HPMRS RAILDATE 12 Aug 05

News

RAILDATE: the weekly newsletter of the Hursley Park Model Railway Society: http://www.ibmhursleyclub.org.uk/ss/hpmrs/

SOUTH WESTERN GLIMPSES (3)

Lawrence and Melissa Hanney recently had a holiday in the South West. This is the third of a series on railway interest in the area...

2pm on a boiling hot afternoon, on the A39 high on Exmoor. Having seen the rather sad remains of Barnstaple's stations, the "junction" reduced to a single track terminus, and the "Town" to no tracks at all as far as one could see, as one was driving past (the track area seems to be new waterside flats, though there did seem to be some kind of railway function in the original station building). Much of the former GWR branch from Norton Fitzwarren, Taunton is now the North Devon link road.

Anyway, after that and the traffic through Bridgewater, it was good to get out onto the high moor. And just beyond Parracombe is a railway "high" indeed - a bright red, cabless engine sits simmering on its 2ft gauge track at a well-restored Woody Bay station, ready to haul its train along 3/4 mile of track. There is a good shop and refreshment service. The next two bridges on the line have been restored by the civil engineers Edmund Nuttall Ltd - their original builders, ready for re-opening. And the enthusiastic volunteer staff tell me in no uncertain terms that the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway is back! They may not reach Barnstaple in my lifetime, but reach it they will, and they deserve support...

http://www.lyntonrail.net2media.co.uk/

NETWATCH

The APT website is back online:

http://www.apt-p.com

Devon Railway Centre:

http://www/devonrailwaycentre.co.uk

For details of the Orkney railway systems, see the wonderful set of archives available on the Industrial Railway Society website:

http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/10/orcadian_railways.htm

main page:

http://www.irsociety.co.uk/

A Lydney councillor has started a campaign to get a third Severn bridge built at Sharpness at the site of the old railway bridge dismantled after being struck by oil tankers in fog some forty years ago. The new bridge would provide both a road and rail link if it were to get the go ahead:

http://tinyurl.com/b9vyu

Cambrian Steam...

Steam hauled trains return to one of Britain's most scenic lines at the end of August. The special trains on the Cambrian Coast Line run on 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 28th and 29th August, starting from either Machynlleth, Shrewsbury or Aberystwyth, and heading northwards to Barmouth or Porthmadog.

Ian Riley's Standard 4, 76079 (also known as "The Pocket Rocket") will be hauling the trains, running tender first up the coast and returning southwards chimney first. The steam trains will be provided by specialist steam operating company, West Coast Railway Company (WCR), which has run the highly successful "Jacobite" steam train from Fort William in the West Highlands of Scotland for the past 10 years.

The Porthmadog trips run on Monday 22nd, Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th August to the following timings: Machynlleth dep - 10:05; Porthmadog arr - 12:07 Porthmadog dep - 15:50; Machynlleth arr - 18:20

To celebrate the return of steam to the Cambrian Coast, customers travelling on special steam services between Machynlleth and Porthmadog on these three days will be entitled to a 40 per cent discount on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog) on presentation of their ticket. More details on the discount can be found at: http://www.whr.co.uk

The WHR(P) station is alongside the Cambrian Coast Line in Porthmadog, and Arriva Trains Wales have asked the WHR(P) to have its narrow gauge steam train standing in the station as the Cambrian special arrives. 76079 will also be taking water from a hydrant alongside the WHR(P) station shortly after its arrival in Porthmadog.

My thanks again to Ralph Rawlinson for this week's International news:

CHINA, Inner Mongolia A total of 3.75 billion Chinese yuan (£266M) is the estimated cost of building a new 720km line in Inner Mongolia. The line will run from Linhe to the Alashanmeng border crossing on the Sino-Mongolian state border and will cross the Ulan Buh and the Badian Jaran deserts. Construction will start this month and is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2007. The initial capacity of the line will be 17.5 million tonnes of cargo increasing in the long term to 30.6 million tonnes. Eventually, the line will be extended from Alashanmeng to Hami, in Xinjiang region, Western China and will become the second line linking Eastern China to Xinjiang.

ISRAEL, Jerusalem It is reported that finance has now been agreed to commence a long delayed light rail system in Jerusalem. The first of eight planned lines is expected to be operational by the end of 2008. The line, which will be 13.8km long, will stretch from East Jerusalem to the edge of the Old City through the city centre (part of which will be turned into a pedestrian mall) and head west past the entrance to the city. There it will connect with a high-speed train link to Tel Aviv which is expected to be completed in 2009. A fast bus lane will also be built to link into the light-rail system. Estimated cost of the project is $727 million.

RUSSIA, Moscow It is reported that a rail link between Moscow and Sheremetyevo International Airport will begin operation in early 2007. The new line will connect the airport with Savyolovsky and Leningradsky railway stations, both of which contain metro stations. The estimated cost of this line is $100 million.

Buses worldwide:

http://www.busesworldwide.org/

A Yorkshire fleet that no longer exists:

http://www.geocities.com/blackprincebuses/

Want to know who owns that aeroplane?

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?categoryid=60&pagetype=65&applicationid=1

And for this week's "some people are interested in the strangest things" spot - this is a collection of recorded telephone ring tones and other tones from the UK. (You must read the one at the end of "Miscellaneous" about the Water Company meter, and listen to it. Fantastic.)

http://www.tones.plus.com/sounds/menagerie/sounds.htm

And finally, the next Shakespearean railway quote from Ralph Rawlinson, taken from a sequence of letters to The Times from August 1989 onwards:

From Mr ECB Lee, Bath:

Sir, "And here an engine fit for my proceeding!" (The Two Gentlemen of Verona).

IN THE NEWS

07/08/05 Overnight Incident RUNAWAY LIGHT LOCOMOTIVE : A class 66 locomotive stabled within a possession at Blake Street on the Up line has run away, has passed Lichfield Trent Valley High Level and en route towards Wichnor Jn running at approx 60mph. The loco has passed through two worksites with no injuries reported and has smashed through two sets of level crossing gates. Confirmed that locomotive involved is 66057 and which has become derailed all wheels at Alrewas, where the double line becomes Single at that point line continuing as the Single line, and the Up line (on which the loco was running) physically ends. Loco also foul of the Down line. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/4141028.stm

Train collides with tractor: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/4129398.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/4130730.stm

100mph train hits plank of wood: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4135718.stm

Passengers oppose ticket changes: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4138670.stm

Scotsman to relive historic trip: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4659337.stm

TV and Radio

Events

See Mainline Steam Tours page for up-to-date info on many of these tours, and others, often with timings.