devondynosoar118 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 On a lighter note was the bottom picture Indian railways? If so the unit on the right has what looks like the arrows of indecision riding in a shopping trolley emblazoned on the front! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted December 10, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2012 With much relief and pleasure, I can say that the signalling at Cowley Bridge Jct, including that serving the Barnstaple branch, was booked back on as of 0515hrs this morning! 'NWR' ** as we say on the railways! ** 'Normal Working Resumed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted December 10, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 10, 2012 And the River Exe has resumed its normal SLW (Single Line Working) having given up possession of up, down and branch roads as well as its own Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 10, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2012 With much relief and pleasure, I can say that the signalling at Cowley Bridge Jct, including that serving the Barnstaple branch, was booked back on as of 0515hrs this morning! Congratulations to all concerned, NR and suppliers. You have a lot to be proud of in the most discouraging of circumstances. Let's hope it's decades before such inundations befall the area again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Well done Capn and crew, I have been through there (slowly) a few times over the last couple of weeks and the scale of the job doesnt really come across on the internet, there are an awful lot of people that have put huge amounts of time and effort into getting the line back to normal. Take a bow (and a pint) folks, it is richly deserved. Now as it was 1980 the last time it flooded that bad so can we pre-book everyone for mid November 2034, just to be on the safe side! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 well done chaps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 No(more) Water Required.... Well done! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted December 11, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2012 Now as it was 1980 the last time it flooded that bad so can we pre-book everyone for mid November 2034, just to be on the safe side! Er, it was actually December 2000 the last time, my earlier photos refer, and the physical wash-outs were worse then, although the effect on the signalling was not so pronounced. Even so, I'm hoping to be well and truely retired before the next 12 years in 2024!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted December 11, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 11, 2012 I was in Exeter around 1960/61/2? when there were severe floods. That resulted in huge works being carried out on the Exe as it ran through the 'lower town'. That helped for a while. The water was just starting to cover the rails in St Davids when our late afternoon train pulled out for the west (Warship I seem to remember -should have been a Castle). Poor old Exeter area railways have suffered floods for years and there has been the option of diversion up to Central which was not too bad when the SR main was still a main!! Not so sure if the SR route is such an easy option these days? I suppose the trains are easier to 'reverse' being units, but is there line capacity? However, what happens to the timetable if the line just west of Exeter gets flooded (not quite so frequent)? Service terminated? P @ 36E (ex 83D) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I was in Exeter around 1960/61/2? when there were severe floods. That resulted in huge works being carried out on the Exe as it ran through the 'lower town'. That helped for a while. Those works have meant that urban Exeter has not flooded since AFAIK. (Excepting some minor flooding at Exeter Quay, where the quay wall is below the rivers flood level.) It did however get very close to over-topping those defences in 2009 however (this year it didn't) - so there is talk of an update to those 60s works. Poor old Exeter area railways have suffered floods for years and there has been the option of diversion up to Central which was not too bad when the SR main was still a main!! Not so sure if the SR route is such an easy option these days? I suppose the trains are easier to 'reverse' being units, but is there line capacity? This time the Southern route was also blocked by flooding in the Axminster area, plus a major landslip, so wasn't really an option unfortunately. The Southern route will support at least an hourly service now assuming the infrastructure isn't damaged, in the past where there has been planned work FGW has diverted B&H trains that way, effectively taking over the line West of Yeovil Jcn, with SWT services terminating there, which was fairly efficient although misses out the Tiverton/Taunton stops. Doesn't help XC though. Don't know if there's a pre-planned emergency TT for that kind of contingency though? However, what happens to the timetable if the line just west of Exeter gets flooded (not quite so frequent)? Service terminated? That bit of line doesn't tend to flood - there's a big flood plain there that (mostly) hasn't been built on and it can soak straight into the estuary once it's past the city. The sheer amount of wet weather caused landslips further West though which did sever the line, and there is no alternative rail route... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted December 11, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2012 What's really needed to maintain a viable link is re-doubling of the ex-SR Exeter-Salisbury line, re-opening of the ex-SR Okehampton-Bere Alston line - oh and a "gert big" viaduct from halfway down the Central-St Davids bank to the other side of Cowley bridge... Not wanting to detract at all from the diffcult work that's been done BTW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 What's really needed to maintain a viable link is re-doubling of the ex-SR Exeter-Salisbury line, re-opening of the ex-SR Okehampton-Bere Alston line - oh and a "gert big" viaduct from halfway down the Central-St Davids bank to the other side of Cowley bridge... Not wanting to detract at all from the diffcult work that's been done BTW Don't say that Rich CK has just got over this lot of upheaval! Be careful what you wish for.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted December 11, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2012 Not quite Devon, I know, but here are a couple of views of the Somerset Levels just north of Cogload Jct, taken from the train last week... This area will take almost for ever to drain by itself, due to being so low-lying, so the Environment Agency have installed dozens of pumps to drain the water over the next few weeks... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 It's nearly reverted to its natural state there. Hope there are not too many houses in that lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
R A Watson Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Who's going to be the first to model flat fields with silver soil? Wally Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted December 12, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2012 Not very many houses built actually on the Levels themselves as they are naturally flood-prone wetlands. A good number of agricultural buildings may have been inundated though. There's quite a few small villages around that region all built on slight bumps in the land such as the Isle of Athelney (summit at about 6 metres above sea level!) and when you see these pictures you can understand whence the name arises. Historically these lands were used for growing reeds (or sedge) for thatching which require regular floods as part of their life cycle. That has given rise to names such as Sedge Moor which also occur across the Levels. With the general abandonment of thatch the Levels were drained some while ago to provide fertile farming land kept dry in most years by a series of pumps and artificial watercourses known (as with their Lincolnshire cousins) as Drains. Nature determines that now and again so much rainwater falls that the Levels again flood and require pumping out if they are to return to agricultural use. Failing which as CK says the land will take "forever" to drain naturally as some of it is actually below sea level and much of it no more than a metre above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted December 23, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2012 Some info here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65735-job-stopped/page-2&do=findComment&comment=887030 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Pictures of Cowley Bridge area here, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20830740 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted December 23, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2012 This time a temporary dam has been placed across the track at Cowley Bridge to put the flood water back in to the river before it gets to the relay room just south of the junction. This seems to be working although C K and friends will have to replace the scoured ballast again once the flood water has subsided. The local news said no trains between Exeter and Tivvy parkway until the new year at least. SS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted December 23, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 23, 2012 The boom has indeed kept the main body of flood water away from the relay room, and also several key location cabinets, that were flooded and damaged the last time around. Not sure if the prognosis of 'the New Year' is correct - it will depend on further rain later tonight and tomorrow for starters, and whether in a day or so the E.A. say the Exe has peaked or not. As you can see from this photo which I received from a colleague on site earlier today - the boom has deflected the main flow over the track and into the Exe on the other side, rather than using the railway itself as a 'flood relief channel'. Yes, the flooding on the 'wrong's side of the boom has caused ballast wash-outs, but this was expected. Labour and materials are on standby to restore that as soon as conditions permit, it was avoiding a length restoration of flood-damaged S&T equipment that we were very keen to avoid, hence the innovative use of the booms (first time on the national network ever, we believe). One of the BBC website photos on the link posted by Devon Dynosaur (above) shows a similar view. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted December 28, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2012 The main lines at Cowley Bridge Jct were reopened at 1315 hrs today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2012 The main lines at Cowley Bridge Jct were reopened at 1315 hrs today. Well done NR - however there is more 'very heavy' rain enroute to the West Country according to the BBC weather forecast although it doesn't look too bad for tonight; fingers crossed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted December 28, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 28, 2012 The main lines at Cowley Bridge Jct were reopened at 1315 hrs today. Well done to all concerned. Despite some of the carping in various places I know that a lot of very hard, dirty and uncomfortable work will have been done by many dedicated people to make this possible. I hope that the people concerend will now get a chance to see something of their families. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted December 29, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 29, 2012 I had a ride up to Exeter yesterday to collect some stuff that I had ordered from Dave at the Model Shop and the land slip at Teignmouth is pretty well cleaned up apart from a slack on the up. SS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted March 22, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 22, 2013 I'm just on the way up to the smoke for the weekend including a visit to the Ally Pally and I noticed that there is an awful lot of water in the Exe and Culm after passing through Exeter. SS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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