Campaign for Tavistock reopening

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Why stop at Tav. What about the through route to Oxhampton?

How stupid was it to shut a section of line which turned a viable through route into two weak, isolated stubs!

Ok, it was a duplicate route, but there was the whole North Devon holiday traffic potential (Bude) that was lost.

Or has it been built on?

Two possible problems are development at Tavistock and issues regarding the Meldon viaduct.

[andrewr]

Why stop at Tav. What about the through route to Oxhampton?

How stupid was it to shut a section of line which turned a viable through route into two weak, isolated stubs!

Ok, it was a duplicate route, but there was the whole North Devon holiday traffic potential (Bude) that was lost.

Or has it been built on?

Two possible problems are development at Tavistock and issues regarding the Meldon viaduct.

Absolutely - reopening the inland route would be great, but would be too much for the moment. Bere Alston to the edge of Tavistock, however, is pretty much unencumbered by development, and looks achievable (at a price). And who knows, if Tavistock is reached, maybe the missing link would look more viable...

Andy

[Lee]

It is also worth noting that an alternative Plymouth-Exeter route may need to be found if erosion scuppers the existing route via Dawlish (link below.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/5099454.stm

What slightly worries me is that the trackbed including Shillamill Tunnel & Viaduct is currently being sold and appears on the register of surplus public sector land (links below.)
http://www.brb.gov.uk/property/property_listings/index_html?keyword=Shillamill+Tunnel+%26+Viaduct

http://www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/rspsl.htm

I have been unable to find out who the buyer is.

[Lee]

What slightly worries me is that the trackbed including Shillamill Tunnel & Viaduct is currently being sold and appears on the register of surplus public sector land (links below.)
http://www.brb.gov.uk/property/property_listings/index_html?keyword=Shillamill+Tunnel+%26+Viaduct

http://www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/rspsl.htm

I have been unable to find out who the buyer is.

Thanks to research conducted by Global Moderator Nick Field, we now have a pretty good idea.

As you can see from the link below, the Bere Alston-Tavistock trackbed is marked as a "Proposed future National Cycle Network route."
http://www.sustrans.co.uk/default.asp?sRegion=The_West_Country&map.x=-4.14163098163359&map.y=50.5437450157002&bLarge=&nZoom=5

If this is the case, then it may not be the best of news, especially considering the problems being encountered with reopening the Bodmin-Wadebridge line alongside the Camel Trail (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=685.msg2468#msg2468

[smokey]

Sustrans have big plans to turn just about every ExRailway line into a Cycle Trail, and Problems of converting Cycle Routes into a Dual system such as the Camel Trail just don't happen, NOT WHEN the Cycle trail is already open on a closed track bed, if the South Devon Railway or West Somerset Line were former Double Lines SUNSTRANS would want to run a Cycle route alongside the Railway.

However the ONLY time I ever spoke to a Sustrans Man at an RDS meeting years ago it was stated that Sustrans would have NO PROBLEMS with the Railway coming back IF a replacement Cycle route was built.
And a Cycle route would be a lot cheaper to build than a Railway Line.

The BIG thing about going back to TAVISTOCK that everybody seems to be missing is that Bere Alston-Tavistock is a Former DOUBLE TRACK MAIN LINE so bags of room for Both Rail and almost unused Cycle Trail.

[Btline]

Surley the whole point of a former rail line being preserved as a cycle route is to do just that: preserve it, so a railway can be rebuilt easily when the time comes (population/traffic rise).

As far as I am concerned, I thought that these cycle routes were all temporary and just prevented the track-bed being destroyed.

I, therefore, was in full support of "Sustrans."

However, reading about the Wadebridge line, I now do not like Sustrans at all, and hope they do not purchase any more track as they seem to be preventing the opening of railways!

Goodness knows how many more reopening opportunities have been lost due to this dreadful company!

And in the meantime, congestion gets worse..........

[vacman]

I've never liked Sustrans and have seen through them from the start, they seem to think that everyone should cycle to work, well when you have to travel 50 odd miles then it won't happen!

Tavvy REALLY needs it's railway back and we should all get together and form a group to start the ball rolling! Slightly different but bear in mind that the Helston project was started by two 17 year old lads who just went for a walk along the track bed in 2002, and now it's one of the fastest developing preservation projects in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)! And at least one person on this board (andrewr) was involved in the Helston project from nearly the very start and it was a lot of his influence that is to thank for it's rapid progress! Come on guys, lets get crackin, I'm sure the Tamar Belle heritage group at Bere Ferrers could provide the venue for a meeting?

[Lee]

Tavvy REALLY needs it's railway back and we should all get together and form a group to start the ball rolling! Slightly different but bear in mind that the Helston project was started by two 17 year old lads who just went for a walk along the track bed in 2002, and now it's one of the fastest developing preservation projects in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)! And at least one person on this board (andrewr) was involved in the Helston project from nearly the very start and it was a lot of his influence that is to thank for it's rapid progress! Come on guys, lets get crackin, I'm sure the Tamar Belle heritage group at Bere Ferrers could provide the venue for a meeting?

I totally agree. The quicker an effective reopening campaign group is formed, the more influence over any upcoming decisions it will be able to exert.

[oooooo]

The bit that gets me is ^6-^10m to reinstate 6 miles of track.... Why on earth so much???

[devon_metro]

Probably payments to Save the Trees for removing some shrubbery 

[oooooo]

The BIG thing about going back to TAVISTOCK that everybody seems to be missing is that Bere Alston-Tavistock is a Former DOUBLE TRACK MAIN LINE so bags of room for Both Rail and almost unused Cycle Trail.

This is proven by the section from Meldon Quarry to Okehampton where the railway and cycle path already run side by side.

[smokey]

Two possible problems are development at Tavistock and issues regarding the Meldon viaduct.
[/quote]


Say all you good people out there, I've been in touch with Andy Roden (Save Our Sleeper HERO).

He's real busy with a Book, but will lend what time he has, so let's not sit on our backsides and do little.

One suggestion was hold a meeting at Bere Ferrers, good Idea any one got contact details?

Let's Have some names of people who would attend a meeting on say a Saturday.

Tavistock MUST happen, as for buildings in the Way, that didn't stop the NET (Nottingham Trams)
and a Cost of ^6m that's loose change to Mr A Darling.

What did the 6 1/2 mile A30 Goss Moor by-pass cost almost ^100m

Andy did suggest an on-line petition any out there with the Brains to start one.

To wet the appetite, Bere Alston-Gunnislake could cause a problem with reopening Tavistock, Two trains serving Tavy and Gunnislake would knock heavy price wise on the Scheme, PPM^‡(resolve) has been suggested but I would think with the step climbs on the Bere Alston-Gunnislake line PPM isn't man enough.

My Suggestion is Install Overhead Cable and put a Tram on the Bere Alston-Gunnislake section.

There's B***** All wrong with MELDON viaduct, the condition of the Viaduct was used as an EXCUSE to close the Line, same was tired with Ribblehead, and that was only Singled as a token to justify the early closure scam.

[oooooo]

To get in touch with the guys at Bere Ferrers try here: http://www.tamarbelle.co.uk

Many sites provide online petitions, try something like: http://www.petitiononline.com

[vacman]

Two possible problems are development at Tavistock and issues regarding the Meldon viaduct.

Say all you good people out there, I've been in touch with Andy Roden (Save Our Sleeper HERO).

He's real busy with a Book, but will lend what time he has, so let's not sit on our backsides and do little.

One suggestion was hold a meeting at Bere Ferrers, good Idea any one got contact details?

Let's Have some names of people who would attend a meeting on say a Saturday.

Tavistock MUST happen, as for buildings in the Way, that didn't stop the NET (Nottingham Trams)
and a Cost of ^6m that's loose change to Mr A Darling.

What did the 6 1/2 mile A30 Goss Moor by-pass cost almost ^100m

Andy did suggest an on-line petition any out there with the Brains to start one.

To wet the appetite, Bere Alston-Gunnislake could cause a problem with reopening Tavistock, Two trains serving Tavy and Gunnislake would knock heavy price wise on the Scheme, PPM^‡(resolve) has been suggested but I would think with the step climbs on the Bere Alston-Gunnislake line PPM isn't man enough.

My Suggestion is Install Overhead Cable and put a Tram on the Bere Alston-Gunnislake section.

There's B***** All wrong with MELDON viaduct, the condition of the Viaduct was used as an EXCUSE to close the Line, same was tired with Ribblehead, and that was only Singled as a token to justify the early closure scam.

The PPM's are suprisingly powerful, they operated fine on the Stourbridge line which is quite a stiff gradient!

[smokey]

The PPM^‡(resolve)'s are suprisingly powerful, they operated fine on the Stourbridge line which is quite a stiff gradient!

Just a couple of points the Stourbridge line is 58 chains long and not as steep or bendy as the Bere Alston-Gunnislake branch which is 4miles 34 chains.
Nope: me thinks a PPM would be out of Puff on the Gunnislake Branch and I've got the IQ of 6000 traffic wardens