Meon Valley Railway Restoration

Yes the Lynton and Barnstaple had nothing to start with and now 34 years later we have a mile of the line open with two restored carriages a new build loco project which is half funded in the shortest of time scales (metal cutting and bashing has already started on the project) http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/page/project-lyn-and-762-club

We also don’t have lines of old stock awaiting restoration, simple because we don’t have the room and there is not much stock about that would fit the L&BR loading gauge and we also don’t have anything like Mk 1's to fall back on.

Take look at the new L&BR website http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/

So yes why not a Meon Valley Railway. IIRC didn't the MHR look at rebuilding part of the Meon Valley at the Alton end itself back in the 80’s, and didn't it have something to do with the filming of the Will Hay film 'Oh Mr Porter’?

There are many examples of the heritage railway groups getting the ball rolling, take the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Project as an example, it has started out as a heritage project and now they appear to have TOC's lining up with proposals to help rebuild part of it for them, So I have started to wonder is there a business case for a dedicated one hundred miles of steam operating line in the UK?

As the ultimate heritage project, I wonder what effect it would have on the tourist trade for such a large area and could it be sustainable.

 

Do you have a link for that? Haven't heard that before.

 

Lynbarn I think you hit the nail on the head on this one by saying its taken 34 years for the Lynton and Barnstabe Railway to go one mile and to restore two carriages. So going by what you are saying it doesn't look that favourable for the West Meon Line.

 

it wasn't the Meon Valley used for Oh Mr Porter!, It was the Basingtoke and Alton line

 

In the latest SR I read that there were conflicts with people restoring the L&B and this delayed things significantly? So without that perhaps the time frame would have been a lot shorter. I guess Lynbarn can clear this up

 

http://www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/
all the info I have on this new Somerset line project comes from this link I hope it works.

As for the L&BR in fighting I hope that it has mostly pasted, of course, there will still be disagreements over the colour of the coaches as an example. Most of the hassle the L&BR group had was down to the fact that everyone had there own ideas of how to rebuild the L&BR and that certain people who had the experience on how to rebuild a railway where never listened to, there was a certain amount in the early days of this railway will be rebuild by Devon people for Devon people. Also it did not help that just along the road so to speak we had the failed Ilfracombe project which put a lot of people off of railway heritage in the area.

Today, beside the L&BR we also have the West Somerset about 20 miles away and the Bideford group which is also about 20 miles away, which are both active in railway restoration, rumour has it that a small private group want to restore part of the narrow gauge North Devon Clay line and one of the Quarries as a transport museum near Bideford. But I can’t confirm that at present.

regards

Colin Rainsbury

 

For those interested, the group has setup a website at: http://www.meonvalleyrailway.org.uk/# although someone really should've run it past a spell checker before making it live....
There are some aims listed on the site, but no information on whether they have been in touch with/have agreement from the council regarding use of the trackbed.


Keith

 

I can't see the any mention of TOC's helping to rebuild the line (a rather strange notion in itself), but in my experience that site should be taken with a rather large pinch of salt anyway...

Chris

 

I was behind the narrow gauge attempt! T'was all me! Council were keen to.

Anyway, I was a member of the Preservation Society for about a week before they kicked me out for being too negative, mainly because I said that their aim of building the line from Wickham to Knowle, then re-connecting with Network Rail and running along the old Fareham relief line was madness. That and the tunnel they wanted to build through the golf course. Oh that and them not taking potential competition from the MHR seriously.

Anyway, not sure where this new group has emerged from, but at least they're listening to what I said about Mislingford to Wickham being easier.

I still think that if this is going to work it should be narrow gauge. Easier to fit onto the formation, cheaper, not in direct competition with MHR. Could be the South Downs National Park's answer to Exmoor's Lynton and Barnstaple!

 

Yes, I remember that because I had a delicious strawberry tea there once.

Actually on that theme, I had watercress soup on the Watercress line last week. Just waiting on a suitable event at the Poppy Line at which I can mainline some heroin now.

 

Pretty much what I've been thinking whilst following this thread,just never got round to saying it!

Much more sensible in terms of costs etc and start up time, plus would offer something unique to the area and would complement what the MHR has to offer rather than trying to compete with it for custom and therefore revenue.

Having a narrow gauge of whatever size may tempt Mr & Mrs Joe Public into spending a weekend in Hampshire rather than just going for a day trip, thus greatly benefiting the local economy, and if and when this project starts to come to fruition, then joint ticketing with the MHR would offer an incentive to do so.

 

I hear the first MVR train is going to be double headed by a J39 and L1 (not sure if it's the LNER or SR one though). Ray.

 

I think we've had enough negative/snide comments about the MVR project now. Lets's just wish them all the best, let them get on with it and see what happens.

 

Why?

PH

 

Absolutely. Could even link in with the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth as a three-way promotion!

 

the thing is, there is a breed of enthusiasts to whom small is beautiful, projects where you can know everyone and be involved in everything, nothing wrong with that.

 

Absolutely. But there are a lot who have to be "the big fish in a small pond" and are unwilling to be part of a larger organization. I know a lot of people disagree but I feel that an industrial diesel dragging a Mk1/2 down a few hundred yards of track in the middle of nowhere is not 'preservation' it is just 'playing trains'. Yes, I do know that some of our now established lines started that way but hopefully preservation has now evolved beyond that stage. IMHO this proliferation of ideas for new generation lines and new-build locos can only dilute the amount of resources available to the already established ones. There will always be a saturation level in any market and I believe that, for the heritage railway sector, it is rapidly approaching. Sorry if it offends but, in my opinion, the MVR scheme is just a dream and will quietly fade away just as the J39 and other 'crackpot' schemes appear to have done. Ray.

 

you are probably right, but then much the same was said about many other now well established railways.
There is no Preservation Movement in reality, it's just a lot of guys doing their own thing... a simile might be fast food restaurants...having a Wimpy Bar or a KFC in a Main St never stopped McDs or Subway moving in. They are doing what they do their own way, some will be successful and thrive, some will fail. Menwhile the guys are enjoying themselves and that's what it's about,paying passengers are just a means to that end.

 

Agreed 100%. I can remember being told that with 34051 in the National Collection and 21C123 at the Bluebell, there was no point in preserving yet another Bulleid Pacific. Harbingers of doom have been around almost as long as heritage railways but in spite of previous predictions to the contrary, we've not reached saturation point yet.