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Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

Discussion in 'Narrow Gauge Railways' started by 50044 Exeter, Dec 25, 2009.

  1. Meiriongwril

    Meiriongwril Member

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    Please note that Charobin, AFAIK, is not an L&B member (if he is he sure as heck an odd one).....
     
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  2. philw2

    philw2 Member

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    Who's deleted the bad language. God?
     
  3. GWR Man.

    GWR Man. Well-Known Member

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    Chatting to a L&B fireman today, and he has also heard that the dwelling at Parracombe Halt has been acquired by the Grobs to cause problems, so CP most likely will be needed to get hold of this dwelling as the Grobs are hoping to get as much as they can, so I hope the CP is less than they have paid for the dwelling.
     
  4. philw2

    philw2 Member

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    Weren't the L & B swapping Fairview for the bungalow?
     
  5. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    If you wind the clock back fifteen years, much the same position pertained over the Bluebell trackbed into East Grinstead. A couple of owners adopted an 'over my dead body' approach. There was a particularly silly dispute over the ownership of a tree, involving a number of solicitor's letters. Careful measurement showed that the tree was not on the land of the person claiming ownership of it, and some courage to ignore some quite inappropriate correspondence and a chainsaw solved that one.

    And now trains run happily to East Grinstead,

    And so it will be in Devon...................in time.

    Robin
     
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  6. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    No. Fairview was bought using a legacy left to the L&B. The intention is to split the house deeds from the trackbed and then sell the house on, to a sympathetic buyer.
    There is no connection between Fairview and the bungalow AFAIK.


    Keith
     
  7. jma1009

    jma1009 Well-Known Member

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    Given Robin's helpful lead,

    Can anyone confirm from Land Registry info whether Parracombe Halt has recently changed hands?

    Given the purchase of Fairview (which doesnt yet appear on Rightmoves quoted by Felix as there is some time lag with Right moves) the only up to date source is the Land Registry.

    It would seem somewhat foolhardy of the Grobs to purchase Parracombe Halt given that the purchase by the 'railway' of Fairview resolves a significant planning issue. It would only result in resorting to compulsary purchase orders for part of their home and presumably Parracombe Halt too if in their ownership. Seems a bit daft to me for the Grobs to do this.

    Never buy a property that might be subject to compulsary purchase!

    HS2 is ample evidence of this!

    Cheers,
    Julian
     
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  8. Axe

    Axe Member

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    Your statement that the bungalow at Parracombe Halt has been sold to Mr & Mrs Grobb is completely erroneous.


    There's no truth in that whatsoever.


    I can confirm that Fairview (less the trackbed) has now been sold subject to contract. The bungalow is now in use as a 'holiday let' and not currently up for sale, but was offered to the L&BR a short while ago by the current owner for an exorbitant high price.


    Chris
     
  9. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    Very helpful, thank you.

    Do you happen to know where 'the bungalow' is advertised as a holiday let?

    Robin
     
  10. Felix Holt

    Felix Holt Guest

    As Sheldon Cooper would say, 'neena neena' ..... ;)
     
  11. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

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    I think the kids are getting bored again, the reason I say this, is it is no different to a few years ago in the long history of the current L&BR Group.

    As various Trustees and Directors have already said as and when it happen it will appear on the official website first.

    The L&BR will be surrounded by stories all the time, it is the nature of the beast, for what it is worth I would love to see a second Baldwin or an Alco built loco to run on the L&BR or how about a new build 2ft gauge version of a Leek and Manifold style loco? all good projects but something not linked to the L&BR.
     
  12. fergusmacg

    fergusmacg Resident of Nat Pres

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    Any discussion on here is better than the S*** Stirring type of story introduced by some Charlie based on little or no facts, however is there a will on the L&B for 'alternative' motive power and would a scaled down Leek and Manifold style loco even fit the loading gauge and still be useful given that I also understand they may be a little 'light on their feet'?
     
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  13. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

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    To be honest Fergus I don't know as I have not gone through the design stages for it, but yes it would be a bit light after all that was the whole point to the design for the lightly laid Indian Railways. Another loco type which could work would be the all Indian ZA class, which would have been a 2ft gauge version of the ZB 2-6-2 Tender loco. Its modern and as such was the last 2ft gauge mainline??? steam loco to be design here in the UK, the L&BR has some generous curves, 3 chain minimum I think it is, so that should not be a problem, there is also the possibilities of building a new Darjeeling 4-6-2 Tender loco as well now we know that would fit on the L&BR, but would there be much support for such a loco?
     
  14. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    From a personal perspective the attraction of the L&B is that like the VofR the line is a single package where the stock is all from the same box
     
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  15. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

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    While I can understand that point of view the L&BR has a number of what if's and also contractor locos it could build as well if it wanted to, we also have to realise that there are people out there who know more about steam locos that I will ever have hot dinners and the long term suggestion is the L&BR should equip itself with locos that can haul 9 or 10 coaches on a regular basis for the long summer season.

    I am not suggesting we go down the route of NGG16 as you can go the WHR if that what floats you narrow gauge boat, but what I am suggesting is there is not another 2ft gauge railway of the size of the L&BR that could display and use 2ft gauge UK built colonial design locos, on the whole most 2ft gauge line in the UK tend to use ex industrial railway locos and stock, while Buzzard has an Indian theme running through it steam locos and the WHR has a South African feel, that only leaves the Brecon to show off 2ft America Steam.

    We know that the V of R has at least one Lawley 4-4-0 Tender loco in Collection X and hopefully one day we shall see it in North Wales, but that is the sort of size loco I am talking about, may be even a SAR Bagnall 4-6-0 Tender loco or even a Manning Wardle 2-6-4T, there are enough Manning Wardle designs out there as well which could be copied.

    As much as we would like to preserve everything in aspic it would be impossible to do so, the L&BR like most other heritage run railways relies on tourists and it is that market we must cater for, what may be acceptable for most of us on this forum, that is not acceptable to Mr and Mrs J Public, they want clean loos a good cup of coffee or tea and clean seats on a comfortable train, hauled by a steam locomotive. If that also includes Pullman standard buffet service on the trains so be it.
     
  16. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    OK, put Colonna & Smalls in charge of the coffee & I will be there..................
     
  17. Dag Bonnedal

    Dag Bonnedal New Member

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    Maybe you have noticed that a Manning Wardle happens to have the same:
    • Wheel arrangement
    • Stroke
    • Coupled wheel dia.
    • Fixed wheel base (almost)
    • Adhesion weight
    as half an NGG16. Only the cylinder diameter differs, but this reflects the fact that superheated locomotives are run at shorter cut-offs.
    So, you could buy a Garratt and split it into a pair of modern L&B 2-6-2 tanks.;)
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2016
  18. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    Sorry Colin, but the only person I've ever heard making that suggestion is you.

    Why does the L&B (or any other railway) need to do this? The attraction of the L&B is the design of its locos, rolling stock, scenery and stations, why does that need to be "enhanced" by trying to turn it into a colonial railways museum?

    And there is no reason why that cannot happen using replicas of the original locos and carriages along with the proposed new build carriages (possibly with gangways) to the original style.

    Keith
     
  19. sycamore

    sycamore Member

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    Would gangway severely compromise seating capacity? Presumably train lengths will also be limited to 4 or 5 carriages???
     
  20. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    Not sure - I've heard it mentioned that the L&B could use a similar gangway setup to the WHR, but I'm not sure how that would fit within the envelope of the original design of carriage. I suppose if the new builds were built as open carriages then the removal of several bulkheads (from the original design) may release some space for additional seating.

    I would agree that 4-5 is probably the max length of train. Anything more would require platform extensions which would certainly affect the look of the railway.

    Keith
     

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