ianwales Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hi all just thought I would post the photo below taken this morning of the start of the work to renew the viaduct over the Loughor and to redouble the line between Cockett and LLandeilo Junction in West Wales. I will be taking more photos as the work progresses and I will post them here if people are interested in following this project. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Thanks for posting that, Ian. The viaduct did well to outlast the concrete road viaduct that used to be just inland of it. Give the nature of the tides, and of the alluvial deposits, in the estuary, the engineers have quite a challenge ahead of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Mmmm, my inlaws live just a short walk away from here, and the tidal flow past the viaduct is incredible, not a nice environment for a bridge with piers in the river! Nice to see another positive project start though and i'll get to have a look myself at some point i'm sure! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hi All Nest photograph looking in the opposite direction and the piledriving of the columns has started, one set of four either side of the viaduct. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 The Network Rail press release is here. Completion Spring 2013. There also seems to be work going on on the bridges on the Swansea "avoiding line" visible from the M4 (around J45ish) - all covered in scaffold and cladding. By the way, for the sake of searchability, Loughor is their spelling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidw Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hi all just thought I would post the photo below taken this morning of the start of the work to renew the viaduct over the Lougher and to redouble the line between Cockett and LLandeilo Junction in West Wales. I will be taking more photos as the work progresses and I will post them here if people are interested in following this project. Ian Ian, I used to travel between Gowerton (I lived 3/4 of a mile from the Station) and Swansea a couple of miles up the line from the Loughor viaduct. Occasionally went to see friends in Llanelli over that bridge - it seemed a well used line I was surprised when they singled it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hughes Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Good to see it being done; the singling was an absurd piece of folly - apparently it was the last job before retirement of an engineer whose hobby-horse this was. The run from Carmarthen along the Tywi Estuary is one of the most picturesque I know of, and sadly not very well known other than by those of us who have occasion to use it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 By the way, for the sake of searchability, Loughor is their spelling. Hi Heading duly amended and wrist slapped, The swansea district line will be closed after the weekend for 2 weeks while repairs are carried out on the bridges, this apparently will also involve the Robeston to Westerleigh being banked up Cockett bank for the next 2 weeks. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 ... wrist slapped... Well I wouldn't go that far, it's probably just as valid as an Anglicisation of the Welsh original. Just looked it up, and the Welsh name for it, Llwchwr, apparently derives from a variation on loch/lloch and fawr = big. Bit of a boring name really, "big bit of water". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Richard_A Posted July 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hi Heading duly amended and wrist slapped, The swansea district line will be closed after the weekend for 2 weeks while repairs are carried out on the bridges, this apparently will also involve the Robeston to Westerleigh being banked up Cockett bank for the next 2 weeks. Ian wish i still lived in townhill now used to sit down at the "carrot pond" which is next to the line to watch the trains sometimes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted July 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2012 Good to see it being done; the singling was an absurd piece of folly - apparently it was the last job before retirement of an engineer whose hobby-horse this was. A reminder of the 'bad old days' of B.R., where individual engineers could get away with this kind of nonsense. The Cornish main line was subjected to an identical bit of vandalism in 1986 when it was singled between Probus and Burngullow. Thankfully an enlightened local authority supported the reinstatement of the double line in 2004, for which the business case was helped by the new industry structures since privatisation. The same philosophy saw the Cotswolds line significantly re-doubled last year, of course. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 HI all Sorry, a bit premature with the District line closure and the oil tanks diverted, the dates the Westerleigh is booked via Cockett bank and Landore is 30th July to 3rd August. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 Hi all The latest photos from Loughor taken at 7am today shows the pile diving proceeding apace and I even managed to catch one of the Arriva services on the viaduct However, the main reason for being there at an early hour is that in connection with the closure of the Swansea District line at the end of the month, DBS ran a trial with Class 60's top an tail on the 6B13 Westerleigh tanks running via Cockett. The front loco is 60046 and the banker was 60063 Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hi All It has been a little while since I updated this thread, but here are a couple of photos taken about three/four weeks ago First showing the works around the viaduct itself another showing the first of the new viaduct sections Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hi all To bring the thread up to date some photos taken yesterday First the viaduct itself Next photo shows the new viaduct, as further sections are added so the new bridge is advanced alongside the old one A view from the cycle path bridge looking towards Llaneli showing the current single line which will become the new Up line and the cleared track bed ready for the new down line Turning around to look the other way shows how the current line swerves onto the viaduct, the telephoto lens makes it look a lot worse than it is. Taking awalk along the cycle path gives me the only shot you can get of the seaward side of the viaduct without a boat, although i am working on that one! Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vin Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hi Ian, Excellent photo blog of the works ongoing. A few months back you mentioned the closing of the Swansea district line. Is there a set date for this or is it just going to be mothballed? Then letting the metal theives do what they do best, like other parts of the system! Regards Vin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hi Ian, Excellent photo blog of the works ongoing. A few months back you mentioned the closing of the Swansea district line. Is there a set date for this or is it just going to be mothballed? Then letting the metal theives do what they do best, like other parts of the system! Regards Vin The reference to the District Line closing mentioned only that it was for two weeks to enable bridge works to be carried out; though it carries little traffic in comparison to my time in Llanelli (up to 1973 full time, then visiting for another decade), it is the only way for traffic from the west to access Swansea docks without a reversal, and the only reasonably practicable route for heavier trains heading east without using a banker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vin Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Cheers Fat Controller. It must be only a matter of time if traffic levels drop off to make it unviable. Vin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Cheers Fat Controller. It must be only a matter of time if traffic levels drop off to make it unviable. Vin Sadly, you're probably right- a down loaded steel (and empty return), and up loaded coal (GCG- Onllwyn) and oil trains are not really a great deal of traffic. Should the District go, then the coal would probably be lost, as it would require two, perhaps three, reversals en-route. A banker would also be required for the Down steel and Up oil workings, which might render them unviable. According to family legend, my paternal grandmother, and her sisters, were born in one of the terraced houses that sit under the District Line viaduct where the line crosses the Swansea- Pontardawe road. I should add that the cottages pre-date the line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 17, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 17, 2012 Sadly, you're probably right- a down loaded steel (and empty return), and up loaded coal (GCG- Onllwyn) and oil trains are not really a great deal of traffic. Should the District go, then the coal would probably be lost, as it would require two, perhaps three, reversals en-route. A banker would also be required for the Down steel and Up oil workings, which might render them unviable. Very true Brian - and a route that has been trod before as they say. Before MAS was extended to the District Line there were thoughts over whether money should or should not be spent on it but the gradient and time advantages always came out in favour of it - and although locos have got more powerful the Cockett route is as hilly as it ever was and trains have got heavier. One reason for the singling on the Cockett route was the fact that it wasn't much use for freight with both the gradients and the length restrictions and since then it has got busier immediately east of Swansea. But the situation remains that traffic on the District Line has declined over the years and the big scheme I was working on c.20 years ago never came to pass so that meant an additional 12 - 16 trains each way every day on the District Line also never materialised as it was decided the ships would unload much further up the Bristol Channel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted November 17, 2012 Author Share Posted November 17, 2012 Hi All There are no plans to close the district line at present, the current level of traffic is about 14 trains a day over the central section with the addition of the Swansea Burrows traffic at the eastern end and the Central Wales traffic at the western end. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Hi All There are no plans to close the district line at present, the current level of traffic is about 14 trains a day over the central section with the addition of the Swansea Burrows traffic at the eastern end and the Central Wales traffic at the western end. Ian I'm surprised it's that many, Ian- what are they all? I thought there were just the pair of workings each for the Waterton, Trostre and GCG flows. Mike's right about the trains getting heavier; when I was at school, we used to think the Gulf train was a heavyweight with 11 100t tanks. I believe the current oil train runs to about three times that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 The Fishguard "boat train" still often uses the District line - though not every day, or even to a fixed pattern - I think it depends on what freight trains are being run and the timekeeping of various services. I don't know whether or not it may get some use as a diversionary route during the Swansea electrification - I would imagine the daily Carmarthen HST service being routed that way. And I can vouch for the folly of singling the line over Cockett - having played and written activities for the excellent BrisCard route on Mucrosoft Train Simulator, where is it that the player and computer-driven trains always seem to contrive to pass? ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Ref the 14 trains, I can well believe it, although as usual with freight it depends on what day it is and what the customer wants that week. There's 3 flows at present from Robeston (Westerleigh, Theale and Bedworth) so that probably averages two pair every weekday - plus there can be multiple round trips per day to/from Trostre with steel, scrap and tinplate traffic flows at present. Add to that ATW has a daily scheduled train in each direction over the route, presumably to keep crews trained up. Don't think the Swansea District line is dead yet, although it's never going to top anyone's list of hotspots! This is 1B96, the Cardiff to Fishguard westbound train via the route, seen from the opposite side of the Loughor... I've also been following the doubling project, and I got chance to visit and add some more pics this week Really interesting stuff, and coming along very fast! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Are they push-launching (if that's the term) the entire new deck? Or adding sections at a time? Only asking because I can't see the purpose of that angled end section of bridge deck poking out in post 15's first two pics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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