Great Western Coffee Shop

2 Bere Alston and Calstock Light Railway under its Act of 1902, adopting East Cornwall Mineral Railway and using its gauge. 1905 gauge authorised to be standard. Opened 1908

6) I'll take a punt at the St.Budeaux stations, Victoria Road and Ferry Road

3 - Fishguard harbour

10 - Angerstein Foot Crossing.

Not though, as oft quoted, the only foot crossing in Greater London.

Indeed - though they are pretty rare.  Think I've seen reference to one other??

4.  I'll guess Class 317 on the BedPan line.  The service was delayed for a year as the unions didn't want OMO (as it was then), so they started running in 83, though had been built between 81 and 82.

5. Goa station on the Heathrow branch, the project named it Goa because the railway service to Heathrow was a goer, service was run with 165/6.  The reason for the temporary station was due to the collapse of the spray concrete tunnel in the CTA 

Guess I should say "one answer each" until the end of Easter.

How do you define that? 
[pedant mode=on]
Liturgically speaking the Easter season lasts 7 weeks for Easter Sunday to Pentecost.  Do you really mean that?
[/pedant mode=off]

No7. Was that the unit known as Casper ?.

I've got another idea but that will have to wait until Monday.

To clarify - "one answer each" should really read "one correct answer" each ... members who have come up with an incorrect guess can keep trying (within reason - oh help that is hard to define).

1. Not sure it quite fits, but how about the Manchester and Milford Haven line.  At the southern end it is the route into Carmarthen(1) Station. Further north is the Standard Gauge Gwilli (2) Railway. At the Northernmost end the rout into Aberystwyth (3) Station has been taken over by the Vale of Rheidol (4) railway.  On the Newcastle Emlyn (5) branch there is also a narrow gauge line.  

(1) Why does spell check want to make that Earthenware?
(2) Why does spell check want to make that Willing?
(3) Why does spell check want to make that Abernathy?
(4) Why does spell check want to make that Idolater?
(5) Why does spell check want to make that Seemly?

150261 might have been the last single car unit on the Transwilts .

Err... reply #7. ;)

Ok then and having re read the question the unit in question used to be named The Tarka Line 150261.

Since I don't have your source for no. 9, I shall have to guess. One guinea sounds about right - third class, naturally.

1. Ruabon-Barmouth: (Llangollen Railway (preserved standard gauge), Bala Lake Railway (preserved narrow gauge), Barmouth Jct (Morfa Mawddach)-Barmouth (NR)

 

I am ... tempted ... to raise the question of "preserved" v "heritage" v "tourist"; I chose in the question to use "heritage" for the Llangollen railway and "tourist" for the Bala Lake. To my mind, a "preserved railway" is one with the tracks in situ from the days prior to it becoming a heritage or tourist attraction, though I suppose there are preserved elements in place on the Llangollen railway at some stations and in the rolling stock, and even on the Bala Lake at Llanuwchllyn's station buildings.

That would have been a perfect answer for first class!

4. The first trains in the country to be fitted with retention toilets. On what route? In what year were they fitted?

Are you sure that's 1st class?  I mean, it wasn't just a wild guess!

Interesting that the first class fare is 1.5 * 3rd (standard) class fare consistently across the table.  Compare that today from Reading to Paddington where the respective fares are £44.90 and £25.10 nearly a ratio of 1.8, and three years ago - before the first class price freeze* - it was in excess of 2!

*very quietly introduced such that even the ticket staff didn't know.

Just 2 questions remaining ...

4. The first trains in the country to be fitted with retention toilets. On what route? In what year were they fitted?

8. Summer 1952 departures at 06:25, 07:25, 08:25, 09:00, 10:30, 12:20, 13:12, 14:20, 15:13 (Saturday only), 17:00, 17:35, 19:05, 21:00, 22:05 and 23:10 (Wednesdays and Saturdays only). 11:05, 17:25, 19:15, 20:20, 21:34 and 22:33 on Sundays.   From where?

And an incorrect guess at no. 4 has suggested that the answer is prior to 1983, and is not the appropriately named BED-PAN line with class 317 - suggestion by celestial.

No 4 - I think! - is the Southend Corridor Express, on the London Tilbury & Southend ("Misery") Line. Introduced circa 1910. http://citytransport.info/Compartment.htm

From 1910 to 1939, the District line operated a seasonal excursion train to the Essex resort town of Southend.

The trains ran on the usual route through east London to Upminster, before carrying on to Leigh-on-Sea, then Southend Central and Shoeburyness. It was possible to take one train all the way from Ealing Broadway to the mouth of the River Thames.

Services ran up to three times a day. As a curious footnote, these were the first trains in the country to be fitted with retention toilets.

8. Summer 1952 departures at 06:25, 07:25, 08:25, 09:00, 10:30, 12:20, 13:12, 14:20, 15:13 (Saturday only), 17:00, 17:35, 19:05, 21:00, 22:05 and 23:10 (Wednesdays and Saturdays only). 11:05, 17:25, 19:15, 20:20, 21:34 and 22:33 on Sundays.   From where?

Calne by any chance?

Yes - you just needed a hint to guess.   A service the plummeted rapidly in the early 1960s from good to total closure.   Had it survived, MetroWest would - surely - be carrying on from Bath via Corsham and Chippenham to Stanley Bridge (if it had survived), Black Dog, and Calne.

Angerstein Wharf crossing has had, according to local press, a temporary reprieve. https://charltonchampion.co.uk/2019/04/11/threatened-angerstein-wharf-foot-crossing-gets-temporary-reprieve/

The highest risk level crossing in South East London is set to be closed after a series of safety incidents.

An alternative route for people using Angerstein footpath level crossing, in Charlton, is identified in plans announced by Network Rail today.

The crossing is used by nearly 700 people a day,  and recent near misses include a person carrying a baby, walking along the line to the next station, children playing on the track and assorted trespass incidents which have required train drivers to apply their emergency brakes.

[snip]

Network Rail is now proposing an alternative route which would divert those wishing to cross the line along a 240-metre diversion or an approximately 4-minute walk, via Farmdale Road and Fairthorn Road. The alternative walking route is step-free, so will not exclude members of the public who are currently unable to access the footpath crossing.

I find myself reading the final half of the final sentence and wonder if that could be said without a double negative.   "The alternative route is step free and so will be available to those who cannot access the current crossing". Are they looking for a positive spin onto the story for people who use the crossing daily. 4 minutes (each way on a round trip, 5 days a week) adds up to over 30 hours a year.  700 transits a day (350 return trips?) suggests that each year, taking the diversion will take a year of people's time. 
  

Back in May, Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s Route Director for Kent, said: “We have announced today our intention to close Angerstein level crossing near Charlton due to the safety risk it poses to users, passengers and our rail colleagues.

The local MP has got involved - suggesting that Network Rail actually publish their work showing that it's their "most dangerous crossing in Kent".

From This is local London (https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/19399149.mp-wants-answers-charltons-angerstein-crossing-closure/) ... long article but I was struck by

I would love to know what the "safety risk to passengers" is on a freight branch.  Me thinks Ms Taylor both protest too much!

Angerstein Wharf crossing: Network Rail sorry after wrongly claiming footpath was most dangerous

Charlton Champion exclusive: Network Rail has apologised after wrongly claiming that the Angerstein Wharf railway crossing, which it wants to close, was the most dangerous in its Kent region.

The Charlton Champion revealed in May that the state-owned track company has revived plans to close the footpath over the freight branch line, which links streets in Charlton with a footbridge to Westcombe Park station.

At the time, it claimed that the crossing over the single-track line was “currently registered as the most dangerous of nearly 350 level crossings which we operate in Kent”.

However, after The Charlton Champion asked for the data that its statement was based on, Network Rail has withdrawn the claim – admitting that it is actually the 34th most dangerous crossing in the region.

There are also seven more dangerous foot crossings in the Kent region, it admitted.

Network Rail said that it was, in fact, “the highest risk footpath in south-east London” – however, there are no other foot crossings like it in south-east London. The track company did not respond to a request for clarification.

“Angerstein Footpath Crossing is ranked 8th out of the 162 footpath crossings in Kent and 34th out of 341 crossings in Kent. It is the highest risk footpath in South East London, not in Kent – the statement was a miscommunication on our press release and we apologise for any confusion caused,” Network Rail said in response to a request made under freedom of information laws.

A Network Rail press release – which was not sent to us at the time – calls the path “the most dangerous level crossing in south east London”. However, there is only one other level crossing on a Network Rail line in south east London, a mile away at Charlton Lane.

“Charlton Lane is ranked 43rd out of 341 for level crossing risk in Kent; however Charlton Lane is a fully protected, full barrier manned crossing which is one of the highest levels of protection for a level crossing,” it said.

The Charlton Champion has also obtained a spreadsheet of incidents at the crossing since January 2018.

While Network Rail claimed there had been “many incidents where drivers of trains had to apply their emergency brakes to avoid people on the track”, only one such incident had been recorded – on 28 November 2019, when a driver reported someone crossing as the train approached. Almost a year earlier, a driver told control room staff that someone had crossed after being told not to, but there was no report of brakes being applied.

A broken gate was one of the 13 incidents recorded at the crossing

In total, thirteen incidents were recorded, including seven trespass incidents with people seen on the line; one woman apparently carrying a baby in her arms and trying to access Westcombe Park station, another where youths were seen throwing rocks at cars on Bugbsy’s Way.

Others had little to do with its use as a crossing: a track worker was cut by a syringe inserted into a handrail in March 2019, the following month vandalism to a fence was reported, while in February 2020 it was reported that a recently-installed safety gate had come off its hinge.

The final incident was a “concern for welfare” when a driver saw “two teenage boys hanging around the foot crossing” – one which may raise eyebrows for any residents who grew up in the area and may have done the same themselves.

Network Rail did not respond to a request for further comment.

The crossing, originally built for farm workers in the 1850s, has grown in importance in recent years with the development of new housing on the old Thorn Lighting site between Victoria Way and Fairthorn Road. The newer Bowen Drive development off Victoria Way, which welcomed its first residents last year, offers a direct link to Gurdon Road and the crossing.

Two weeks ago Greenwich & Woolwich MP Matt Pennycook asked Network Rail for detailed evidence to back up its assertions that the footpath, which is one of just a handful of crossings, is unsafe.

The letter came after the track company held a consultation meeting with local residents, which Pennycook said had been followed by “uniformly negative feedback”.

In February 2018, Network Rail closed a footpath across the railway at Stone Crossing, east of Dartford and replaced it with a new footbridge. However, at the Angerstein crossing, it is expecting the 675 daily passengers to reroute via Woolwich Road to reach Westcombe Park.

Plans to close Angerstein Wharf foot crossing have been cancelled by Network Rail, people who live close to the branch line will be told at a meeting this evening.

The historic crossing over a single-track freight line, one of the last of its kind left in London, connects residents in and near Fairthorn Road, Charlton, with Farmdale Road in east Greenwich and a footbridge over the A102 to Westcombe Park station.

Network Rail had initially planned to close the crossing in 2019 as part of a resignalling programme. But it faced a wave of opposition from local residents and Matt Pennycook, the local MP, and the track company backed away and announced a review of the proposal.

About 675 people use the crossing each day, and they would have been expected to reroute via Woolwich Road had the crossing been closed.

When the proposal was revived in May, Network Rail claimed that the crossing was the most dangerous in its Kent region. However, The Charlton Champion revealed two months later that this claim was false – and there were actually 33 other crossings that were more dangerous.

Network Rail amended its claim to state that the crossing was the most dangerous in south-east London – however, there are no other crossings like it in south-east London.

News that the closure has been cancelled emerged in an email from Matt Pennycook to those involved in the campaign to save the crossing.

“It would appear that, as a result of the collective pressure we exerted, an independent review was commissioned by Network Rail which concluded that there are sufficient grounds in this case to disapply the national algorithm that the organisation uses to determine safety risk at individual crossings,” Pennycook said.

“As such, Network Rail are content to treat Angerstein as an exception to their general policy vis-à-vis such crossing closures.”

The crossing, originally built for farm workers in the 1850s, has grown in importance in recent years with the development of new housing on the old Thorn Lighting site between Victoria Way and Fairthorn Road. The newer Bowen Drive development off Victoria Way, which welcomed its first residents last year, offers a direct link to Gurdon Road and the crossing.

Network Rail has been contacted for comment. It is due to hold a meeting with neighbours this evening to discuss the findings of its review.