Churnet Valley Railway General Discussion

Please don't let us go down the path we did with the CVR thread, doing the what if situations, we are not MCR we want make sure we can still use the track up to Ipstones for the foreseable future.

 

As Jeff points out though, we are only CVR volunteers. MCR have their own policies / going-ons, which we have limited knowledge of.

As far as we (CVR) are concerned, MCR have made the 5.2miles of track available to us and so we are running an appeal to buy it that will transfer legal ownership of the trackwork to us. No-one can take this away from us once purchase is complete (unless we ourselves should falter).

We can only presume what Network Rail / MCR would do, but seeing as moderators of this forum have already given myself and others warnings for not being able to back up statements I think it's best we avoid further such things!

 

Couldn't they transfer the lease, but presumably only with permission of the owner and agreement of the current lessee?

 

You are like a dog with a bone, the answer is WE do not know.MCR is a private company its their business so why do you keep asking questions WE cannot answer.

 

That is because many people find difficulty in separating the elements of track and trackbed. In order to aid understanding consider that track is equivalent to a house and trackbed is the land that the physical structure ( house / track) stands on. Thus it should be understood that MCR owns the track but leases the trackbed therefore is able to support the CVR by selling it the track which will remain in situ for the foreseeable future and giving the CVR operating rights over the MCR trackbed.

This situation is complicated by the relationship of CVR and MCR because some people serve on the boards of both companies but rest assured that each company operates separately although each has legal arrangements in place with the other to serve commercial needs.

 

I was just replying to Mr Dragon's earlier post. No need to bite my head off!

 

Rather ironic it's Moderators who keep asking such, the same people who gave me/Chris warnings for making comments that we could not provide evidence to support and then went on to report me to the CVR Board for using N-P to s***-stir!

Yet now we're being asked to do the very same on topics we've explained we have no knowledge to comment on! Consistency is certainly lacking here guys. I've normally been a good supporter of N-P, but recent events are making myself and others question is it worth it?

 

The CVR have just made a public appeal for money to purchase the track from Leekbrook to Ipstones. Anyone who is thinking of donating is entitled to ask this type of question and get an answer from a senior member of the CVR. The postings of CVR members on here give the impression that they know what is going on.

 

We've all pointed out, you are asking a question of the relationship between MCR and Network Rail. We are "CVR" volunteers, and therefore are not privvy to what these other 2 organisations discuss between themselves.

As said previously, all we know is MCR have offered the remaining 5miles of track between Ipstones and Leek Brook to the CVR. The CVR has accepted this offer, and so is now fundraising to complete the purchase. So as far as we (CVR) are concerned, once purchased the trackwork is ours. What the T&Cs are in the lease that was signed in 2009 has no bearing on this, as that is a separate agreement that CVR played no part in.

 

And I suggested how I thought that could happen.

 

Yes, and both myself and Jeff have answered that (in 4 different posts having a quick count). We don't mind answering questions, but when we're answering the same question multiple times this is what causes the frustration. You'd be the same if we asked you the same question over and over despite you already providing the answer.

I'll accept it's a reasonable question, but as stated (in posts 258 / 261 / 263 / 266) we simply don't know the exact answer to your question. We as CVR volunteers only know that once complete we will own an additional 5.2miles of track on top of our current 5.5miles of tack between LBJ and K&F plus the 1.5miles of trackbed to Oakamoor. What the T&Cs are in MCR / NR lease is known only to those involved in said organisations.

 

We need to raise £76.5k, and following the internal appeal through August and September we now only need £35k. So we're getting there slowly, one would hope we can raise the remainder before the end of the year.

 

What Jon says is right. We are but volunteers, we don't hold management or board positions, we're just the foot soldiers. So when we say we don't know, it's because we honestly don't know. Those who do know chose not to post on here, or any other internet sites, which is their prerogative I guess. So I'm afraid this is as good a service as you're going to get

 

No-one outside MCR and NR knows the commercial details but it should be obvious that NR don't expect the same track back at the end of 150 years. The land will be there in perpetuity so I see nothing illogical in the arrangements.