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2626  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 12, 2018, 17:11:30

The modern railway doesn't do 'looks'...


I dunno; I think Filton Bank looks bloody brilliant - with the exception of the access to P4 at Filton Abbey Wood station, which is an utter dog's breakfast
2627  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 12, 2018, 12:44:21
I was just looking back through this topic and suddenly realised that we started talking about this project just over 5 years ago.  Isn't it just typical of the UK (United Kingdom) to take so long to deliver such an important infrastructure project? 

Took 8 years to complete the GWR (Great Western Railway) from London to Bristol, didn't it?

Still I'll tell you what: Filton Bank is turning into a bloody lovely bit o' railway!
2628  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 12, 2018, 10:40:08
This is but one of many examples that demonstrate that corrections to nomenclature take generations to effect in Bristol.

Where language is concerned, the angels are with those who describe rather than prescribe (or even proscribe). So at Narroways Hill Junction, it's just interesting to see this process from the outset - quite possibly someone will put up a sign soon at the junction, without the 's', and it will begin to gain currency among railway folk. However the original name of the wider area is unlikely to go away just because of a clerical error in a Network Rail design office.

Whether The Downs is known idiomatically as Clifton Downs or not, we can be fairly clear that Clifton Down station was named after Clifton Down. Were the station to be renamed Clifton Downs, that would be neither a correction nor an error, but simply an acceptance that the idiom had become mainstream. It's a bit unlikely though, as it's not very near The Downs. How about Bahnhof Zoo?

2629  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / How much will it cost? Expanding the network. on: November 11, 2018, 22:24:55
How much will it cost?

Another forum member raised this question in the context of Dawlish, but I think it is worth widening it into a general discussion about rail investment.

There's a facile way to answer the question, which is to calculate how many holes you need to dig, how many metres of rail you need, how trains and so on. That doesn't tell you very much though, because we're talking about an investment and you measure the value of an investment against its returns. But we also know that if rail was expected to wash its face in pure business terms then the GWML (Great Western Main Line) would end at Bristol Parkway, something even Margaret Thatcher stopped short of.

This whole business of calculating BCR (Benefit Cost Ratio) is probably pretty much nonsense, given that the benefit is unquantifiable: how much is it worth to the economy if Jo Smith can get to work by train, or if Mo Khan can get to see his gran a bit easier, or if a business relocates to Galashiels? The only honest answer is surely that no-one really knows.

I don't think anyone pretends that Beeching's rationalisation was perfect, either in its analysis or in its execution; its effects have left us with a network which could perhaps best be described as unfair. If you live in Chippenham or Ebbw Vale, you have access to a pretty good train service; if you live in Hawick or Cheddar, you don't.

So how do you decide where to invest? This is particularly difficult given that our railway is, and must probably remain, state-owned in one way or another. Rail investment has to stand up against education, health and all the other government budgets that make this a civilised country. We have to concede that keeping the existing network safe, reliable and attractive must take priority if we accept that funds are limited. But do we accept that the network cannot be expanded, and that this unfairness should persist? Is it romantic nonsense to believe that many parts of the country suffered damage when the railways were ripped up, damage that no bus service could ever compensate for?

The cost of building new lines along the courses of old ones - 're-opening' is a misnomer - sometimes appears to be astronomically high, probably inflated by applying stricter rules to rail than to road transport. But do we just give up on this, or do we accept that cost of reinstating some key routes is the price we have to pay for the mistakes of the past, and just get on with it?
2630  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Bumper picture quiz - November 2018. on: November 11, 2018, 21:50:08
Bah! Humbug!
2631  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 11, 2018, 19:04:15
The gap between the Reliefs and the Mains was always there, and I'd imagine that it's still there because of the bridge spacings to the immediate north of the former station site Smiley.

Here's one of my shots of a failed 47, which just about coasted alongside the former Up Relief platform, with a 47-hauled freight passing by on the Up Main -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bristol-re/9059595148/in/album-72157641961867643/

Well that was my first take, after metalrail made his observation, but looking at it today I'd say that the gap was now wider than it was in your photo; in any case they could have chosen to bring the lines closer together sooner, maybe thus avoiding the need for some of the piling visible from Boiling Wells Lane.

The area to the east of the mains where any fourth platform would go looks pretty generous too, but that's probably just down to the removal of a lot of vegetation.
2632  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 11, 2018, 17:18:13
Ah...  doubtful we'll be able to see it then apart from a passing train.  Not found any decent vantage points yet around where the track used to slew as I really wanted to photograph that part when they cut the line to make the new formation, unless anyone else has?

There's a footbridge near the Dovercourt Road allotments (see https://goo.gl/maps/i1AQhGxX2BP2) which I think was replaced under the electrification scope, but which (for reasons best known to NR» (Network Rail - home page)) has not reopened; might have been a good viewpoint. My brother took this vid from it in 2015; I was stood directly above the loco and found that this was a surprisingly good way to remove excess leg hairs: https://youtu.be/iLsvFe6ukHA
2633  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 11, 2018, 17:00:34
Out and about this afternoon, this time to Narroways and Ashley Hill:

First pic, from Narroways Hill Footbridge looking north, shows some new signals on the reliefs (well they looked new to me, I'm happy to stand corrected);
Second confirms metalrail's point about passive provision for a station at Ashley Hill - there is a goodly gap between the mains and reliefs, sufficient for quite a long island platform. Referring back to S&TE's most excellent diagram, it is clear that there is indeed also space for a platform on the mains here, which (to my simple mind) is odd given that they've just demolished the (arguably more useful) main line platforms at Stapleton Road. Hey ho.

 

2634  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 11, 2018, 16:24:07
Is anyone able to explain to me the difference between ARS (Automatic Route Setting) and Electronic Live Block Overlays?

Youv'e lost me there Red Squirrel.  Tried looking that one up with no success.

I'm sorry S&TE, I was setting it up in the hope that someone would knock it down for me: I don't know my ARS from my ELBO.

Electronic Live Block Overlays are a figment of my over-ripe imagination

2635  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 11, 2018, 13:44:55
Is anyone able to explain to me the difference between ARS (Automatic Route Setting) and Electronic Live Block Overlays?
2636  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Brizzle Arenal....where to mi babber ? on: November 11, 2018, 12:45:11
It would be nice to think that this was a sign of greater co-operation within the Severnside region... Cardiff gets the arena, Bristol gets the airport...
2637  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Bumper picture quiz - November 2018. on: November 11, 2018, 11:21:31
Aha - I think it's 24 hrs since my last crack so here goes: No.7 is lovely, lovely Sheffield Park. Dangit, just spotted that others have beaten me to it.
2638  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Metrowest Status on: November 11, 2018, 11:10:25
I kind of got the impression the Chocolate Path was not going to reopen, probably ever. If true that would imply the Harbour Railway along there also being closed.

All answered here:

Quote
Significant repair work for highway structures around Bristol’s waterways approved at Cabinet

The future of a ... popular cycle route and footpath has been secured following last night’s cabinet meeting (4 September).

At the meeting funding was approved to begin ... the structural stabilisation of the river wall which supports the Chocolate Path and historic railway.

...

The Chocolate Path, which is a popular walking and cycling route, has been partially closed since 2016 as it is currently slowly subsiding into the river. In order to reopen it and make the path safe to use, a budget of £5million worth of capital funding has been allocated to stabilise the wall and stop any further subsidence of the path and historic railway.

Cllr Mhairi Threlfall, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “We need to take action now so that we can protect these important historical landmarks around our city’s famous waterways.  This work is essential for looking after these important structural elements of our highway network, keeping them working and stopping parts completely slipping away in to the river.

“If we do not act now these costs are likely to rise substantially.  We expect that work will start next year and we will keep commuters updated for any road closures that may happen as a result of this work.”

Up to £3million funding was agreed for the refurbishment of the Redcliffe Bridge and up to £5million for the stabilisation of the river retaining wall supporting the Chocolate Footpath and historic railway. The work is due to begin within the next financial year.


Source: Bristol City Council
2639  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 10, 2018, 22:49:47
Perhaps a bit like Clifton Down station, but in every other context people talk about Clifton Downs. Although maybe they didn't when it opened in the 1870s.

The area known as The Downs consists of two downs - Clifton Down, and Durdham Down. I've done no research on this, so I can't be sure, but I am guessing that Clifton Down Station was named after one of these.
2640  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion on: November 10, 2018, 18:43:37
Ooh, one other thing: https://goo.gl/maps/kDkBx4Xc4CR2
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