Rother Valley Railway

I'm a steam enthusiast but I've acquired a soft spot for heritage DMUs. Perhaps I just enjoy a different experience to what I get sandwiched into a truly awful class 221 voyager 5 days a week! I would enjoy an amble along the RVR-KESR in a class 1xx as much as behind a terrier - more importantly though, so would a lot of the public.
Is crossing the A21 now the final obstacle to eventual reconnection or are there more hostile landowners to be pacified?

 

I understand that the A21 crossing is presently the subject of negotiation and that there are some landowners with whom discussions have to be completed. Given the sensitive nature of these matters most enquiries are unlikely to be responded to for the time being.

 

http://www.rvr.org.uk/

Appears to be updated frequently, but irregularly with progress at Robertsbridge..

Roger H

 

Re level crossings, I'm surprised nobody upthread has mentioned the Dean Forest's Lydney Bypass crossing as a precedent. It would seem to be a very similar situation - on a busy trunk road (the A48) but close to a roundabout. It is an AHB but with traffic islands to reduce the potential for "zigzagging". I'm not sure myself what the status of that part of the DFR was when the bypass was built, however.

 

Not any more. Now it says

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Due to technical and strategic reasons​

the formal static pages of the website have been taken off-line.​

This is a deliberate requirement instructed by the​

ROTHER VALLEY RAILWAY​

Management​

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We expect to resume at the earliest possible moment.​

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Our Web Presence is richer than just static pages and until we can return why not keep up to date with the progress reports?​

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Year 2013​

Year 2012

 

The A48 was de-trunked in 2006, but it was built as a trunk road in the 1990s. At that time the DfT must have justified a level crossing as being adequate. I do hope that they take the same view where the railway comes after the road.

 

Via facebook, I noticed that the Rother Valley Railway team responsible for the first phase of rebuilding east from Robertsbridge have won an award from the Institution of Civil Engineers.
See here for some newspaper coverage;

http://www.ryeandbattleobserver.co....-award-for-rail-restoration-project-1-5187780

Well done to all concerned!

 

I have been watching developments at Robertsbridge and was very surprised to see the start of tracklaying in the station area due to there not being a station there yet! I know that some of the platform edge is in place but doesn't having track down make it more difficult to actually build the station? Is there anyone who can explain in a nutshell what is going on? Is the current aim just to get a platform with track in place first and then worry about the buildings? Very confused!

 

There is a planned Gala weekend on 20/21 September soI would guess they are aiming, at least, to complete enough track, platform and ground works to enable this event. I would be very surprised if any buildings were completed by then but, given the pace of recent RVR developments, I'd be delighted to be wrong.

 

Details of the gala are now on both RVR and KESR websites.

 

Good little piece on last nights SE BBC news

 

Can"t upload a picture, am i doing something wrong!

 

Robertsbridge junction Station how taking shape nicely: View attachment 7891

 

The first steam trains for many years will be running at Robertsbridge Junction Station over the weekend 21st/22nd September. The train is planned to comprise a Terrier loco plus three vintage carriages. Details can be found on the K&ESR website at:

http://www.kesr.org.uk/whats-on-thi.../2013/09/21/87/-/gala-return-to-robertsbridge

The Rother Valley Railway construction project website is at:

http://www.rvr.org.uk/

And the construction progress Blog at:

http://13rvrnews.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Men at work. Robertsbridge this afternoon (photos by David Slack)

 

Any news about the Rother Valley Line, its gone a bit silent.

 

Keep checking the blog shown in post 135!

 

I used to be a KESR volunteer until my employer moved from London to Coventry. My involvement included the Wittersham Rd - Northiam extension. I dont know the legal bit but we reopened the Northiam Level Crossing which carries the A28 Ashford - Rye rd so you can reopen old crossings. Similarly after I left Bodiam crossing was reopened.

The Robertsbridge bypass, the A21, was always known to be a problem. Difficult to go under as the railway is only just above flood level as it is. Going over would require a ski ramp to rival the East Lanks. The only sensible option is a level crossing - I wish the Rother valley good luck in their aims.

Full automatic barriers will be quicker than what used to happen at Northiam. On the approach of a train the station agent closed the gates to road traffic and opened them as soon as the train was in the station. The guard collected the token from the driver and unlocked the ground frame. As the loco ran round it would be foul of the gates so the guard closed the crossing to road traffic again. As soon as the loco was clear of the points the ground frame would be returned and the token given back to the loco. The guard would open the gates to the road. When the train was ready to leave the station agent would again close the road to allow the train to depart. Just down the road is a single track road bridge over the Rother which is traffic light controlled. The above was great fun on a bank holiday Monday. By comparison the A21 with full barriers would be a doddle.

Jus as an aside the transfer of the Light Railway order may be a red herring. When the new Thameslink station at Ludgate Hill/ Holborn was proposed there was public consultation. This included copies of some of the legal documentation. The description of the railway was something like "The undertaking constructed by the London Chatham and Dover Railway assimilated into the Southern Railway and furthur assimilated by the Railway Executive. Also undertakings of the Metropolitain Railway as assimilated into the London Transport Executice". These arent the exact words but give a flavour that the legal identity of the original builder of a line never dissapears.

 

Fortunately Northiam is now fully signalled and trains normally go on to Bodiam. It can still happen that a train may terminate at Northiam, but the signal box lever frame can then be used as a groundframe if no Signalman is present, and station staff have been trained as Crossing Keepers, so run-rounds and gate operation is much more slick than in those early days.