Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 10th Anniversary: Looking To The Past & Future

Very true. But, how do you deal with the situation that a railway has 9 tenths of a stretch of line, but one owner right in the middle refuses to sell, perhaps just a hundred yards or so where there is no possible alternative routing? I gather this has occurred on other lines. If a TWAO has been awarded for a line like the L&B with dozens of different land-owners, then the order is fairly meaningless if there are no CPO powers, albeit to be used only in the very last resort.

 

Has any preserved railway been granted compulsory purchase powers in the past and if so have they ever been used?

 

Welsh Highland used them extensively during Phase 3 or 4, if I remember correctly (I might not)? I agree there is a risk of heavily alienating the community by using CPO powers. Despite the overwhelming benefits to Exmoor and the South West in general, both economically and environmentally, many people will only ever see a revised L&B as men playing with steam trains.

The house in question used to be semi-open to the public as I remember visiting there as a very young lad to have a cream tea and watch the garden railway. It is/was a lovely spot!

 

L&B Press Release:
Exmoor success story - Busiest year ever for the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway has had its most successful year to date.

For 2014 we introduced three rebuilt original heritage carriages dating from 1897 and 1911 and these have been a real hit with the travelling public. During the last 12 months 46,000 passengers travelled on the railway, with numbers 26% up on 2013 and 43% up on 2012 - impressive figures clearly indicating the railway’s strong attraction for visitors and enthusiasts alike.

Our ongoing success already provides clear and sustained benefits for many other local businesses in the North Devon and Exmoor area.

The receipts and passenger numbers not only eclipse several other well-established heritage railways but also exceed the original railway’s traffic figures prior to its closure in 1935.

The increase in visitor numbers has resulted in a growth in income of 29%, producing a very useful financial surplus which has been used to boost the funds for a planned extension of the railway.

A planning application for a five-mile extension to the line will be submitted in the next few months. When that extension is operational, the benefit to the local economy is predicted to be in excess of £5M per year.

Thank you everyone for your continued support of the project to reinstate the legendary Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

 

Thanks Felix for sharing that great news with us all!

On behalf of us 'armchair supporters' of the L & B I propose a massive vote of thanks to all those volunteers who week after week, month after month, year after year, have done so much and continue to do so much to get the line to this stage.

Examples of some of that work will be found here http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/story/work-progress-5th-february-0 and here http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/story/january-working-weekend-latest-photo-update

We now look forward to 2015!

Mike Pearce

 

Almost every day I look to see if the planapp. has been submitted. I've been doing this since November 2013 and I'm getting worried that there is a problem.

The latest forecast for submission is 'a few months' or ' May'. The suspense is killing..

 

As I understand it, the 'problem' is the sheer size and ever increasing scope of the various documents required. We need to remember that not many railways have been built across Exmoor National Park so we are very much regarded as a precedent!

It will be interesting to see how many pages are eventually submitted!

Mike Pearce

 

Not a problem - but there's always seems to be some extra report that is suddenly needed and these take time. Ask the Corris - they've had similar delays on their southern extension (not helped by local government boundary changes etc)!

 

Okay ta. I'll retain my sense of optimism..

 

When I spoke to one of the leading lights of the L&B (who is probably reading this - hello!) at the Autumn Gala, his view was that Exmoor National Park have never had to deal with a planning application so large and varied as this one, so keep 'setting the bar' higher to ensure nothing is missed; both sides want to get it right first time.

The press release is a good bit of PR and the numbers are going in the right direction (even if they aren't double those of a similar railway which runs half the days per year the L&B does). Playing devil's advocate it would be interesting to know how much the coal and maintenance bill has gone up with heavier stock, and to what extent the railway is reliant on the frequent bargain rate coach parties just to get some 'bums on seats'....

 

It just needs one member of one of those coach parties to prove to be the benevolent billionaire who puts his or her hand in their pocket to foot the bill for the extension!

Mike Pearce

 

'Benevolent billionaire' is an oxymoron..

 

Well Bill Gates is pretty eleemosynary, though maybe his software is not always benevolent! Don't think he's in to railways either? Does Warren Buffet like narrow gauge we wonder....

 

"oxomoron": idiot who eats stock cubes ....

 

Ouch!

Seriously though, the railway preservation movement has, almost from the beginning, depended on wealthy individuals, from the likes of Alan Pegler right through to Jeremy Hosking. Rich people aren't necessarily evil!

 

I think once the L&B is going from somewhere, to somewhere, it'll be propelled into another league. Blackmoor Gate to Woody Bay, with a stop at Paracombe for a pub lunch, seems like a wonderful trip

 

The great thing about this group is that every now and then some one will come up with a bit of interesting news, all I can say is that it is not all down to getting a CPO in place, there are so many things going on in the background which take time to achieve, please continue to have faith as it will all happen, what I would suggest is to start saving your money as the L&BR will be needing it soon enough. If you can or want to help out behind the scenes why not contact the Trust directly and ask, I am sure they will give you all the answers you need to make up your mind.

Colin

 

Colin is right - while getting the Planning Permission and TWAO should open up some funding from various bodies, the railway will still need a lot of support. Maybe people could think about buying some shares, taking out a few 100 club memberships, sponsoring items for 'Lyn', or buying trust memberships for friends and family??

 

L&B Joffre locomtove 'Axe' has been repainted into lined green - and very nice it looks too
See: http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/story/work-progress-2nd-april

 

All she needs now is a nice brass dome ;-)