Great Western Coffee Shop

GWR have announced that due to the expected heavy snowfall due in Cornwall tomorrow (Thu 01 Mar 2018) that services to Gunnislake, Looe, Newquay and St Ives will all be cancelled with no replacement road transport in place. The only services to run will be on the Cornish Main Line and from Truro to Falmouth, albeit both with warnings of delays.

Heavy snowfall in Cornwall Thursday 01st March
With the anticipated snowfall on Wednesday and Thursday this week expected to impact branch line services in Cornwall some journeys may be affected.

Met office weather warning: Cornwall

- Wednesday 28th February

Yellow warning: Heavy snow showers are expected during today in Cornwall.

- Thursday 01st March

Yellow warning: A spell of snow, heavy in places, is likely to move slowly north through Cornwall
Amber warning: From 12:00 A spell of heavy snow is expected to move north across Southwest England and Wales

Between Plymouth and Penzance: Open
On Thursday, we plan to run the timetabled train service between Plymouth and Penzance, however please allow extra time for your journey as some journey times may be extended as a result of weather conditions.
Branch Line services

Between St Erth and St Ives: Suspended
On Thursday, we will not be able to run services between St Erth and St Ives. This is due to snow conditions affecting the points for trains to join and leave the branch line.
Between Truro and Falmouth Docks: Open
On Thursday, we plan to run the timetabled train service between Truro and Falmouth Docks.
Between Par and Newquay: Suspended
On Thursday, we are not able to run a train service between Par and Newquay. This is due to the anticipated snow conditions affecting the points for trains to join and leave the branch line.
Between Plymouth and Gunnislake: Suspended
On Thursday, we are not able to run a train service between Plymouth and Gunnislake. This is due to the anticipated snow conditions affecting the points for trains to join and leave the branch line.
Replacement road transport
Where we are unable to run a train service because of the weather, we will also be unable to use taxis or buses. Road conditions will not be safe for road transport to be used as an alternative and we advise you not to travel on these routes.

Tickets and refunds:
If you were intending to travel on the routes where the train service is suspended on Thursday, you can use your ticket regardless of ticket type for travel on Wednesday 28th February or Friday 02nd March.
Unable to travel or delayed visit our Refunds and Compensation page.

Before you travel, please allow plenty of time and use our JourneyCheck to check if your route is affected.

For more information on the impact of snow and ice on the railway, please visit Network Rail’s Delays Explained: Snow and Ice page.

They'll look right idiots if the forecasted snow doesn't materialise.

That's odd. The met Office have put out a more severe amber warning for the whole GWR area except western Cornwall and London-Reading! It starts a bit later, at 12:00, but it's still more of a reason to over-react.

.... ah - I didn't see that was mentioned until the third or fourth reading! It's probably unfair to blame GWR for that, as it does stand out better with the bold text and spacing of the original page.

But can anyone explain why that page, which presumably would contain not just those Cornish line closures but any wider disruption too, is only accessible from the home page? Neither the JourneyCheck page, nor Travel Updates, nor Live network updates, has any link nor any hint such information exists?

Why are the points to the Falmouth branch anticipated to work but not the other branches?

Points heater?

In the good old days of steam there was a steam tap on the front of the boiler alongside the smokebox door, at least there was on the steamers that I've fired and driven. To that, as a fireman, you would attach a steam lance, turn the tap on and direct the stream of superheated steam onto the points and hey presto the snow would melt away to allow the signalman to operate the points. At busy junctions and big stations, the local linemen and platelayers would be positioned, with their shovels, dressed up in their railway issue black overcoats, to dig the snow out from around the points. After one particularly bad winter (1963 ?) heated points were introduced widely. These were propane gas fired for which the linemen / platelayers had to go to the points and light the gas burners which kept the rails warm so that the snow didn't settle. Anyone remember seeing the padlocked wire cages at junctions and in large station areas housing the propane gas bottles. With the increasing introduction of MAS signalling, area power boxes, mechanised track maintainence (tampers, rail grinders, stoneblowers), use of concrete sleepers, continuous welded rail secured to sleepers with pandrol clips, this did away with the need for the linemen / platelayers to walk the tracks with their key hammers and a sack of new wooden rail keys to replace those that had worked loose and dropped out. That coupled with the increasing availability of an electric supply to the remotest of lineside relay rooms meant the gas supply could be replaced by an electricity supply but I do wonder whether point heaters are still installed as a norm on todays railway for that once in 10 year event ?

I would suspect that with global warming, money that would have been invested in things like point heaters which have become used on less days will have been diverted to other projects which have become more frequent events - such as fixing resilience issues at Dawlish (or at least writing another report on them!).

St Ives Branch re-opening soon, also possibility of the Gunnislake Branch also

 There is still the padlocked wire cage at Totnes, on the up-side by the Signal box Cafe.

  Never knew what it was for, (didn't like to show my ignorance).

St Ives gave up again before actually getting off the ground

Can remember the gas point heating outside Padd most of it was plastic pipe to the point ends which holes in it due to damage from the ballast; the sparks from the brake blocks used ignite the gas so there were lots of little flames licking out of the ballast  ;D

Modern electric point heating is a sophisticated system, there is a humidistat to measure the moisture in the air and a hot rail probe (this being close to a heating strip) and a cold rail probe (this being a set distance away from heating strips).
The basically the heating comes on when the dew point and temperatures are right to cause ice to form.  Certain areas of the UK also have snow detection, this not fitted every where because the type of conditions we currently have a not that common in many parts of the country.

The point heating controller also has a data link back to Route Control, alarms are sent if one of the heating strip fails, also says which strip its is plus if the mains fails etc   

Here in Liskeard it’s now deeper than my ankles! I don’t remember so much snow in Cornwall. My neighbours (in their 50s) reckon it’s the heaviest snow they remember here.
The attached photo was the A38 taken at 3pm near the Menheniot turning.

NOW YOU KNOW, does it still contain the reddish-orange propane gas bottles in it ?


Better get onto English Heritage pronto and inform them to place a listed building conservation order on it before Network Rail twig and remove it.

Tomorrow

Between Plymouth and Penzance
On Thursday 1 March, we plan to run the timetabled train service between Plymouth and Penzance, however please allow extra time for your journey as some journey times may be extended as a result of weather conditions.

Branch Line services
Between St Erth and St Ives: Suspended
On Thursday 1 March and Friday 2 March we will not be able to run services between St Erth and St Ives. This is due to snow conditions affecting the points for trains to join and leave the branch line.

Between Truro and Falmouth Docks: Hourly
On Thursday 1 March we will not be able to run services between Truro and Falmouth Docks. On Friday 2 March we are running an hourly train service between Truro and Falmouth Docks.

Between Par and Newquay: Suspended
On Thursday 1 March and Friday 2 March, we are not able to run a train service between Par and Newquay. This is due to the anticipated snow conditions affecting the points for trains to join and leave the branch line.

Between Liskeard and Looe: Suspended
On Thursday 1 March and Friday 2 March, we are not able to run a train service between Liskeard and Looe.

Between Plymouth and Gunnislake: Suspended
On Thursday 1 March and Friday 2 March, we are not able to run a train service between Plymouth and Gunnislake. This is due to the anticipated snow conditions affecting the points for trains to join and leave the branch line. You are advised not to travel between Plymouth and Gunnislake.

Night Sleeper 1/2 Mar 2018 Cancelled in both Directions.

Steam heat Diesel locos have a similar feature

Looks like the Newquay branch may have reopened. The points to the Newquay branch have been operating for Clay trains anyway?!

Its possible the problem may have been the manning of Goonbarrow Junction signalbox and the points there.  Its a pretty remote place to get to to and through the China Clay works.