans were the things to watch down at Sydney gardens.

Regards

Chris.

codrivermike wrote:Perhaps Colne to Skipton. Ironically Colne was a terminating destination from the Yorkshire side many years ago, now it's a dead end on the line from Preston. Single track from Gannow Junction at Burnley, it is just weed and rubbish strewn. At one time you could board a train at Euston direct to Colne. Now it's a 142 pacer or class 150 from Preston.
There is talk from the local MP of a desire to reopen the line but the route is also earmarked for the Colne-Foulridge bypass. It could be done though. Most of the trackbed is there although most if not all of the bridges would have to be replaced, a ski jump built over the road from the M65 and a new section built around the industrial estate on the track bed at Earby. There was one level crossing on the route. As far as I can recall the crossing box is now on the KWVR. According to the MP this would open up the Yorksire Dales to the people of East Lancashire. Though perhaps it could create an alternative TransPennine freight path and freeing up the Caldervale route.
Will it ever happen? Will Burnley ever be in the Premiership? Err, NO!

Hi Mike!
This is one of my pet projects! I'm a member of the group that's trying EVERYTHING we can to get the line reinstated. Although the outcome is (at present) far from certain, there is a gathering interest from a lot of "influential" bodies, to actually bring it about!
The trackbed is about 95% complete still, with only a few bridges in need of complete rebuilding. Several level crossings, mainly on farm access tracks, would need building (not much of a job), and obviously station rebuilds. As you say, the biggest problem lies in the "ski-jump", or underpass, on the A56 crossing just by Colne station, plus another underpass where the line would have to cross the Skipton bypass.
You might see from my signature that I'm currently about 40% into building the MSTS version of the line, including the Barnoldswick Branch. Work is going reasonably well, as I've now got most of the terrain and track sorted. Computer problems are currently delaying further progress, but hopefully I should be starting scenery-fying the route in the next few weeks!

Anyone interested in more info on the project to reinstate this essential piece of railway, check out this link........

http://www.selrap.org.uk/

Cheers!

Dave Heald

The Colne line would cost Heaps more than the Lanark lines costing now, and its about the same distance roughly.

Farm access crossings mean the line cannot have any speed exceeding (110mph on the west coast mainlines) but on a secondary mainline should be around 60mph.

The Ski jump would restrict use of light DMU's ie 142's, 144's 150's, and make it a line a 156 would have to run to keep to timetable.

The line could be funded partly by the european grants or the national lottery heritage fund, restricting the line to heritage status which wouldnt be too bad because you could run loco hauled trains exempt from the Mk1 stock ban. The line would also have to be a Community Rail Partnership route, ie, use it or lose it. Which brings me to point, with the transport secretary making peoples lives a misery it wouldnt be feasible.