Moorlands and City Railway

All the steam locos for the gala are now at the railway, fingers crossed for 5199, should be running up and down the line tomorrow.

 

5199 passed steam test just needs brakes and a cab floor !!!

 

Track at Cauldon Lowe has now been fettled and a big green pacific was seen up at Blackbrook (first every pacific up the line?) looks like everything will be ready of the Gala, only a few keys to be fitted and a couple of sleepers to be replaced.:becky:

 

Is all the paperwork complete, ie has the line got its ticket?

 

Have recently been advised that NO lineside passes will be available so is there any indication of what lineside access is possible at Leekbrook Junction where line joins MCR ?

 

from working there the last couple of months i can only note that there appears one footway alongside the track but up on the banking side of the points by the bridge,above the line and off the railways land,its well used by locals,but i couldnt tell you how to get there or whether its an official route or not.

note that the access road to leekbrook is private,and that with it being an operating railway theres very little access to lbj at present for photographs,the best views are obviously off the road bridge over the loop there,beware its a busy roadway with limited pedestrian access and dont block up the private road with cars as thats a no no.

you can get to the underbridges along the bank as theyre off public roads sso far along but with so many trees around the shots may not be that good.

basically stick to legal footpaths and please dont trespass,sorry its of little help but a search of staffs council footpaths may help in finding that footpath alongside the railway bank for a reasonable shot.

please dont trespass!, but have a good time all.

 

having had a look on google maps, there is a footpath appears to come from villa road on the stoke bit of the branch,and follows the river down to leekbrook on both sides where it then runs up the bank at the points and round the back of the water treatment station,cant find anything to say its official but it is well used by the locals.the bank is the best place to get a shot with its elevated position where the two diverging points of the trackwork are and its on the junction, as you head towards the track,you cant get access to the track there as its been fenced off where the old sidings used to be and access from leekbrook tunnel end is via a private road so once again you shouldnt go there

once again dont trespass,keep peoples driveways and roads clear and unblocked,respect the locals and have a very good weekend, hope that helps.

 

Its been suggested by more than one member that this thread had become a duplicate for the CVR/MCR re-opening gala and that some of the info/comment is being 'lost' as it were!

I dont really want to merge or lock either so if you are posting about the gala, it may help to go here;

http://railways.national-preservati...-Railways-Cauldon-Lowe-Branch-re-opening-Gala

and continue with your valued contributions. Thanks

 

Can you please keep the CVR gala chat to the CVR gala thread? Theres loads more to come from the MCR restoration of local lines and we've already had one thread closed, we dont want another one.
Thanks
Jim

 

Good point Jim. So can anyone give some kind of timetable for when work is to start on the next section, how its to be tackled etc? Plus any ideas about whats going to happen to Leekbrook Jct in the short/medium term regarding the signalbox, platform, triangle etc? The latter would presumably be quite handy for attracting charters.

Chris

 

I would imagine that the new year will see work start on the line from Leekbrook to Stoke which will take about a year to complete.

 

The Stoke section is to be started in the new year, and as has been said above is expected to take around 12months. The signalbox is owned by the Churnet Valley, though they have offered its use to MCR if they require it. If not then CVR will find a suitable use for it. The platform,nothing will be happening with it in the immediate future, and I'm not sure if anything has been decided long term either. The triangle wont go in till nearer the end of the whole MCR Project which is expected to be completed around 2014/15.

 

Firstly, congratulations to all involved. The reopening of this line is a magnificent achievement.

I haven't actually seen any pictures or videos posted of the end of the line at Cauldon Low. What is actually there in terms of trackwork? I look forward to visiting one day. I'd like to take a ride up on the DMU, to get the best views of the line (prior to steam traction).

What needs to be done in terms of making it ready for quarry trains? Does the line actually go into the quarry? Are there loading facilities? How will the line be maintained and utilised over the next 12 months or so, until the line to Stoke is reopened (allowing quarry trains to run)?

 

The second shot is looking towards Winkhill and Leekbrook, the first is towards the Quarry.

The trains are stopping in what will be the exchange sidings, where there is a runround loop but there has been insufficient time to install the point (which is by where the fence is in the first shot) hence the banking of the gala trains. As for maintenance and use for the next 12months or so, I have no idea. We shall have to wait and see.

 

Does anyone mind if I move all the posts relating to the gala over into the thread in the gala and events section and we leave this running for discussion around the railway in general and future progress?

I shall do it later today if there is no objection.

Neil.

 

Fine Neil - I'd PM'd John to the same effect. Happy shuffling! Iain

 

I wish you luck sorting the discussions into cogent threads

 

@Steamage - good points - but a shame you didn't read all the posts above about posting Gala related items in the Gala thread

 

Point taken - I've been catching up on lots of posts and replying to some as I read them them, rather than reading right to the end of the thread then trying to remember which ones I wanted to respond to. Sorry to have made your tidying-up even harder ;-)

 

Right lets get back to the real subject. Back up to the line tomorrow with sheff to assess the damage done over the weekend although don't know quite the plan yet. I'll ask how much of a success the weekend has been to both mcr and cvr. From what i have been told we Will be starting the section to stoke In January. So looking forward to going up and down on the permaquip. Its a shame that the section to stoke isn't as steep as the cauldon line as i have had great fun rolling down on a p way trolley with only the apesford crossing tin stop us