More steel sleepers and welded rail dropped at Moreton-in-Marsh station for relaying the down line.   Does anyone know when this is scheduled for?

Well just the up line renewed and a new point into the down refuge siding.    I'm wondering when the down line (station area) will be renewed as this looks in quite poor state also it has a clamp on a rail by the station canopy area.   

I suppose it's got a year or two left, shame they couldn't have renewed the area in one go like they did at Evesham station as at present it looks rather messy with all the different types of track in a small area.   I think Moreton must now possibly be the only location left on the mainline with older track (1950-60's) in some areas.

Thanks Willc for the recent photos.

After chatting to a member of Network Rail at moreton today, one or possibly both lines through the station area to be replaced on Sunday.  i.e. they may replace the other line at a later date, depending on time and or finance I guess.

With regard to the engineering possession on Sunday.
I'm not sure if the track to be replaced is just for the small area between the station and the crossovers as at present there does not seem to be enough sleepers deposited by the down line to cover the whole station area. 
However there may be more on the engineering trains-if any, I heard ages ago that the old track on the up line just before the crossover is particularly bad.
Also short sections of rail have been deposited in the middle of the down line between station and crossover, no other rails have been dropped so far. 

So not entirely sure if this will be a small or large area of track replacement.

Thanks Chris.  I see its noted to be closed on National Rail Enquiries website. Couldn't see anything at first on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) site, but have now found the info.

No sign today of that large pile of flat bottom rail which was stacked by the depot fencing in late August - maybe welded rail will soon be dropped through the station.

Okay, I know this topic has really been finished back in September 2011.

But a very large stack of steel sleepers has appeared in the car park at Moreton-in-Marsh possibly for final work through the station area shortly, however no welded rail yet so possibly they may use the flat bottom stack of rails which was by the Network rail depot -not sure if this rail is still there though, I will check.   However the sleepers may be for use elsewhere to the eastern side of Moreton.

I didn't want to start a fresh post for such a small topic as this track renewal was part of the original plan with the redoubling project.  The  renewal just got postponed because of the costs and time I guess.

Things are really progressing well in the last phase.

I've heard that the present turn back signal at Moreton is a temporary measure (whence no back LED light), the new semaphore signal hasn't appeared in time.  Looks like they may have cut & chopped the old down semaphore which was by the signal box.  It looks like it needs a few coats of paint thou, lol!   Not 100% sure on this so it may/may not be replaced.

Any idea what the new equipment cabinets over London Road bridge is for, seems a strange location to put them.

Great collection of photos willc! Thanks for the updates, things have really progressed at Honeybourne.   Do you know if NR^» (Network Rail - home page) possibly intend to add a runaround loop (in the sidings) at Honeybourne for any stock movements heading south from the Long Marston branch or will the stock continue to Worcester before it heads south as is presently the norm.

Does anyone know why most of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s (off peak) have been removed from Cotswold Line and some Oxford services in recent years from 2009?

I can recall when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) started using Class 180's for the line it promised high speed (comfort wise) stock.   The HST's replaced them like for like, but most services have since been reverted back to Turbos which are rather unsuitable for long distance services e.g. from London Paddington to Geat Malvern.

I agree that running a half empty HST off peak is not economic, and surprised that so many services were HST's back in 2009.   What I don't understand is that sometimes FGW run a London to Oxford (HST) with the longer distance Cotswold Line service being a Turbo  .   Are the missing HST's a result of becoming less reliable? more services to the South West/Wales?

Anyway Turbos aren't that bad to travel in as it could be alot worse say a class 150 or Pacer!!!

Sorry if this post is slightly unrelated to the subject but didn't want to start a fresh topic for just a random question.

Ok I possibly used the wrong word when I stated 'neglect', as I wasn't refering to all bullhead track around the country still used on secondary routes.  The Cotswold Line is considered a primary route but has had mixed fortunes as described below.

The line has seen very little investment and infrastructure improvements compared to other main lines in the area and until recently living in a 1960's timewarp.  During the late 70's early 80's period the route was considered secondary with half the level of todays service and extremely low passenger numbers (off-peak), an idea was even proposed to close the line as a through route and make two branches Evesham to Worcester and Moreton to Oxford possibly an attempt by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) to try and close the line in the long term which would be unthinkable today.    As willc stated through loco hauled trains were drastically cut to reduce wear and tear of the track. 

Track has gradually been renewed.   Through growth possibly due to commuting the Cotswold line has managed to turn its ill fortune, it's great to see the route which I grew up by finally receiving the modernisation improvements it deserves.

I agree it remains a mystery why the point was removed so soon, however the 2 sidings in the station area were to be removed as part of the project.  Maybe it has something to do with the new turnback signal but as stated this is to be installed near the crossover or possibly been replaced just to get the job done.  No significance in the bullhead track but because of the higher speed through the station 60mph I think post redoubling it will be logical to replace this with steel or concrete, leaving the crossover as it is to keep costs down.  Why they put more bullhead track down is a mystery only logical reason I can think of is it's just a temporary measure.

From talking to the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) member the down refuge siding still isn't ready to be used. So no sidings (on the down line) between Wolvercot & Norton junction at the moment.

Sorry can't help with the steel vs concrete question all I know is in my earlier post.

Bullhead track was used throughout the network from the early days of steam.  The rails sat on chairs bolted onto wooden sleepers, the general idea being because the rails were the same dimensions on both sides track gangs could turn the rails over when worn so reducing maintenance.   This practice stopped very long ago however, to improve ride quality flat bottom rail started appearing in the 1950's with the first concrete style track in the 1960's.

The track is still very common today, still used mainly for sidings areas and some loops, branch lines. Less used on main running lines except for areas of low speeds (possibly why Moreton station has retained the type so far).  Most of the Cotswold Line was still laid with Bullhead track until the 1980's through neglect then BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) finally started to replace it.

Steel sleepers are relatively a new development, it was foreseen as a cheaper alternative to concrete with the same running qualities.  However I read in a Rail Engineer magazine that they had to replace some recently laid steel sleepers with concrete ones because of damage from frequent fast heavy freight trains.  So I think steel are the normal type replacement for lighter used/lower speed lines.   I'm surprised the redoubling didn't have steel type sleepers, as there are plenty around Kingham area and as far as I know there have been no problems with them.

Sorry for the very long explanation there but hope it helps.
 

With regarding the track at Moreton-in-Marsh, after talking to a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff member the bullhead track may not be replaced during the summer blockade.  Although this will be definately done at a later date hopefully by December 2011.   Can anyone verify if this is correct?

It makes sense as to why the Goods Depot siding point was replaced with bullhead track just a few weeks before the blockade. 
Also a HGV trailer is in the compound at Moreton with two more sections of newish bullhead track.   So possibly the UP siding point may be dismantled shortly (possibly this weekend?). 

Noticed today at Moreton the short down refuge siding by the Network Rail Depot is no longer connected to the main line.  The point has been replaced by a short section of new bullhead track with fresh ballast (strange it wasn't flat-bottomed rail as there is a large pile by the siding, as willc mentioned).   Ground signals for the point still in situ for now.

Good news, just had a look through the new Rail magazine out today, theres an article about a few Class 180's are to transfer back to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) for Oxford/Cotswold services presumably to eliminate most of the remaining fast services which are turbos.    These will be  from the now aborted ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) lincoln services, also mentions it on Wikipedia for Class 180 - possibly up to 5 units to transfer back (3 of which are presently on loan to Northern).