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East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line


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Piling work is also being carried out when the WCML is closed to traffic overnight. This can be seen behind the Halfords garage and the houses in Duncombe Streete. 

 

This barriers are required to provide a safe working site to allow work to continue when the WCML is open to traffic.

 

 

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9 hours ago, TylerTrainFan2001 said:

I heard that there will be more moved today from span 27 and what about the piers. Will they go?

 

This was highly unlikely as the team that did this would have gone off duty and there was no evidence this morning of anyone (apart from Security staff) being on any of the sites I walked past. The railway industry has strict rules about the amount of time you can work before booking on again, so any activity is unlikely within a day or so. Just to be sure I checked again around 1700 today and no further lifting or work had taken place today.

 

Some of the piers that stand in the way of the new box structure over the WCML will have to be removed. Again this will be undertaken when the WCML is not open to traffic.

 

They have also started to clear some of the road where stone was put down to protect the road surface from the big blue crane that stood there previously.

 

Buckingham Road is scheduled to reopen in December.

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Edited by 1E BoY
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This would have been a disaster , When I lived in Bletchley park, blocking the way to the second nearest pub...

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On 29/09/2020 at 10:22, TylerTrainFan2001 said:

As I went down Bletchley This morning I saw that the yellow and blue crane is getting dismantled 

 

Not only has it been dismantled but the main part of it was heading up Buckingham Road around 1225 today. The second picture shows it between the trees!

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This sign appeared at the end of Water Eaton Road this morning.

 

There has been considerable feedback to the chaos that would be caused cutting off both sides of the town from each other.

 

The local Bletchley & Fenny Stratford Town Council have posted that they have been in touch with Network Rail and that these works will be deferred until January when Buckingham Road has reopened.

 

Traffic at school times is horrendous with Water Eaton Road open. Imagine both routes being closed at the same time. 

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Two more segments removed overnight in what could only be described as pretty appalling conditions. The lift the weekend before was curtailed due to strong winds resulting in only one segment being removed.

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Clearance of the hardcore laid down to protect the road from the large cranes which previously occupied this site has continued during the last week.

 

I have seen lorries with HS2 signs in the cab window from time to time and a load of rubble on board leaving the compound in Water Eaton Road,  so I assume it is being recycled to be put to good use on the next generation of railway infrastructure.

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This was spotted behind the houses in Cottingham Grove earlier today. Clearance work on the trackbed to the west of the flyover towards the former buffer stops at the end of Newton Road appears to be scheduled over the coming days.

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The paved area in front of the Bletchley Working Mens club etc. revealed for the first time in several months earlier today.

 

Meanwhile the last three segments of the remaining section await removal this weekend (weather and wind permitting).

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On 18/03/2020 at 21:01, chris p bacon said:

 

About 20 years ago one of those Coffee table/Xmas books was produced with a title of "Worlds Great Train Journeys" (or similar)  and within it as one of the great railway journeys of the world was 'Bedford to Bletchley'  

I went to a talk organised by the Bedford to Bletchley Rail Users Association (BBRUA) and Richard Crane ( Chairman) was rather chuffed about it. 

I realise that comment was 6+ months ago but I actually found the book in question while packing stuff ready for a move. I remember now the talk in Milton Keynes was by Colin Garratt who was one of the authors of the book in question.

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He does say it is like a trip back to the 1930s, but as far as I know the (Dis) United Kingdom still exists today.

It used to be a very pleasant way to get to Bletchley for EXPO EM. I particularly remember the platform ground frames but I suspect that they are now gone. And of course much historical interest will be lost when EWR has finished, though hopefully it won't have a "heritage" timetable.

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Aren’t we technically a realm when a queen is on the throne, irrespective of what the name of the countries is?

 

Yes, I’m afraid the crossing ground-frames, manual crossing gates and I think all the semaphore signals (I’m allowing for the possibility of an odd one lurking somewhere) have gone.

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11 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

I realise that comment was 6+ months ago but I actually found the book in question while packing stuff ready for a move. I remember now the talk in Milton Keynes was by Colin Garratt who was one of the authors of the book in question.

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Some glaring errors Page 330.

 

"A Bletchley Bound Service pauses at Fenny Compton" and goes on to say "with a Bletchley to Bedford Service" and "Ampthill in the background"

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On 07/04/2020 at 19:56, 1E BoY said:

The rail tour then called briefly at the new St. Johns its platform being made from the former concrete cast platform segments from the down platform at Fenny Stratford.

 

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I missed this when you first posted it. What a good way to re-use something. And people criticised BR for being wasteful!

Edited by rodent279
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Today was the first opportunity to catch up with developments following the weekends removal of the final spans.

 

Firstly the crane that carried out the lift has now left the site. There was considerable activity on the piers.

 

There have also been some major changes to the pedestrian access to the town centre. Work is ongoing close to the pavement so pedestrians now use part of the roadway and cross using the former zebra crossing onto the pavement area cleared last week. This provides a quicker route than the previous diversion.

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I understand that some of the piers will be removed and this one near the car rental garage looks to have lifting gear attached (top image).

 

The main pier is scheduled to have the top section removed according to my sources.

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The pier to the north of Buckingham Road was in the throws of demolition today, hence the need for the footpath diversion.

 

This pier is well away from the WCML but some of the others will need to be removed during overnight weekend closures.

 

 

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