Moorlands and City Railway

The way it is phrased suggests that a link to the quarry is just one of the "long-term future options" - that, and the words used, sound suspiciously like kicking the idea into the long grass to me. No deal two years later seems to back that up.

So why the negative interpretation? This isnt a heritage project which can be bailed out by its members, this is being promoted as a commercial business and so im judging it like one - there needs to be some substance underneath the optimism.

I was hoping that would be the constantly referenced freight traffic, someone even said there was talk of 4 trains a day alongside the hourly passenger service, but i fear its been taken for granted to some extent as they are reopening the line regardless of any guarantee there'll be any - unfortunately 'build it and they will come' just doesnt apply to railfreight, as the unused terminals in Telford and Sheffield show.

I guess the big question is, where does the bulk of Cauldon Lowe's output go - a few large, rail served customers with relatively easy access from the Stoke line, or have they concentrated smaller road-served customers on a quarry with no rail access? I think there was mention of serving a railhead near Stoke some time ago which may provide a clue, but i'd be amazed if it was viable.

Chris

 

Some of the lorries do supply somewhere down South, but can't remember off the top of my head where exactly.

 

Haha, sorry, its bringing out the 'wnxx' in me! I guess its because i have almost as much interest in the modern railway scene as heritage lines, so talk of new DMU's running commercial passenger services, at national network speeds too, sets off alarm bells about cost and viability that it might not in others.

While its true i wont be directly affected, who wants a scheme like this to fail? Too often though small enthusiast-run railway companies try and run before they can walk, and optimism overtakes realism; Cargo-D and their rake of BR liveried carriages being just the latest failure. In my opinion asking difficult questions out of genuine concern (and a little bit of devil's advocate) can only be of benefit... but i've probably got a bit carried away!

Chris

 

Not a lot to report this week, the cold and changing the day to Thurs. during Santa running has meant that only 6 of us were down this week. Still using the Permequipe we managed to do jobs at Froghall, Consall and Leekbrook including changing sleepers, chairs, replacing keys etc. It did manage to keep us warm and though cold, the sun did its best to warm us up.
By the way, a couple of weeks ago we saw Monkjack deer on the line for the first time in the 11 years that I had worked here. A lovely sight the were indeed.

 

Yes, that was a true David Bellamy moment. The silly things nearly got run over by a bright yellow 6ton Permaquip.

 

They're Muntjac deer, they're destructive little bu88ers and they're spreading rapidly. Next time, don't miss!

 

They don't belong here just like Grey Squirrels and Mink. Sounds like it's time to have someone riding shotgun, literaly

Pete

 

almost as bad as pheasants

 

We couldnt afford to hit them, they were 2 deer :dance:

 

Lol. We had a pheasant in the garden today. Mrs let our cocker out and he got the scent, but the Ph flapped about a bit and the dog ran back to the door whimpering! Some gun dog he is! "Fergus, you're fired!"

 

They're supposed to pick them up after they've been shot.

 

If the dog's been shot, how can it pick them up?

 

Very droll.

 

Deleted post.

Lesson to be learnt:

Read previous post properly.

 

??!!! :confused1:

 

Mis-read Gwenllian post. Apologies.

 

Don't worry, Lil Bear. I just couldn't decide whether it was better to be droll or undroll!

 

Deleted post, found what I wanted to know.

 

Just a quick one today, after our group worked on the south points in Leekbrook we were going to go to Apesford to in the Permequipe to check a few things. As it was lunch time it was decided to go further up the line to meet the other group who were doing the line walk from Cauldon. We met on the summit at Ipstones and they were glad to get some shelter from the cold to eat their snappin. Took these photos as we turned the Permequipe around. We have decided to take next Wednesday off and ride behind George Stevenson up the Cauldon line just for a change of scenery.