Mid Hants Parry People Mover

Now there's a thought...

 

When it was at Medstead for a very short time, it had the nickname of "The no goco".

Shame really as it was a good idea in theory but a total disaster in practice.

Regards
Chris

 

Not sure what the PW dept would think of that! Always struck me that a Park and Ride at Ropley made more sense.....
M4M station is quite a long way from Four Marks and all the new stuff opposite the Travelodge, and building is more likely away from the A31 towards Telegraph Lane. Trouble with Park and Ride is once you are in your car, you just feel like staying in it!
Now what about a nice push pull with a crompton and a 4TC?

 

Why talk about the Bedpan unit (an appropriate nicname!) There is a perfectly good Hampshire Unit in full working order as proven on Sunday . Go passengers want to be warm and get to where they need to get to ! Not see where they are going.. The only good thing going for Dmmus ...

 

Oh! I wish I'd known that the Hampshire unit was out and about, I'd have been over there like a shot! The official website doesn't have the unit out until late April!

 

It was a last minute replacement for a poorly Wadebridge. I thought 34007 sounded a bit rough coming out of Alresford, sort of like an English Electric product, then the Thumper appeared!

 

Now here's a thought - could a concept such as a single car DMU and minimal signalling (two long sections) have saved the entire Mid Hants from closure in the first place? Imagine a two train service between Alton and the WInchester bay platform with a driver + conductor guard collecting fares on board and all stations unstaffed. A crossover at Alresford and a new station halt at Springvale? It's not glamourous but such a stripped down operation could have saved a lot of lines from closure including the Andover - Romsey and probably Gosport -Fareham as well. The modernisation plan DMUs would have given way to 153 sprinters in the nineties and today would be a realtively fast service travelling at 60mph between stations.
The PPM is an experiment too late with the wrong hardware and a line speed of 25mph which is never going to attract commuters. Brave but foolhardy and doomed to failure.

 

It probably could have been - it lasted into the 70s, in a growing commuter land. I imagine however that key to its survival would have been it going onto the juice, which would have maintained its secondary through route status for emergencies and suchlike. But that's a 'what if' scenario.

 

Interesting that CoCo are proposing to use Class 141 for their commuter trains. Is there a mass repatriation from Iran or Holland on the cards or are these new builds because AFAIK there are non on the market.

 

Does the Weardale have much use for theirs now? That would seem the obvious source.

Chris

 

No, neither are available. One is owned by the Weardale Trust and is currently OOU with one gearbox missing. The other is only on hire to them and is normally based at Midland Railway, and no approach has been made for it by CoCo or anyone else.

 

I fear it was road politics and BR not wanting the service to suceeed. The M3 would have required a costly rail bridge for the line and BR changed round the timings and unit allocations to make it more costly . There is also the oil at Holybourne that could have bought added revenue to the line as it now has to travel round in circles to get to Fawley ...But that came 5 years to late .

Lots of what ifs however where would preservation in Hampshire be if the Mid Hants hadnt closed as Longmoor was long gone ??? .

 

Meon Valley, such a shame that never took off.

 

There is still hope!

 

Some ex Longmoor stock did turn up at Alresford in the early days ... however None of it would have been suitable as a Parry People Mover replacement ! . .. It will be interesting to see what turns up of note on the Go news letter it mentions stock from abroard...? Ex Irish 2900 Class DMUs re guaged . These are only 18 or so years old but were not the best shall we say .

 

I was lucky enough to attend an Open Day at Longmoor in 1969 - it was very well attended and may have turned out to be the last. One of David Shepherd's books describes the attempt to save Longmoor - hysterical local residents (not the Army!) blocked it. A shame because there was plenty of infrastructure already in place; it would have been ideal, but Mid Hants is a very acceptable substitute.

Perfection would have been Longmoor as a preservation project with extension over the Bordon branch so as to join the network at both ends and maybe some through Bulleid Pacific hauled trains from London etc joining the preserved line at one end and leaving at the other to go to Portsmouth or thereabouts; and the Mid-Hants surviving as a useful alternative route to Southampton as well as serving the local community on a year round basis.

Dreaming is free of charge!

 

Ah! That makes me feel better, I'd hate to have missed a scheduled turn as I was actually footloose and fancy free last Sunday!