Peak Rail at Matlock.

ive let some of our members know on the forum and will let our boss know tommorow,it used to be easy if a long walk to riverside,like you say the bypass has made some big changes which will need to be addressed

il let you know what i find out

respects for your opinion,after all you are all our bread n butter!!

keep em flowing

dom

the concreting for the new box base at darley crossing is in,the box is almost done, the ex bamford box will hopefully be moved up to rowsley in the new year and the sheds almost done now too!

yippeee very happy!!

 

In fairness I might have misunderstood the directions from the NR station, I now appreciate the significance of the words "...as if you are going back to the town centre", because presumably you walk along the riverbank beteen the river and the new A6 from the "town" end, and I assume there is pedestrian access UNDER the A6 just before the Northern-end roundabout, just before the Peak Rail station....I'll know next time!

Doesn't alter the fact that the PR station is now rather isolated from Matlock town and the bus/rail station.

I wonder if using the disused platform at the NR station would require top-and-tail working for PR?

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l

 

must admit ive not been down there since the store building started.

top n tail is a primary option,there are others,who knows maybe NR will surprise us and come up with something really usefull to us,the final decision rests with o.r.r/h.m.r.i

dom

 

update on shed
looks great
http://www.peakrail.co.uk/news.htm

 

Thatnks for the link. What a pity only one photo, and no words. Why do Peak Rail "hide their light under a bushel"?

Is the shed no longer a through shed? Is rail access at the turntable end or the other end?

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It is good to see someone being honest about the difficulties of getting Peak Rail into Matlock. There are serious technical, planning, and legal hurdles to overcome. If Peak Rail can meet the necessary quality control standards, the question will be whether the company can a) afford the capital cost b) generate enough extra income to meet the extra overheads. I see the Spa Valley Railway are quoting a possible cost of £500k for a similar project. Has any realistic figure been worked out yet?

Our Mutual friend Steve was not involved in the proposals at any time. His help was offered but refused; if he had been it is unlikely that Peak Rails initial submission would have been rejected on technical grounds. I firmly believe there were alternatives which could have been tried.

Back in 2002 the management promised in absolute terms that the trains would run in 2003. We now have the same promise that trains will run in 2008. We get the same promise every year.

Tim

 

just finnished rlwy magazine in my local libary and it says that the loco shed should be finnished by october (due to £66,000 extra money) and the turntable should be in use by september, has this been done yet?

 

well said tim, (tim knows me so he can elaborate on the finer points of schemes etc!)

cost wise is interesting and unkown at present ,this depends upon mainly network rail who have yet to decide if they accept the proposal or not or whether they can put forward an even better design which makes theyre life and ours even easier (very wishfull thinking it would be)

nowadays its not so much a case of them refusing point blank, the ORR has sway over all railways to accept better cooperation for transport mobility schemes etc (section 17 and 22) a lot of reading and many asprins if you can get through it in one sesion.

theres two probabilities with signalling design;;;do what br/nr would do and pay for the points to go in between the two tunnels and use the token machine (problems if this fails as it stitches both operators up and costs losts)

or

option two;;; come up with a simple segregated method of operation based on the principles of other shared railways such as wensleydale-nymr-spa valley etc and get a reasonable plan in that way which NR takes away and hones to its perfection, cost wise though!!!

track installation and resignalling cost a lot,which the company will undoubtedly have to plan for,i wouldnt have thought they didnt already have thought of this as i have mentioned it in the proposal.

part of the trackwork bed works-ironically has been done through other works for NR benefit only but in the end until they come back with a yes,no or maybe we will have to await the costings, i think the large cost for the spa valley railway includes a great deal of money for the level crossing upgrade works,which are fantastically expensive, the actual trackworks and safety case seem to be the cheaper part of the scheme....

at least they cant say the line cannot be upgraded to passenger working etc as the original BR did with us at buxton and all the other reasons which never arised!!!

on the shed front most of the exterior is on,the brickwork is going up on the station side and as for the turntable its progressing well, the brickwork at the base is the last bit of the works being done now and some inspection work to complete before it can be signed into use.

hope it helps.

dom

 

here i am sat at work again looking through scheme plans wondering where the money goes(gold plated office chairs at 700 quid a piece)

on another thought while tims on

tims progressing quite well with the wagon fleet at rowsley and he could do with some assistance as like me were down mostly every weekend working on our respected projects so come on anyone fancy helping him out, theres some very nice waggons still to do!!and itd be nice to see a mixed rake running on the next gala day!!

come on peeps

dom

 

from the webcams, wow matlocks changed!
anyway i remember going before the development and know the goods shed was taken down, what is the future of the shed?

 

I recall a comment on the Peak Rail website that the stone was recovered from the demolished goods shed and transported up the line for storage for use on future projects as required.

Equally I think the rail, sleepers, and ballast were recovered for future use, in a fairly narrow window of opportunity agreed with the contractors.

More NR track appears to have been laid Northwards since the weekend when I was there.

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That last time i went to Rowsley the stone was in storage. From the new A6 road you get a good view of the end of the PR loop at Riverside. It lokks like contractors are still doing the groundworks on the land that i assume will become the link between PR and NR.

 

The number 2 webcam on the Sainsburys Matlock website now show the Network Rail buffer-stop, with no physical connection to Peak Rail. The new A6 road has meant the reinstated NR line North of Matlock (NR) station is on a different alignment. Peak Rail's Matlock Riverside station is on the original alignment.
I suspect that NR have put in what I assume is a substantial loop alongside Sainsbury's so that if or when the Ambergate-Matlock line is upgraded, they have the facility to hold and run-round a decent length train north of the station.

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as part of the original land sale agreement between the network operator and the Office of Rail Regulator, the loop had to be designed to allow at least a ten coach train,that was set in stone a long time ago,however the network operator then changed what was said and could not gaurantee that the loop would be able to fit that length,it appears that the new alignment goes back to the original promise however the line is in the original place as per the plans submitted when sainsbury`s went ahead which allowed for the alignment to be moved over(hence the digging out of the hill next to riverside)

which meant that riverside would eventually have to be moved over(its been temporary as long as ive known) well temp perm!?!?

there may be more works yet in the area of riverside for the housing developments,we will have to await the plans for that to appear for the housing developments to see how that end of the old quarry will look in the future

hope that info helps somewhat

 

Good to see "Royal Pioneer" this week on the Sainsburys webcam running round at Matlock Riverside, alongside NR people assembling track at the top of the new NR loop.

(Was "Royal Pioneer" previously "Warrington" in another life?)

How long before Peak Rail have more than one steam locomotive to run their regular services?

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Correct,'Pioneer' was 'Warrington' previously,when it carried a rather odd shade of Maroon to match the coaching stock :-k
Work is being concentrated on the overhaul of the RSH 0-6-0 'Zebedee',with boiler work now quite advanced,although the boiler was fortunately in quite good condition when inspected.The main work is in the frames,with the tyres needing re-profiling,or a new set,and plenty of work to do within the frames.Much work has also been put into replacing alot of metal in the cab.Hopefully a return sometime next year?

 

Latest pictures on the Peak Rail Web Site show clearly the relationship between the old and new formations.

http://www.peakrail.co.uk/news.htm

 

There does not appear to be any obvious means of connecting the new NR line to Peak Rail (photo top right on link) but maybe nothing more than a bit of "landscaping" necessary in the future.
Going up there in a couple of weeks so will take a closer look, and ask around at the shop.(on Matlock station).

Webcam shows point (switch)at top of NR loop now being built.

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The plan on Network rail side is to "finish with just one length missing" so when that the necessary approvals have been made it will be relativelly easy to connect the two railways. However I feel that the easiest part will be the physical connection. The hardest bit will be all of the paperwork, approvals, fund raising etc...

 

I've been looking at the webcam and it's a bit hard to tell, but if your Riverside station was moved over to connect to the NR alignment would you have to have a shorter loop on your section?

Ralph