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Churnet Valley Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Sheff, Dec 6, 2013.

  1. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

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    IF (and it's a big if atm) a few things fall into place, the problem might not be as big come next spring...
     
  2. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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  3. FJR8642

    FJR8642 Member

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    5197 at Longshaw Farm Apesford with the 1030 Froghall to Ipstones, 11th Oct 2020.
    The farmer has done some recent work here making his split fields into one big one, some new vantage points of the long Apesford straight with the removed bushes and trees.

    DJI_0675HR-0.jpg
    IMG_6409HR-0-0.jpg
    DJI_0681-0.jpg
     
  4. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    I particularly enjoyed reading the Ops Directors memories. All thee photos shows the vast amount of work needed in clearance but the two contrasting photos of bridge 50 make it all crystal clear.
    The successor of The Knotty is a worthwhile line to visit and support.
    Incidentally I spent a couple of months, as a youngster, looking around the loop line back in 1954. I stayed with an aunt in Blurton so was not far from Normacot and Meir stations. It was all so different to the GWR that I was accustomed to. ;)
     
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  5. staffordian

    staffordian Well-Known Member

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    Normacot is well and truly consigned to the pages of history books, but Meir station might just live again.

    If I were a betting man, I'd not put any money on it, but pre Covid, there were moves afoot by local MPs and councillors to push for it's reinstatement, so in a few years you might just be able to recreate memories from the past. Of course, no chance with the loop line, unfortunately...
     
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  6. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Yes I had an another aunt who lived close to Normacot railway station. The road was called Station Road. After closure of the station the road was re-named Recreation Road - after the small rec that was there. It was great to stand on the bridge as the trains went through.
     
  7. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

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    Operate along all sections of operational railway, including towards Endon.
     
  8. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

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    Sadly we are seeing a lot of trespass on our lines at present, which has dramatically increased since Lockdown. The amount of abuse we've received on Facebook is unbelievable, as people try to justify their actions.

    https://www.churnetvalleyrailway.co.uk/news/13th-october-trespassing

    A new palisade fence has gone in at Leekbrook this last week, and further schemes are being initiated over the next 12 months as activity at the junction increases.
     
  9. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Are there not proper footpaths people can use instead?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  10. NeilL

    NeilL Well-Known Member

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    I can sort of understand walking on the track near Endon, where it is overgrown and no loco has been there for years but where the new track has been put in at Leekbrook and has stock on it is fairly obviously active.
     
  11. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    The police could probably work out who these people are, if they had any interest in so doing.

    Noel
     
  12. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Crikey, some folk need to give their heads a wobble to say the least...

    We've had similar at Cheltenham Racecourse, from "Urban explorers" who think they have a God-given right to go wandering round, climbing operational signal posts, taking handbrakes off vehicles etc.
     
  13. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

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    Yes, but the trackbed is easier underfoot, and we're only toy trains so need to stop lecturing the community and learn to work with them...
     
  14. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I do find that surprising, walking on ballast is quite hard work in comparison. Sounds like the alternative paths need an upgrade then, they must be atrocious if track walking is easier.
     
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  15. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    I'm not suggesting for moment that this is acceptable, but was wondering why people feel the need to walk that way - and whether palisade will stop them, or just invite more serious grief as they try to work around it.
     
  16. Ploughman

    Ploughman Part of the furniture

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    Or cut it to make an access.

    Back in 1990 I was tasked with arranging the repair of a fence in Harrogate near the Dragon Footbridge.
    It was easier for the locals to walk across rather than use the steps.
    We used 6mm weldmesh panels welded in and secure, it lasted 45 minutes before we got a report of a near miss again. Stihl saw used to cut through.
     
  17. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    I'm in no way condoning this but minor railway lines have long been used as footpaths by locals, especially colliery and other industrial lines. They are invariably the shortest and most level route between two points and for the most part were laid on ash ballast which is easy to walk on.
    I think I've told this before but when the NYMR first started running services to Whitby, drivers of nearly every train were reporting trespassers between Ruswarp and Whitby. At first Network Rail didn't believe this as they never received such reports from Northern drivers and laid the blame on enthusiasts photographing NYMR trains. However, the reports frequently referred to women with pushchairs and small children so they did some covert observation and investigation. It seems that Northern drivers were used to this and accepted it as the norm as it had always been the case. It didn't take N.R. long to create a new footpath on the old up line and fence it off from the remaining down line. Today it is a very busy footpath.
     
  18. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

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    Well unfortunately things have now taken a turn for the worse...

    We managed to get Network Rail to attend and repair 2x blatant holes in the fenceline. Admittedly there are other holes, maintenance has been non-existent since the 80s on this section, and the repair wasn't in-keeping with the iron fence there already - but at least something had been done.
    Sadly one of the local's puppy got off the leash and ran into the "new" fence and injured itself. The locals have then taken it upon themselves to use wire cutters & physically remove the fence repair, and tossed it into the undergrowth. I myself am now public enemy number 1, as this is all my fault and I need to get the CVR to stop lecturing the community on trespass and trying to remove "their" footpaths. The explanation of Railway acts, rules & regulations are just going straight over their heads, with some now trying to make out CVR are dressing up as NR staff to do the repairs on the sly...

    Whatever. All now reported to BTP, I just don't get this mentality and the way they are behaving it will become a matter of 'when' not 'if' we have an incident with one of them. :'(
     
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  19. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    A pity there is not a dismay box to tick. Hopefully with the BTP now involved some kind of reality will be explained to the trespassers.
     
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  20. Kingscross

    Kingscross Member

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    There's a need to bring the community with you in projects such as the CVR, and the tone of some of the postings on social media might be inflaming tensions. You can understand that a community which has used the railway formation as a footpath for many years whilst it was disused may be resistant to changing their habits and a "name and shame" policy may be counterproductive. Is it possible to formalise the footpath with appropriate secure fencing? The formation looks pretty wide. There were similar problems on a railway I was involved with, including schoolkids using the line as a shortcut, but we turned it to our advantage by securing a small grant to formalise, fence, and use as a nature trail.
     
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