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Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Charles Parry, Sep 28, 2015.

  1. Charles Parry

    Charles Parry Member

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    Wonderful news. They've worked really hard there and it's a really lovely little line. Chinnor station is one I've always wanted to model, really is beautiful there.
     
  2. Phil-d259

    Phil-d259 Member

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    I think it depends on whether someone is prepaired to pay for it.

    If you look at the "London and South East" maps the Bluebell has consistently featured (even when it had to rely on the bus link to / from Kingscote before the northern extension was finished).

    By contrast the Mid-Hants, which was on there in NSE days and the first decade of privatisation has been absent for ages now.

    I think the IOWSR disappeared for a year or two at some point, then came back while the Spa Valley has been on it ever since the Eridge extension opened.

    Meanwhile the Chosley and Wallingford line has never appeared despite it having cross platform interchange with GWR services.
     
  3. Hirn

    Hirn Member

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    Is through ticketing the distinction that determines wether the preserved lines are shown or not?

    But it could simply get missed off when the map when the map is revised and the checking of the proof is not perfect.
     
  4. Phil-d259

    Phil-d259 Member

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    I don't believe it's that simple - the Mid Hants have had through ticketing for decades but are not on the map.

    As with most things on the railway it probably comes down to money. Just as NR charge Heritage Railways a few thousand pounds a year to keep their mainline connection, being on the map probably relies on paying a wad of money to ATOC (if you have a friendly TOC to contribute or sort it for you so much the better).
     
  5. Paul.Uni

    Paul.Uni Well-Known Member

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    Here is the latest London & South East Map map http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/London_South_East_0518.pdf
    According to the key on the map, yes.

    It's now on the map.
     
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  6. Phil-d259

    Phil-d259 Member

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    However the Mid-Hants is not shown and as far as I am awere they still have through ticketing arrangements with SWR (and SWT, NSE before them)
     
  7. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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  8. Forestpines

    Forestpines Well-Known Member

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    Visited today with my kids and thought it was a lovely little line and very well-presented especially for its size. The timetable leaflet said trains would be running to Thame Junction, so I was pleasantly surprised when it was announced that we would be going all the way to Princes Risborough. I was also somewhat surprised by the number of red kites constantly circling in the sky above Chinnor!

    The only criticism I would have is that the sheer number of PA announcements on the train did get a bit wearing.

    This is the view from the train at Princes Risborough at the moment. Beyond the van parked on the disconnected platform road, the pointwork for the new line is under construction. Is this being done by NR? It seemed like there would be a lot to do in the next six weeks or so if not.

    20180610_112423.jpg
     

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  9. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    I tend to agree about the PA announcements. However, on the train I travelled on, one thing was very apparent. When the PA announcement mentioned the envelopes on the tables and asked for people to help the railway by putting in their loose change, virtually everyone I could see responded positively, and not just with small change. They must make a fair bit by doing this.
    Also noted the Red Kites. As common there as they are over my house.
     
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  10. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    When they were reintroduced to England getting on for 30 years ago (I'm feeling old writing that!) the first release site chosen was at Aston Rowant, just a couple of miles from Chinor. They've spread out since (saw one at Sheffield Park the other week) but there's always a huge concentration in that part of the Chilterns - not uncommon to see twenty or thirty at a time these days.

    Tom
     
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  11. Forestpines

    Forestpines Well-Known Member

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    Ah, I've not been to the area before. The only place I have seen them previously was at Uffington White Horse, not that far away really.
     
  12. D1002

    D1002 Resident of Nat Pres

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    That brings back some memories Tom. When they were first reintroduced I used to go to a pub at Christmas Common in the Chilterns armed with chicken drumsticks purchased from Tescos * and there was a table in the garden where you could place the drumsticks and watch the Kites swoop down and grab them.
    *Other Supermarkets also sell drumsticks.
    You can see them in North London now.
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
  13. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Glad to hear these impressive birds have spread back into to Sussex, though I haven't seen any over Brighton & Hove yet. AFAIK, kites are almost the landlubber version of herring gulls (the gluttonous, near fearless, chip stealing big bu****s that hold a grudge for life - you've been warned!), so there's possibly no ecological gap for 'em to inhabit down here. I was lucky enough to see a goshawk at Ditchling Common a few years back. They like open scrub adjacent to woodland cover. Boy, do they look absolutely every inch the primeval hunter.

    Kingfishers are another fine sight which no camera does full justice to and I know the faster flowing rivers and streams around Kent & Sussex are prime territory. Any of those beauties around either the Bluebell (which I'd expect) or C&PR (which unfortunately I've not yet visited)?
     
  14. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    What is the purpose of the fence between the main line platform and the branch platform? Some stations (such as Harrow and Wealdstone, one of my local stations) have a fence to keep passengers on a regularly used platform away from fast trains passing a platform that usually has no trains stopping, but that doesn't apply to Princes Risborough.
     
  15. DragonHandler

    DragonHandler Well-Known Member

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    My guess is it would be to separate C&PR passengers from NR passengers, the MHR has a similar fence at Alton.
     
  16. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

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    I'd imagine it's even more prosaic than that. When the bay fell into disuse BR fenced it off from the remaining platform. C&PR have rebuilt the platform - bear in mind that was all rubble and buddleia right from the fence to the (current) running line, and the fence is just still there.
     
  17. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    That would make perfect sense, but in that case I would expect the fence to look less pristine.
    Anyway, no big deal. There are fences in many places that make much less sense, preventing people from going in a straight line but with nothing to prevent them walking round the end.
     
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  18. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

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    The pointwork is being done by Chinnor volunteers, not NR.

    On the PA stuff, I must confess it's one of the things I really dislike about the line. Having said that, I think it could (and would) be argued that in the many years of running out and back to nowhere in particular the running commentary on the nature, etc, is one of the things that passengers and young families have liked. It will be interesting to see whether they get toned down a bit now they're going to have to less self-consciously sing for their supper given there's a station at either end.

    The latest comms to members are very much "now, turning our attentions westwards to Aston Rowant" btw.....
     
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  19. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

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    A, it's Chiltern, who do seem to paint things more often, and B I suspect (but don't know) that the volunteers at that end may well have painted it anyway!
     
  20. Hopefully they have less predators dahn sarf than here in the land of the haggis-botherers, where gamekeepericus pestilentia - that eternal enemy of the natural world - has become a naturalised species.

    As for herring gulls nicking chips, you've not lived until one has swooped in feet-first over your shoulder and bashed an ice-cream out of your hand, knocking it to the ground where it's proceeded to make very short work of it. They make proper hardcore gulls up here...
     
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