Cotswold Line redoubling: 2008 - 2011

[whole diary]

[willc]

Since I had to drive today (finishing work after the last train of the day had left Oxford) took a detour via Charlbury on the way into Oxford after Ian's tip-off. Pictures at the usual place.

[willc]

Trackbed clearance is continuing westward, now mid-way between Shorthampton and Chilson, so roughly half-distance between Charlbury and Ascott-under-Wychwood.

[IndustryInsider]

Track cleared as far as MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) 79 now - except for a small section where the track slews from the down to the up side of the formation.

Also, sleepers have been dropped (and partly laid) west of Charlbury station - Will, if you wanted to take some snaps (and if you can gain access) you should be able to see them from the track overbridge Ascott side of Charlbury station (the one by the tennis court).

[willc]

Would love to get some pictures but there's no public access to the lineside at Walcot so I'll have to wait until they drop sleepers at the station or at Shorthampton. Couldn't observe progress this morning as I went into Oxford on the Cathedrals Express in deep gloom and driving rain. Milepost 79 puts them a mile-and-a-half from Ascott. Also the trackbed hasn't been touched east of the River Evenlode bridge at Charlbury, but I suspect that may be left until the blockade in May to be laid at the same time as the new point and signals are installed.

PS: The CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about)'s fund for enhanced facilities on the new station platforms - replica GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) benches, flower planters and running-in boards are among the possibilities - stood at ^5,768.50 on December 31. Of that ^4,000 is out of the profits from the CLPG/FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST^▸ (High Speed Train) excursions to Minehead last year and Torbay in 2009, the rest is donations from CLPG members and others. For more details, see http://www.clpg.co.uk/stationprojectsappeal2010.htm

[IndustryInsider]

Would love to get some pictures but there's no public access to the lineside at Walcot so I'll have to wait until they drop sleepers at the station or at Shorthampton.

A good job really as, rather bizarrely, the 200 yards or so of sleepers carefully laid out in the track was moved overnight to the grassy verge with the rest of the sleepers!  Perhaps a bit ahead of themselves with that one!  More sleepers dropped off though and ground now cleared to MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) 79.5.

[willc]

This morning there were sleepers are dropped on the trackbed through Charlbury station up to Walcot and heading out towards Shorthampton, where most have been placed off to the edge of the trackbed - to keep them out of the path of the tracklaying machine until it has passed and they get loaded on to it? More ballast dropped near Shorthampton as well.

[willc]

Sleepers now dropped almost all the way from Charlbury out to the Chadlington-Leafield road bridge at Shorthampton and ballast dropped west of that bridge for some distance although there are still two stretches towards Charlbury that have yet to see new ballast. The sleepers on the trackbed in the station are still there. Will try to get some pictures tomorrow, though the weather forecast isn't too great.

[willc]

Have just come across some interesting pictures taken in and around Chipping Campden tunnel during the blockade in the summer of 2009 here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=50542

Feels like a very long time ago now...

[Worcester_Passenger]

Fascinating pictures. I hadn't realised that it has a curve.

[IndustryInsider]

Feels like a very long time ago now...

That's because it is!  Still, not too long to wait now...

[willc]

Still, not too long to wait now...

Indeed not. Got lucky with the weather today, as the rain that was coming down when I reached Chilson had begun to clear at Shorthampton and held off at Charlbury as well, so got some decent pictures, including a visit by 43002, the first production series HST^▸ (High Speed Train) power car, now 35 years old and still giving FGW^▸ (First Great Western) sterling service.

Pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/

If you click on the sets link on the page, you will get the pictures in chronological order, from the most recent to the oldest, which were taken in early 2009 when vegetation clearance was under way. The main photostream has the pictures in the order I uploaded in, which wasn't always by time or date.

[IndustryInsider]

Got lucky with the weather today, as the rain that was coming down when I reached Chilson had begun to clear at Shorthampton and held off at Charlbury as well, so got some decent pictures, including a visit by 43002, the first production series HST^▸ (High Speed Train) power car, now 35 years old and still giving FGW^▸ (First Great Western) sterling service.

You did get lucky - the weather led to an absolute washout for most of the day.  Some nice pictures, especially of 43002 at Charlbury with tangible evidence of the redoubling.  Though it can't be the 11:22 ex Paddington as that's now the 11:20 Great Malvern train and now a Turbo, so presumably that was the 10:22?

[willc]

Yes. Got my hours jumbled up. Caption now tweaked

[willc]

Ploughing-out of the trackbed has now passed milepost 80. Ballast now dropped much of the way from Shorthampton towards Chilson, though the gap near Charlbury remains.

Edit: MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) 80 makes it about half-a-mile to go to Ascott-under-Wychwood.

[IanL]

First rails now installed at Charlbury for the length of the station.  Loose rails have been moved from the exisiting line (on top of sleepers) and installed on new line of sleepers.