Rother Valley Railway

...and a couple of hundred yards away from that is another, recently refurbished, one outside the NRM

Peter

 

I think the 387’s have them too, can be a bit odd when you hear them at work

 

There were other examples of semaphore signals as road signals.
This isn't the photo I was looking for (I've seen a photo of one in a busy town, but can't for the life of me think where), but nevertheless this shows the basic idea: https://www.ambaile.org.uk/asset/27135/

 

A feature in Worcester was semaphores used as road signals on the Vineger Branch.

 

I was going to mention Worcester, isn’t there something similar on the cut at Frodsham?

 

Dutton Locks and Northwich Matt.

 

Also used on the river Avon and at the docks in Bristol

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/ATF98G/se...ppers-of-the-swing-bridge-position-ATF98G.jpg

 

Well there is certainly plenty of scope for designing a "heritage friendly" way of signalling traffic on the A21 over the new level crossing...

...and for the avoidance of doubt and the saving of many pointless posts I am joking!

Steve B

 

That's a fine looking specimen.
And there once was this splendid Saxby and Farmer example on the West Quay at Newhaven:
Imagine the poor devils who had to climb that ladder to attend the light, in the teeth of a sou-westerly gale!

 

We have strayed about as far as possible from the RVR, But it's been a fascinating read, Perhaps worthy of a thread on its own right, there is of cause shared history the canals were the forerunners of the railways, built very much on the same methods, so did railways borrow the technology from canals or did signals develop because it was needed to safely operate trains, where did the methods come from?

 

I have a very random memory that the post ended up being reused on the Bluebell somewhere…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I was thinking the same. Was it not shortened and used to replace the old very tall LBSC up starter at Horsted Keynes in the 1960s, as seen here in July 1968.


Peter

 

Something in my memory says you're right about that.
Imagine being able to get baulks of pitch pine that length nowadays! Incredible.

 

So moving back to things RVR, I would imagine that nothing much would be happening on the ground until the nesting season is over and birds have fledged, behind the scenes though, i would imagine that there will be a lot of activity, level crossings to design and build if its the same design as used at Northiam, is it all prefabricated off site and brought in when the road has been readied and the trackbed dug out, can the same design be used for Junction Rd, and Northbridge street. ?

 

You'd think so, wouldn't you? Two easy LCs before the A21 job...

 

They first used the prefabricated crossingswhen they replaced the Crossing at Rolvenden a couple of years back - in fact I think that was the first use of prefabricated crossing in the UK.

Getting the track across the road is an important task but is only part of the job - there are all the control systems etc to install as well. However that may not require a road closure. The most disruptive part , as far as road users are concerned is getting the track in the road. My expectation is that Junction Road will be first followed by North Bridge Street. These are East Sussex Roads as at Northiam. The A21 crossing is National Highways. I would expect this to be done when the road is quiet [later in the year?] with an overnight closures [might take 2+ nights] - I would expect the diversion to use Junction Road for long distance traffic with local traffic through Robertsbridge. There are currently overnight closures on the A21 south of John's Cross with traffic using the A2100 through Battle.

 

Is Junction Rd, intended to be controlled remotely from Bodiam, or Robertsbridge? in either case, once the physical crossing is in, then as the track bed is cleared , most likily working towards Robertsbridge, so the power cables and S&T can be trunked in along the cess, I'm assuming the occupational crossings will have phones connected up to the nearest Station, along with CCTV, to cover all access points, and the road crossings,

 

The plans originally submitted indicated a cabin on the north side of the line, adjacent to the A21, which would be responsible for the operation of all 3 crossings, Junction Road and Northbridge Street being remotely controlled via CCTV.
Whether this is still the case, or if some modifications have been made in the light of the negotiations with National Highways is not clear.

 

Will a new bridge over the Rother at the Robertsbridge end be required ?

 

I believe that the Bridge is in situ - If I recall correctly it is overgrown - so we don't know what state it is in. At the other end I think Austins Bridge is in a good condition - but when they start construction they may find problems.