Hope Valley upgrade

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, Reorte said:

I don't *think* the route via Marple is particularly busy (although of course that doesn't tell me much when I don't know what it's capacity is). It's probably slower than via Stockport and Hazel Grove.

 

There is an East Midlands ECS booked via Marple in the evening, going that way for route knowledge purposes. It takes about the same time between Ardwick Jn and New Mills South Jn as via Hazel Grove with a Stockport stop.

The main problem is pathing around the stoppers, the worst part of the line the pinch point between Ashburys East and Ardwick junctiobs which is one of the busiest two-track sections in the Manchester area, having besides the New Mills / Hope Valley services, the Hadfield and Rose Hill locals and some remaining TPE trains plus ECS moves from Longsight, Ardwick and Newton Heath and a few freights.  Otherwise the busiest is Marple Wharf Junction to Romiley which has four per hour each way plus occasional stone trains and light engine moves. New Mills Central has a stabling siding where you can lose a turnback train if necessary.

[62613]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Or they simply want to justify Metrolink getting it's hands on it - use the old trackbed alongside the existing route from Gorton to Hyde North for Metrolink and the existing tracks for heavy rail - or tram train it.

Apparently, a medium to long-term aspiration, I believe, for tram-train anyway. If the whole line was converted to Metrolink, would Derbyshire C.C. or High Peak B.C. fund their part?

 

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, Zomboid said:

Just don't model the whole platform area, that's the least interesting part of the whole thing...

It's got a signal box on it at least, that's something.

 

But yes, it's not the most interesting-looking station. No reason not to make a model based on the layout but a completely different area, era (although it probably wouldn't work out as well for a non-MU time), or style though.

[pharrc20]

On 12/03/2021 at 11:10, Reorte said:

I don't *think* the route via Marple is particularly busy (although of course that doesn't tell me much when I don't know what it's capacity is). It's probably slower than via Stockport and Hazel Grove.

 

Probably a completely  ridiculous and impractical solution, but could Hazel Grove station be moved to where the sidings are and convert the sidings to loops (I think they're truncated remains of loops anyway), so the Sheffield trains could run right through with less impact from the Buxton line stoppers?

Possible but would cost £xxxM to move and redo the station. Up until 1985 there was the Down layby siding on the Buxton side of the Chester Road bridge running as far as the next bridge the ex-Midland New Mills South to Cheadle Jn. (formerly Heaton Mersey) and I don't ever recall seeing much use it but it wasn't electrified and when the line to Hazel Grove they chose to electrify the remains of the former Up and Down loops, which started around the site of the current Woodsmoor station.

 

This Down layby was in part reused to slew the Down line from Buxton and then the abandoned portion of the Down itself slewed to join the Up line to create space on which to start building the Chord line.

 

There is or was room behind the Manchester platform to in theory take another platform face as a bay now, however some bungalows were built on the Chester Road end of the land some 10-15y years ago. A new or extended footbridge would be needed at the other end to allow the Hatherlow Lane footpath to continue. This extra platform could have been made into a bay or even better a through platform for extra operational capacity.

 

Not much chance of extending or double-tracking the Chord line unless you want to buy a lot more land off the Diocese of Chester and exhume xx number of graves. A pity the 1930s LMS chord scheme never went ahead to link the Midland with the LNW lines further down the Midland lines joining the LNW near to Woodsmoor Lane overbridge.

 

What happened to the idea of reinstating a single track for freight between New Mills South and Chinley North Jn.?

 

Cheers Paul

[62613]

How much railway will £137k get you these days?

[Chris116]

28 minutes ago, 62613 said:

How much railway will £137k get you these days?

About six inches, if you are lucky.

[62613]

1 hour ago, Chris116 said:

About six inches, if you are lucky.

Sorry, I meant £137 million! But not much more, I'll warrant!

[peanuts]

11 hours ago, Chris116 said:

About six inches, if you are lucky.

Is that EM or scalefour ?

[Enterprisingwestern]

12 hours ago, Chris116 said:

About six inches, if you are lucky.

 

54 minutes ago, peanuts said:

Is that EM or scalefour ?

 

P4 if you want more bang for your buck!

 

Mike.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Happened to have to pass through Bamford today so I had a look over the wall, The new loop connections are in. 

Not too sure about that cutting widening. Looks like it's being done on the cheap and a recipe for future landslips.

Beware the Edale Shales!

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by TheSignalEngineer

[peterfgf]

8 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Happened to have to pass through Bamford today so I had a look over the wall, The new loop connecyions are in. 

Not too sure about that cutting widening. Looks like it's being done on the cheap and a recipe for future landslips.

Beware the Edale Shales!

 

The slope angles look reasonable, especially the upper two-thirds - it all depends on what the ground is like.  The Victorians built some pretty steep sided cuttings in unsuitable material.  It looks like they've covering the slopes with netting to stabilise it and to prevent rock falls (?).  There also appears to be ring of limestone rock around the edge: the weight will be useful and it will also channel surface water around the sides of the embankment.  Doesn't look too bad (but I'm not a civil engineer)- famous last words. 

Peterfgf

[TheSignalEngineer]

The compression of the photo taken with a 300mm lense makes it a bit difficult to judge, but that bridge is almost a mile away.

My main concern would be that it's on the Dark Peak side of the valley which is riddled by pockets of Edale Shales. The abandoned Mam Tor Road and the Snake Pass, both notorious for landslips, are in the same formation. Hopefully they have covered themselves by plenty of boreholes to find out the strength of the slope. The most recent major slip on the Snake was about 18 months ago when half of the road disappeared. They've had engineers doing measurements and test drillings along there ever since and still don't appear to know what to do to repair it.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by TheSignalEngineer