Michael Forward
I enclose another offering from a great and long day out on 6 August 1983,namely 45059 ‘Royal Engineer ‘ heading the 15.05 Paignton to Wolverhampton.
Thanks for all your work,best wishes, Michael.
Clive Smith
Mike Fenton
As you know, Mike has a record of every location of these camp coaches so it will be interesting to see whether this is one of those for which, so far, he has not found a picture.
Kind regards,
Derek
Mike Fenton gave a most interesting presentation on 'Camping Coaches' on Saturday 9th November.
Nr. Crewkerne
Bill Elston
Bristol Temple Meads
Paul Negus
Harry Patch is also seen earlier this morning at Temple Meads on the 08:24 to Cardiff Central in company with a Cross Country set destined for Glasgow which is unusually starting from Platform 1.
Best wishes, Paul Negus. Many thanks Paul - dramatic pictures.
Bodmin - Fitzgerald sidings
Julian Stephens
After travelling from Plym Valley Railway on 7th March 1992, difficulty was experienced gaining access to the Fitzgerald’s site at Walker Lines, Bodmin.
Some careful manoeuvring soon resolved the issue.
Best wishes, Julian Stephens Many thanks for your pictures Julian.
Newquay branch reopens
Report by Craig Munday
Richard Edlington from Networkrail explained the complex issues with the repair:-
The time of year the collapse took place has made the repair works particularly challenging. The only access to site was through an Environment Agency (EA) dry storage reservoir which had only recently been repaired. This restricted our access and meant we had to access through the center of the site which involved the need to install a Bailey Bridge to cross the watercourse that feeds the dam. The EA were also very concerned about the weakness of the right bank which had also suffered two minor collapses as a result of scour. This meant that any temporary works that we installed to facilitate our repair had to be cognisant of this and we also had to protect the right hand bank along its entirety. The EA set up an Incident Command center on site as if the bank was breached at its lowest point a considerable amount of water would be released which would cause extensive flooding.
The original solution was to create a dry working area using a dam with flume and 5 20” pumps. This would then allow us to install a new Redi-Rock retaining wall. This was the EA’s preference as we could isolate the area at risk. The weather conditions, however, have been atrocious and we had to remove equipment form the watercourse and clear the dam of any plant on Friday 1st November as heavy rain was coming in and it was expected that the dry storage reservoir would need to be utilised. Looking at the long range weather forecast and discussing likely water levels and flow rates with the EA it was decided on Sunday 3rd that an alternative solution needed to be progressed so that the railway could be reopened. The EA recognised the challenges and it was agreed that a piled solution would be installed. This essentially consists of 2 rows of sheet piles with tie bars linking them. This may seem excessive but the solution needed to consider hydrostatic pressure from both the river and the dam when it is in use. These works commenced on Wednesday and were completed over the weekend with the track handed back ready for start of service today.
New photos taken on 9th November show the construction work nearing completion, and the Network Rail team to replace the track would soon be signing in.
Congratuations to Network Rail and Balfour Beatty for the hard work put in and the re-opening of the line, vital for passenger traffic and of course for China Clay from Rocks Dries.