Phlogiston

What also surprises is the amount of old track materials one can sometimes see from the train, never taken away after engineering occupations and in some cases blocking what might otherwise be a safe walking route next to the line.

This is a superb evocation of the declining days of British Railways branch lines. Are you able to say what future shows you might take this layout to?

I very much liked your Midland in Bristol layout, very much looking forward to seeing this one develop.

Really? These are sweeping and provocative statements. Perhaps you would be so good as to offer some specific examples of postings on this thread, where you feel this has been the case.

Feel free to carry on believing that. Are you really saying that civil servants have absolutely no role whatsoever in influencing and drawing up policy? Perhaps you've never watched that fascinating series of documentaries on BBC, quite a few years ago now. What was it called? Ah, I remember now, 'Yes, Minister'.

It's not that new to be fair and Robbie Burns has now gone, but he is definitely the 'Robbie' being referred to. At the time, the clip was definitely known about within NR (don't know who the 'author' was) but such was the culture of fear around certain individuals, that many people were actually scared of viewing it on their work computers.

And here we have the moment when the truth of the unfolding debacle of GW electrification is revealed to the senior project director in NR: https://www.captiongenerator.com/101348/Robbie-discovers-the-truth-about-GWRM To the best of my knowledge, the names have not been changed to protect the innocent guilty.

Perhaps just a smokebox!

Will you not still build the layout, Paul? Just as well that I hadn't ordered the materials for my 5" gauge cameo of Swansea Victoria.

This whole operation has descended into a fiasco. The latest estimates are that it will be overrunning by two years and its cost will have nearly tripled from £957m to £2.5b No one at NR is taking any responsibility for this farce, least of all Mark Carne the Chief Executive whose £670k salary is paid by the taxpayer. His performance at the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, full of weasel words, was lamentable. This Public Accounts Committee meeting can be read here: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/network-rail-20142019-rail-investment-programme/oral/23330.html Question 39 from Stephen Phillips was….... "Mr Carne, you have referred to an increase in costs from £1.6 billion to the estimate that we have today, for the first time, of £2.5 billion to £2.8 billion as “disappointing”. I would go further: I would say it is pretty disgraceful. That is taxpayer money. How can we have any more confidence in these estimates that you are providing today than in the ones that were for half as much a year ago? That is my first question". "I have a second question. You are paid an awful lot of money by the taxpayer—£675,000. If you were at Shell, as you previously were, you certainly would be looking to see who was going to lose their job over the fact that the cost estimates, with taxpayer money, have doubled inside a year. Now, who is going to be losing their job?" In one answer there was a comparison made of this team with those on the ‘heroic’ Dawlish work. That damage was a disaster that descended onto the railway and the rebuilding certainly was heroic with planning and execution done ‘on the hoof’ with an excellent result in a relatively short time. Top marks to NR and the contractors there. To compare this to the GWML scheme is disingenuous. This scheme has had considerable time for proper planning and prior investigation into any potential cabling issues that could arise. There certainly seems to a question mark over the capability of senior NR ‘directors of engineering’ to design and build such a vast project. In hindsight would it not have been better to have engaged a team from DB, SBB or similar who are experienced in such work? After all no serious wiring has been done in this country for quite a while. On the day-to-day operation it has been reported that whole days of possession are lost with only one hole dug for the masts. Indeed on some, nothing has been done. All this after the 'factory train' was bought at great expense. We were led to believe that this was to have been the best thing since sliced bread. Apparently not it would seem. The machine probably is, but the planning and integration in the scheme would seem to be what is failing. There’s also a rather large elephant in the room regarding the new trains which will most likely be built before the job is completed. These trains will still have to be paid for (by the taxpayer) and will be sitting in sidings earning no revenue. This could force GWR to extend the operation of the old HSTs with, by then, life expired engines and no plan or funds to re-engine them. As is usual in this day and age, no heads will roll and the taxpayer will have to squeal with further monies taken from them (us). The lack of progress with this magnificent project is shameful.

i doubt it very much, they should all be the same size surely

A concern with the Meldon route also has to be the fact that Aggregate Industries has put it up for sale. Not much seems to have happened for a while, but one wonders how long this situation can continue. The asking price at the time for the quarry and railway was £5m. Network Rail has shown no interest in purchasing the line. I doubt whether the American BARS can afford it and Devon County Council certainly cannot. What would happen then, if Aggregate Industries wished to liquidate their asset for scrap value? It would be politically unacceptable in the South West to lose the rail lines to Meldon, but who has the money and the will to save the line?