St Blazey Turntable Closure

I done know if this is the right place for this but just seems such a waste!
Please sign the E-patition on here www.ipetitions. com and search for St Blazey
or http://www.ipetitions.com/search?q=St+Blazey

Would be good to Keep cornwall with Mainline steam tours

 

What turning points exist south of Exeter ?

 

I believe there is a triangle at Laira.

 

There is a turntable at Churston on the Paignton & Dartmouth. Gets used a lot during the tour season. I believe something also exists, as Spamcan suggests, at Plymouth.

 

Basically pay for it dear gricers!

PH

 

I doubt a petition will make the slightest difference

 

[QUOTE="The Saggin' Dragon, post: 849772, member: 547" To be honest it would probably make more sense to have it relocated to Long Rock.[/QUOTE]

That makes good sense.

 

Two questions -

• IIRC it used to be possible to turn locos in the St Blazey area via a triangle of lines - is this still the case?
• Is the semi roundhouse formerly served by this t/t a listed building?

I have always thought that the semi roundhouse/turntable area would make a fantastic SW outpost for the NRM/Didcot collections & add another attraction to the area. Last time I saw the semi RH it was in industrial use although the rails were still in position.

 

I suspect it will be repaired-eventually. However,the various parties will probably attempt to have part of the costs defrayed by others including local authorities.
The particular issue this summer is the Royal Duchy with awkward moves now required near Laira and tender first running to Par
Long Rock is a challenging site and only of use for Penzance. Excursions to Newquay/Par area have been far more frequent recently and Penzance is further to go (with a single line stretch) than Laira if in Par!!
It may not help that the turntable is at a DB Schenker site but most use recently has been by WCRC. An excursion programme to the area run by DB would be a great incentive to repair the turntable but somewhat,at present,unlikely
The site is listed either in part or whole and I believe it v unlikely that moving the actual turntable would be countenanced
Par has lost a large number of jobs and it may be felt that any loss of tourist potential to the immediate area is unhelpful

Ray Mason

 

Edit: my point has already been made by others.

 

An article about the turntable has appeared in the Western Morning News. <BJ>
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk...d-line-steam/story-21101248-detail/story.html

 

Surely there should be some relevance here :- http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse...change\standard forms for network change&root

 

Such as? AFAIK, the TT is within a DBS-maintained depot, not part of the NR network.

If DBS no longer use it, I can see why they don't want to pay to maintain it. How much extra would they have to charge visiting tours to use it, to make it worth their while? And would the tour companies be prepared to pay? I seem to remember plans to install a TT at Mallaig were shelved because the various operators of The Jacobite over the years weren't prepared to pay to use it. Would the same happen in Cornwall?

Is there any suggestion that DBS wish to abandon St Blazey altogether? I doubt it. If they did, then I suppose a Yeovil-style railway centre run by volunteers, perhaps with council start-up support, is an option?

 

Dig it up and install it on the B&W at Bodmin Road

 

Penzance would be a better place if NR can accommodate it. by the way I guess you mean Bodmin Parkway, the only other Bodmin station is the General and that would be of no use for mainline charters.

 

Road/parkway - whatever, but yes, by the main line, not at the top of the hill!