ForestPines

I'm always amused that at Stapleton Road the new footbridge was given those huge ramps to maintain step-free access to the Down platform; when at some places along the platform it's a 2ft step up from the platform to the train

Ooh, I had a very similar set, I think with the same loco but with grey plastic track. I also had a couple of Lesney Matchbox push-along train sets, including one with a coal conveyor and tippler wagons. The coal was little lumps of shiny black plastic, I think probably 1mm round rod that had been chopped up, and it got absolutely everywhere. My first "proper train set" was Hornby R597, the "Super Sound Freight Set" with a sound generator which you wired up to the controller, so that its rate of chuff would match the track voltage.

I rather liked the way they CGI'd in some wild-looking hilly landscapes in the background of Kidderminster, to hide the car park and the diesel shed. It was pleasing to see that much of the on-train footage was actually shot from a moving train in the AY-HY section, going by the views out of the window. Overheard some random people in the street talking about how good the film was yesterday, so I was tempted to interject with "apparently, you can even go and ride on the train they used to film it!!!" and see if I could reel some potential passengers in...

Yes; sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant specifically the AD&R from Bassaleg to the docks

I assumed the AD&R would have been likely to use permissive block, given they operated a heavily-trafficked freight-only route. I did indeed find that photo collection, once I'd worked out that a lot of the good stuff on that site isn't geotagged very well! Indeed, a couple of the pictures are linked to in my first post. I'm slowly collating a list of B&M-related photos in the various online archives - Amgueddfa Cymru have some nice photos of B&M locos digitised but most of their relevant holdings seem to have an online catalogue entry but no digital version as yet.

My assumption from the SRS diagram of Bassaleg Jn was that they didn't double the whole of that single-line stretch - instead they put in a double junction between the AD&R line and the B&M line at Bassaleg Jn, and the former AD&R single line became a loop or refuge (the Bassaleg Jn diagram doesn't show a loop entry, and the SRS don't seem to have a diagram at all for Bassaleg South, the first ex-B&M box). There's also no connection between the AD&R and the Western Valley shown on the RCH diagram for the period - it implies that pre-grouping traffic from the Western Valley to Newport Docks would have to travel via Maesglas Jn. It makes sense that the GWR would want to maximise their own mileage, rather than letting traffic slip onto the AD&R at the earliest opportunity, obviously not an issue after 1922. Have to admit I didn't spot how Bassaleg Loop and Bassaleg Jn boxes were situated almost opposite each other until after I'd posted the thread. Did the AD&R have any other signalboxes? I've only been learning about the B&M for a few weeks, but it already seems apparent it's a very under-documented railway with little in the way of bibliography; unless I'm missing something, the best book on it still seems to be the Oakwood Press book first published in the 1950s. It sounds like the answer to this will need a trip to the archives! No need to apologise! It is fascinating to read accounts like that in any case, even if they're off-topic for the thread. And, speaking of which... I should have course have remembered that there were automatic signals on the NER and GCR which could probably be described as a form of TCB, although I haven't read the relevant regulations for them. I suppose I was being cavalier in using "TCB" as shorthand for a modern style of track layout that doesn't avoid using facing points, rather than choosing my terms carefully: the two are not necessarily connected

I'd always thought that the single-lead junction was a modern innovation, or at least, a post-1960 innovation along with TCB and suchlike. However, recently I was looking at some South Wales lines on old OS maps and came across an interesting layout at Bassaleg Jn. Firstly, if you don't know the area, here's the RCH diagram of the area from 1914. We have the Great Western (yellow), the Brecon & Merthyr (blue), and the Alexandra Docks & Railway (purple). Note that in 1914 there is no connection shown from the GWR to the AD&R. Now, here's that represented on the OS 25" map revised in 1916. Note how the junction between the B&M and the AD&R is with a facing crossover and single lead; the AD&R is single track until a point just past the GWR signalbox, where it becomes double track. Now, nowadays this wouldn't raise an eyebrow, but this is in pregrouping days. Here's a photo of Bassaleg B&M station platforms: the signal in the picture is the one shown on the map over on the left. Zooming in seems to show ringed arms for both the goods loop and the AD&R line. https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/562399 Was this layout only possible because the AD&R was a goods-only line? How was it signalled, and how was the point where the AD&R goes from single line to double controlled? Plus, how long did it last? The SRS diagram of the GWR box at Bassaleg Jn is clearly from a later date and shows the AD&R joining the B&M with a double junction close to the eastern end of the B&M goods loop - see https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwj/S1313.htm. This change is also borne out from photos of the B&M station in latter days, such as https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/562402 - you can see here that the signal has been replaced without the right-hand doll, the facing crossover has gone, and the former AD&R line appears to be some form of up loop or recess. Does anyone have any information on how this was signalled in pre-grouping days, and particularly how traffic on the AD&R was worked? Were single-lead junctions like this relatively common in that period, or is this an unusual oddity?

Network Rail are currently saying the bridge move will be in 5 to 7 weeks from now, from October 24th to November 7th. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/western/great-western-mainline/south-gloucestershire/

Bristol City Council has announced that the oldest buildings at Barton Hill shed will be added to its Local List of buildings that are not formally listed but whose heritage deserves recognition in the planning system. The press release is at https://news.bristol.gov.uk/news/historic-industrial-buildings-have-their-moment-in-the-spotlight-in-bristols-local-list You can see the entry for Barton Hill by going to https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp/?edition=bristol&layer=Community layer&x=360468.4&y=172854.85&extent=167.18# and clicking on the arrow in the top-right of the "speech balloon"

I don't think it's possible on a regular basis although there might be a few oddities, like the morning Cardiff-Manchester that goes via Temple Meads, but that would be a very long way round anyway! It uses to be the case that one of the first TM-Cardiff slow trains of the day went via Parkway but that disappeared in the last timetable change.

The closure between Kidder and Highley has been advertised for about a month or so, I think, so hopefully not too many people who booked further ahead will have been affected.

The reason it was described as a local was because of the restricted amount of seating space, compared to a full-length set. It was belled as a Class A Express Passenger, however, as it didn't stop everywhere.

When I first saw it in reality, the bottom of the ramp looked so close to the platform end that I wondered how easy it would actually be to turn around a large pushchair or wheelchair in the space available

Didn't "Designing A Layout" by Barry Norman feature a Lyonesse-based design? Or am I thinking of something by Iain Rice?

I mentioned New Clee yard above. It had two main purposes - one was marshalling fish trains from Grimsby Fish Docks and the corresponding empty wagons, and the other was delivering coal to trawlers; the third, on summer Saturdays, was acting as overflow carriage sidings for Cleethorpes excursion trains. It's hard to find photos of it online - if you go to http://www.davesrailpics.bravehost.com/JohnWillerton/Cleethorpes2.htm and head down to the bottom, the penultimate picture, taken from Fuller St footbridge, is as good a shot as you are likely to find anywhere. The sidings to the right of the water column are for coal (with the three coal chutes visible in the distance); the fish sorting sidings are in the distance, but you can hopefully get an idea of their scale. Looking at an early-60s OS map: there were 23 sorting roads for fish traffic, all about 600yds long, and 18 much shorter roads for coal.