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Author Topic: Easter Quiz  (Read 10324 times)
grahame
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« Reply #45 on: April 23, 2019, 09:10:28 »

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

Yes - I agree.  I found a reference to that too - The Londonist

Quote
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.
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grahame
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« Reply #46 on: April 27, 2019, 18:57:43 »

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?

Just that one remaining. Calne't imagine why no-one has even tried a guess.
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rogerw
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« Reply #47 on: April 27, 2019, 19:03:13 »

Calne by any chance?
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grahame
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« Reply #48 on: April 27, 2019, 19:06:55 »

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.
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« Reply #49 on: April 27, 2019, 22:06:46 »

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.

Perhaps it would of been nicknamed 'The Sausage Express' Grin
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grahame
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« Reply #50 on: May 27, 2021, 11:11:02 »

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/

From Network Rail

Quote
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.   
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Oxonhutch
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« Reply #51 on: May 27, 2021, 17:46:08 »

IIRC (if I recall/remember/read correctly), the railway is on an embankment. NR» (Network Rail - home page) need to dig a pedestrian underpass at street level. Can't cost much more than some of the over bridges they construct.
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stuving
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« Reply #52 on: May 27, 2021, 18:22:04 »

It's more complicated than that - you really need to visit to appreciate that (Google Earth: 51.485619°  0.019752°). One side has a steep stair down to an access road behind a terrace of houses, so building a ramp there would be tricky. On the other side the road is level with the railway, and the footpath descends by ramp from the bridge over the A102.

I'm surprised they didn't make more of the importance of providing equal accessibility for all.
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onthecushions
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« Reply #53 on: May 28, 2021, 20:48:58 »



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. 
  

If a human life averages 80 years and the probability of a crossing death is less than 1:80 then is it better statistics to keep the crossing as it would result in fewer lost life-days?

OTC
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grahame
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« Reply #54 on: May 29, 2021, 15:50:37 »

I have been puzzling at the number of foot passenger transits - 700 a day on this crossing - and looked it up on a map and now I understand.



There a big area of high density housing (looks quite new) at Fairthorn Road.   Traveling there from Central London, people will take the train to Westcombe Park which is a very short distance to the east.  They'll then (at present) cross the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road on a significant footbridge and the freight railway on that level crossing - a few minutes walk from the station.  I can understand why people don't want to walk all around and how frustrating it will/would be if their crossing of the railway is closed, especially as it would render the footbridge over the tunnel road much less useful.   Closing the crossing looks like taking out one part of a significant walking route.
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« Reply #55 on: May 30, 2021, 11:38:06 »

I'm actually surprised they're not considering the opposite option: close the goods branch. The value of that aggregates terminal site as residential land would be very high. There's also plenty of rail-connected space downstream on the Isle of Grain to transfer aggregates from boats to trains.
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grahame
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« Reply #56 on: June 25, 2021, 23:06:50 »

The local MP (Member of Parliament) 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 ... long article but I was struck by
Quote
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.

I would love to know what the "safety risk to passengers" is on a freight branch.  Me thinks Ms Taylor both protest too much!
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stuving
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« Reply #57 on: June 26, 2021, 00:19:30 »

The local MP (Member of Parliament) 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 ... long article but I was struck by
Quote
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.

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 crossing is listed as a "Private Footpath Crossing with Whistleboards", oddly, and the trains as "Passenger & Freight", which is even odder. Line speed is 15 mph. Protection is by:

* Signage
* Gates or stiles
* Whistle boards provided on the rail approaches - train horn audible warning given (06:00 to 23:59)

The latest ALCRM score is D3 - 4th highest of 13 for individual risk to users on the crossing, 3rd highest of 13 for collective risk to them and to the railway side. Key risk drivers are:
* Infrequent Trains                            (8 counted)
* Large Numbers of Users                (675 counted)
* Deliberate Misuse or User Error

So as you can see, infrequent trains are seen as a a risk factor. In the text it refers to people "climbing under or over stationary trains at the crossing", and if that's true you wonder why trains stopping on the crossing isn't listed as a risk driver too. 

As to whether any other crossings on the Kent route are rated as high for risk, it's hard to say as the NR» (Network Rail - home page) route isn't given in the spreadsheet. But for London and the south-east in general, most the crossings at D3 or higher are road crossings - I suspect NR's statement on this may have referred only to foot crossings, as closing a busy road crossing is very much harder for them to do!
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Lee
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« Reply #58 on: July 06, 2021, 23:34:46 »

Do not adjust your sets/monitors/smartphones/tablets - Here comes a Network Rail apology! :

From the Charlton Champion:

Quote from: Charlton Champion
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 (Member of Parliament) 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.
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Lee
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« Reply #59 on: September 16, 2021, 08:03:17 »

Do not adjust your sets/monitors/smartphones/tablets - Here comes a Network Rail U-Turn! :

From the Charlton Champion:

Quote from: Charlton Champion
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 (Member of Parliament), 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.

What a great pity that a similar level of common sense did not prevail at that most vivid of Network Rail credibility-destroyers - the Pilning Footbridge.
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