East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line

[andye]

  ​Knew the signalman who was at Claydon Jctn for a while and he said it was a boring job at least he built many loco kits his main job was to the rubbish from Bristol through.

 

Gordon White?

[big jim]

Gordon White?

 

i think gordon is still up there, certainly was last year anyway (if im thinking of the same guy), top fella

Edited December 15, 2016 by big jim

[Christopher125]

I think the beef the residents had over the lack of 'quiet track' was that the Council had granted planning permission or suchlike (although whats it really go to do with them ?) to NR on the basis that dampened track (rubber cushioned ?) was used through Wolvercote. NR then said they weren't going to use the quiet track anymore as it was too expensive and wouldn't help with the noise much anyway, and the Council did nothing.

 

IIRC they only committed to fitting the 'silent track' technology if they concluded it was value for money, which they concluded it didn't.

 

Have you seen some of the road bridges?

OHE would add a heck of an amount to the cost and it's inclusion would probable have been enough to kill the scheme completely.

Bernard

It should be noted that Bicester-Oxford was a Chiltern Railways scheme, long before East-West Rail was funded and there was any expectation of electrification.

 

However the DfT did later fund 'future proofing', with double track throughout rather than dynamic loops and electrification/freight clearances through the tunnel at Wolvercote - while there was no prospect of the wires themselves going up at this stage I don't see any reason to think that passive provision hasn't been made.

[lmsforever]

Yes that's right haven't seen him for a while .

[Davexoc]

It was probably about that time (1993) that the Bletchley to Claydon LNE section was mothballed. The Marylebone Class 115's that were maintained at Bletchley Depot were replaced by the Class 165/0 Turbos from 1991 onward so there would have been little traffic left by then.

Some photos from 2014 just before vegetation clearance began.

Whaddon - Mursley road bridge area

 

 

Dave

[Davexoc]

More this time at the Mursley - Horwood road bridge and Swanborne

 

Dave

[Pannier Tank]

The last time I was standing on Swanborne's platform was 17th October 1964; I was on the L.C.G.B (Bedford Branch) South Midlands Railtour.

 

See:- http://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/641017lc.html 45292 & 42105 were Bletchley Engines.

[brian daniels]

Hasn't changed much

[Davexoc]

Hasn't changed much

May have suffered from subsidence part way along the building side platform.

But kept nicely mown....

 

 

Dave

[Pannier Tank]

There was a crossover just beyond the end of the platforms where the Rail Tour reversed and changed engines.

[brian daniels]

Forgot I had one from the other side as well.

[Pannier Tank]

Brian,

What year were the Swanbourne photo's taken and where you on the Stoke Gifford to Wolverton Stone ?

[brian daniels]

Can't remember the year but it would be about 1981. I am on the Old Oak -Wolverton coaching stock move that was a Didcot job.

[brian daniels]

Got that wrong! I was on a Wolverton stone much to my surprise. This must have been an additional as we certainly did not have a booked turn to the stone terminal.

 

 

This view hasn't changed much either I bet.

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by brian daniels

[geoff]

Got that wrong! I was on a Wolverton stone much to my surprise. This must have been an additional as we certainly did not have a booked turn to the stone terminal.

 

Oxford-Bletchley 03 Wolvercote.jpg

 

This view hasn't changed much either I bet.

 

Oxford-Bletchley 04 Banbury Road GF.jpg

 

Brian, would you be able to expand a little about the Old Oak Common to Wolverton ECS and the Stoke Gifford To Wolverton Stone workings please? I run my model railway to a sequence derived from a timetable for the Oxford To Bletchley line and although these trains probably post date my time scale I would be interested to see If I could get my time machine to incorporate them into my sequence.

 

Thanks

 

Geoff Robinson

[lmsforever]

Has anyone seen a start date for the work to start or is it dependant on the new company being incorporated?

[Pannier Tank]

Brian, would you be able to expand a little about the Old Oak Common to Wolverton ECS and the Stoke Gifford To Wolverton Stone workings please? I run my model railway to a sequence derived from a timetable for the Oxford To Bletchley line and although these trains probably post date my time scale I would be interested to see If I could get my time machine to incorporate them into my sequence.

 

I am sure Brian will reply in due course but in the mean time you may like to have a read of this:-

http://www.leightonlogs.org/ARCremem1.htm

[phil-b259]

 

IIRC they only committed to fitting the 'silent track' technology if they concluded it was value for money, which they concluded it didn't.

 

 

It should be noted that Bicester-Oxford was a Chiltern Railways scheme, long before East-West Rail was funded and there was any expectation of electrification.

 

However the DfT did later fund 'future proofing', with double track throughout rather than dynamic loops and electrification/freight clearances through the tunnel at Wolvercote - while there was no prospect of the wires themselves going up at this stage I don't see any reason to think that passive provision hasn't been made.

 

The Governments publicity bumf about the now forgotten " electric spine" made it very clear the Oxford - Bletchley (and IIRC on to Bedford) would get wires as part of that initiative.

 

Since then of course the whole environment around electrification has changed - but it would be foolish to have ignored the ability to provide clearances as part of the works.

 

As I keep having to point out trying to do anything on operational infrastructure always costs more and takes longer than if it is being undertaken on a brand new alignment away from existing infrastructure. (Yes the Oxford - Bletchley line may not be 'new' - but with the suspension of passenger services while the Oxford - Bicester stretch was rebuilt and minimal freight traffic over bits of it, the result is almost the same.)

[phil-b259]

Got that wrong! I was on a Wolverton stone much to my surprise. This must have been an additional as we certainly did not have a booked turn to the stone terminal.

 

<photo>

 

This view hasn't changed much either I bet.

 

<photo>

 

Oh contrare

 

If the first photo is Wolvercote tunnel that has double track put back and passive provision made for OHLE (which may have required track lowering)

 

If the second photo is the old grain silo outside Oxford then that is now the site of Oxford Parkway station.

[geoff]

I am sure Brian will reply in due course but in the mean time you may like to have a read of this:-

http://www.leightonlogs.org/ARCremem1.htm

 

Thank you David for taking so much time to post that information. It is really helpful and I will study it in more depth tomorrow as I am out this evening.

 

Geoff

[Davexoc]

Moving west to Winslow - Furze Lane bridge

 

 

Dave

[Pannier Tank]

Moving west to Winslow - Furze Lane bridge

 

Towards Winslow from Furze Lane.JPG

Yes there are rails.JPG

Winslow towards Verney junction.JPG

 

Dave

Hard to believe there was once a Secondary Cross Country Branch Line in that undergrowth. 

[Davexoc]

Has anyone seen a start date for the work to start or is it dependant on the new company being incorporated?

The only date I have seen mentions the new franchaise system being awarded in 2018. EWR want to get going now, so who knows...

 

Dave

[Edwin_m]

Based on light rail schemes that have used a similar procurement model, two to three years to tender, bid and agree something of this complexity.  I think the necessary legal powers are already in place west of Bletchley so construction could start soon after that and be completed in one to two years.  East of Bedford would be at two or three years later because of the need to design a route, do consultation and obtain legal powers. 

 

All the above are minimum timescales and assume the government is fully committed to going ahead.  The transfer to the private sector of a project with no legal powers is a particularly big risk and has never been done for something of this size.  If the government tries to make the private sector carry this risk, the price will increase hugely. 

[jamie92208]

Based on light rail schemes that have used a similar procurement model, two to three years to tender, bid and agree something of this complexity.  I think the necessary legal powers are already in place west of Bletchley so construction could start soon after that and be completed in one to two years.  East of Bedford would be at two or three years later because of the need to design a route, do consultation and obtain legal powers. 

 

All the above are minimum timescales and assume the government is fully committed to going ahead.  The transfer to the private sector of a project with no legal powers is a particularly big risk and has never been done for something of this size.  If the government tries to make the private sector carry this risk, the price will increase hugely.

Those timescales seem right to me. Funnily enough they don't seem to have changed in over a century I did some research about the Midland's West Riding Lines project and the final part got it's act in 1911 and was due to go out to tender in September 1914with construction due to start in spring 1915 with construction due to take about 2 years. Other rather larger events intervened but the timescales were also about the same for the LNWR lines in the same area in 1899.

 

Jamie