With regards to the clearing of the disused railway line at endon Stoke on trent

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Perhaps a mod can move this to the right place?
Some interesting comments here that merit discussion and a reply.
First I don't think that this line has ever stopped being a railway despite what some people might think. Is the 'we' everyone along the line?
Starting a post calling everyone wierdos is hardly likely to prompt reasoned discussion. Would you like to edit your post?

 

I agree the mods should move this post to a more appropriate place. However IMHO this doesn't warrant any discussion. Quoting protecting trespassers as a reason why the trackbed of an existing railway should not be cleared is nonsense. If two children were trespassing on the railway while work was in progress where were their parents? Their responsibility not the railway or their workforce.
Regards, John.

 

In response to Sallywaggle's post I would seek to clarify exactly what the purpose of the reinstatement of services on the Leekbrook - Stoke line is. This is a commercial operation by Moorland and City Railways, whose aim is to run rail freight from Cauldon Low and return passenger services to Leek and potentially Alton Towers too, and is being carried out lawfully. So it's not a hobby project, unlike the existing Churnet Valley line. It will bring benefits to locals in terms of taking many heavy lorries off their roads and providing a cleaner a quicker way into Stoke. I speak as one of the "weirdo vandals", and not as an official representative of the MCR. Incidentally, most people we meet along the way and speak to are supportive of the project.

 

If Sally observes wildlife a little more she will notice that it tends to move out of the way before any intruder comes near. Regarding any young, far more are lost to predators than to any machines so a bit of clarification and accuracy on the species she thinks are being decimated (her word not mine) is appropriate. It is likely from her note that she does not want the railway to operate because her house is nearby and she is more concerned about its value than ecology or the environment, otherwise she would think a bit harder about all the thousands of 8 wheeler lorryloads on the roads carrying minerals from Cauldon Lowe that will be replaced by the railway. WHen was the last time she saw a hedgehog crushed on a railway line - or a deer, or a badger, or a squirrel, a fox, a kestrel, a cat...............
Some conservationist.

 

Dear Sally
A number of points are worth making that you do not touch on:
- This line has an important environmental role, in moving freight to and from Cauldon away from lorries and off the roads onto rail
- It has an additional future environmental role in providing an alternative to the roads for people wanting to go to Alton Towers
- It also has a Heritage Railway aspect to it. Heritage Railways are a large sector of the tourist industry, and attract many visitors and much spending to local areas. In general, local businesses are unlikely to think of those visitors as weirdos. The new line will make the Churnet Valley one of the best railway attractions in the North of England, through the length and variety of its routes, to the benefit of the local economy.
- The railway has been there a long time, and if anyone ever told you it would never be used again they were either lying or deluded.
- You say "think how dangerous running trains along this line will be". Running trains on railway lines is not dangerous. It is a safe, well regulated form of transport. Trespassing on railway lines clearly is dangerous, which is why they are fenced off. Taking cars and lorries off the local roads is positive for safety, especially child safety. Check out statistics on road v rail casualties.
- Road traffic is also far more harmful for wildlife that are trains

You don't like trains. OK, some of my friends don't either, but it's hardly a good reason to deny other people in the area the benefits this railway will bring locally. It also doesn't make people who do like them weird, unless you choose to define weird as "they like something I don't".

This is generally a website for people who have a positive attitude to trains, rather than for nimbys who don't want them near them, so I'm sorry but you are unlikely to find much support for your views

 

Oh dear me - I'm quite flustered now - must lie down, or go for a pint to settle my confusion - I agree 100% with Mr Moody! - unbelievable!!

Dear Sally - three out of ten for grammar, spelling, and logic - don't know if you do waggle sweetie, but do let me know, it may be an entertaining sight; but there again, you might be one of those who go and live up trees when someone proposes change, and thereby totally ruins the environment and wildlife habitats in so doing. I hope you're not.

For your information, and that of others who need to be properly advised, the line from Stoke up into the moorlands is still a fully legal operational railway, authorised by an Act of Parliament back in the 19th Century, which still remains in force today. Although the line went to sleep - like sleeping beauty, it lay there undisturbed and so - it never died, and now its re-awakening.

The railway is a workplace, not a playground, and people within its boundaries have no business there and are, in fact, committing a criminal offence - stay on the right side of the fence - please. The operation of trains and maintenance equipment by MCR is, by contrast, entirely legal; the operators are working within DEFRA environmental guidelines protecting wildlife and nesting birds - so no more of that please! The railway is and will remain a wildlife corridor as all railways do, so to suggest there will be any net loss is to distort reality beyond all acceptance and thereby to undermine your own argument

The line isn't re-awakening as a hobby railway but as a commercial venture that may also carry enthusiast trains as a sideline, but its main purpose will be to carry thousands of tons of aggregates, and trainloads of tourists going to Alton Towers, thus creating employment and taking traffic off unsuitable roads. If you want to see the end result of not taking a positive appraoch to these problems - as Call Me Dave said yesterday - trot along to your local job centre and see the alternative! I'm sure those without work would very sympathetic to your views.

I look forward to seeing the proposal succeed, and to Leek and Alton Towers, and the intermediate stations being once more connected to the national network for both freight and passenger purposes, and heritage operations being enjoyed by the many thousands of residents of north Staffordshire and the five towns of a more generous disposition than the Not In My Backyard protestors who don't seem to realise that its not their back yard - its Network Rail's.

 

And Welcome to our forum Susan.

If you have read the comments, then you will have also seen all the legal documents that I posted in that thread showing that the line is still counted as an operational railway (or did you choose to ignore those posts?). It may have been mothballed, but this does not mean it is no longer a legal railway. Just because it has not been policed in recent times does not mean people have a right to walk along it. If you go onto the trackbed you are trespassing, and there are no arguments to this.

 

Perhaps Sallywaggle is one of those children who were trespassing on the railway?

 

Can we keep any responses to the point and factual, thereby disproving SW's claim that we are weirdo vandals please?

 

I suspect she won't be back anyway, she just came to vent her spleen and get it all off her chest by throwing insults around.

But you're right, any personal comments and put-downs really ought to be edited out by the posters.

 

Ten out of ten for the insults,I bet you feel so superior now don't you.same old same old.better for the environment,wonderful for wildlife,trespassing.the track as been used for years by people who enjoy walking,innocent children who have walked in this area are now trespassers. shame on you.I wish you all the bad luck possible,cvr and mcr



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Ten out of ten for insults, don't be so self congratulative.

As for the situation read the others posts they will give you a very measured and sensible list of the reasons why this is happening and the benefits that will come to the community with it happening, especially with regards to removing lorries from your local roads which have to be a good thing!

m0rris

 

I agree but it is highly likely that she (? we have no confirmation of gender of course) has done this just to elicit a response; the equivalent of throwing an electronic maggot into a pool of carp. Probably just a wind up merchant who enjoys responses from people who actually achieve things in life.

 

Susan, it is not that they are only now trespassing. People who have walked on the trackbed over the last decade or so have ALWAYS been trespassing. All the legal documents are inplace to show this. Look them up if you want and learn the full facts and truth. I'm sorry it's not what you want to hear, but itt is not MCR / CVR's fault that the landowners have not policed the line over the years.

 

If you read her profile it does say her name is Susan Griffiths...

 

As you clearly have no regard for the rule of law nor the environmental benefits put forward, perhaps you would care to enlighten us as to what your real problem is with the return of traffic to this line please?

 

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Susan, do you honestly feel that this is going to affect the situation? I appreciate that you have steam to let off over this issue but few, if any, of the people here would actually have the powers or the connections to change things and would unlikely to do this anyway. If you honestly feel this angry about this why don't you contact MCR? We are just a group on individuals who are involved in/intersted in the preservation of railways and related infastructure.

m0rris