Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

Well problem 1 is the BRB who sold the land in the 1990s without thinking of its future potential. Then the housebuilders apparently consulted with the local council to ask them if they were going to build a road along the railway alignment but forgot to ask Railtrack whether the railway was in use or not.

 

Poor performance by the conveyancing solicitors for failing to carry out all searches?

 

Looking on Google maps, there seems to be a few houses closes to the line ?
How is this different to anywhere else ?? Summerseat on the ELR has a goodswarehouse converted to flats... and the building is right on the trackbed, no speed restriction there..

 

I believe the residents of the house were very much opposed to the railway.

 

That will be the Railway that was never lifted, I seem to recall remained at least nominally open for freight until its take over by the GCR(N) and which was must definitely there when the house was built and any residents of the house bought it?

Steven

 

Why are you debating the rights and wrongs of some houses which were built over 20 years ago? The GCRN has a T&WAO for the section of line through East Leake, there are certain restrictions because of the houses but it doesn't stop them running now, so why should it when a bridge is put back in 3 miles up the line?

 

I didn't think there was a speed restriction as such past the houses, trains seem to coast past (guess to keep the noise down), there is a TSR north of the houses that was put in place earlier this year due a dip caused by a badger set.

There is though a restriction in the hours that trains are allowed past the houses, something like 0700 to 2000.

 

The 2000 Order states:

As I understand it, these conditions were included at the instigation of some of the residents of Rope Walk, East Leake.

 

You read it here first people. TonyMay has spoken. Meet back here by 2030 (at the latest) If I have to eat my hat then I shall be both very surprised and very pleased.

The clock is running. You've got sixteen years to repair all of the infrastructure, then to install, signal and commission 8 miles and 37.5 chains of double track railway.

Flip

 

... and, presumably, also increase your number of operational locos and carriages so you can run a service that justifies all that expensively built extra infrastructure

Tom

 

It was clear that something had changed at the diesel gala when the trains were powering away from the TSR past the houses.

What are you allowed to do about a badget set? What would the real railway do about a badger set?
I wonder what would happen on a main road if a badger set was discovered in an embankment? Would the road have a TSR?

JP

 

Having had to deal with Badgers in the past on the Network.
At the time the authority to contact was MAFF and everything had to be done through them.
The problem we had was a Badger sett right through the doubletrack embankment on a rural railway in the North East.
The track top was showing signs of a dip so a TSR was imposed Until further notice.
Maff then authorised us to establish another artificial sett in a redundant embankment nearby.
When that was completed we were then permitted to lay netting on the embankment and install "One Way gates" to let them out but not back in.
A specialist contractor was brought in to capture them and relocate them. plus further measures to try and stop them returning. When clear the sett was then pumped full of flood grout and the track tamped.

In another location the Badgers were evicted, the sett grouted with about 10 cubes of grout. The badgers then moved back in 20 yards up track.
Someone forgot to take measures to deter them or didn't move them far enough.

 

The cost of doing all that for the sake of a small colony of a perfectly common animal does not bear thinking about.

 

I agree.

But they look cute and people complain if you just gas them.
Also it seems they can dig big enough holes that just ignoring them isn't an option.

 

Surely I'm not the only one who loves both badgers and trains? But it's easier to find somewhere else for badgers to live than to reroute the railway.

John

 

Looking at the news on their website, I find it incredible that GCR have raised £100k in two weeks, given that we are living in diasdvantged times at the moment. There really seems to be enthusiasm for this ambitious project.

 

Piece in the Daily Mail today about the original GCR route and how reinstement would be a better investment than the proposed HSR route.
Be a bizarre sight one of those whizzing past an Ivatt 2 doing 20 odd...

 

I guess that the GCR and HS2 on that route are mutually exclusive. At the end of the day I am not sure that there would be a great cost difference as the GCR route would need significant engineering works to bring it up to standard and avoid the many obstacles along the route. Rather than a bodge job cobbled together it would be much better for a dedicated route which can also at some point be upgraded to higher speeds. If only we were like the French with regards to planning strategic rail links, straight line A to B (generally... I know there are exceptions...).

 

The old canard I guess that the London extension was built to Continental gauge - and ignoring the fact that many of its curves are far too tight for a high speed route.