Pen-y-Mount

30 secs is what K1 took to cross. I timed it. Do you expect journalists to be able to tell the difference between an engine and a train?

 

Most (including the BBC) call a derailment a crash!

Regards
Will
Embsay

 

Do they own the land on which the track is laid?

Presumably, if not, the platform face would not be correctly positioned to access trains?

 

The WHHR claim to own the land right up to the sleeper ends!

 

Sorry, I thought he quoted what you told him. It will be a cold day in hell when journalists get their facts right or desist from lying.

A few sums...

Loco length is about 45 feet.
Carriage length is about 33 feet.
Say, six carriages + bike wagon in a train, so total train length is 45 + (33 x 7) = 276 feet
Distance to travel over Britannia Bridge is about 310 feet
10mph = 52800 / 60 = 880 feet per minute = approx 14.5 feet per second

To work out the time you need to add the time it takes the train to pass a particular point to the time it takes the front of the train to cover the distance, so...
276 / 14.5 = 19 seconds PLUS 310 / 14.5 = 21 seconds which gives a total of 40 seconds.

To this needs to be added the time between the road crossing lights being activated and the train arriving on the bridge, so probably another 20 to 30 seconds to allow the traffic to clear. That puts the total up to at least one minute.

It also assumes that the crossing speed will be 10mph which, and bearing in mind the curvature and the location, may not be achieved. If the speed were dropped to 5mph the crossing time would double to at least two minutes.

 

Mmm, up to the boundary fence I'd expect but not the sleeper ends!

 

Its called maximising revenue, and without even enough basic infrastructure like undercover storage for all the soon-to-be operating loco's, thats the way it's going to be for the forseeable future.

With regards to the 30sec crossing time, while this does seem ambitious at least i read somewhere that due to its layout a yellow box isnt appropriate so it wont need to be clear for trains to proceed.

Chris

 

Look at the size of the loop at Pont Croesor, then look at Pen-y-Mount, not sure how you'd terminate a train there. 6 trains running THROUGH Port a day I'd have thought would be more likely as they only have 2 train sets, one does 2 trips a day, the other 1 currently.

 

You only have to look at the other end of town on the big big trainset to see how long it takes for just a two car unit to cross including light activation times. I agree with probably a couple of minutes, longer if Port is crowded as it normally is in the summer and the pedestrian crossing nearby holds everything up. There might be a speed limit of 10mph but no way will the train go that fast unless the driver thrashes it over then slams the brakes on to stop at Harbour!

S

 

Remember the Porthmadog bypass is being built. Far less cars will be passing over Britannia Bridge. Soon the journo's can start writing the "traders worry about loss of traffic" stories.

 

Fascinating factoid: The Welsh Highland cost £1.13 million a mile to build, including locos and rolling stock. The Port bypass is budgeted at £13.3 million a mile and you have to supply your own vehicles.

 

That is a lot of money

 

The WHR unlike the bypass also wont be a blot on the landscape!

 

The by-pass will be used each year by probably 100 times as many people as use the WHR.

 

and you won't have to queue to cross the cob!!

 

Cheer up, Tony, it may never happen.

 

Eh???

 

And which of the bypass or WHR will give people the most pleasure over the next 100 years?

 

I know you would like it to be the WHR, but for many of us the thought of not having to cue get across the cob and through Port will give me a tremendous amount of pleasure in years to come.

Can we now stop this willy waving competition about what is the cheapest, biggest etc. It will be great when the WHR is complete and runing regularly into Port and equally many will appreciate the bypass when it comes into use.