Rother Valley Railway

I think Fireline’s post shows it’s rather more than the paperwork. There’s also ballasting & tamping of the whole line.

Installing & commissioning the signalling (both rail and road) for 3 level crossings, plus a passing loop and a terminus station, is a substantial enough project in itself.

 

It is good to get the regular updates and see the steady progress of this project - Well Done to all involved.

 

I have clearly missed my cue by a couple of days but regarding that road and rail interaction... Every Concorde produced in Bristol ( Brabazon Hangars) had to negotiate the Filton to Hallen railway level crossing to reach the runway in Gloucestershire. The crossing probably had the longest ' gates ' in the country , actually wheeled barriers.

 

And here is the promised track laying visual summary:

Section 5c Overview - 6 Aug 26

The plain images (in addition to the several pan- and zoom-able images) are worth enlarging; lots of interesting details to be seen there (e.g. stacked track-laying supplies, at the bottom of the top image).

Of particular interest was the one captioned "The farmer has easy access North (right) and South (left) of the track by this culvert build", showing a crossing constructed from old ties to allow easy crossing of the track by large vehicles. After the farmer (understandably, from their point of view) put up considerable resistance to the substantial inconvenience (to them) of a rail line being re-laid across their fields, reducing their easy access to those on the far side of it, I am glad to see that the RVR has apparently moved past any residual upset at that resistance, and is taking some steps to reduce that inconvenience (even if some residual inconvenience unavoidably remains) - although of course such measures may have been committed to as part of getting the permission to reinstate the line. I do hope the measures installed are adequate to reduce the inconvenience as much as practicable, and that every consideration will be given to installing all practicable such measures.

Noel

 

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Oh no, the blog pages are down, and I am getting withdrawal symptoms already . Still, the guy behind them needs a break just as much as the rest of us, so enjoy the bank holiday, and I look forward to the update as and when it appears. Now to keep an eye on Facebook

 

Just seen a new post on the blog here.

This gives details of section 5b. The trackbed is ready for track to be laid.

Further update on Section 5a just posted.

 

That one, "Section 5b, Section overview - 1", has been added to with another, Section 5a Section overview.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that there was hope that the ballast needed to underlay the track could be brought in by rail (obviously a good idea for an extremely large, heavy load). That would of course need the level crossings at the A21 and Northbridge Street (even if manually signaled during the construction phase): the latter is of course already in, but does anyone know if an approximate data for the installation of the former has been posited?

PS: Never mind! I just saw @Miff's post, indicating "the A21 crossing hoped for in the spring of '27".

Noel

 

Mike H, you are making this look too easy, but I know that it hasn't always been the case in the past. Thank you for the entertainment, and will you also thank the team for all the hard work that they have put in to make this all happen? It is a credit to all concerned. Thank you.

 

Couple of further posts visible today:-

Section 4b This is the section from Junction Road towards Austen's Bridge
Model Donation. picture of a model railway which will be displayed at Robertsbridge.

 

Interesting to see the gates at the end of the bridge. I guess that for a security point of view and the potential for unauthorised movements of agricultural traffic along the permanent way, these would be useful to retain and lock shut during the longer close down periods.

 

Its a long time since I went down Junction Rd. I was a little surprised by the neat hedge and ornamental shrubs on the Udiam side. I thought the bufferstops were much closer to the road.

 

You’re correct, the stops were closer - some track has been lifted there to provide access for work to stabilise the riverbank.

 

Thanks. The gates across the end of Austens bridge are there for the construction period only. Simply to deter trespass on to the construction site. Mike

 

Mike, will a remote camera presence be maintained at that location, post-construction
as a, you know- preventative measure?

 

Thanks Mark. With the way the country seems be going we're gonna need to keep up ongoing thorough reviews of security everywhere. Like anybody with properties, venues etc, along with little police time available to deal with theft and general nuisance, sadly little choice. Heyho. Mike