D1059

And the reservoir proposal still hasn't gone away - its just 'on hold' I'd rather have the reservoir than the other schemes that have been proposed for that empty piece of farmland - either a 4 runway airport, twice the size of Heathrow, or a 30000 home 'garden town' - although which of these was just a stalking horse scheme from Thames Water to try and make the reservoir seem palatable is open to question

Yes - I am led to understand that they had a report commissioned from (I believe) a Swiss company that concluded that jacking the bridge up was perfectly feasible to provide sufficient clearance to allow the gradient change for the level crossings Unfortunately, NR have their minds set on the nuclear option of demolition and full rebuilding, and have not shown much (if any) flexibility

There isn't any physical reason - the argument for the last 2 years has been exactly that - raise or replace; bearing in mind its not possible to build a temporary bridge at that location From what I understand, raising is technically possible and would result in a significantly shorter closure of the B4017 than full rebuilding (which will take a year) The listed status is a nuisance - the bridge is not especially noteworthy or aesthetically pleasing, especially as even if kept it will be despoiled with ugly parapet extensions at a minimum It is not possible to bypass Stock's Lane LC without closing one of the routes out of the south side of the village - unless either a new bridge is built on farmland to the west of Steventon (with a longish link road as there has been significant housing development on that side of the village), or the Byway Open to All Traffic up to the current B4017 bridge is upgraded to double lane, surfaced status (and I suspect major improvements to the junction with the B4017 are undertaken) The real issue is, and has always been, the length of the temporary closure for rebuilding. The B4017 sees 10000 traffic movements a day and that's without any problems on the A34. The local traffic flow has been on a knife edge for years and is getting steadily worse - when the A34 has a problem (as minor as a single broken down vehicle) journey times from Steventon to Abingdon can increase to 90 mins. A year long closure of the B4017 as a through route will have major knock on effects as far afield as Wantage as well as causing gridlock on the remaining Didcot/Abingdon routes. The financial effects on firms based in the whole of South Oxfordshire, but especially Milton Park/Didcot/Abingdon will be severe based on lost business and delayed deliveries/employees/customers (also bear in mind more than one national supermarket chain have major distribution centres on Milton Park or near Didcot serving large areas of southern England). That is why the local councils are fighting so hard - trying to protect their taxpayers (and quite rightly so)

The track from Stocks Lane to the bridge is a public right of way (Byway Open to all Traffic) - albeit unsurfaced and mainly single lane

Second that - pure class - a brilliant example of 2mm/N showing what can be achieved

Thanks Kevin - sorry, only just found your post

Nice video - apart from showing just how thin my hair is these days Annoyingly, the Class 04 ran perfectly the rest of the weekend, without stalling - must be camera shy Great show - really enjoyed it. Thanks to all involved in organising it

Agree absolutely - I see no point in having working lights on any of my locos as they are all from the late 60s/early 70s, long before true headlights were fitted, and as you say, marker lights and headcode panel illumination was invisible during daylight. Still need to get round to disconnecting a few though

Went past again on Sunday - what looked like a catenary post suitable to mount a heavy duty wind turbine on in July/August has now morphed into a new signal

Indeed - logical; but since when has sense had any part of this abortion of a project ?

There have been masts in around Appleford Crossing for some time, and foundation tubes in place in various other locations, but this mast by the Culham road bridge has appeared since July, so long after the decision to suspend work on the Oxford electrification

I hope they put a footbridge in - please And now for the most pointless piece of work I've seen recently - went over the line at Culham a few weeks back. NR have erected ONE single mast on the west side of the line 100-150 yards south of the road bridge...............WHY, when the Oxford line is on hold until at least 2019/2020. Surely they have more important tasks for the resources required to do that in getting the line through Swindon completed I just despair

After the Romanian build, 56031 onwards were built in the UK, initially to the same design, but the later members of the class had a modified cab (eg horn grill was an open grid rather than partly plated) - can't remember the changeover number

Taken a few months before HSTs started appearing on MML services Leicester HST by Stephen Dance, on Flickr

Probably because tomato seeds will pass right through the human digestive system intact - I'll leave it to your imagination how they got there :) You usually see tomato plants (or at least you used to) flourishing around sewage works too !!

Plenty of masts between the bridge at Steventon and the A34 bridge too, but only from where the loops start Hens Teeth by Stephen Dance, on Flickr

Sadly, this is relevant to many walks of life these days - many of the coal face jobs in my field, IT, have either disappeared altogether, or been outsourced overseas to people who haven't got a clue what to do when it all goes pear shaped

What ? - you mean you're going to put a scale Maybach or MAN in one to supplement the electric motor I'll get me coat

I mentioned the bridge jacking purely as fact, not because I am especially a supporter (I recognise the need for change, but want the minimum amount of local disruption). The local council has done considerable work researching this option and I'm sure that such requirements you have mentioned have been raised and taken into consideration. Network Rail, however, I understand have not been overly co-operative in embracing this method, even as an alternative option. They have Plan A and nothing else. It very much looks like this section will not see wires until at least May 2018, with the bridge rebuild being completed with knitting in place underneath (or the wires not being installed until early 2019)

Steventon bridge update I hear from my source that NR's proposal for demolishing and rebuilding the bridge will shortly go before the the council planning committee for consideration. Such is the delay on getting a decision, that with NR's other engineering commitments and requirements, I understand the EARLIEST the existing bridge could be even be demolished is now May 2018 - and NR have said previously that rebuilding will take at least another 9-10 months There is, however, still the option to jack the existing bridge up to provide the required clearances if NR will take it seriously

Always a great reference site Paul Here's one of mine from Norwich showing a typical consist (except the Peak) including one of the BOC tankers Norwich Peak Hauled Freight by Stephen Dance, on Flickr

Hi Rich - I can't remember how many genny vans there were. Something at the back of my mind keeps saying there was more than one though

The MKIII trailers required a generator van as the ETH system wasn't compatible with locos An example in the SW - generator van at the front, translator at the back. The generator van was a converted Mk1 BG Rattery Thunder by Stephen Dance, on Flickr

This layout just looks SO real, I find myself back in the 70s - a warm day, leaning on the wire fence (no bloody pallisade back then) watching the (real) trains go by

Can't remember if I've posted this before I've acquired the slide collection of a sadly deceased member of my local club - he had a number of shots taken at the last LMR open day in 1969. This was the best one Longmoor Military Railway - Final Open Day by Stephen Dance, on Flickr