Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

I seem to remember seeing reference somewhere to the remains of Butts Junction box having a fair number of bricks salvaged for re-use elsewhere on the line, leaving the pretty sparse remaining remains (so to speak) visible in @Hampshire Unit's picture, because the bridge abutments are going back on each side. I assume the last wall is still there because you'd run the risk of dropping it in Whitedown Lane, which might not make the line too popular if the road was open at the time, no matter how many times passing lorries have taken a chunk out of Bridge 52.

 

The council/Homes for England are widening a road under a bridge about a mile out from Alton.

AFAIK the only impact for the railway is not being able to run between Alton and Medstead and Four Marks.

 

I am not sure if there is enough detail to show an answer but the website for the work is available here
https://www.buttsbridgeroadworks.co.uk/

 

First of my offings from a fun day on the 1st.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/46573844371/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/46521645082/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/31632794177/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/46573816811/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/46573809661/in/photostream/

 

What measures would have been taken to minimise the new bridges being hit by any over height large lorries etc?
Or to contain the effects if it was hit?
Both to avert a bad impact and to minimise insurance/inspection payments.

The roundabout might be a mixed blessing: it should ensure that nothing is going very fast and that it should be looking out
but negotiating onto it and round it might take a drivers mind off relating the bridge to his vehicle.

 

The current brick arched bridge is marked with a 16'3" clearance, it appears that the new bridge will probably be slightly higher than this and may even be above the 16'6"/~5m guideline for needing warning signage (with expected UK vehicle height being 4.5m) as such the new bridge may avoid bridge strikes (note: the adjacent bridge that is not being modified does not itself currently feature clearance signs so must be above any requirements/guidelines already. )

 

I presume that the developers will be compensating the Mid-Hants for loss of business during the long closure?

Steven

 

There's a post on rmweb.co.uk about it.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/in...d-hants-railway-general-discussion/?p=3420126

If true, a nice little windfall for the railway!

 

Wasn't there an extra (non-financial) benefit to the MHR for the availability of a location for a new siding as part of the plan (I though I read that somewhere but can't find the info now)

 

A nice video of the last trains over the old bridge posted by the MHR on YouTube:


Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

Nice video. I liked the detonators going off under the last train.
Just out of curiosity, what was the ruined building in the last shot?

 

Butts bridge signal box

 

That would be the remains of the old Butts Junction box. Many of the bricks have been recovered for other projects before the bridge and these remains are removed.

 

The remains of Butts Jcn signal box

 

Will the new bridge be only for a single track?

 

I asked this question of the railway when the original news was released about the development and was told that the double track formation over the bridge will remain.

 

Very definitely double track.....it remains a medium term goal to have double track from Alton to the new bridge....

 

Thank you.
And thanks to Shaggy and Hampshire Unit as well.

 

A few more from me from a fun filled 1st.....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/46615230641/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/45689139625/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/39638171453/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/45689184085/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/46551457892/in/photostream/

 

If you can’t wait until 45379 returns to steam again some time in the future. I see Hornby is bring a model of 45379 out this year.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2019/br-class-5mt-4-6-0-45379-era-11.html