RMweb Gold PhilH Posted July 27, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2015 Are you going to be on her Phil? If so, and I'm not doing anything that weekend, I'll pop down to say hello. No, not on this one, silly season with lots of turns on the Mid Hants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Richard E Posted July 27, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2015 I'm pretty sure I have read somewhere that NVR has also been used for training track maintenance machine drivers/operators. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Is the ELR unique in having/had two rail links to the national network? I'm sure there was/is a rail link between Metrolink and the mainline network on the approach to Manchester Vic. There has been at least one occasion when Metrolink hired in a diesel shunter from the ELR for maintenance purposes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Thinking about it, reversals are needed to get on or off the Severn Valley. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted July 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2015 There has been at least one occasion when Metrolink hired in a diesel shunter from the ELR for maintenance purposes!IIRC this months Modern Railways Trackwatch reported that the access to metrolink near Victoria had been removed. Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chris116 Posted July 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thinking about it, reversals are needed to get on or off the Severn Valley. Ed There is direct access from Kidderminster National Rail to Bewdley and stations to Bridgenorth. You only need to reverse to access Kidderminster Town SVR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L49 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 The connection to the Bluebell was used to carry spoil away from the excavations at Imberhorne cutting, and was also used to bring the Met bogie stock out for the Steam on the Met events. Great photos on Flickr from Tim Easter https://www.flickr.com/photos/timeaster/14542868927/in/photolist-oanR1d-ornFnJ-oa71gr-oWrc5h-oWrsg9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Im sure the Oswestry Heritage railway stil has link to the main rail network.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug002 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Cholsey & Wallingford has a connection,it's just a case of reversing. And the Bluebell's is there alright - at least that's what Google Maps thinks for those two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted April 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2017 Just out of interest the Middleton Railway's connection used to be sued quite a lot. In the early days of preservation there was still commercial traffic to the scrap yards on Tunstall Road. Some stock was delivered by rail including the Swansea and Mumbles Car which was on three bogie vehicles, top deck, bottom deck and bogies. There are stories of MR steam locos doing the odd bit of shunting in Hunslet sidings many years ago, However I belive that it was last used in the 1980's but it is still a valid connection. One that has been lost recently was the connection in Manchester to Liverpool Road station and the Museum of Science and industry. This has now been severed by the Ordsall chord but was, I believe, last used to get a damaged WCR class 47 out of the way after it derailed nearby. Jamie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 (edited) Bodmin Parkway where Bodmin and Wenford meets BR is a near ideal real 2017 location for modellers, HSTs the GW Sleeper, Voyagers, 66s, etc on the main line and 64XX/ Beattie/ T9/ 42XX etc and 3 or 4 coaches leaving from the back platform, with carriage sheds, steep gradients, lots of trees and bridges and steep sided valleys for scenic breaks. and all on a sharpish curve. Near perfection. Edited April 6, 2017 by DavidCBroad 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Cholsey & Wallingford has a connection,it's just a case of reversing. No it doesn't, the connection was removed in 1981 when BR realised the cost of renewing the points was more than the line would ever bring in in revenue in their lifetime. There is a siding at Cholsey which runs towards the main lines, but doesn't connect to them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.hill64 Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Just out of interest the Middleton Railway's connection used to be sued quite a lot. In the early days of preservation there was still commercial traffic to the scrap yards on Tunstall Road. Some stock was delivered by rail including the Swansea and Mumbles Car which was on three bogie vehicles, top deck, bottom deck and bogies. There are stories of MR steam locos doing the odd bit of shunting in Hunslet sidings many years ago, However I belive that it was last used in the 1980's but it is still a valid connection. One that has been lost recently was the connection in Manchester to Liverpool Road station and the Museum of Science and industry. This has now been severed by the Ordsall chord but was, I believe, last used to get a damaged WCR class 47 out of the way after it derailed nearby. Jamie I used to be one of the Middleton drivers operating the freight service. In the mid 70's there was at least one movement per week, usually of three or four 16ton mineral wagons laden with scrap. If we didn't get the wagons out on time there would be demurrage charges. The regular loco was the diminutive Hunslet diesel 'Courage', known as Sweet Pea. This has a two cylinder Lister diesel engine with two speed (slow and very slow) mechanical transmission that had to be hand cranked to start. This was a two man job: one to swing the starting handle while the other operated the decompressors. You turned it over until you had enough revs and then reset the decompressors. If lucky the engine would catch and fire, if not it would stop and you would have to restart again. If very unlucky it would backfire in which case you hoped that the man on the handle had already let go..........In cold weather plenty of 'Easy start' sometimes supplemented by a hot burning rag on the air inlet would be necessary. Hand brakes only. You had to make sure the wagon brakes were pinned down before you started the descent through what was then the M1 tunnel. Crossing Balm Road required a couple of flagmen. You scored extra points for stopping a bus. It was nice when I graduated to the Hudswell: electric start and air brakes and an enclosed cab: heaven! Those really were the days. Any foray by a Middleton loco onto BR metals was very naughty but it did happen. There was one occasion when the yard shunter had become unavailable and the ex-LMS Hunslet diesel was borrowed for an hour or so to shunt the yard. At the time there were few drivers passed for this loco. I cannot recall the details exactly but it had a strange pre-selector gearbox with the possibility of simultaneously engaging two gear ratios if you got it wrong so a Middleton driver did the shunt under the supervision of the BR men. The Peckett steam loco also ventured into the yard once to collect wagons that had not yet been delivered to the exchange sidings. All very naughty but it was a long time ago 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMJ Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 The South Devon still has the link and I remember the days they operate into Totnes. David Hill I'm sure if you are interested to jot down your experiences of operating the Middleton Railway trains Jenny will probably publish them in Old Run. A tale I've heard was Fred setting Sweet Pea going climb off so he could close Moor Road with the red flag - not sure how true it is but tales like this are mentioned in the mess room! There have been some who operated the train before going to school. The last delivery were the spare bogies for the EM2. See how many of these people you know or remember. This was a presentation of 20, 30 and 40 years service badges. Presented by our vice president Don Townsley. Some of these people have done over fifty years and will be recognised at the AGM in June. http://www.southleedslife.com/middleton-railway-volunteers-clock-677-years-service/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Probably the latest connection with the Big Railway is the Rother Valley Railway at Robertsbridge, officially opened by Sir Peter Hendy earlier this year. This will of course later connect with the Kent & East Sussex Railway now that planning consent has been granted. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestPines Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Since this thread was started traffic over the SVR's main line link has increased somewhat, now that the Northern Belle stock is stabled in Kidderminster carriage sidings - getting it in and out requires a double reversal. The SVR's most recent stock acquisition - six Seacows from DB - also arrived via the main line connection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Since this thread was started traffic over the SVR's main line link has increased somewhat, now that the Northern Belle stock is stabled in Kidderminster carriage sidings - getting it in and out requires a double reversal. The SVR's most recent stock acquisition - six Seacows from DB - also arrived via the main line connection. As a working member of the SVR I can tell you that we have seen a lot of activity from the main line. Not only do we have 68s and sometimes 37s come to pick up/drop off the Northern Belle but we're also home to D1015 Western Champion which is sometimes used for railtours. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckymucklebackit Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 27/07/2015 at 12:55, luckymucklebackit said: I might be wrong but I think that the Ayrshire Preservation Group at Dunaskin is still connected to the National Network. Jim Just to update this very old post that I made, but I can confirm that Dunaskin is still very much connected to the National Network, and that they have obtained a lease from the owners of the branch (Hargreaves) to operate the part of the branch south from Dunaskin towards their old base at Minnevey, I understand from their Facebook page that 2019 operations will run as far as a farm crossing about a mile south of the centre. Jim 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomag Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 09/04/2017 at 15:44, AMJ said: A tale I've heard was Fred setting Sweet Pea going climb off so he could close Moor Road with the red flag - not sure how true it is but tales like this are mentioned in the mess room! There have been some who operated the train before going to school. Confirmed by several perople including Fred while he was semi compus. Looking forward to Saturday for a trip down the Balm road branch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbos Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust in Aberdeen are mainline connected, mainly for access to the turntable for turning steam railtour locomotives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now