FR & WHR & WHHR News

Back to 2ft gauge, Statfold Barn's terminus has three platforms (Island plus high-level).

 

Hythe has three as well.

Tom

 

Formerly four. I've never understood why Hythe's Plat 1 survives (plain line, no run-round), on which since first visiting in 1965, I've never once seen a train, when old Plat 4, much used in the 60's, which had an engine release line, direct to the turntable, was lifted.
Dymchurch originally featured a bay platform, though I can't recall which side.

 

From my previous visits, Platform 1 was usually used to store a few carriages, that could be added to the morning services if required. I'm unsure if that is still the case for normal operations. I would assume it's more conventional use is far more limited.

 

From what I can tell from Google Earth and old photos of Hythe, the reason Platform 4 has gone is because platform 3 was extended to the signal box, presumably as trains got longer, and there isn't enough space to get a track between the longer platform and the turntable pit. It would appear the point into platform 4 was on the trainshed side of the turntable. I would imagine that having 1 long platform without a loop and 2 platforms with run round facilities of sufficient length is better than having 1 long platform without a loop, 1 long platform with a loop and 2 short platforms (convenient access to the turntable or not).

John

 

Maybe, but I'd be surprised, as 16 coach trains were commonplace when I first knew the line, whereas today, 12 is the norm.

 

You mean like this? (From the wiki page)

 

Most of the coaches have 20 seats now whereas in past times they had 12 or 16 seats

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Or one per train, 4 wheels and painted black, with no seats. Remember them?

 

It looks like Blaenau Ffestiniog will be getting mixed blessings next year - more services, probably with Superbarns (not surprising given that all services sold out weeks in advance), but it will not be possible to start journeys from there.

There is also no intention to celebrate the 40th anniversary reopening of the final stage of the FR to Blaenau. Hm.

 

I'm guessing the FfR have done their market research, but am surprised Blaenau isn't seen as a market in it's own right. I can't say I blame anyone for not wanting to leave carriages stabled overnight at BF station, but is there no possibility of utilising G-y-P as a base for an originating service? With BF and T-y-G both capable of handling two trains, line capacity oughtn't to be an issue.

 

The sheds at GyP were originally built with this in mind, I understand, but I don't think this has ever been done apart from when the line was severed at Minffordd for the construction of the Porthmadog bypass. I think it's the challenge of getting the crew there, and the challenges with maintenance and spare locomotives in case of failure, which have precluded its use.

 

That is a shame on the last point. I think the FR is missing a trick in failing to celebrate its own preservation era heritage.

For example, I think next year is also the 30th anniversary of the first Kids Week which at the time was massively innovative and which has given God knows however people their first experience of volunteering.

 

Here's another example from one of my previous visits:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/muztrem/8258762898/in/album-72157629213103168/

However, I think it is now a very rare occurence to have three trains in Hythe station at once. Platform 1 is used principally as a carriage storage siding.

Re. the old high-level platforms at New Romney - AIUI, the ground level in this area was lowered when the station was remodelled in the 1970s. Hence, there is now a flight of steps leading down from the booking office/shop to platform level, whereas the original terminus station was on the same level as the building. (When the Dungeness extension was constructed in 1928, the through platforms had to be built at a lower level than the original station due to the need to tunnel under the road.) The area of the former terminus platforms now seems to be occupied by an extension of the cafe, and picnic benches. There is still a short carriage shed next to the cafe but whether it is on the same alignment as the old terminus platforms, I cannot say. But essentially, there is now nothing left of the original station except the booking office building (and even that has been extended).

The terminus platforms were apparently quite short and Snell's book suggests that, by at least the 1960s if not earlier, most trains were too long to make use of them, even if they were terminating at New Romney.

 

Only from pictures. I will have to ask my friend who is an RHDR historian to explain the history of them

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I believe they may have been converted from the original Greenly 4w carriages. To judge from old photos, they certainly had bore a strong resemblance. Their intended use, emblazoned on the side, was storage for prams (and push chairs). Having once, due to a very heavily loaded train, jumped into one between Dymchurch and St.Mary's Bay, our holiday base, I recall they were jolly nice on a really hot day, even if the ride was a tad indifferent!

 

I'd wager there's stil something happening but considering we (the royal we) can't really plan for a few weeks time, it's not exactly wise to put something into stone and not be able to commit to it.

 

As a kid (early 80s) I was taken on a couple of trips to the RHDR. My memory is of traveling from Hythe, spending time at New Romney, and then taking a train that started from the bay platform.


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Have to confess, 40 years after full reopening, I do wonder at the comparatively low profile Blaenau Ffestiniog seems to occupy in FfR thinking.. Given the distinctly 'down at heel' look the town presented, back in the 1970s, were that still the case, I could understand it not getting highest priority, but from what I've seen over the last five years, it does look as though concerted efforts to make the town and locale more attractive to tourists is bearing fruit.

It's become very evident on lines everywhere, the overwhelming bulk of visitors come by car, so the fact the Blaenau-Llandudno branch has, courtesy of repeated torrential downpours, been up and down like a whore's drawers oughtn't to make a killer difference to calculations. Indeed, a more vibrant local economy surely stands a better than evens chance of spurring on (more) investment in weatherproofing that line.

Most especially after the two years we've all endured, I can fully understand the FfR management not currently being in a position to commit any resources to purely speculative services, but mightn't there be scope for some sort of 'joint working party,' with businesses in Blaenau (IMO it'd be vital to include TfW) and the immediate locale, to arrive at some coherent marketing strategy for both the top end of the railway and Blaenau itself?

Does anyone please have a handle on where proposals to clear Blaenau's (rather noticable) slate waste tips stand? If something that transformative is still in the pipeline, it's clearly of relevance.

 

Long lines that have all their facilities (especially loco) at one end will always struggle to provide a good quality service for visitors starting from the other end (he says, with feeling …) You rapidly get into either not being able to offer much more than an “out and straight back” from the far end, or the realms of split duties, early starts and unremunerative ECS at either end of the day.

Tom