The 17:50 Gloucester to Westbury (instead of Southampton Central because of the landslip) service was cancelled throughout owing to disruption from the incident at Keynsham earlier.

The location is just the Romsey side of Milford curve, where the line runs out on an embankment at the start of the climb up to Alderbury. There was a defect reported a month or two ago where the Up Dean line was reported to be slightly out of alignment. Earthwork engineers attended and reported issues with the embankment. A 20 mph ESR^▸ (Emergency Speed Restriction ) was put in place on the up line. A full inspection has been impossible as the field at the foot of the up side of the embankment has been flooded since before the initial defect was reported. Following another driver reporting further voiding today, it has been found that the embankment has deteriorated further, resulting in the line being closed completely. This will likely take a long time to repair owing to the flooding at the foot of the embankment.

I have heard that the Down Dean line will be assessed for opening to traffic as a matter of priority for multiple units only with locomotive movements prohibited. This will allow Single Line Working to be implemented between Laverstock South Junction crossover and the East Grimstead ground frame and crossover.

When the railway was constructed at Cowley Bridge, the Exe was diverted for a short distance to its current channel that runs adjacent and parallel to the north side of the railway on the eastern approach to Cowley Bridge Junction. I was wondering whether the channel mentioned by Stuving was the former natural course of the river?

The installation of the high capacity culverts under the main line was intended to prevent water from backing up against the railway embankment and causing ballast washout by allowing a significantly increased volume of water to pass under the railway compared to the previous version.

The decision to close the railway and deploy the booms would have been made after receiving data from the weather forecast provider. The rainfall and river flow data for the catchment area would have been monitored at regular intervals and compared with previous events to give a prediction of likely water levels lower down the system later on. On this occasion it was deemed likely that the infrastructure would be at risk of a flooding event. Just a slight difference in reality compared to the predicted model can be the difference between flooding and not. The work undertaken in the area was to increase resilience so that the railway would only be affected by a 'once every 10 years' flooding event. Time will tell if that sort of event will actually become more frequent than that and require further mitigation work.

Certain locations (such as the Blackwater River bridge near Broom level crossing that saw the former LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) route blocked to trains) use remote monitoring equipment and the line will be closed immediately once the water level has reached the predetermined limit. A problem with some rail over river bridges affected by flooding is that even though the water level may have dropped low enough to allow the resumption of train movements, the bridge may still require a visual inspection before being passed as safe to use. Bridge scour is a serious risk and procedures were significantly tightened up following the fatal Glanrhyd Bridge collapse in 1987.

The second platform was on the right of the image, directly opposite the remaining platform. In 1966, all of the remaining stations between Thingley Junction and Bradford Junction were closed following the withdrawal of stopping services from the route. In 1967 the line was singled between Bradford North Junction and Thingley Junction. The line on the right in the image was retained as the running line and the adjacent platform was later removed. The line on the left of the image was retained as a siding as the station site was subsequently used as a rail served oil terminal, as well as a remaining siding serving the West of England Farmers Ltd silos beyond the bridge. Fortunately, this led to the former down platform escaping demolition. When it was proposed to re-open Melksham station, the only surviving platform was the former down platform, on the opposite side to the remaining running line. The running line was therefore slewed across on both approaches to Melksham, making the track adjacent to the platform face the running line and allowing the station to again serve the public. Unfortunately, the southern end of the remaining platform had been sold off to private hands and couldn't be used for its original purpose, however the remaining 40 metre section at the northern end could be returned to use. The selling off of the southern section of the original down platform necessitated the platform to be lengthened at the northern end to allow 3-car trains to be fully accommodated.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-pelican-railways/albums/72157666449944232

The above link has some nice old pictures of the station site.

It may well (and hopefully will) be advertised as such. I was just being cautious regarding the limitations of the customer information systems, although having said that, services that are currently scheduled to divide on route seem to be advertised as such on both the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) systems.

From the summer timetable change, the unit for the 21:07 Swindon to Westbury service on a Saturday is diagrammed to be provided by a new 20:04 Westbury to Swindon service. This is a much more useful utilisation of a unit and crew compared to the current timetable, which sees the unit running empty from Bristol to Swindon.

This will also provide a nice connection out of the 18:15 Weymouth to Bristol service, which divides at Westbury to provide a unit for the Swindon run (effectively providing a through service from Weymouth to Swindon, even if not advertised as such).

A lot of the early Southampton to Portsmouth cancellations were reported as being caused by a unit being vandalised at Fratton over the Christmas period and not being fit for service.

As the prerequisite 24 hour period has passed, picture 2 is taken at Bangor, specifically the steps and walkway to the signal box.

18 is a view of Marchwood ERF^▸ (Energy Recovery Facility) and power station.

I was going to say Maiden Newton for the first one, but on checking the updated weekday schedules it appears that the London connection at Castle Cary out of the first train from Weymouth has been reinstated. The London bound train is now showing as sitting at Castle Cary for 7 minutes (allowing a valid connection) and then following the Weymouth train before overtaking it as it trundles through Frome. If this is the case this is a welcome revision.

The 17:52 Swindon to Westbury service was diverted via Bathampton Junction owing to a points failure at Thingley Junction.

I know that Teesside Airport station has received the same treatment as Pilning so I will go for that for the latter picture.

The 18:32 Westbury to Swindon and 20:08 Swindon to Westbury services have been added to the list.

Very odd. Should be the same driver, guard and unit that work the 17:30 departure as arrive on the inbound service at 17:10. Hopefully this service is on the alteration list in error?

Very succinct. Regarding the last line, even though the franchising model is currently under scrutiny, I get the impression that the continual awarding of 'Direct Award' franchise renewals instead of full blown competitions means that incumbant operators have little incentive to address issues as they know that they will be retaining the keys anyway.