Moorlands and City Railway

There was a bit of a fib in there, on the weed killing I did have some time to take photos but my batteries were flat and I'd left my spares in the car. Wrist truely slapped Ralph.

 

Ralph I will keep an eye on him from now on and make sure hes got everything he needs before he leaves the house ...ok Jeff...

 

Neil, can repost to the Churnet Valley thread plse, as this was off MCR metals? Cheers!

 

Is there any more news on the Endon and Leek lines?

 

Not that I'm aware of.

 

I looked on the moorlands planning website the other day .......still waiting for a decision. The bloke dealing with it has had his annual holiday too. The same applies to the Barnfields application which is part of the same area in Leek..... Bothe are classed as major projects and do take longer to process

 

Thanks Rog, I guess sometimes these things disappear into a bit of black hole and then re-emerge some time later. Good luck to M&CR and CVR, I look forward to one day taking a train into Leek (well Birchall at least!)

The same goes for a train down to Endon or even St*ke.

 

Actually, th

Actually, there has never been any landslips on the Cauldon line, there was a track buckle near to Cauldon Low last year because the hot weather and the fact that all the rail joints had closed up at the lower end of the gradient. The condition of the track and ballast was no worse than any other part of the line as it was all of the same age and had all seen the same amount of traffic over the years. The part of the line in the worst condition is that just east of Bradnop cutting and that is because farmyard muck has been allowed to cascade down the embankment onto the track. This part of the line is still in use. It has been reported in the Leek Post and Times that the MCR has offered to sell the track - but not the trackbed of the remaining Cauldon line to the CVR in order to save the line, but everything seems to have gone quiet. Is there to be a share issue?

 

Is this another uneducated guess, just like your previous comments on Stockton Brook bridge which were proved to be unfounded?

There has been a small number of landslips on the Cauldon branch in the last few years, I know as I have joined in the gangs who have volunteered to fix some of them myself. This includes the curve into the former Quarry Exchange Sidings.

The slurry at Bridge 10 has not fallen onto the track either, it has collected in the ballast shoulder next to the cess. The actual track in that location is one of the more better sections as it actually has excessive ballast!

The future of operations over the remaining 4 and a bit miles has been reassured by the CVR Chairman, who went round all departments personally to reassure those who volunteer on the ground face-face. The idea of a Share Issue to support this was a suggested last resort, which at present we are managing without. The line does not require "saving", it meets the requirements for what we need it to do at present tough we all know a point in time will come when MCR need to upgrade the track. Until then though we are carrying on as normal.
http://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/news/leekbrook-ipstones-track-acquisition

If you want to learn the true state of the line yourself, why not join the PWay Gangs instead of guessing from behind the computer? They meet every Wednesday and Sunday from 9am. "p/wayman" and "sheff" can give you all the details you need.

 

This has never been a preserved railway, It was leased to a comercial company MCR with a view to reopening it to run from Stoke to Cauldon Quarries owned by La Farge and Tarmac. During negotion betwen them Lafarge took over Tarmac and this was then refered to the monopoly comission. Which is still ongoing so no progress can be made on the freight running. The track was worn out as I can attest to, being on the Pway, to keep it running. The decision was taken to lift the track back to Ipstones by MCR and we put a run around loop in in dreadfull winter conditions to keep as much of the track intact as possible. If and when we get whoever takes over the quarries round the table to discuss if they still want to get the quarry traffic off the road things will stay as they are and we have about 3.5 miles less of track to maintain. P.S. I have no connection to MCR just an overworked volunteer on the CVR

 

Well if MCR decide

If MCR decide to put back what they sold for scrap it will cost them £2M per mile of track which is , 2 x 3.5 = £7,000,000, added to that there is the cost of relaying the twelve miles out to Stoke, the reopening to Alton Towers south of Froghall and last but not least the northern extension to Barnfields industrial estate on the edge of Leek. Did I forget to mention the original promise to relay the the CVR from Leekbrook to Froghall?

 

Work on the trees today near Bradnop. Too hot to remember to get camera out but if you come out on the next Ipstones service in 10 days time you will be able to see Bridge 8 for a change.

 

Clog and Knocker is very aptly named..

 

Seems very odd to sell your pway for scrap if you intend re opening at some stage. I've got plans for an extension on my house but I wouldn't sell the garden to pay for it.

 

As I said before its not CVR ( The preserved railway ) Its a comercial company MCR and the track and sleepers are worn out and would have had to be replaced before heavy freight could use it. They stilll lease the trackbed.So why we have strayed from Which Heritage lines purchased their lines complete to which Comercial company purchased their lines complete. We once again have to thank CVR hater Clog and Knocker.

 

Have all those chairs gone to the scrapman?

 

This is the last time I'm going to reply, No, points and some track were used for Ipstones loop. We used the sleeper carrier several times to bring some additional chairs, fishplates, chair screws keys and fish plate bolts all for the use of the CVR. Thats it I'm finished on here its like the inquisition.

 

I didn't mention who owned the track, just that it sounds a bit mad to rip track up for scrap to raise a few bob. It'll be much dearer to put it all back new rather than refurb existing.