What's your dream obscure railway restoration project?

I have a similar fantasy about the line from Peebles to Talla Dam.

 

Just the one, Mrs Wembley - and that's the Tralee & Dingle, complete with the Castlegregory branch, the street link to Tralee (GSWR) Station, and Dingle Pier Tramway, please. All motive power, carriages and wagons to be in working order, too. I'll call by later this summer to see if the dream has come true. Thank you so much.

Steve
www.tdlr.info

 

we've made a start and are awaiting the cheque that will let us do more than we plan.....

 

All of the Withered Arm. Yes, there may be a few hundred houses, industrial units or roads in the way. Nothing that a fleet of bulldozers can't fix.

 

Bedford to Luton via Dunstable anyone? Very scenic from what I am told...

 

Seeing Broadchurch has put West Bay back on the map...after that series about a ....cannot remember, had an ex East Enders bloke (Nick Berry) doing some thing to do with the sea...........so ( Harbour Watch?)
West Bay back to Bridport and beyond, then the Abbotsbury Branch!



Nick

 

Past the sewer works and the dog kennels? Sounds good to me...

 

my dream obscure railway, is not that obscure, reopen Sandown to Newport then onto Cowes ,rebuild the embankment outside shanklin and rebuild that section to ventnor, so making amends for the mistakes of the past, s a ventnor to cowes service and ryde to ventnor should join up the island again, to operate services hire a fleet of Austeries ,and new build alloy bodied coaches built to fit the island loading gauge

 

I would go for that as I would have the trains going past the bottom of my garden, one slight snag! I can only get out of our road through the site of the old Station at Wroxall!

 

thats easily dealt with, build a simple single platform further up the formation from the old station site next to your garden? how do you feel about selling tickets?

 

Actually, I think I like your idea better--much closer to centres of population, easier to get to--and you could sell it to the locals as a "narrow gauge railway". Which is technically correct!

Do you live in that area? Is most of the trackbed intact, or has it been built on much?

 

Gary,
You have put your finger on the weakness of most of this *wouldn't it be nice" stuff (I nearly typed "tosh" instead of "stuff" but thought it impolite). Like the old Cambrian system, it is IMHO highly unlikely that any of the IOW lines would have seen it past 1930 had it not been for Grouping.

Paul H.

 

Paul,
Look at the title of the thread....

 

Just look at some of the postings. Far too "Meon Valley" for comfort.

PH

 

As others have pointed out, the clue is in the title, we all know it is very unlikily that any abandoned lines will be rebuilt unless there is a desire and reason for doing so, for the record, i belive that had the 2 routes in question not closed, then there would most likily be be no IOWSR today, we all know where you stand as regards "wouldnt it be nice"" ok, Someone once said wouldnt it be nice to save an 02 and some coaches, at a time when others would have said dont be so silly, , someone once said"Wouldnt it be nice to build granny winters pantry" i bet some said, it wouldnt pay, i bet someone said "Lets buy the goose field and build train story" i bet someone said you wont get lottery funding for that! all you could say were "wouldnt it be nice" projects

 

Sorry, neither "Train Story", nor "Granny Winter's Pantry" (not known as this now) nor the events field are in the slightest bit "wouldn't it be nice." They are there to provide shelter for equipment (plus interpretation of history), refreshment for visitors and a venue for outside events which bring trade. All sounds business reasons and essential for the future (i.e. when we have all been sprinkled over the rosebeds).

"Wouldn't it be nice" projects would include excessively elaborate rolling stock, big locomotives and unduly long runs. Also setting up schemes close to existing ones. Enthusiasts need to grow up.

PH

 

If I had a bag of chips, Paul would be urinating all over them now...

 

How about Llantrisant (now Pontyclun) to Cowbridge and Aberthaw? Lovely Vale of Glamorgan counytryside and the busy town of Cowbridge to enjoy its pubs and shops. On then to Aberthaw with it's terminus station almost on the beach. Although the Aberthaw section closed in 1932, the station at St Mary Church Road, complete with signal box, still exists in residential use and the main body of the station building at St Athan Road still stands, as did Aberthaw until it was destroyed by fire some years ago. The Cowbridge - Aberthaw section was built in the vain hope of thwarting the Barry Railway's plans for a new port at Barry and was an immediate failure. It also had the distinction of being closed twice for passengers. The stations, with the exception of Aberthaw, were nowhere near the places they purported to serve, hence the 'Road' in the names. What a delightful ride into the country it must have been by TVR steam Railmotor. I first walked the route from Aberthaw to Cowbridge in, about 1954, and it was an eerie experience to here the sound of a locomotive whistle, coming from behind, at frequent intervals. It was, of course, the shunter at Aberthaw Cement Works but it certainly added to the atmosphere.

On a more practical note it might be possible to restore a regular service to Cowbridge which would be boon to the town. There's still plenty of room to make the down platform at Pontyclun into and island just as existed at the former station, Llantrisant.

 

you are ignoring my point, every single preserved railway started off with a "wouldnt it be nice " you sir are the preservation taliban only preserve in the strictist sence, so what about the ivatts? should the ivatt trust have given them to the IOWSR in your narrow viewpoint i would guess not

 

We have got beyond that in 2015. The challenge is not going off on some wheeze but ensuring that we can meet the needs of the future. I am no Talibani but someone who just hopes that people would think a little. If you must keep referring to the IOWSR (I think the lessons are general ones) then W.8 will be 140 years old next year. She needs to be looked after and now has a lower load limit since arrival back in the IOW. Like her sister she has had a new boiler. Newer motive power relieves the strain on what would be classified as "monuments historiques" in France. There are no compromises in regard to rolling stock though and as this is all at least ninety years old, maintenance can produce challenges

A new boiler, even for a tiny A1x costs enough. Railways also face unknown infrastructure costs in the future. They need to tidy up, save up and grow up to ensure their survival.

PH