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Abandoned rails in the road.....(or elsewhere...)


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2 hours ago, Axlebox said:

can you do double tracks in the road

 

Quality & Quantity.

 

 

https://flic.kr/p/CMvYgB

 

https://flic.kr/p/ATucaF

 

https://flic.kr/p/CEdzDe

 

4891014799_b98e07e9df_b.jpgView from the cab of 03 170 approaching the East Float Lift Bridge, Birkenhead Docks. by Adrian Nicholls, on Flickr

 

32946030690_c96151b005_b.jpgA clean sweep in more ways than one ! by Adrian Nicholls, on Flickr

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, melmerby said:

This might be interesting re Sharpness:

http://valeofberkeleyrailway.co.uk/

Can't help thinking that that's a line that would only be of interest to railway enthusiasts? :scratchhead:

It would go from the middle of nowhere to a half-disused docks slightly to the left of the middle of nowhere. Not exactly a 'family day out' sort of attraction.

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12 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Been on a compututer course?!!

 

 

Less of eeeet!

 

5 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

Can't help thinking that that's a line that would only be of interest to railway enthusiasts?

 

Even Google streets couldn't ar$ed to sent a camera car and made do with the walker cam.

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4 hours ago, Porcy Mane said:

I wonder what passed over those pulleys?

Looks chunky enough for chains or steel rope to operate the bridge, but I can't find anything even in old photos!

It's a rolling bascule so should be reasonably well balanced by its counterweight, needing relative little force to operate.

Edited by melmerby
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33 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I wonder what passed over those pulleys?

 

Something to do with maintenance or manual operation?

Seems like nearly* all that style of bascule all had them. The one across the water in Stanley dock has them as does this one in Renfrew.

BasculeWhiteCartScot.jpg

 

 

*  Grimsby has to be different:

 

https://goo.gl/maps/rZHjFuq1T2fAp3eNA

Edited by Porcy Mane
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3 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

 

Something to do with maintenance or manual operation?

Seems like that style of bascule all had them. The one across the water in Stanley dock has them as does this one in Renfrew.

BasculeWhiteCartScot.jpg

Something to do with maintenance or manual operation?

 

I suspect that they are rollers, used to support the connecting arms which pull the bridge into a vertical position.

 

The arms can be seen in the photo of the Renfrew Bridge.

 

CJI.

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21 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

I suspect that they are rollers, used to support the connecting arms which pull the bridge into a vertical position.

 

The arms can be seen in the photo of the Renfrew Bridge.

 

CJI.

Yes.

That sounds logical

 

This one in Birkenhead is much simpler, just a pair of hydraulic rams:

 

image.png.017c22504ddde4cb5c19e9f03a83ec5f.png

 

Having previously looked like this:

bridge.JPG.201900c8bfbc082f4a0261eefc05b588.JPG

It's also the other way around.

 

Edited by melmerby
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On 31/05/2021 at 21:04, cctransuk said:

 

I suspect that they are rollers, used to support the connecting arms which pull the bridge into a vertical position.

 

The arms can be seen in the photo of the Renfrew Bridge.

 

CJI.

Spot on.

These bridges are Scherzer rolling bascules with an overhead counterwight. They're operated by horizontal displacement of arms connected to the actual span with each arm powered by a rack and pinion mechanism housed in each of the two cabins pier building. The rollers are there to assure alignment of the arms as they withdraw to avoid any lateral displacement due to side forces (i.e wind) This image is perhaps a bit clearer

885873553_Renfrewbridge.jpg.c2cc65a453834a88d37c950e97e88582.jpg

The red paint on the rollers show how rarely this bridge is operated.

There's a video of the Inchinnan bridge operating here www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCqBi243v1A

Unfortunately it was shot by an exponent of the "wave the camera around constantly and hope to see everything" school of fim maklng (known in the trade as "hosepiping") so you don't actually see the the arms passing over the guide rollers or anything else very clearly.

There's a better description of the bridge here

https://sirwilliamarrol.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/raising-of-inchinnan-bascule-bridge/

and one of the images shows clearly how the arms are mounted so that they remain horizontal as the bridge opens and closes.

I'm slightly surprised that the instructions for my childhood no 6 Meccano set didn't include one of these. I think I built almost every other type of opening bridge with it!  

 

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There was already a mention of Granton in Edinburgh, but I don't think Leith Docks has featured yet? There is a long double line of rails in the the granite setts still visible behind the former bonded warehouses along Commercial Street, at the former West and East Old Docks. This Streetview location is a good starting point to explore, where the connection to the docks from the North British station at North Leith (renamed Leith Citadel in BR days) crossed Commercial Street. Here are some detail shots I took last year.

 

2072730_2020-01-0412_06_17.jpg.1d0e1fd23c0f6f3012dae201c2158bb8.jpg154332786_2020-01-0412_12_07.jpg.ea4f0820c1344f98264def396acbe282.jpg1536674179_2020-01-0412_08_53.jpg.457192a8c83138eb9e40d373506bcf41.jpg2016860897_2020-01-0412_12_30.jpg.6d1bb57e534cb97637c44d84e02b2682.jpg1435825983_2020-01-0412_09_54.jpg.240b976b1b330dc1be834b1df82e0087.jpg

 

I have further details of crossings and point blades if anyone is interested, just PM me.

 

There are further short lengths on the other side of the Water of Leith, on Shore and on Tower Street where there was a connection to South Leith station.

 

regards

Graham

 

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More dock railway.

 

kinggeorgev.jpg.d8c70f1c796fa684be11949960b54b6e.jpg

 

This very short bit of track can be seen from King George V station on the Docklands Light Railway. There's probably more behind the various fences, but sadly I couldn't get there without trespassing.

 

I've often wondered if those "If you see anything suspicious..." announcements are manually triggered, because I swear I get one every time I start photographing anything unusual on a station. Almost like there's something odd about getting up on a footbridge, walking to the bit that doesn't lead to anything and taking photos of the road surface below.

Edited by HonestTom
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One of those files that is on my hard disk but I've no idea of its origin so I'll remove it if anyone objects.

 

GoingBananas.jpg.4f5b024ed38ad898f7692383f2d4f7f7.jpg

 

Took a while to work out where is was, but many bananas passed over those tracks in the post WW2 period. Any one want to take a guess to where it is?  No it's not on the Southern Region.

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