Whiteball Tunnel blockade - January / February 2014

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

So what are odds of a normal service on Friday Febuary 14 ?
Works finished by then ? or likely to over run ?

[phile]

Nobody would be able to reliably answer the question until it had happened, or perhaps the possibility of an overrun could be suspected whilst the work is actually in progress.

[SandTEngineer]

When I travelled past Exeter New Yard Riverside Yard on Tuesday there were about 10 engineering trains stabled or being loaded up with materials (ballast etc.) so obviously getting very ready to start the intensive work programme

Edit to correct yard name

[Bob_Blakey]

Pedant alert!
Actually this is Riverside Yard - New Yard, where the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) units are stabled between trips, is immediately north of the Red Cow level crossing.

[broadgage]

Fearing delays, I decided to delay my trip to Taunton for a week.

[SandTEngineer]

Pedant alert!
Actually this is Riverside Yard - New Yard, where the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) units are stabled between trips, is immediately north of the Red Cow level crossing.

Thanks Bob B.  I was a bit tired when I typed my post....................

[bobm]

Fearing delays, I decided to delay my trip to Taunton for a week.

Well when you do - there is the promise of a new Pullman menu....



Part of a leaflet left on tables on Monday's 12:01 service

[AMLAG]

One would hope that this 23 DAYS closure (allegedly the longest planned period of closure since this line was opened in the 1840's) with mega disruption for passengers between Taunton and Exeter of the South West's principal rail artery will be finished on time.
No doubt NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and its vast army of Contractors & Sub Contractors with workers travelling from far and wide have built in some recovery time.
Virtually all the new concrete sleepered track and new pointwork for the renewal of the points at Tiverton Jn and at Taunton West (last renewed/installed during the Exeter Re-signalling scheme of 1984) is already positioned closeby for Craning into final position etc.  A large encampment of Mess Huts, Portaloos, Road Railers & materials etc. has been set up in  part of a field on the Upside of the line at the Taunton end of Whiteball Tunnel with an access track to the line with the lengthy ^25,000 special 'fencing' for the Greater Crested newts plainly visible.
Most of the remaining 14 sidings in Exeter Riverside Yard have been relaid with second hand sleepers & rails during the last year or so and are now full with wagons of ballast & sleepers etc. together with empty wagons for spoil & materials etc.
Rather surprisingly the Special 120 page FGW^▸ (First Great Western) booklet detailing the Special bus & train services operating during this 23 days of disruption makes no mention of the existence of another train Company's service between Exeter and London whose trains in some cases will do the journey a few minutes quicker than the 'token' approx 2 hourly FGW frequency between Exeter and Paddington via Honiton, Yeovil and Castle Cary.
Let's hope recent incidences of the Axe flooding onto the line near Axminster will not be repeated in the coming days and any SE winds do not exceed 20-25 mph and combine with high tides at Dawlish.

[JayMac]

Took a trip down the 'Southern' this morning in a diverted HST^▸ (High Speed Train). Nice to have some different scenery from a Mk3 window. Only mild annoyance was the near 30 minute wait for the single line at Yeovil Junction. I say mild, because it was a (working, not passenger) timetabled stop. Would've been nice to have been allowed to detrain for a leg stretch though.

[TonyK]

Driving to Bristol from north Devon this morning, I saw two ballast trains waiting just north of Tivvy Parkway. It looked like it was one on each track, both pointing north, but I could be wrong (easily). No photo, as I was on the M5 at 70 mph, and Mrs FT,N wouldn't let me.

[bobm]

Reminds me of an incident years ago when I was on a steam train excursion which ran through that section.

There were a number of cars parked on the hard shoulder of the M5 while their occupants filmed the train.

Meanwhile in lane one there was a police range rover - videoing the cars parked on the hard shoulder....

[TonyK]

Reminds me of an incident years ago when I was on a steam train excursion which ran through that section.

There were a number of cars parked on the hard shoulder of the M5 while their occupants filmed the train.

Meanwhile in lane one there was a police range rover - videoing the cars parked on the hard shoulder....

Even without Mrs FT, N riding shotgun, I would never use the hard shoulder for cinematographic or videographic purposes. In almost 40 years behind the wheel, some of it awake, I have amassed 3 points, for not noticing that the bin-liner covering the 30mph sign on the Portway near Avonmouth had been removed, along with the 40 mph limit. The letter recorded that I was doing 41mph, and if the photo is available, it will probably show me giving a thumb up to the guys with the camera. I prefer rail travel, but value my licence.

Why I haven't attracted more points is a source of puzzlement to me too.

[AMLAG]

Somewhere I have recently read (possibly in a NR^» (Network Rail - home page) press release) that the renewal of the points at Taunton West during the Whiteball Tunnel  23 days blockade will allow the speed  over these points to be raised to 80mph, from I think 50, thus allowing journey 'improvements'  (ie reduction in times) between Exeter and Bristol.
Does anyone know if there are any intentions for some XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains to run, rather surprisingly, NON stop through Taunton;  bearing in mind current XC regular interval/calling patterns policies mean all XC trains, except one southbound,  call at Tiverton Parkway ..some off peak call (at a cost of about 5 minutes) at Tiverton Parkway for as few as 5 passengers to join & alight.

[Louis94]

Somewhere I have recently read (possibly in a NR^» (Network Rail - home page) press release) that the renewal of the points at Taunton West during the Whiteball Tunnel  23 days blockade will allow the speed  over these points to be raised to 80mph, from I think 50, thus allowing journey 'improvements'  (ie reduction in times) between Exeter and Bristol.

Can't see this really benefiting services hugely, with Taunton West being so close to the ends of the platforms I suspect speed will already be lower than the current speed allowed when leaving/arriving at the station. The current speed through the station on the middle platforms is 100mph already, including over Taunton West.

[SandTEngineer]

Some photographs of progress so far lower down the Cornwall Railway Society page here http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/1/archives/01-2014/1.html and on the Taunton Trains page here http://www.tauntontrains.co.uk/NEWS-INFO.htm