Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

But surely the MHR must have agreed watertight arrangements for full compensation of lost revenue before agreeing to release the trackbed?

 

who pays the bill? the highways agency ? They might well get compensation, but possibly not full compensation, after all, you can only estimate lost revenue based on projections, you don't know given the current climate just how accurate your estimations will be.

 

The new housing developer?

 

Am I right in assuming that the upcoming steam gala will be home fleet only, as the MHR social media is advertising the home fleet featuring at the upcoming gala but no info regarding a visitor is likely to attend. Doesn't bother me I might add, I'll be attending regardless.

 

That's certainly what the main site indicates.
With it being 506's first gala since returning, the 9F's last before her ticket expires and Cheltenham's first in the new livery, it should be good

 

Yes this is a home fleet gala. Should be a good one though given the mix of locomotives. Last gala for the 9F and first for 506 and 925 in new livery.

Regarding the arrangements in respect of the bridge, these are obviously commercially confidential and will not be shared publicly. However, you can be assured that the railway's position was protected in full.

 

Any chance of a timetable being made available soon.

 

Yesterday atop the hill was one of those 'days'.......

None of us were firing on all cylinders and coupled with the fact what needed a lick of paint couldn't happen due to them being too wet from the nights rain!

So it was a day of small jobs & plenty of banter in-between photting departing trains - it was nice to see both 30925 & 76017 in traffic - so not a lost day.

Later I popped down to Ropley to see what was what......

The yard didn't seem a hive of activity, but it was late in the day...... banging & crashing could be heard from various corners..... a MkI was receiving some much needed TLC, the Urie lads were atop their mess room roof - presumably making sure the timbers upon it are fit to take the weight of some serious lumps of metal........

In the mess room I found the main man involved with 50 027 looking as pleased as punch....... the two rads had both been lifted in earlier in the week & he'd only just sat down for a well earned brew with the other lads involved in literally just having fitted the fans!

He did say that testing of everything will take place over the next month or so to make sure that the loco is more than fit for traffic - so I would suspect the target is to be ready for assisting the 1st Santa's of the day out of Alresford.......

A couple of pics of the motive power in motion.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/48853550161/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/48853553476/in/photostream/

 

"Somebody" reported recently the encouraging sight of a pile of track panels appearing near the new Butts Bridge in the last few days. As a track panel is not the sort of thing that can be hidden in a pocket I assume (if true) that this is no secret, but can anyone confirm, perhaps including a pic of how things are looking down there? Thank you!

 

If you click on the Butts Bridge website and then click the updates tab there was an update posted showing a low res pic of the bridge it appears that the bridge is in advanced state of completion so hopefully track laying won't be long.

 

Another victim of the bridge work; Sponsored walk now cancelled:
"With great regret we have concluded that we must cancel the Walk the Line event scheduled for later this year. Given the inaccessibility off the line and restrictions on how we could deal with the potential for injuries we have decided that we are unable to run the event this year. We are grateful for the significant support that the event has received in the past and appreciate the efforts everybody has made to making the event so successful. We are very keen to replace the event next year with an occasion which captures the spirit of Walk the Line."

Regarding the bridge work I have noticed on the MHR website that the free buses seem to have been abandoned for weekends and special events with passengers now being told to use the Stagecoach 64 service. I did hear from a few volunteers earlier in the year that the free bus service was not being used very much at all.


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I'm not so sure if the construction work can be blamed for the cancellation of the sponsored walk.

It sounds as if Health and Safety may have influenced the decision. <BJ>

 

Or possibly that the man who orgonised it passed away recently?????

 

From what I understand there were concerns about how to safely evacuate any casualty in the event of a walker becoming injured midway between two stations - there aren't many vehicular access points.

 

For goodness sake - I hope this is not true. Perhaps there's a risk that we may play conkers between stations and cause a terrible injury! Someone had better close the South West Coast path, the Offa's Dyke walk, all other footpaths and all the National Parks beyond 100 yards of a car park as well. This is surely something that can be handled without cancelling an event enjoyed by many hundreds?

 

Well, I've lurked for long enough, so here goes.
I've just had a look at Butts Bridge. One of the guys on site reckoned that track laying will happen on Monday. Trackwork (Doncaster) are already on site, so fingers crossed. The reinstatement of embankments is almost done, so its looking hopeful. There are several pallets of troughing for reinstatement of S&T and telephone lines, as well.
(View of Country end from the south.)
There is still some form-work and concrete pouring to be done at each end of the main span - parapet stuff basically. Can't happen soon enough for the Alton residents along the diversion roads, who have put up with several extra months of nuisance. To add to the fun, utility works (probably long planned) have started on one of these roads. Deep joy!
Concerning the sponsored walk, I have heard that ORR are not fans of line walks. As to emergency access, it is real problem, as we knew only too well when laying the track back from Alton. We aren't quite in Nurburgring territory, I know, but we have to be careful.
Pat

 

I think there is a difference between the footpaths etc that you mention and the trackbed of an operational railway.
In the case of the West Coast path, Offa's Dyke walk and National Parks etc, these are all public footpaths and usually the people using them do so on their own not part of an organised party (although I suspect there are organised walks on occasion).
The trackbed of the Mid Hants Railway is not a public footpath and the Track Walk is a special event organised by the railway and as such the railway is responsible for the safety of all those taking part. If a participant suffers a serious injury, or other situation requiring medical assistance, then there would need to be an efficient plan in place for the quick and safe evacuation of the casualty to a place were they could be treated by the emergency services.
Depending on the seriousness of the incident the railway could find itself facing an official enquiry, and one of the main questions they would be asked would be what the plan was for evacuating a casualty.
In any risk assessment for an event or activity you should always plan for the worst-case scenario, even if you think it highly unlikely to happen.

 

How do they cope then at the Bluebell?
I think that they have a full line sponsored walk.

 

Depends on whether you're looking at it from a legal point of view, or a practical one.

Legally, I suspect you're perfectly accurate.

From the point of view of a person who suffers a serious medical situation, and is at the time somewhere remote, from which a quick and safe evacuation is needed, then whether they are on the railway, or a remote footpath, is probably utterly immaterial to them.

Dickens was spot on.

Noel