CVR and Cauldon Lines

Will they be renovating and useing the leekbrook signal box.

 

The churnet valley plans to renovate the signal box at some time in the future from what i read in a recent letter.

All the sidings on the line towards leek and the 2 running lines towards leek have now been ripped up and scrapped. and the three sidings towards stoke will be ripped in the next week. They are keeping The points and 40 lengths of good rail to swap with some of the lines on the churnet that need replacing. Any of the points that are not needed will be up for swaps/sale with other heritage railways.

 

Its a shame this track has been ripped up as it all looked quite impressive but being sidings its probarly all passed its best and not worth renovating

Of course there is nothing to stop it being back in for future use

 

I know what you mean. I was there from the other week when it was all overgrown and spent a lot of time clearing the bridge and trackwork and had a plan in my head of what could be done at the site. But as the MCR is a seperate company and only partly involved with the churnet valley it has nothing to do with us what they decide to do. Its a real shame the churnet doesnt have any money to have bought just the junction to have made an amazing site. One that with a fair bit of money would (in the plan in my head) be probally the most unique in preservation

 

Wonderful to see a railway emerging from dereliction. The Road/Railer scrapes all the crap off and, behold! there's a railway underneath. A mini digger in the background of one of the shots digging out the cess will start the trackbed draining properly again. I have trained on one of those RRs and know how versatile they are and the prodigious amounts of work they can perform. It's a damn sight easier than picks and shovels!

 

It's all great news. We seem to finally be winning support from the locals too, which is great, despite them loosing a footpath through Leekbrook Junction that they have had for the last 22 years.

Re the sidings, I'd suspect that new will be laid anyway to more modern standards.
See you for the next gala !

 

Are there any public statements yet about the re-opening of Cauldon quarry, intended traffic flows, and whether and how any running powers for the CVR are likely to be accommodated?

Interesting times - but a passenger service needs traffic flows, and Ipstones is hardly the centre of the universe! But a Grosmont / Battersby style of operation wrapped around freight flows ................ all to play for!

 

From what i understand the line from leekbrook to cauldon quarry will be re opened for steam by the end of summer if all goes well, then the line from leekbrook to stoke needs to be bought back up to service.This is belived to take 18 months from what i was told. So for that time the Churnet will be able to travel east towards cauldon with out affectiing anyone.
As for the time being there are no announcements of the quarry opening. As this wont happen for 18 months to 2 years the current drivers who work there dont need to worry about jobs.
this is a map of the track plan if your not sure what the layout looks like.
http://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/mcr/

 

Wow that's fast - I assume you mean summer this year? Does that assume that much of the track in-situ is reusable? Is it possible/planned to get back into Waterhouses as well as the quarry? That would allow people to connect with the end of the Manifold Trail - ideal for family strolls, cycle hire and railway buffs wanting to explore the route of the old L&M .

 

Speaking with the CVR lads, I'd been given the impression that they are hoping to have Cauldon Low open by the end of the year in time for their November gala. However if works progressing so well they can open at the end of the summer even better! The website MCR had up as been downgraded a lot, so I presume there is still a lot going on in the background but from what I remember CVR were to be given access to all MCR metals. Shall have to wait and see but interesting times ahead definitely.

 

Goodness, I had no idea things were happening so quickly! How long exactly is the line between Leekbrook and Cauldon Low? Presumably two-train services will need to become a more frequent occurence to accomodate the extension...

 

A few things need to happen on the churnet to make this easier. For now i would expect trains to pass in the loop at leekbrook, but eventually ched's second platform needs to be re instated as the line is only connected at 1 end and not connected facing froghall, this would enable passengers to change trains at the station for the first time in years.

The line from leekbrook to cauldon is 7 1/2 miles aprox. so a really good length. There were 4 stations on the line, bradnop, ipstones, winkhill, and waterhouses where you would change for the leek and manifold light railway. The branch to waterhouses came off just before the quarry. i dont belive there are any plans to ever re build this small section as i think the track bed has long gone and would cost millions to put back.

 

Not sure about Bradnop station I (have never visited) but I think nothing remains of Ipstones station, not suprising as the passenger service was reportedly withdrawn in 1930-something!

Winkhill station building survives as a private residence (its not like we've not heard that before!), see image:



Whilst being very scenic this line has been freight only for a very long time. When did the last railtour (and therefore passengers) climb up on to these moorlands?

 

In Reply to Gav106's post above, There is no firm date set for the Cauldon Lowe section to reopen - any running on this section is subject to HMRI's inspection and there is still a lot of work to do. Obviously the steam gala in November is a nice target date and it would be great if it does happen.

One of the MCR directors is a member of this forum and will post on here once everything has been signed off by HMRI and we are in a position to start advertising a re-opening event.

Regards

Chris

 

To have two train running and a passing loop in the Leekbrook/Cheddleton station area, surely, signalling will be required. Nobody has mentioned this.

 

All of the S & T and P- way requirements for the project have analysed and actions are being implemented to accomodate what MCR and the CVR want to do in terms of running trains over the Froghall - Cauldon Lowe line.

Once HMRI has approved the work that has been done so far and ticked the boxes for the proposals to complete the line so that trains can run over it, I'm sure all of your questions will be answered.

Regards

Chris

 

I know that HMRI will, as ever, keep a watching brief but is it not now the domain of an Independent Competent Person (ICP) to oversee it, ensure the boxes are ticked and finally approve?

 

Is the forthcoming change in ROGS a factor in the rapid progress, as stated on the unoffical WHR site ........

"There is a particular reason for getting new works completed by the end of September, which applies not only to the Welsh Highland, but to all heritage railways in Britain. From October 1 the new ROGS regulations (or The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006, to give its official long winded government title), come in to full effect. For the last four years we have been in a transition period, when the old regulations could still be used. It was in part due to intensive lobbying by the Heritage Railways Association that the transition period was extended to four years. However, the deadline is now approaching and anyone not finishing the approval process for major new works by the end of September will have to start all over again. "

 

Ahh, will this apply in this case as it is not a heritage railway but a private company MCR who are going to use it as a freight line, admittedly it could also be used by the CVR but is not owned or leased by them.