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Posted: 26-04-2012 10:17 Post subject:

In fact, water is the problem. You can easily carry enough coal (or wood) to get you from A to B, but water is a lot harder. That's why there are water towers along the railway line between stations.

Posted: 26-04-2012 13:27 Post subject:

[quote="WierdExeter"]

Posted: 26-04-2012 13:37 Post subject:

Posted: 26-04-2012 13:46 Post subject:

Posted: 27-04-2012 07:56 Post subject:

'Banned' Clan Line steam locomotive's return trip

A 1940s steam locomotive will arrive at a Dorset seaside resort later, 46 years after it was banned from travelling along the route because of its bulk.
In 1966, Clan Line, which weighed 150 tonnes, was prevented from travelling past Wareham as it was too heavy for the single branch line to Swanage.
Smaller locomotives hauled its occupants to the resort instead.

Swanage Railway Company chairman Peter Sills called it "the greatest preserved Southern Railway steam locomotive".
It was built at Eastleigh, Hampshire, during 1948 and withdrawn by British Railways a year after its failed trip to the seaside.

The journey can be made today because under-bridges on the rebuilt Swanage Railway were strengthened during the early 1990s to carry Merchant Navy class steam locomotives.

Mr Sills added: "It will be great to finally welcome Clan Line to Corfe Castle and Swanage 46 years after it was prevented from running down the branch line from Wareham because of the British Railways locomotive weight restriction policy of the time.

"Named after Merchant Navy shipping companies, locomotives like Clan Line hauled long express trains from the capital to the coast, so this 12-coach excursion train from London to Swanage is very fitting and has great historical resonance."

It is due to pass through Wareham at 12:58 BST, running into Corfe Castle at 13:37 and arriving in Swanage at 13:53.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-17854189

That should get a few old farts steamed up! Very Happy

Posted: 27-04-2012 18:08 Post subject:

Trevarno Estate closure 'will not stop private railway'

The closure of country estate in Cornwall will not affect a private railway operating on it, volunteers have said.
Helston Railway has a mile of track that runs through Trevarno Estate near Helston.
The 750-acre estate closed to the public at the weekend after attempts to sell it failed.
But enthusiasts who run the railway have insisted it will continue to operate.

Until its closure, the £10m Trevarno Estate attracted about 80,000 visitors a year.

The original Helston branch line, which connected the town to main line services to London, was closed in 1964 as part of cuts recommended by Dr Richard Beeching, the chairman of the British Railways Board.

The not-for-profit Helston preservation society has spent more than seven years reinstating part of the branch line from Trevarno to Truthall Bridge, which opened in December.
It had also created a station platform at Trevarno, hoping to attract some of its many visitors.
"When the estate was open we weren't actually running passenger services... now we've lost the foot fall from Trevarno, but we can offer them rides," society chairman Richard Barnes told BBC News.

He said the owners of the estate had not only given permission for work on the track to continue, but had been "actively supporting" the society.
The preservation society said Trevarno was the "most appropriate starting point" as it was the home of William Bickford Smith - the first chairman of the original Helston Railway.

"[But] we've got a positive attitude towards the railway and the closing of Trevarno is a bit of a blip, but I don't think it will cause us too much trouble and we'll proceed as far as we possibly can," Spike Laugher, the preservation company's general manager said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-17868885

Posted: 27-04-2012 19:24 Post subject:

"Clan Line" -- ex-Southern Railway Merchant Navy class loco: express "Pacific" (4-6-2 wheel arrangement) type, designed by O.V.S. Bulleid with various state-of-the-art features of then steam technology; the first members of the class entered service in 1941. The type was heavier and more powerful than its relatively more "lightweight" close counterpart, the Battle of Britain / West Country class -- hence problems about "Merchant Navies" on the Swanage branch, until the bridge-strengthening mentioned.

I've always liked it that the first "Merchant Navy" to go into service, had the name "Channel Packet" -- nicknamed "Flannel Jacket" by the loco crews.

The Helston preserved line's general manager, Spike Laugher: wonderful name for the holder of such a position. Brings to mind the ceremony marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the US, at Promontory Point, Utah, in 1867; with the driving-in of the commemorative last rail-securing spikes, made of copper, gold, and silver. One pictures the appropriate railroad magnate hammering in one of those spikes, while joyously cackling and chortling at the nay-sayers who had mocked at the ridiculous idea of a rail link across the continent...

Posted: 27-04-2012 19:59 Post subject:

I unexpectedly had an encounter with real steam today, in Hayle
- I was waiting for a bus, when not one but two steam traction engines went past along the road! (I think they were heading for a local show this weekend.)

Oddly enough, I was so engrossed trying to get photos that I don't recall any noise or smell from them.

Posted: 24-08-2012 22:31 Post subject:

I guess this fits in here. The Padstow line has been a cycle track for many years now, but the old station may have to go too:

Safety fears for Padstow railway station

A north Cornwall town may lose its Victorian railway station building because of safety concerns, the local council has warned.
The building in Padstow has high levels of radon gas as well as a broken sewer and unsafe electrical wiring.
The town's council offices, which have been based in the building, are having to relocate in September.
Councillors said they would work with history groups in the town in an effort to save the building.

Sue Lee, the Padstow Town clerk, said: "We had a recent electrical safety check and there are issues with the electric. The building has four times the recommended levels of radon for office space."

A flat roof section at the end of the building, which is not part of the original structure, is likely to be knocked down.
However the council has not ruled out knocking the station building down, with Ms Lee describing its future as still being "very uncertain".
"We've had a lot of comments from railway enthusiasts all over the world about how important it is to retain the building," Ms Lee said.
The Town Council is moving out in September and will decide what should happen to the building, which is not listed, following public consultation.

Padstow's railway station was opened in 1899 by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR).
It was one of many lines threatened with closure during the 1960s in the Beeching report and finally closed in 1967.

Chris Heaps, from the Railway Heritage Trust, said: "The station is one of the last remaining relics of the Southern Railway in Cornwall.
"People can apply to have it listed in the short term then its significance can be assessed over time. Then it can either be confirmed or not confirmed, but at least it would protect the building in the short term."

The Town Council will move to new offices on the Trecerus Industrial Estate in September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-19366276

Posted: 25-08-2012 00:58 Post subject:

Posted: 31-08-2012 09:57 Post subject:

rynner2's mentioning that "the Padstow line has been a cycle track for many years now" -- indeed, part of the Camel Trail, immensely popular motor-free walking / cycling / horse-riding way along tracks of former railways, inland from Padstow to Wadebridge and on a couple of routes east of the latter town.

It has come to be, oddly enough, that of the one-time small rail network in this area, part of which formerly belonged to the London & South Western, and then Southern, Railway; and part to the Great Western Railway -- the former Southern Railway lines, on the "Atlantic" side of Bodmin, have been made over into the Camel Trail. The former Great Western bit, on the other side of Bodmin, is still a functioning railway some miles long: the Bodmin & Wenford preserved line.

Some railway enthusiasts -- I'll admit, including myself; and I would suspect, some who work in direct support of the above B & W preserved line -- feel more than a little regret that the existence of the bloody Camel Trail rules out any chance of the preserved railway being extended further westward. Trying to be rational, rather than tunnel-vision-afflicted-fanatical, I realise that the Camel Trail is -- and has been for many years -- doing an excellent job in its "trail" form, has given delight to millions, and that there is no hope of its being re-transformed into a working railway.

Posted: 05-09-2012 16:05 Post subject:

That's very interesting about the restoration of the Helston Branch Line Rynner, my friend's dad remembers arriving by train in Helston in the early sixties and I was always rather envious of his stories of the Helston Branch Line as I was born in the 1970's and missed the whole thing, sadly !
In previous years I've spent many an hour crashing through the undergrowth exploring parts of the old line, but it was beyond my wildest imaginings that there would ever be trains running on it again. Next time I go home, I know where one of my first points of call will be... Smile

Posted: 30-10-2012 08:45 Post subject:

Locomotive restored in Cornwall to transport passengers

A locomotive which has undergone 12 years of restoration work will transport passengers for the first time in Cornwall.
The Hunslet locomotive, called Dorothea, was considered to be beyond repair after many parts were removed during the 1960s by enthusiasts.
Kay Bowman, from the Launceston Steam Railway company, has restored the engine to its former glory.
Until the start of the 1940s it was used in a Welsh slate quarry.

Nigel Bowman, the managing director of Launceston Steam Railway, said: "Kay set about restoring Dorothea to working order from an incomplete set of parts.
"It was a task considered impossible by many experts."

Dorothea, which was built by the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds in 1901, will be making its debut pulling passenger carriages during the October half term week until 2 November.
The narrow gauge locomotive will be travelling along the Launceston line, which goes through the Kensey Valley, to the hamlet of Newmills.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20122910