Wensleydale Railway Matters

The bizarre thing is BR removed that connection yet NR don't want it reinstated.

 

As far as I am aware, all current plans for HS end with a connection to the existing ECML around Church Fenton - a good 50 miles south of Northallerton. When Network Rail did the business case study for high speed rail (pre-HS2 being a formal Government policy), it showed that rail already had such a share of the market from Newcastle and County Durham that there was no case of a further HS speed line on the East and instead selected the West Coast as the best and quickest route should HS3 (as it presumably would be) be built to connect HS2 to Scotland.

Network Rail say quadruple tracking, which would be a major project but probably will be needed - dealing with the 2 track Northallerton Station would presumably be the first challenge!

Steven

 

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/ne...in_honour_of_Wensleydale_Railway_Association/

 

Current plans are for HS lines to finish much further south at around Church Fenton. The route on the west coast is where HS will be for Scotland.

However, your not much short for HS on the line from Northallerton to York North at present. The track, and infrastructure is set up for tolerances and speeds a lot higher than 125 mph and has been for some time. Up until OTMR trains could be noticed doing more than the standard limit and trains under test will be going higher than this when the time and permission is granted.

Northallerton might be remodelled in the future but I think with a platform at Northallerton West, the Wensleydales next target for extension wise will be to get to Aysgarth. It is brilliant to see the line making such efforts and wanting to succeed.

 

Good news on the Wensleydale Railway site regarding Joem

"If all goes well and Joem is back with us in early August it is intended to run the following:

• All Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in August
  
  
• Saturday September 5th, 12th and 26th and Sunday September 6th and 13th."
  

 

It is some time since a contribution was made to this thread so here goes. Had an excellent day down there this weekend. travelled from Leyburn to Redmire, down to Leeming Bar and then returned to Leyburn. Cheapest 3hour train ride for a long time, beautiful scenery, staff/volunteers really trying hard to give a good experience for customers. They seem to have a good selection of Diesel engines, 1 'Barry wreck' which is not getting any better (92219), I don't mean that as a criticism, just a fact, and a seemingly good selection of coaching stock though how much is fit -to-run is anyone's guess. IMHO it is a line which will go places but it is 30 years behind others and so donations are going elsewhere probably, certainly in my case anyway. I am seriously considering supporting this line properly, not that it would make a lot of difference but every little helps.
Connection to Northallerton, for passengers, would be a big help, extension to Aysgarth and onwards is for the next decade, it too would help. Imagine, circular tours Newcastle-Northallerton-Garsdale-Carlisle-Newcastle, a good day out?
Tip for the management, it would be nice if the coaching stock in use looked clean, in and out, and if the membership form was improved, you can't join unless you agree to Aims and Conditions which are not available to read anywhere.

 

Saw this on the print copy of the Darlington and Stockton Times and meant to post it then - a couple of weeks back now:

http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/15238438.Hopes_for_extending_historic_railway/

Steven

 

It seems every one is pleased with the report and has welcomed it. That, it seems was the easy bit, now comes the hard part - who is going to pay for it and where will the money come from?

 

The railway would do well to concentrate on getting a basic railcar fleet in a consistent and good condition, if they are to continue operating a large number of "normal" operating days using this form of traction.

Whilst it is a useful feature of most DMU's being able to couple up different combinations, the differing colours, classes and condition of the formations at the Wensleydale has been obvious. I think the current combo is a bubble car hooked onto other classes in different liveries? I'm not sure if this has rooted itself seriously in the public's eye though? Perhaps it is unimportant?

The above isn't critisism of what volunteer staff have done, I'm certain that like all railways, a huge amount of graft and cash has gone in for the benefit of visitors, members and enthusiasts!

Sent from my HTC Desire 620 using Tapatalk

 

I would agree with that though I think they are do a remarkable job with what they have available. Obviously they need to provide the best service they can within the limits of a budget which is trying to provide the necessary items, like a proper storage/maintenance shed and good trackside clearance, which all 'light' railways need nowadays. As I said earlier, I felt this is 30 years behind the other local sites, so we need to have patience and give them our support if we see their vision as feasible. In recent dealings with management they are public friendly and open to ideas, a very good asset! For the time being a return trip in a DMU is adequate and enjoyable, a full blown return trip in Mk2 coaches with a 47 power is for the future.
I remember being taken to the Summit by ,was it Mirvale or Eustace Forth?, many years ago, when the notion of SNG on the line was laughed at. (I'm not saying which line that was, you might know)

 

IIRC the normal DMU set is the bubble car coupled to a 117 centre trailer & 117 power car. Normally it's got a 101 power car on the front which is currently being overhauled.

 

Absolute nonsense - if public transport is so essential how come the G&W (Toddington) or the Llangollen managed to survive and thrive?

What is true, is that local authorities expect Heritage railways (or any visitor attraction come to that) to try and ensure that visitors arriving by car don't make a nuisance of themselves by filling up residential streets or parking on country lanes (which is why the Bluebell has not built some form of station at West Hoalthy and why there is a 'no visitor parking restriction applied to Kingscote). Yes being able to connect to Nationa Rail services is useful, but that does not make it essential.

 

Absolute nonsense - if public transport is so essential how come the G&W (Toddington) or the Llangollen managed to survive and thrive?

I'm not sure these are good examples. I think Llangollen would be struggling were it not for its engineering business, and the GWSR is underpinned to a degree at least by its Cheltenham Racecourse services on race days.

 

Pure wishful thinking I am afraid. Swanage is very busy without any form of mainline connection. Of lines that are mainline connected, for example Mid-Hants or IOWSR, it is difficult to think of one where the connection is as important as road access. Post 32 is spot on.

PH

 

Hmm I'm not convinced; Racecourse trains only account for 1 week a year. I don't really see it as a responsibility to get more cars off the road by connecting up to the mainline, heritage railways are, as certain member alike to inform us regularly, first and foremost tourist attractions, they have a responsibility to have enough parking such that their customers don't park on little roads nearby, but I don't really see it going further than that as a necessity, it's certainly not a good enough reason on its own to fork out for a mainline connection.

 

I suspect that most of NYMR customers access it by road, not rail. The transfer of stock is much preferred by rail than by road though surely? Wensleydale has plenty access points by road, even more when it gets towards Garsdale probably, but stock and charter trains access by rail is a very important provision and could be even bigger prospect for the future.

 

I can only say as I see and hear - and I've heard this from officials there. A high level of enthusiast-oriented events is not necessarily indicative of a thriving day to day business.

 

I've had similar vibes although admittedly not hot off the press. The Corwen extension didn't do it any favours. Perhaps things have changed; I don't know. I agree with your comment about galas not being indicative of a success story, though, just like a shiny coat of paint is not indicative of a good overhaul.

 

Like, presumably, many reading this thread I have little idea of how things are faring commercially, save what gets into press releases. However, I have always suspected mainline connections (and extensions) to be driven rather too much by W.I.B.N. considerations.

PH