North Norfolk Railway General Discussion

6880 Betton Grange in action on Saturday 17th August - and filmed on Kelling and Weybourne Banks.

 

For the mixed traffic events the tt usually says the connections at Holt are not normally possible so probably the same for this

 

Plans are afoot for a subway at Holt. I love the intensive galas they run but my one gripe is not allowing time to catch the waiting train, it means you can get stuck with the same loco and rake for quite some time unles you're prepared to wait a good while, each time you get to Holt, for a change - especially if you get to Weybourne and there's a goods or a non-stop. It really is a luxury problem but an extra 5 minutes in the turnaround each end would, in my most humble opinion, put a cherry on the top of these wonderful events

 

So plans for a footbridge have been scrapped? Was there a problem with acquiring the extra land needed for the bridge?

 

Sheringham has the footbridge which makes getting between platforms fairly easy

 

Yes.

 

There’s been plans for a footbridge at Holt for a number of years, but depends on acquiring a small patch of land from the NHS. Negotiations have been slow I believe.

 

Worth noting that this weekend, the situation where a passenger train arrives at Holt with a particular engine and the next passenger departure is two minutes later, forcing passengers to return on exactly the same formation, only happens twice a day...

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It's a pity I have other arrangements for Sunday now as having enjoyed my day at Didcot today (the last time I went was 45 years ago!), a day at the NNR would have been a joy (and it's nearer too). Sadly, work has got in the way

 

The other issue is I guess "control" of those that think 2 mins is enough, or it does not apply to them.
I seem to remember way back the Bluebell having a gala that said connections were not possible at Kingscote. Most seem to ignore it and trains just got later throughout the day.
Anyway hope you have a good day Al, nice line that I have not visited for many years now.

 

I think the point was that in most cases where the passengers cannot change trains, the locomotives change before that set leaves. As you say, it is tricky - allowing sufficient time for changes at Holt for every combination of arrivals and departures would probably take a couple of workings out completely over the course of the day.

Generally there’s plenty going on so hopefully you’ll have a great day.

 

Yes there are eight two minute connections, but you don't seem to see my point, which was of those eight, two of them "connect" with freight departures (which you can't switch onto anyway), and four of them are trains which have an engine change or addition before they depart back to Sheringham, leaving only two a day where you end up returning down the line hauled by the same engine that you arrived with. I argue this makes it easier to "manage" and the timetable I'm sure has been written with a view to be varied and enjoyable. Adding 5 mins at Holt has knock on effects to timetabling down the chain, which is one reason why the "two minute turnaround" is a repeat feature of NNR gala timetables.

My observations in the past are that if there are 5 minute connections at Holt, it encourages "dashing" between the platforms (lots of potential falls and people crashing into one another when it's busy) or late running as too many people saunter round and want the train holding for them. It seems to work better to switch at Sheringham and Weybourne where you can realistically change platforms in one to two minutes (if able bodied) and just accept the 20-30 minute dwell at Holt. On a 5 mile railway, you can't be "trapped" for that long before a switching opportunity arises.

A final note, as others have said, is there has been aspirations to connect the two platforms via footbridge at Holt for some years, so hopefully one day this situation will be made better at galas.

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Glad you had a good time. I thought the restarts with 6880 and 4277 made up for the unscheduled stops.

The 5 visitors and 53809 certainly put on a good show. The Class 25 gives way to home fleet diesels for Sun and Mon.

M59137 will confirm but the Quads are around 85 tons, M&GN 129 is 15/16 tons and the pigeon van about 14.

 

For @Big Al benefit, the Bluebell’s Mets are 80 tons - so the Quad Arts are five tons heavier, but six axles less rolling resistance!

Tom