Disused Lines With Track Still In Situ

[phil-b259]

On 04/06/2022 at 11:56, wagonman said:

 

... and very heavily overgrown last time I saw it!

 

Is this leaving track in situ a way of avoiding having to officially close a line with all the legal stuff that would entail? Just a thought.

 

Yes.

 

In BR days if you wanted to shut a freight only line then there was absolutely nothing to stop you sending in the demolition crew then next day if you wanted (as opposed to lines with a passenger service was a statutory legal process to follow.

 

However as the privatisation legislation was going through Parliament there were concerns that the privatised Railtrack would be even more ruthless than BR - and the newly privatised freight companies might find themselves being driven to the wall as Railtrack chopped off sidings and terminals at will.

 

Therefore a legal process called 'Network Change' was invented - which basically mandated that Railtrack had to consult and get specific agreement from ALL TOCs and FOCs if it wanted to remove any sidings, crossovers and freight only lines. The idea is if DB say 'we have a potential customer in the works then NR cannot rip out any track and scupper the attempt by DB to win additional traffic.

 

Undertaking a 'network change' procedure - as with all matters in law (yes its a legal procedure) is expensive and creates a lot of paperwork, so its usually far easier to actually leave the track in place. If no operator uses it for years then it might get officially signed 'Out Of Use' (which in itself triggers a mini 'Network Change' procedure) with key pointwork plain lined maybe to reduce maintenance costs, but even then in most cases the fundamentals will be left it situ until something like a resignalling scheme comes along and a 'Network Change' procedure is triggered anyway by alterations.

 

For lines like the Wisbeach line - you eventually get to a stage where its been O.O.U. for so long that removing things like rails over level crossings is done so as to avoid the expense of keeping the road / rail area in good condition and claims for damages by motorists. By that stage the remaining track is usually so far gone that it would all need ripping up and starting from scratch anyway...

[Wickham Green too]

1 hour ago, roythebus1 said:

There's still track at Bingham Road on the closed Sanderstead-Elmers End line. 

There is, indeed, track at Bingham Road ..... or at least twenty foot below where Bingham Road Station used to be - it's called Addiscombe Tram Stop ! ( Maybe you're thinking of Selsdon - originally Selsdon Road - where the track through the platforms gave access to the goods yard which remained in use after passenger closure ? )

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Wickham Green too

[keefer]

12 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

It was (and given an extensive rebuild around a decade to bring it back to use from a near derelict condition) - but in recent years the main freight movement it was needed for (coal) ceased.

 

 

That's what I was getting at Phil, the coal trains are long gone (Longannet P.S. doesn't even exist anymore) but thought that the idea of keeping other freight off the Forth Bridge might still be useful for pathing reasons etc.

Unless of course 'closing' the line is a) saving enough money and/or b) saves them having to deal with complaints from residents living along the line (who moved next to a railway line but then got chippy when it started getting used regularly by heavy freight trains)

 

[phil-b259]

1 hour ago, keefer said:

That's what I was getting at Phil, the coal trains are long gone (Longannet P.S. doesn't even exist anymore) but thought that the idea of keeping other freight off the Forth Bridge might still be useful for pathing reasons etc.

 

 

Question is, what other freight is there?

 

You are assuming there is actually any freight traffic in the first place!

 

I'm not familiar with flows in the area but in general I would be surprised if there was anything commercial (as opposed to engineers workings) that needs to pass over the Forth Bridge these days.

[keefer]

That's fair enough, I didn't know if there were any other flows or not

[melmerby]

Real Time trains shows a few over the Forth Bridge:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:NQU/2022-06-10/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=non-passenger&order=wtt

[phil-b259]

1 hour ago, keefer said:

That's fair enough, I didn't know if there were any other flows or not

 

I don't either - but its the first question which should be asked. If the numbers and tonnage is low then routing them over the Forth Bridge could well end up being the most efficient option. 

Edited June 10, 2022 by phil-b259

[roythebus1]

On 09/06/2022 at 22:51, Wickham Green too said:

There is, indeed, track at Bingham Road ..... or at least twenty foot below where Bingham Road Station used to be - it's called Addiscombe Tram Stop ! ( Maybe you're thinking of Selsdon - originally Selsdon Road - where the track through the platforms gave access to the goods yard which remained in use after passenger closure ? )

 

Yes that's right, suffering from memory fade. Last time I drove a train along there was May 1980! The usual pre-closure exepense-adding measures were taken, like renewing the station lights, replacing the Southern Railway signs with new BR signs, painting the white lines and painting the signal boxes and re-siting a couple of signals. all typical of the expense of closing a line!

 

[Wickham Green too]

Even so, Bingham Road was pretty tatty at closure !

 

For those who don't know the place : before and after shots : - 

 

.... 13/5/83 & 1/7/00 : unmistakably the same roofline. ( Looks like the tramstop's not EXACTLY below where the station was.)