RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted June 25, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 25, 2018 Once again Burton on Trent is cut in two.First St.Peter's bridge last year and now the original Trent Bridge is closed in the outward direction for urgent refurbishment and structural repair,causing major logistical difficulties for those of us who live on the Derbyshire side of the Trent.We have two months of this to endure but endure we must and use our initiatives at finding alternative ways of effecting a river crossing.Fortunately the St.Peter's Bridge is open but obviously that now gets congested ,especially at peak times. There is however an exciting and interesting diversion to take one's off the frustration of being in slow moving traffic whilst crossing the bridge on the now one -way journey across the Trent. This morning,quite unexpectedly ,the by now week long excavations have revealed the track and pointwork of the now long disappeared light railway....just as if it were yesterday....stretching across the skeleton of the bridge under nearly a century of now disposed of redundant road surfacing. It was a thrilling diversion.But it won't be around long I imagine. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted June 25, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 25, 2018 I'd be very interested to see a picture if possible. My grandma many moons ago told me of her recollections of the light railway to Burton-upon-Trent... She'd been despatched as a youngster from her home in Leicestershire near Melton Mowbray to relatives at Burton. To get her there she'd been routed via Leicester then Ashby, and then on the light railway. It must have been the mid twenties, and I wonder if the booking clerk at Saxby had sent her that way to help boost passenger numbers on the tramway, it must have been slower. Anyway, her abiding memories of the tram when I asked her was firstly feeling sick on the swaying car and secondly losing her hat under the tram at Burton when she alighted. It's a story I'll not forget, and I remember her fondly. All the best, Keith 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaned Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 And of course one tram survived , via Detroit, and is now preserved at Statfold Barn Railway , albeit battery powered. A remarkable survivor really. It would be a nice touch if that original trackwork ended up at Statfold , even if only for display. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 There's also a stretch of surviving track and pointwork still in situ on the station approach at Ashby I hadn't realised about the surviving tram until recently though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted June 26, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 26, 2018 And of course one tram survived , via Detroit, and is now preserved at Statfold Barn Railway , albeit battery powered. A remarkable survivor really. It would be a nice touch if that original trackwork ended up at Statfold , even if only for display. I'm afraid that by this afternoon,the section I saw yesterday is already entombed by the replacement road surface.However more track has been exposed at the town end.The logistics of removing it are mind boggling to contemplate. Meanwhile,traffic in the town by the end of the working day today was,quite literally,gridlock.My homeward journey from my GP's surgery....one mile distant from home in the inbound direction ( 5 minutes )...,,,was achieved after much driving around from one blocked route to another.....by accessing the A38 in the northbound direction and then a deviation via Willington and Repton..45 minutes. Bring back the trams please. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted June 26, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2018 I'm just recommending what I think is the best book on the Burton & Ashby Light Railways, 'Return to the sixpenny switchback' by Keith Gilliver, published by Ashby Museum, 2016. Covers No.14 restoration & other remains....but not those above! Dava 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted June 27, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 27, 2018 By Googling,there is also a variety of information available.The local newspaper The Burton Mail also has a website. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 A few pics taken this morning from the bus - 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted June 27, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 27, 2018 Thanks for posting Laurence, what a great piece of industrial archaeology, shame it's being trashed in the process but interesting to see the pics and how much of the formation had been buried. All the best, Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted June 28, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 28, 2018 Thanks for posting Laurence, what a great piece of industrial archaeology, shame it's being trashed in the process but interesting to see the pics and how much of the formation had been buried. All the best, Keith Update midday. Track appears to be in process of being cut up in situ now as I drove over the bridge.You don't see as much from a car as you do from a bus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Pics taken today. It looks they cut the fishplates.The track looks in remarkably good condition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted June 30, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2018 After 90 years indeed it does.You have to wonder what effect it has had on the structural integrity of the bridge though,considering the huge volume of heavy traffic it carries.....all 4 lanes of it with it solid at peak times.Did it actually assist in strengthening the bridge or was it just adding extra weight,contributing to its eventual current restructuring and traffic chaos....the like of which I have never witnessed after 46 years in Burton. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 (edited) In an ideal world, someone involved in the project ought to have had the thought that at least a representative piece of this ought to be donated to one of the local museums, rather than being weighed in for scrap, but I don't suppose that's the case.... Edited June 30, 2018 by Invicta 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted June 30, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2018 In an ideal world, someone involved in the project ought to have had the thought that at least a representative piece of this ought to be donated to one of the local museums, rather than being weighed in for scrap, but I don't suppose that's the case.... With the Brewery Museum and its rail exhibits a couple of hundred yards up the road..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 (edited) When some rework was done in Cambridge city centre some years ago, track from the very long defunct & short-lived horse tramway was found. I was told that Crich collected a sample to their collection. Maybe Burton as well? Stewart Edited June 30, 2018 by stewartingram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Word is that it is not being scrapped. How true I dont know but someone there said negotiations were ongoing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted July 1, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 1, 2018 In a worst case scenario, if it does get scrapped there are other sites available. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John Isherwood Posted July 1, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 1, 2018 When some rework was done in Cambridge city centre some years ago, track from the very long defunct & short-lived horse tramway was found. I was told that Crich collected a sample to their collection. Maybe Burton as well? Stewart ..... and I've got a slice of rail as a paper-weight - perks of arranging for the pumping station museum in Newmarket Road to have a set of pointwork from the St. Mary's Street terminus. Regards, John Isherwood. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I guess strictly speaking this track would have belonged to the Burton corporation tramways, over which the light railway had running powers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
w124bob Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 When the new tramlines were going in around Manchester city centre at various stages in the 90' and again more recently, it was common for the lines from the turn of the century to be revealed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 It is reported in our local rag that most of the lifted track has gone to Statfold Barn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted August 7, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2018 It is reported in our local rag that most of the lifted track has gone to Statfold Barn that's good to hear, thanks. all the best, Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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