Oswestry Update

Is there the hope that if the CHR crossing section of the A5 in dualled it will allow a over/under bridge to be included instead of the crossing?

 

Sloppy journalism , long sections of the A 5 are single and will remain single carriageway, from Halton roundabout north Chirk right through N Wales to Bangor, the section from Halton to Ruabon will remain a single bottleneck which impacts on joining the A55 of course. The viaduct at Chirk will also present an interesting expensive exercise if a divided highway is intended.
Huge commuter estates have been built at Oswestry putting ridiculous pressure on the road to Shrewsbury and significant loadings at Gobown station.

 

The A5 certainly needs something doing north of Shrewsbury, some sections are like wacky races at peak times where the frustrated and impatient take their chances on the wider stretches. But as @garth_manor says moving traffic faster ; sorry more smoothly past Oswestry is only part of the story and though the trunk route is obviously north to the A55 junction at Chester the cross country routes to the A55 through Llangollen, Mold and Wrexham will still be slow bottlenecks for the many that persist in using them. I'll look forward to years of chaos while it's implemented. And I'll have to revise my route to Llangollen to go via Ellesmere -- oh maybe shouldn't have said that.

 

More track laid on Thursday and we are now almost at the bracket signal. Looking South from the platform brings a real sense of achievement seeing the two lines head off in to the distance.
Due to a change of computer and me being away from home I probably won't be able to update the blog until Sunday evening, sorry about that. Note to self.. Keep an extra copy of login details.

 

Following a recent assessment we are looking to complete the restoration of Peckett 2131, Oliver Veltom to act as a back up to our currently operational Barclay.
The bottom end is complete, the remaining work is the boiler and repairs to the cab and saddle tank. Estimated cost is £20'000.
Any donations welcome and there is an allocated fund already growing. There are also opportunities to help with the restoration and operational aspects at all sites.

 

Ten days and no updates - I'm getting withdrawal symptoms LOL!
Ray.

 

I agree. I look forward to these updates!

 

Sorry I have been on the other side of the world and got back late last night.
The running days for 2019 and are on the website.
Six track panels have been laid in the centre road since track laying began.
The tamper is being worked on.
The suburban coach makes progress.
The measuring and design work for the crossing is in hand.

 

On the loco front there may be some news and changes to plans on the horizon. Details are being worked out so that costs can be obtained.

 

So the cambrian railway south of gobowen jct, Would the proposal widening the A5 to a dual carriageway affect any long term future goal of opening the cambrian line to Buttington via oswestry due to there been level crossings on the single carriage A5 would level crossings be feasable on a dual carriageway A5?

 

The plan supported by the county council is when the A5 north of Oswetry is dualled there will be a bridge over the railway. Whilst the current A5 remains a trunk road there will be no service using the level crossing. The recently announced project to dual the A5 is the stretch between Oswestry and Shrewsbury so more waiting is required.

 

The blog has been updated with the work done last week. On the loco front our Austerity Norma is being examined very thoroughly before making a decision as to next working steam engine.

 

The latest e-newsletter has been issued and is a very good read. Sign up on the CHR Homepage.
I have updated the blog with progress yesterday and there are more pictures of the track work south of the bridge coming through.

 

Another good Thursday in Oswestry. More firsts and lots going on.

Details on the blog.
http://ilvaporista.blogspot.com/

 

A milestone for the blog. 200 posts. To mark the event CHR ran special steam hauled services down to the bridge on the new section of track. Well actually that may have been part if the Easter running days.
There are still some jobs on the snagging list before we can run trains south of the bridge, one of which is the insertion of another concrete sleeper after the concrete raft. That will be a fun job getting that in place.
The design work at the accommodation crossing is almost complete and we will be able to move ahead before too long.
On the loco front we have an interesting dilemma. Peckett or Hunslet? Both require roughly the same level of expenditure. The Austerity can handle bigger loads but will probably take more time. The ideal situation would be to restore both but that needs more funds and more volunteers. Fancy lending a hand?
Now that we are moving towards an operating railway rather than a steam centre there are opportunities in all areas. Come along and see what we are up to.

 

Funnily enough I am right next to the track at Oswestry right now doing a delivery. You get a good view in a HGV!

 

Tuesday's tracklaying was down at Weston and only temporary. With site clearance due to start soon we need to move the stored rolling stock out of the way.

Details on the blog.
http://ilvaporista.blogspot.com/

 

Just a suggestion but on the blog for the 22nd, where you are talking about how people can help maybe a link to the website for people to join the CHR?

 

I should have mentioned the link on the right hand side of the page. Thanks for letting me know.
Edit: The link only shows on the web version. The mobile version is devoid of links. Again thanks for pointing that out, another lesson learned.