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Author Topic: Newquay branch the jungle line  (Read 14745 times)
Palfers
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« on: June 14, 2015, 19:46:10 »

is it me or is this branch line getting really over grown the amount of trees and bushes that crash along the train certainly wouldn't stick your head out the window on a hst ouch. hmm maybe it's where the Eden project is expanding to. soon we will be looking out for a lesser spotted 153 approaching the stations!
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2015, 20:36:16 »

Triffids, possibly?  Tongue Roll Eyes Shocked
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
Palfers
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« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2015, 20:51:40 »

what they need is a rail grinder to go along the track when it's all bone dry start some fires then job done!! (maybe not one of my best ideas)
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2015, 20:59:11 »

In the days of frequent steam trains passing along any length of track, encroaching undergrowth was regularly scorched back out of range - and at no extra cost to the railways, incidentally.  Roll Eyes
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
rower40
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« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2015, 10:14:40 »

I've heard the Senior Conductor of a Cross-country (*) HST (High Speed Train) on that line give an announcement along the lines of "This is a very narrow line.  Please don't put your head out of the windows because the bridges are so close that you will get your head taken off."

This could have been 10-20 years ago.  (* "Cross-Country" therefore meaning "routed towards Birmingham" rather than "operated by Arriva Cross-Country TOC (Train Operating Company).")

Maybe the overgrown vegetation works as a cheaper version of a carriage washer.
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Thatcham Crossing
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« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2015, 13:28:13 »

Good job the linespeed on that branch is so low....the Cornish traffic must be faster than taking an HST (High Speed Train) from Par to Newquay.
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rower40
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« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2015, 13:47:28 »

Good job the linespeed on that branch is so low....the Cornish traffic must be faster than taking an HST (High Speed Train) from Par to Newquay.
Until the A30 was dualled from Indian Queens to the end of the Bodmin Bypass, that wasn't the case on Summer Saturdays.  I vividly recall being on a double-headed-Class-50-hauled train over Goss Moor, overtaking hundreds of cars snarled up in "trying to get home after a Summer Holiday" mode.
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Western Pathfinder
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« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2015, 14:06:20 »

Good job the linespeed on that branch is so low....the Cornish traffic must be faster than taking an HST (High Speed Train) from Par to Newquay.
Until the A30 was dualled from Indian Queens to the end of the Bodmin Bypass, that wasn't the case on Summer Saturdays.  I vividly recall being on a double-headed-Class-50-hauled train over Goss Moor, overtaking hundreds of cars snarled up in "trying to get home after a Summer Holiday" mode.

Oh yes the good old run to or from the sun !.
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Palfers
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« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2015, 17:55:56 »

I rember a couple of years ago a hst failed going up through the Luxulyan valley it had to crawl back to par where the train terminated well you can guess what par is like on a Sunday afternoon nobody about! the guy working at Newquay had to jump in a taxi with us stuck at Newquay travel back to par to try and arrange road replacement unfortunate for the passengers as there was a lot of them needing to get to Newquay. another thing about par Is there is only one toilet! you can imagine the que that can form!
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Witham Bobby
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« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2015, 12:33:58 »

Having travelled from Par to Newquay and back last week, on a shabby, if punctual, DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit), I can confirm that the vegetation along the line is encroaching in very many places.  I was shocked.  Obviously this is the result of years of neglect, and it's not unique to the Newquay branch line.  I noticed one place where PW (Permanent Way) staff were cutting back some of the timber near one of the level crossings, but to clear the whole line will need much greater resources.  There was practically no view from the train into the surrounding countryside for many miles of route.  The total disappearance, for example, of the site of St Dennis Junction, under a mass of vegetation, is evidence enough to my mind of a very casual attitude towards preventative maintenance of the infrastructure.
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JayMac
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« Reply #10 on: July 06, 2015, 13:57:20 »

Thank you for that recent insight Witham Bobby, and a very warm welcome to the forum.  Smiley
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"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

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« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2015, 17:48:12 »

I wonder if they give out warnings on the summer hsts not to stick your head out the window! I would be afraid of losing my glasses then I wouldn't see much at all!
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woody
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« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2015, 20:42:25 »

Even on the main line between Plymouth and Newton Abbot vegetation is allowed to regularly grow right up to and touch passing trains. Last week I was on a HST (High Speed Train) that "brushed" against the vegetation on at least three occasions here. Its a regular problem particularly in the west bound direction near Totnes station. If Network rail cant control overgrown vegetation on the main line what hope is there for branch lines. As "Witham Bobby" says far too much of the view from a train is now obscured by an almost non stop "wall" of green vegetation just inches from your face where once there were pleasant views of the South Devon Country. All hell would break loose if this were allowed to happen on our trunk roads but seemingly the railways are allowed to get away with it. But it doesn't give a good impression of a modern well maintained railway does it.
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LiskeardRich
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« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2015, 21:23:08 »

I travelled the branch on Saturday, I think there was more places the Hst was scraping the bushes than not.
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Palfers
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« Reply #14 on: July 31, 2015, 21:11:06 »

I will be travelling to Newquay tomorrow is the line still very much like a jungle? will I need to take a saw to cut my way through?
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