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East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line


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TBH, I’m not totally sure that I’d be delighted if told that a 50ft high viaduct was to be built right in front of my house (is it actually 50ft tall?), but even if I was campaigning against one I would try hard not to come across as a bumpkin with a straw in my mouth, who had had never seen a viaduct before, and thought it was the work of the devil.

 

Regarding ‘property blight’, my BiL and SiL were worried about this, given that they want to move, and their house has a grandstand view of the embankment just beyond the bridge over the Bletchley - Newton Longville road, but they’ve had no problem finding a buyer, who is well aware of the planned re-opening and deeply relaxed about it. They’re moving for multiple reasons that have nothing to do with railway reopening.

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Of course, trains regularly jump off viaducts all over the country - but I assume that there can be none within 50 miles of Bedford so the reporter has never seen it happen.

(Where is the tongue firmly in cheek thing?)

Jonathan

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There's a number of very posh houses right up against Digswell Viaduct , which is certainly less than 50 miles from Bedford.  The viaduct has been there since long before any of the current residents were born of course.  I don't think any rolling stock has ever fallen off the viaduct, but in 1931 an Up train was derailed  at the junction just past the end of the bridge when facing points were improperly moved under the fourth coach during resignalling work at Welwyn North.   

 

Horse shunting was still allowed at that station (though not I believe into the tunnel or onto the viaduct)

https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=390173

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Offhand I can think of very few trains coming off viaducts, Penistone  and TayvBridge come to mind, both of whichbinvolved a viaduct collapse.  There was a steam loco fell 30' into the streetvin Bradford after running away at Adolphus Street. More recently there was the that ended up on the North Circular near Cricklewood., after that I'm struggling.

 

Jamie

 

 

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22 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Offhand I can think of very few trains coming off viaducts, Penistone  and TayvBridge come to mind, both of whichbinvolved a viaduct collapse.  There was a steam loco fell 30' into the streetvin Bradford after running away at Adolphus Street. More recently there was the that ended up on the North Circular near Cricklewood., after that I'm struggling.

 

Jamie

 

 

There was a collision on the junction where the lines from Bury and from Newton Heath converged above the Irk Valley (now the junction of the Metrolink Bury and Oldham lines), sending one of the trains off the viaduct.  

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11 hours ago, Edwin_m said:

There was a collision on the junction where the lines from Bury and from Newton Heath converged above the Irk Valley (now the junction of the Metrolink Bury and Oldham lines), sending one of the trains off the viaduct.  

 

Yup. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irk_Valley_Junction_rail_crash

 

http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/gallery/irk_valley.html

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnVLsEELCfY

 

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49 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

And of course we can't forget a Metrolink tram coming off a viaductbinto Coronstion Street in Salford.

 

Of course that is reality to many folks.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

I am sure I saw an excerpt from a documentary about the tediously grim lives of northern folk, detailing how a train fell off the same viaduct in the same place in 1967, so obviously a common problem.

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There was certainly some concern about trams falling off viaducts when I was involved in the hazard workshops for Metrolink Phase 3.  I seem to recall Irk Valley Junction has a speed restriction for that very reason.  

 

Getting back a bit closer to topic, there is now a fairly authoritative fightback against the proposal to demolish a swathe of Bedford to widen the MML to six tracks for a mile or so:

 

https://bedfordrail.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/east-west-rail-2021-consultation-wrap-up/

Edited by Edwin_m
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3 hours ago, melmerby said:

There is actually a video on You Tube of a train being blown off a viaduct in the USA (Fairly modern)

 

In Hertford, Bedford and Cambridgeshire, hurricanes hardly happen.  

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5 hours ago, Edwin_m said:

 

Getting back a bit closer to topic, there is now a fairly authoritative fightback against the proposal to demolish a swathe of Bedford to widen the MML to six tracks for a mile or so:

 

Rebuild Bromham Road bridge from it's current two brick arches and stick a new single track from the station to where the track diverges off towards Cambridge.:)

The land is available

 

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34 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Rebuild Bromham Road bridge from it's current two brick arches and stick a new single track from the station to where the track diverges off towards Cambridge.:)

The land is available

 

You're way out of date, Bromham road bridge was rebuilt 18 months ago.

 

The disruption to the town during its closure was terrible, and to accommodate EWR as a seperate entity it'll have to be rebuilt again.

North of the bridge there isn't enough room so this is where the CPO's will mainly be.

Edited by chris p bacon
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4 hours ago, melmerby said:

Rebuild Bromham Road bridge from it's current two brick arches and stick a new single track from the station to where the track diverges off towards Cambridge.:)

The land is available

 

According to the EWR consultation a five-track option would have little operational advantage over a four-track, and cause almost as much impact on the adjacent properties as a six-track.  

 

Having said that, the link I posted upthread suggests that EWR have made a real mess of this process and made a lot of enemies in the Bedford area.  They should have provided an absolutely bomb-proof justification that six tracks were necessary before proposing extensive housing demolition based on what looks like a very flimsy justification.  They should also have done some more design which might have reduced the necessary land take and property demolition.  

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4 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

You're way out of date, Bromham road bridge was rebuilt 18 months ago.

 

The disruption to the town during its closure was terrible, and to accommodate EWR as a seperate entity it'll have to be rebuilt again.

North of the bridge there isn't enough room so this is where the CPO's will mainly be.

I'm going to blame Google maps 3D as there is a different date image on the Maps and Pro versions:D

 

Maps has the arch bridges and Pro has the new slab.

Both are the same at street view.

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On 27/05/2021 at 12:27, jamie92208 said:

Offhand I can think of very few trains coming off viaducts, Penistone  and TayvBridge come to mind, both of whichbinvolved a viaduct collapse.  There was a steam loco fell 30' into the streetvin Bradford after running away at Adolphus Street. More recently there was the that ended up on the North Circular near Cricklewood., after that I'm struggling.

 

Jamie

 

 

Bexley, 1997, spoil train derailed and some wagons fell off the viaduct, admittedly a low one.

 https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1JZAP_enGB845GB846&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=bexley+derailment&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpqpPl6ZTxAhXGX8AKHbsOC-cQjJkEegQICRAC

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Monday saw the closure of Buckingham Road to allow the fitting of beams across the carriageway and diversions will remain in place for some five weeks. The main footpath remains open to allow pedestrian access between east and west Bletchley.

 

Over the last 24 hours the first section which adjoins the original retained section at the south end of Bletchley station has been installed, one beam nearest the camera remained to be fitted by mid-afternoon.

 

I am told the next section will be across Buckingham Road from the new section to the next pier.

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Week 2 of Buckingham Road closure and work has begun on installing the beams on the second section. High winds resulted in the other 8 beams being deferred until tomorrow (4 are in place). 

 

I understand that the next section using longer beams across the dual carriageway is planned to take place on Friday / Saturday.

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