Great Western Coffee Shop

Journey by Journey => Plymouth and Cornwall => Topic started by: Palfers on June 14, 2015, 19:46:10



Title: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Palfers on June 14, 2015, 19:46:10
is it me or is this branch line getting really over grown the amount of trees and bushes that crash along the train certainly wouldn't stick your head out the window on a hst ouch. hmm maybe it's where the Eden project is expanding to. soon we will be looking out for a lesser spotted 153 approaching the stations!


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 14, 2015, 20:36:16
Triffids, possibly?  :P ::) :o


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Palfers on June 14, 2015, 20:51:40
what they need is a rail grinder to go along the track when it's all bone dry start some fires then job done!! (maybe not one of my best ideas)


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 14, 2015, 20:59:11
In the days of frequent steam trains passing along any length of track, encroaching undergrowth was regularly scorched back out of range - and at no extra cost to the railways, incidentally.  ::)


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: rower40 on June 15, 2015, 10:14:40
I've heard the Senior Conductor of a Cross-country (*) HST on that line give an announcement along the lines of "This is a very narrow line.  Please don't put your head out of the windows because the bridges are so close that you will get your head taken off."

This could have been 10-20 years ago.  (* "Cross-Country" therefore meaning "routed towards Birmingham" rather than "operated by Arriva Cross-Country TOC.")

Maybe the overgrown vegetation works as a cheaper version of a carriage washer.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Thatcham Crossing on June 15, 2015, 13:28:13
Good job the linespeed on that branch is so low....the Cornish traffic must be faster than taking an HST from Par to Newquay.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: rower40 on June 15, 2015, 13:47:28
Good job the linespeed on that branch is so low....the Cornish traffic must be faster than taking an HST from Par to Newquay.
Until the A30 was dualled from Indian Queens to the end of the Bodmin Bypass, that wasn't the case on Summer Saturdays.  I vividly recall being on a double-headed-Class-50-hauled train over Goss Moor, overtaking hundreds of cars snarled up in "trying to get home after a Summer Holiday" mode.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Western Pathfinder on June 15, 2015, 14:06:20
Good job the linespeed on that branch is so low....the Cornish traffic must be faster than taking an HST from Par to Newquay.
Until the A30 was dualled from Indian Queens to the end of the Bodmin Bypass, that wasn't the case on Summer Saturdays.  I vividly recall being on a double-headed-Class-50-hauled train over Goss Moor, overtaking hundreds of cars snarled up in "trying to get home after a Summer Holiday" mode.

Oh yes the good old run to or from the sun !.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Palfers on June 15, 2015, 17:55:56
I rember a couple of years ago a hst failed going up through the Luxulyan valley it had to crawl back to par where the train terminated well you can guess what par is like on a Sunday afternoon nobody about! the guy working at Newquay had to jump in a taxi with us stuck at Newquay travel back to par to try and arrange road replacement unfortunate for the passengers as there was a lot of them needing to get to Newquay. another thing about par Is there is only one toilet! you can imagine the que that can form!


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Witham Bobby on July 06, 2015, 12:33:58
Having travelled from Par to Newquay and back last week, on a shabby, if punctual, DMU, I can confirm that the vegetation along the line is encroaching in very many places.  I was shocked.  Obviously this is the result of years of neglect, and it's not unique to the Newquay branch line.  I noticed one place where PW staff were cutting back some of the timber near one of the level crossings, but to clear the whole line will need much greater resources.  There was practically no view from the train into the surrounding countryside for many miles of route.  The total disappearance, for example, of the site of St Dennis Junction, under a mass of vegetation, is evidence enough to my mind of a very casual attitude towards preventative maintenance of the infrastructure.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: JayMac on July 06, 2015, 13:57:20
Thank you for that recent insight Witham Bobby, and a very warm welcome to the forum.  :)


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Palfers on July 06, 2015, 17:48:12
I wonder if they give out warnings on the summer hsts not to stick your head out the window! I would be afraid of losing my glasses then I wouldn't see much at all!


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: woody on July 06, 2015, 20:42:25
Even on the main line between Plymouth and Newton Abbot vegetation is allowed to regularly grow right up to and touch passing trains. Last week I was on a HST that "brushed" against the vegetation on at least three occasions here. Its a regular problem particularly in the west bound direction near Totnes station. If Network rail cant control overgrown vegetation on the main line what hope is there for branch lines. As "Witham Bobby" says far too much of the view from a train is now obscured by an almost non stop "wall" of green vegetation just inches from your face where once there were pleasant views of the South Devon Country. All hell would break loose if this were allowed to happen on our trunk roads but seemingly the railways are allowed to get away with it. But it doesn't give a good impression of a modern well maintained railway does it.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: LiskeardRich on July 06, 2015, 21:23:08
I travelled the branch on Saturday, I think there was more places the Hst was scraping the bushes than not.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: Palfers on July 31, 2015, 21:11:06
I will be travelling to Newquay tomorrow is the line still very much like a jungle? will I need to take a saw to cut my way through?


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: chrisr_75 on August 01, 2015, 00:59:57
All hell would break loose if this were allowed to happen on our trunk roads but seemingly the railways are allowed to get away with it. But it doesn't give a good impression of a modern well maintained railway does it.

It does happen on our trunk roads - there seems to be barely a road sign in the country that isn't partially obscured by vegetation at the moment and the rest are mainly in need of a good clean.

I wonder if they give out warnings on the summer hsts not to stick your head out the window! I would be afraid of losing my glasses then I wouldn't see much at all!

I thought most train companies generally recommend you don't stick your head out of the window at any time whilst the train is moving, for exactly the reason that there might be vegetation or other rather less forgiving objects which could interfere with the integrity of your cranium and it's soft, grey contents?!



Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: martyjon on July 01, 2017, 13:54:00
For the want of posting on a relative thread ;-

11:30 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:31 will be terminated at Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Totnes, Newton Abbot, Exeter St Davids, Reading and London Paddington.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Surely ONE service which should not be cancelled.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: LiskeardRich on July 01, 2017, 14:34:41
Ran with only a small handful of people I suspect. I caught the 1323 Newquay to Plymouth 150/153/153 combo  which connects to a hst at Par, and had an entire 150 carriage to myself.


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: TaplowGreen on July 01, 2017, 16:12:01
For the want of posting on a relative thread ;-

11:30 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:31 will be terminated at Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Totnes, Newton Abbot, Exeter St Davids, Reading and London Paddington.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Surely ONE service which should not be cancelled.

............were the staff in question unavoidably delayed on the beach?  ;)


Title: Re: Newquay branch the jungle line
Post by: chuffed on July 01, 2017, 16:30:27
Given the complaints about the encroaching vegetation on this line, I suspect the staff were delayed on the beech ...after all, it is a branch line !.



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