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GWSR General Discussion and Operations

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by michaelh, Aug 25, 2013.

  1. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Whether this is good or bad news depends on individual viewpoints. It has been said on NP that the railway does not own the trackbed to Honeybourne, that such an extension would most likely be some considerable time in the future and there are those who feel the line would, most likely, overstretch itself in administering it. All recorded here on NP! ;)
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2018
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  2. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    As I pointed out above, the issue is not the road or the housing, but the unannounced switch of the section 106 grant monies to the road, at the expense of the railway reinstatement.

    My understanding is that the proposed road over trackbed bridge is to an older standard, not the current NR standard.
     
  3. Young Philip

    Young Philip New Member

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    This section of our forum is a discussion around GWSR and it's future. Neither of these applications would stop this Heritage Railway rebuilding through to Stratford as invisaged when the preserved line was founded.

    How the plans to be considered by SBC impact on any other rail proposal should in my view be addressed elsewhere on this forum.
     
  4. JayDee

    JayDee Member

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    Wasn't that also said about Broadway? :p
     
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  5. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    But it is to do with our future, as this was a way of getting that section of railway rebuilt now potentially lost. So I don't see a problem with discussing it here (it's more on topic than most NatPres thread drifts anyway!) If us rebuilding to Honeybourne is unlikely, us building to Stratford is pigs flying territory! So this is the only way our original objective of reinstating as much of the line as possible will be fulfilled.

    Not really, and we are overstretched!

    Just for the record by the way, whilst we don't currently own the trackbed to Honeybourne (Sustrans do) from what I understand that wouldn't be a major stumbling block should we wish to extend.
     
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  6. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    In the words of a former chairman of the GWSR, if NR come south, we will go north.

    The section 106 money, apparently switched to road building on the quiet, is a key part of this.
     
  7. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Presumably, with much new house building in the overall planning a new road would be seen as more use to those new home owners than a heritage rail line. unfortunate as that may seem to many folks of the G&WSR and NP.
     
  8. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    The section between Honeybourne and Stratford was not intended to be a heritage operation and was nothing to do with the GWSR but as public transport for the new housing conurbations, the money going towards the new road was originally earmarked for the railway. It just so happens it makes the case for us to go north to Honeybourne look a little less flimsy.
     
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  9. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Thanks for the clarifications. I recall now that was the general idea. Maybe all is not lost, at a later date the need for the national railway line might become a reality. Time does seem to be on the side of the G&WSR in this matter. :)
     
  10. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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  11. Hirn

    Hirn Member

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    Stratford on Avon would like a through link to Honeybourne to attract tourists who have arrived by a London Airport and go in quantity to Oxford.
    The service via Leamington Spa and Warwick is not that attractive and the line through Leamington and Banbury incresingly busy.
    Honeybourne would enable a lot of connections to the Severn, the Marches and beyond.

    3,000 homes and more at Long Marston ought to generate an appreciable commuter traffic which could be covered by extending the trains from the
    Birmingham conurbation to Stratford. Longer distance commuters support the financial case best and having them on the train relieves the traffic and saves road building.
    A station there seems comparable to the recent one at Aylesbury Parkway.

    Extending the GWSR to Honeybourne might deserve its own thread but is hardly inexcusably misplaced here.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2018
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  12. Kinghambranch

    Kinghambranch Well-Known Member

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    A very interesting article in the latest edition of the GWSR's quarterly magazine (The Cornishman) regarding plans to finally install the erstwhile Ashford turntable which had been recovered as long ago as April 1982. Over the years, the project lay in the long grass at Toddington (literally!) and part of the turntable end section was cut up (this was news to me as I'd thought that it had all been cut up). The project is in its early stages at the moment and the article does not state where the turntable will be installed (I'm presuming at Toddington as this is really the only location with significant space although Winchcombe Yard might also be a possibility) but I for one look forward to seeing the Ransomes 1931-built turntable in use again.
     
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  13. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Given that the location of the proposed carriage shed changes on at least a yearly basis and my Cornishman is probably sat on the doormat at home 100 miles away don't take my word as gospel, but last I heard it was planned to be at Winchcombe in the P'way yard on the north side of the running line, opposite the C+W workshop.

    In fact, I did a little computer sketch a while ago when both this and the Usk weighbridge was being discussed for potential locations and what it could look like. This was only my suggestion, not official (and some of my measurement guesses were wrong too!):

    [​IMG]

    The station is on the left, and you can just see a representation of the signalbox and C+W along the bottom for orientation. The idea was the public could view turntable operations by going past the goods display by the oak tree and tie the whole area in quite nicely as viewing area. I'd be amazed if it ended up looking like this, but it gave people something to discuss anyway.
     
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  14. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    FS123's sketch is remarkably accurate for what is planned. The Usk building will go to the left of the oak tree, and the platform will be about 30m long. The location of the turntable is still being debated; my vote goes for here where there is room, and it's a feature for visitors. About one third of the turntable was cut up some years ago, many items are missing but two thirds is still there, including the vacuum motors. If we can build riveted canopies and steps, we can recreate the missing one third, I am sure.

    The signal ladders end up in the middle of the barrow crossing and that might be worth an edit :)
     
  15. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Oops! :oops: In my defence, I recall I did this on a very hot afternoon in the summer (doesn't it all seem so long ago now!) when I couldn't muster the energy to do anything else, I think the sun got to me a little! :)
     
  16. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    You should have been studying, not wasting your time with doodles ;)
     
  17. Kinghambranch

    Kinghambranch Well-Known Member

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    The turntable arriving in sections at Toddington in April 1982.
    19820401-Turntable arrives in sections from Ashford.jpg
     
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  18. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    It's one of these (3?) sections that was destroyed . The other big and one small one are still there. A lot of the peripherals have also been binned.
     
  19. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    Why, may I ask? Was it the result of miscommunication, or something? Or were some bits so decayed that they weren't worth keeping? Or did someone get over-zealous? (If this is a sore spot, apologies for enquiring!)

    Noel
     
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  20. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    Well that turntable has been with us for 35 years or more, and I've only been around for 7. I think the reason is more on the over zealous side of the scale, it being a Southern turntable and us being GWR. I think after all these years there was a disconnect between the people that brought it (who had busy lives and moved on) and those who started to cut it up years later.

    As I said, about two thirds of it still exists, including some key pieces (but missing others like wheels and bearings) so I think if we can build a Broadway canopy, we can reconstitute the missing wing that was cut up.

    However, we are not yet quite ready to go, as we need to decide where it goes. That was also one of the issues that dogged it for all those years. The best place is as in FS123's diorama, adjacent to the future goods area, which will have visitors circulating in it. Something to see. From time to time a loco or carriage will be tuned on it, but it won't be the case that there will be a turntable at each end and locos turned on each trip.

    There is also a money issue, I don't know how that will be addressed. The ring and centre pivot base will need to be fairly substantial, as this type needs a deeper pit than the GWR type. Usually the money goes into what you can't see underground. A turntable I helped to rebuild in Rotterdam swallowed 350m3 of concrete and 22 piles ! (an extreme case with this Dutch ground)

    There's quite a nice video of a turntable construction on the GCR on YouTube. We would need to do what they did.

    I attach a picture I took a while back, showing two of the three sections of the bridge (the other being cut up)

    14-01-20 014 compressed.jpg
     

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