Nimbus Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Just what is the A38's problem with railways? The Nim. Edited February 25, 2015 by Nimbus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 25, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2015 Just what is the A38's problem with railways? The Nim. Simples - they were in the way and they'd been closed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 25, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2015 With respect guys get real, this is never going to happen, look at some of the previous ideas like Peak rail to Buxton where most of the track bed was still in place or The Midland railway center who once spoke of going to Ambergate until the A38 was built and made a virtual impassable barrier. Even one of the biggest preserved railways has taken the best part of 30 years to get to the stage where they could be able to cross the gap at loughborough. Where talking about miles of what is basically a green field site and having to build cuttings, embankments and bridges etc in fact everything from scratch even if they could get the land. Seriously guys there all nice dreams but this like so many others is just not feasible I'd never say 'never', having seen some of the other achievements that the UK heritage railway movement is now capable of, but it won't be quick and it won't be cheap. It may take them 20+ years to get to Ashburton, assuming the SDR management and board actually make the official decision to have this as a goal. What the current interest in Ashburton is really about is preserving the station area from redevelopment and - possibly and in due course - establishing some kind of 'museum presence' there. These are much more achieveable goals, the preserving of the area from demolition and redevelopment in particular, even if in the meantime some other business occupies the actual station and its overall roof. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humbolt136 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm liking what I'm hearing here! I know they're still a long way off from even starting but if they were to build it I'd be the first one down there to ride it!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 In civil engineering terms this would be a great deal more ambitious than even Bridging the Gap. The MML at Loughborough is crossed at an angle that makes it reasonably easy in principle to lift a bridge in with probably only a weekend's disruption to train services and no need to touch the railway itelf, and the rest of the route can be done without much impact outside the immediate area. Having to stop for a while due to lack of resources wouldn't inconvenience anybody too much. A reinstated Ashburton branch would need, somewhere along its length, to cross the A38 at a high angle of skew and because of the local topography and visual impacts this would probably be rail-under-road. The various build-and-slide-under techniques probably won't work at this sort of skew so it might be a question of digging out a section of the A38 which would involve major roadworks over a prolonged period. As there's no obvious alternative route this could even involve a temporary diversion of the A38 onto a new carriageway alongside for the duration of the work. The costs for any of this would be astronomical, and because of the road closure it would have to run through to completion once it was started, which probably means whoever funds it having a contract with one of the civil engineering majors and the money in the bank to meet the full set of payments and contingencies. This in turn probably means the public sector taking the lead, rather than leaving it in the hands of a predominantly volunteer organisation with limited means and no experience of this sort of thing. All this is before even thinking about the issues with creating the rest of the alignment, which would also be in close proximity to the A38. To cap it all, anything to the northwest of the A38 is within the National Park, who tend to take a dim view of any sort of development and particularly something on this scale. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading General Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I've been to Ashburton by train, this is my only photo of it. It was a Merrymaker from Reading, might well have been the farewell to Ashburton train mentioned earlier, I can't remember. I was about 16 nd travelled on my own , so I can't ask anyone for more details. (Named Class 47 on the front if that helps) 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading General Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 http://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/70s/711002br.html looks like this was it! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2015 In civil engineering terms this would be a great deal more ambitious than even Bridging the Gap. It would, but not as ambitious as the Ffestiniog Deviation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 If the current activity is successful, the station is saved and turned into a museum, the SDR could always make its presence felt by lending an out of service locomotive to sit underneath the overall roof on a short section of track. It would add to the attraction of the museum itself and keep an engine away from the elements whilst out of use. I've visited Buckfastleigh several times over the last 5 years and the 14xx has often been seen stored outside and it would have been an ideal candidate (indeed, the locomotive is to make a visit to Ashburton later this year). Whilst its turn in the overhaul queue isn't too far away, 1369 only has a couple of years left in ticket and may be a good choice. If the railway had plans for a quick overhaul of 1369, they still have Lady Angela, Ashley and Carnarvon all stabled in the open. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 It would, but not as ambitious as the Ffestiniog Deviation. Perhaps not, but as I posted above the Ffestiniog people could build the Deviation at a speed governed by available resources, and also run services when only part was completed. The same is largely true of other ambitious and successful preservation projects including the Welsh Highland and (give or take the landfill tax issue) the Bluebell extension. It wouldn't be the case with Ashburton. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 11, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 11, 2015 It wouldn't be the case with Ashburton. Apart from the interface with the A38, I don't understand why you would think this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coppercap Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I've been to Ashburton by train...........It was a Merrymaker from Reading..........I was about 16 and travelled on my own. If you were to do that today, and were found out, your parents would probably be arrested and you would be put into care! Happy days back then, weren't they? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading General Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) ha....they'd have been more perturbed at innocent little me wandering around King's Cross, not to mention Old Oak Lane from Willesden Junc had they known! Barry Scrapyard wouldn't have thrilled them either! we had a lot more freedom then Edited March 12, 2015 by Reading General Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 If you were to do that today, and were found out, your parents would probably be arrested and you would be put into care! Happy days back then, weren't they? The equivalent today's a plane trip to the Turkish border.... Hijab Hat, coat - gone..... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted March 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2015 The equivalent today's a plane trip to the Turkish border.... Hijab Hat, coat - gone..... Ummm. [ben Elton mode] "Little bit of satire there, ladies and gentlemen...[/ben Elton mode] 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 As railway enthusiasts it is natural for us to deplore the closure of any railway, especially to allow a road to be built, however I would imagine that the improved A38 has been of far more benefit to far more people than the Ashburton branch ever was, or ever could be. If the money to re-open to Ashburton could be raised privately I would wish the project every success, but I can't see any justification for spending huge sums of public money to rebuild this line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Apart from the interface with the A38, I don't understand why you would think this. The interface with the A38 is the reason why I think this. The line would probably have to hug the A38 as much as possible to minimise impact on the National Park etc, so the interface applies along most of the route. And incidentally I'm not sure following the edge of a busy dual carriageway is really consistent with the atmosphere of a historic branch line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coppercap Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) The interface with the A38 is the reason why I think this. The line would probably have to hug the A38 as much as possible to minimise impact on the National Park etc, so the interface applies along most of the route. And incidentally I'm not sure following the edge of a busy dual carriageway is really consistent with the atmosphere of a historic branch line. Doesn't most of the old route north of Buckfastleigh run under (or close to) it anyway, until it reaches the ouskirts of Ashburton? I do agree with you in that it won't exactly be atmospheric, especially at holiday times with all that noisy traffic roaring by on the A38! Edited March 13, 2015 by Coppercap Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 13, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2015 The interface with the A38 is the reason why I think this. The line would probably have to hug the A38 as much as possible to minimise impact on the National Park etc, so the interface applies along most of the route. And incidentally I'm not sure following the edge of a busy dual carriageway is really consistent with the atmosphere of a historic branch line. You're right, it isn't. But I don't think that this is the point. Certainly the route to Ashburton would be mostly next to the A38, but once you picked up the old formation just outside of town, in an ideal world you have the old terminus to run back into, which certainly does seem worthwhile to me (even if we all acknowledge that there's very little chance of the money being found for it - and incidentally, I don't think anyone was advocating the use of public money for the scheme). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 You're forgetting the loss of the attractive East end of Buckfastleigh, destroyed by the expressway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Has something changed since October 2014? There is a Dartmoor National Parks Authority masterplan for the redevelopment of the Chuley Road site in Ashburton, this plan appears to show the station as a market or some other community event space. http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/502353/141031_Revised-Chuley-Road-Masterplan_LR-Final.pdf Either way there seems to be money to be spent on the area, for new housing and flood prevention among other things. cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 14, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 14, 2015 Interestingly, 'dialogue box' DH6 on the site plan states - 'An application on this site will need to demonstrate an understanding of and respect the significance of the Station Buildings', supported by an artiste's impression on a following page of a 'Station Market' using the train shed and station building. However, in general my heart often sinks when I see the expression 'Master Plan' being used, because this to me is indicative of the faceless planning Politburo types having already decided what they want, and this being their attempt to foist it on the unsuspecting public, with a document showing lots of pretty colours and images of cool, young people perambulating around an idealised future setting... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
banburysaint Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) What is the current status of the Ashburton master plan, is it dead? Edited May 23, 2016 by banburysaint Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted May 28, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 28, 2016 What is the current status of the Ashburton master plan, is it dead? There was something in one of the magazines recently, I believe, stating that the local authority has having a rethink, given the outcry over the possible loss of the station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturminster_Newton Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 A bit of dreaming would be to build the line alongside the unnamed road that connects Buckfast to Ashburton and across the fields. The real issue is getting the line out of it's site at Buckfastleigh and bring the route back to pick up the old alignment into Ashburton. This would mean lowering the line to tunnel under the A38. The next problem at Buckfastleigh station is the proximity of the river which would hamper such an operation. Trains to Ashburton MIGHT happen if it were a narrow gauge 15" or similar option but there is a still a river to bridge and road crossing to make on the level at Ashburton. Currently a passenger road train is probably the only practical affordable way to get a 'train' of any type into Ashburton, and the roads into Ashburton are not really suitable for such an option. Let the road train use the old trackbed to be able to make a fairly unhindered run down to the old station area. SDR is a caged tiger with no chance of breaking out of its current station sites to new pastures. Up rooting and migrating to another place is equally fraught with massive expense and a huge amount of investment. Like bringing trains back to Heathfield it ain't viable except in pipe-dreams and modeling worlds. IF the fore thought at the instigation of the preservation soc had been to buy the Budleigh to Ottery St Mary track bed breaking out to Feniton would be feasible, as might have been buying trackbed in the Teign Valley from Chudleigh to Christow. But they didn't and no amount of romantic nostalgia trip is going to change the closed in nature of the current line. The only option left is getting access to a platform at Totnes Station and that is not likely to happen this side of hell freezing over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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