Jump to content
 

East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line


Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium
9 minutes ago, Edwin_m said:

There is a plan of HS2 at Calvert at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/529514/C222-ATK-CV-DPP-020-000009-FPD.pdf

 

Not sure if this is the latest one, as there were so many versions produced and the archiving seems a bit haphazard.  

 

That looks like the right one. Waste transfer moved across and Bicester - Bletchley going over the current Claydon LNE junction line.

  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

HS2 alignment is west of the rail centre, not on the village side of the existing railway, where the little crossroads is, and I don't think it touches the rail centre, which ought to become a good place for TGV spotting.

 

The road realignment affects the access to the rail centre, which becomes a dead-end, and creates a new road (and upgrades the existing lane), using the site of the next bridge north along the GCR.

 

I cycle round there quite often, using the quietest roads possible, so am well switched-on to which ones it might affect.

 

The place locally where I think it will create the most impact is slightly further south, where it crosses the A41 .......... the scale of the engineering in that area will totally alter that bit of countryside between Waddesden and Aylesbury.

  • Like 2
  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

i can only assume its got to move way beforehand to allow the land to be given over for the construction of the depot access lines as looking at the maps the whole area incuding the farm yard you currently have to access to get to it is under the new curve

 

to be honest id heard that the line from quaindon northward is going to affectively become a long siding between there and claydon soon with no access to the current curve north of the old station, which looking at the map for the area makes sense as the area will change beyond recognition once work starts, i should imagine trains will still pick up a token of sorts from the new box (if its even that or nothing more than a token hut) and run to the tip but there is no need for them to be locked in clear of the mainline as there will be no mainline for a while 

 

it always used to be un-nerving to come up to calvert on a train heading to claydon to see 2 other trains ‘in section’ even though they were locked away and token returned at the calvert cabinet, i always slowed for the points ‘just in case’ 

 

i suppose once east/west is complete and joined to the aylesbury branch the area will come under a ROC or certainly marylebone box for now, im assuming (i do a lot of that) that a lot of the work in this area for HS2 will be relyant on east west being completed and connected at bletchley to get construction materials, ballast, rails etc in and out of the site as knowing the roads in the area calvert is a nightmare to get to in a fiesta van yet alone an artic!

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
6 hours ago, big jim said:

i suppose once east/west is complete and joined to the aylesbury branch the area will come under a ROC or certainly marylebone box for now, im assuming (i do a lot of that) that a lot of the work in this area for HS2 will be relyant on east west being completed and connected at bletchley to get construction materials, ballast, rails etc in and out of the site as knowing the roads in the area calvert is a nightmare to get to in a fiesta van yet alone an artic!

 

Can you not access Calvert via Creighton Road?

It is what used to be the line to the Brum direct line at Ashenden junction, accessed from a roundabout on the A41 between Westcott and Kingswood. Not far from the Akeman Inn, and crosses the local lanes on a nice new bridge that replaced the old railway bridge.

  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Just has a look on google maps, that’s a new road for me, didn’t know it was there but looking at it doesn’t it only go to the power station/ recycle plant?

 

When I used to drive there I went through gendon Underwood and edgecott if coming from Bicester and I can’t see any better way for wagons to get there as the roads stand as they are now 

Link to post
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

HS2 alignment is west of the rail centre, not on the village side of the existing railway, where the little crossroads is, and I don't think it touches the rail centre, which ought to become a good place for TGV spotting.

 

The road realignment affects the access to the rail centre, which becomes a dead-end, and creates a new road (and upgrades the existing lane), using the site of the next bridge north along the GCR.

 

I cycle round there quite often, using the quietest roads possible, so am well switched-on to which ones it might affect.

 

The place locally where I think it will create the most impact is slightly further south, where it crosses the A41 .......... the scale of the engineering in that area will totally alter that bit of countryside between Waddesden and Aylesbury.

HS2 will be just across from the remaining platform at Quainton as the running lines are being pushed over and the train noise will be heard clearly in the village .Station Rd housing starts literally 2oo yds from the station ,not good.

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 07/01/2020 at 22:45, Nearholmer said:

HS2 alignment is west of the rail centre, not on the village side of the existing railway, where the little crossroads is, and I don't think it touches the rail centre, which ought to become a good place for TGV spotting.

 

The road realignment affects the access to the rail centre, which becomes a dead-end, and creates a new road (and upgrades the existing lane), using the site of the next bridge north along the GCR.

 

I cycle round there quite often, using the quietest roads possible, so am well switched-on to which ones it might affect.

 

The place locally where I think it will create the most impact is slightly further south, where it crosses the A41 .......... the scale of the engineering in that area will totally alter that bit of countryside between Waddesden and Aylesbury.

they are pretty shocking roads dirt tracks round Quainton.

have they not heard of Tarmac?

i wouldnt want to cycle round there

23 hours ago, big jim said:

i can only assume its got to move way beforehand to allow the land to be given over for the construction of the depot access lines as looking at the maps the whole area incuding the farm yard you currently have to access to get to it is under the new curve

 

to be honest id heard that the line from quaindon northward is going to affectively become a long siding between there and claydon soon with no access to the current curve north of the old station, which looking at the map for the area makes sense as the area will change beyond recognition once work starts, i should imagine trains will still pick up a token of sorts from the new box (if its even that or nothing more than a token hut) and run to the tip but there is no need for them to be locked in clear of the mainline as there will be no mainline for a while 

 

it always used to be un-nerving to come up to calvert on a train heading to claydon to see 2 other trains ‘in section’ even though they were locked away and token returned at the calvert cabinet, i always slowed for the points ‘just in case’ 

 

i suppose once east/west is complete and joined to the aylesbury branch the area will come under a ROC or certainly marylebone box for now, im assuming (i do a lot of that) that a lot of the work in this area for HS2 will be relyant on east west being completed and connected at bletchley to get construction materials, ballast, rails etc in and out of the site as knowing the roads in the area calvert is a nightmare to get to in a fiesta van yet alone an artic!

certainly near the Claydon Junction the line is lifted at present

 

IMG_2003.JPG

 

 

Edited by ess1uk
spellin
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, lmsforever said:

HS2 will be just across from the remaining platform at Quainton as the running lines are being pushed over and the train noise will be heard clearly in the village .Station Rd housing starts literally 2oo yds from the station ,not good.

 

is this what's happening here at Quainton?

 

IMG_1996.JPG.c93a0b25121ac10e686546a79b3d95cd.JPG

 

random section of track next to the bridge

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, ess1uk said:

pretty shocking roads dirt tracks round Quainton.

have they not heard of Tarmac?

i wouldnt want to cycle round there


All a matter of taste - my favourite cycling is on un-paved tracks, so it mostly seems pretty smooth round there.

 

I went from MK to Eastbourne and round Sussex last summer using paved roads for no more than c15miles - mostly bridleways, towpaths and former railways, and am plotting similar excursions as soon as the weather gets decent!

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • The area north of Quainton is very much an area of low population with quiet roads small villages and in bad weather can be difficult to get around. But the proposed expressway could bring more housing and taffic, there is a very vigorous group against the road not nimbys I might add we do not need this road so watch this space.Quainton Rail Centre is going to be affected by HS2 in that the line is going to run quite close to the NR line from Aylesbury which will be slewed over causing them to lose the car park not sure about the buildings containing the museum.It is going to be interesting seeing what happenns and also to see what is built towards Aylesbury were high speed crosses the A41 .

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, the whole area from the WCML westwards, almost as far as Oxford and Bicester is currently astonishingly rural, and very picturesque, considering how close to London it is, and it is definitely under severe pressure as part of the Oxford-mk-Cambridge development arc.

 

I keep thinking: enjoy it as it while you can, because it will be a miracle if it hasn’t changed beyond recognition within a decade ...... its being nibbled round the edges on every side already.

  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:


All a matter of taste - my favourite cycling is on un-paved tracks, so it mostly seems pretty smooth round there.

 

I went from MK to Eastbourne and round Sussex last summer using paved roads for no more than c15miles - mostly bridleways, towpaths and former railways, and am plotting similar excursions as soon as the weather gets decent!

There were probably less pot holes than I saw today

  • Funny 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Have you gone along the road that goes through the Pitchcot Gap, under the east side of Qauinton Hill?

 

It has huge long cracks in it. About six inches wide and a foot deep, with grass growing out of them. I discovered recently that the road goes back to Roman times and it’s tempting to think they were the last people to re-surface it.

  • Funny 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

This road has always been neglected back in the sixties I used to cycle along it and I think it was resurfaced about once those cracks were there then.Many roads in this area are the same plus our local roads are all going the same way with cracks and potholes and resurfacing a thing of the past maybe we could use some money from HS2 to rework our roads.

Link to post
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, lmsforever said:

This road has always been neglected back in the sixties I used to cycle along it and I think it was resurfaced about once those cracks were there then.Many roads in this area are the same plus our local roads are all going the same way with cracks and potholes and resurfacing a thing of the past maybe we could use some money from HS2 to rework our roads.

But, according to Lord Berkeley, revenue from HS2 will be less than the building costs.

Link to post
Share on other sites

But, it’s not being built to make a profit on capital invested, it’s being built to join the country up, and hopefully even-out prosperity across the country ......... which, if it works ( big if) will actually benefit those of us in the overheated south, by reducing the pressure to build houses in the south, and creating pressure to build houses in the north.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
22 hours ago, lmsforever said:

HS2 will be just across from the remaining platform at Quainton as the running lines are being pushed over and the train noise will be heard clearly in the village .Station Rd housing starts literally 2oo yds from the station ,not good.

 

If you look at the plan,

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/378330/C222-ATK-CV-DPP-020-000008.pdf

 

HS2 runs fully south of the whole BRC site, crossing the road just north of the crossroads, no slewing of any lines. It doesn't run close to the current Aylesbury to Calvert line until it is just past the old divergence to Verney Junction. Those living close to the BRC may be quite happy to end up living in a cul-de-sac rather than a busy through road.....

  • Agree 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The last house in the road, the one nearest the BRC entrance looked abandoned when I last saw it - I even wondered whether it had been bought from the owner by HS2 because it fell within some sort of "blight zone" measured xxxmetres from the route, but that was only a wild guess on my part.

  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
7 hours ago, ess1uk said:

 

is this what's happening here at Quainton?

 

IMG_1996.JPG.c93a0b25121ac10e686546a79b3d95cd.JPG

 

random section of track next to the bridge

 

I believe that is the start (or end) of the BRC extension to give a longer running line. They are quite happy with HS2 passing by....

 

I think in the longer term they are looking towards Verney Junction, which would make sense as it would link with EWR. The other side of that bridge is where the line diverged from the GCR.

Edited by Davexoc
Add to
  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Back to VJ would be quite a project!

 

Step 1 would probably be to buy-out the owner of Winslow Road station, and putting back the bridge over the Winslow to VJ road would be no trivial task.

 

i shall continue to inhale and exhale as normal.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hope Quainton do extend towards Verney the line runs through nice country  it was used to store cripple wagons and coaches and then the track was ripped up .The trackbed has not been built on but the bridge on the outskirts of Quainton has been removed or was it a level crossing so long ago cant remember!

Link to post
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, ess1uk said:

they are pretty shocking roads dirt tracks round Quainton.

have they not heard of Tarmac?

i wouldnt want to cycle round there

I visited the railway centre for the first time back in the Autumn (on the way back North from Scaleforum) and was quite impressed by how bad the surrounding roads were. It looked like no repairs on them had been done since they first tarmaced back in the 30s. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...