Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

Blimey, thats an awfully expensive crane hire !

 

Out of touch with today's hire prices but probably not much change out of £20K/day.

 

Its not this one is it?

https://twitter.com/NetworkRailNP/status/828990931865001985

 

There are several 1000T cranes in the UK. As this is claimed to be the largest, perhaps not. Dunno, though.

 

Just found the latest Main Line magazine on the mat on returning home from work.
There are 4 pages worth confirming work on the bridge has started with a likely completion in the July/August period.

 

Very good news indeed! (my copy of Mainline hasn't turned up yet but no doubt shall be on my doormat either tomorrow or Monday). Brilliant news.

 

There is a crane with a 4000 ton capacity at Earls Court in London lifting portal beams from over underground lines.
http://www.myearlscourt.com/news/view/heavy-lifting-crane-earls-court

Edward

 

The doom-mongers and naysayers will have to find a new target now, any predictions what will be the next thing claimed to be impossible to achieve?

Andy

 

Are they sure about that 4000 tonne capacity.

One of the cranes that installed the bridge on the Ordsall Chord in Manchester last week was 1300t and that was meant to be the biggest in the country.

 

I think you may find that they all are the biggest. i.e. the biggest road crane, the biggest rail crane, the biggest crawler crane, the biggest fixed crane etc.

 

Looks like Abnormal Load Engineering Ltd (ALE) might have their AL.SK190 (4,300 tonnes) at Earl's Court. If that hadn't been strong enough, they've got an AL.SK350 (5,000 tonnes) to fall back on! Both are assembled from a kit of parts (i.e. none of it is self propelled) and, for crane nerds, their impressive lift details are here: http://pdfs.findtheneedle.co.uk/9853-getresource-dfd.pdf
NR appear to be using a Liebherr LR 11350 crawler crane (1,350 tonne) at Ordsall Chord.
Wouldn't like to guess the daily rates for those those ALE cranes but decidedly well in excess of £20,000 a day that GC might be paying for their specialist craneage.

 

So not cranes which most people think of as a winch on a stick.
But Jacking and carrying devices.
Used the ALE gear on a couple of jobs, last time at Pontefract by the racecourse.

 

The South Bedfordshire Railway. I bet my mortgage against half of Stafford (the nice bits) that it never happens.

 

Hi Folks,

it's not covering the topic of the reunification project of the GCR, but it is also of high significance for the GCR as a whole historic railway site.
The mountsorrel branch line aims at increasing the running days to the heritage center. In order to install the required equipment, they need to collect money to buy the materials they need.
Here you can get more information and if you wan't to support their development plan, they would highly appreciate even a wee donation.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mountsorreltrains
Here's their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Mountsorrel-Railway-43876650405/

 

It aint up yet, and it aint gonna be connected to anything if and when it is up so don't count your chickens !

 

Not what was inferred in the last copy of Main Line.......
They have posted a new photo on the Bridge website http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify/ with a note advising to check back for important news this coming week.

 

Had my first trip on the GCR this weekend, very friendly people. Walked up to the Northern fence over the Canal Bridge and looked towards the missing GAP. I did not realise so much to do to get the line opened as well as that NR bridge.

Also went South and saw a gap there. It will be a huge missed commercial opportunity not to extend a bit further south and connect up to the Space Centre and Pumping Museum so the railway could be the transport hub including itself for all the heritage attractions in that area.

Going North will be nice but you will not be able to double the fares to fund the doubling or more of operating cost and where is the we must do that incentive for Mr and Mrs family. Visit National Railway Museum - Yes, Visit Space Centre- Yes, Visit Victorian Steam Pumping Engines Yes, Ride for an hour on a Steam train Yes, Ride for 2 plus hours across pleasant but not extraordinary countryside and new lineside housing estates No.


So better to bridge the Gap to the South first.

Brian

 

Also extremely expensive, and much more changed on the formation than in Loughborough.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

If you click the Donate button on the first link, it tells you that you are donating to George Overton, who appears to be the person who has registered the mountsorrelrailway.org.uk URL. Following the link to www.heritage-centre.co.uk (registered to Stephen Cramp) suggests making a donation to the DCRT which sounds rather more satisfactory and presumably has the benefit of gift aid. It still leaves the mystery of who exactly owns the Mountsorrel project though.

 

What you say is very true about linking of attractions in the area but I sincerely doubt the viability of doing this by a Southern extension. The additional cost to go an extra 3/4 of a mile to end up in somebody's back garden with still a walk to other attractions would probably never pay for itself.

In my opinion the more logical way would be to link these attractions with marketing and combined tickets. For those that arrive by car and start their journey at Leicester I see little problem with driving the few hundred yards between attractions, though if each charges car parking I could see that as off-putting. Perhaps a common parking ticket as part of the deal. For travellers from other stations it may be viable for a local small coach company to offer a shuttle at weekends between these other attractions when perhaps their weekday vehicles are not being used.

For sure there are many issues to resolve linking up the North and South but the integration offers more opportunities than a push south.

Edit: Using Google maps the time to walk from the GC to the Pumping museum is 20 minutes or 5 minutes in the car. Not exactly off putting for those that want a walking day out using public transport. I still wager that most travellers arrive by car.