Trivia: isolated standard gauge lines

[route101]

The line that used to branch off at Law junction, was severed a few years ago.

 

[McRhu]

The line that used to branch off at Law junction, was severed a few years ago.

The former Garriongill Junction and line serving the Costain concrete sleeper factory. The track still looks to be in very good condition, considering.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Mar 2022 ==

There's still a few hundred yards of the old Jerviston Junction .. Ravenscraig line left, complete with points where the double track started. The rest survived until 2008, gradually abandoning hope of coming back to life in some Ravenscraig New Town context. What a mess they made of the trackbed.

 

[Western Sunset]

Many railway training centres have a short piece/s of isolated track, eg Eastleigh, Purley, Derby Railway Engineering School. Plenty of others.

 

[4F89]

Any tram system, except Sheffield's.

Not sure why the Holyhead breakwater would have been Brunel gauge. - the railway to Holyhead was built by the Stephensons. The last motive power on the breakwater were two (standard gauge) class 01 diesels.

Manchester trams have a connection to the mainline for certain.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Manchester trams have a connection to the mainline for certain.

More than one, IIRC, but all padlocked / blocked and none currently in use. Certainly used to be one between Altrincham and Navigation Road, another one between Radcliffe and Bury, and maybe a third between Newton Heath & Moston and Failsworth.

 

[4F89]

More than one, IIRC, but all padlocked / blocked and none currently in use. Certainly used to be one between Altrincham and Navigation Road, another one between Radcliffe and Bury, and maybe a third between Newton Heath & Moston and Failsworth.

Plus the one at Rochdale. Just has a sleeper placed over the top, so if needed, can definitely be used.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Plus the one at Rochdale. Just has a sleeper placed over the top, so if needed, can definitely be used.

Is there definitely an intact Network Rail/Metrolink track connection at Rochdale? Trackmaps (2018 Fourth edition) would seem to suggest otherwise.

 

[snowball]

I seem to have had this discussion many times. There is no Metrolink/NR connection at Rochdale, and there has not been one at least since Metrolink opened to Rochdale. There may seem to be one as seen from the NR line but it comes to a dead end and does not connect to Metrolink. It remains at the bottom of the embankment that has Metrolink at the top. A previous Trackmaps (2013) shows a connection but it is wrong.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I seem to have had this discussion many times. There is no Metrolink/NR connection at Rochdale, and there has not been one at least since Metrolink opened to Rochdale. There may seem to be one as seen from the NR line but it comes to a dead end and does not connect to Metrolink. It remains at the bottom of the embankment that has Metrolink at the top. A previous Trackmaps (2013) shows a connection but it is wrong.

Thanks for clarifying. And just to further clarify, the connection from the Metrolink between Radcliffe and Bury to the "mainline" is obviously via Bury Bolton Street and Heywood on the East Lancs Railway.

 

[4F89]

I seem to have had this discussion many times. There is no Metrolink/NR connection at Rochdale, and there has not been one at least since Metrolink opened to Rochdale. There may seem to be one as seen from the NR line but it comes to a dead end and does not connect to Metrolink. It remains at the bottom of the embankment that has Metrolink at the top. A previous Trackmaps (2013) shows a connection but it is wrong.

Aaah, the damn flyover chops it off, I was sure it was still connected.

 

[507 001]

Metrolink does not, and never has had a connection at Rochdale, other than during construction. It was removed well before the line opened as far as Rochdale Railway Station. The remaining stub of the Oldham loop is still in occasional use as a turn back siding, but is not connected to Metrolink. At the point that it approaches the new formation, it's actually a couple of meters lower.

The connection at Bury is still used, the ELR provide ballast trains, although there hasn't been one for a few years.

The connection at Altrincham (Deansgate Junction 603 points) is theoretically available for use, but as far as I can tell has never actually been used since opening. I can't even find evidence of use during the 2008 track renewals.

The connection at Victoria has now been removed. I believe this one had been used a couple of times, but was operationally difficult due to its close proximity to quite a sharp curve.

 

[essexjohn]

There's a short length of isolated standard gauge track by West Horndon station. I assume it's used for track worker training.

 

[EllieAquitrain]

Ah - yes, of course - Finsbury Park! It was silly of me to forget that; Northumberland Park is irrelevant. So therefore all Underground lines - other than the W&C - can be reached from "the outside world". Though even moving the tube stock itself around might not always be easy, given different constraints on tunnel clearances, relating to carriage length etc. But that's not the point at issue in this thread. The routes for both the Northern and Victoria are necessarily via the Piccadilly [and then via either Met or District], and I guess the Jubilee is only via the Bakerloo; the Central and all the SS lines are a doddle of course.

So I make the list of LU connections (using Carto Metro):

Bakerloo Line
- Queen's Park: to Watford DC Line

Central Line
- Ruislip Depot: to Chiltern Main Line

Circle Line
- (via District Line at High Street Kensington, Gloucester Road, South Kensington, or Minories Junction)
- (via Hammersmith & City Line at Aldgate Junction)
- (via Metropolitan Line at Baker Street)

District Line
- Barking: to Tottenham & Hampstead Line
- East Putney: to Windsor Lines
- Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon: to South Western Main Line
- Gunnersbury: to North London Line

Docklands Light Railway
N/A

Hammersmith & City Line
- Barking: to Tottenham & Hampstead Line

Jubilee Line
- (via Bakerloo Line at Baker Street)
- (via Metropolitan Line at Neasden or Wembley Park)

Metropolitan Line
- Harrow-on-the-Hill: to Harrow Line
- Amersham: to Aylesbury Line

Northern Line
- (via Piccadilly Line at King's Cross Loop)

Piccadilly Line
- (via Central Line at Ruislip Depot)
- (via District Line at Acton Town or Hammersmith)
- (via Metropolitan Line at Rayners Lane)

Tramlink
N/A

Victoria Line
- (via Piccadilly Line at Finsbury Park)

Waterloo & City Line
N/A

And, for fun:

Elizabeth Line
- Pudding Mill Lane: to Great Eastern Main Line
- Plumstead Depot and Abbey Wood: to North Kent Line
- Portobello Junction: to Great Western Main Line

Overground
- South Acton Junction: to Kew Branch
- Acton Wells Junction: to Acton Curve and Dudding Hill Line
- Clapham Junction and Ludgate Junction (also to Ludgate Line): to Windsor Lines
- Latchmere Junction: to Kensington Line and Brighton Main Line
- North Pole Junction: to North Pole Depot
- Kensal Green Junction: to City Line
- Camden Road: to Primrose Hill Branch and North London Incline
- Canonbury West Junction: to Canonbury Curve
- Lea Junction and Channelsea Junctions (also to Channelsea Curve): to High Meads Loop
- Camden Junction (also to Primrose Hill Branch), Kensal Green, Willesden TMD, Mitre Bridge Junction, and Watford Junction: to West Coast Main Line
- New Cross Gate: to Sussex Main Line
- Old Kent Road Junction: to South London Line
- Junction Road Junction: to Tottenham North Curve
- Harringay Park Junction: to Harringay Curve
- South Tottenham: to Tottenham South Curve
- Woodgrange Park Junction and Romford: to Great Eastern Main Line
- Barking: to Tilbury Line
- Bethnal Green (also to Great Eastern Main Line), Hackney Downs, Clapton Junction, and Cheshunt: to West Anglia Main Line

Emirates Air Line
N/A

 

[A S Leib]

Emirates Air Line
N/A

Do cable cars have gauges?

 

[JBuchananGB]

Mangapps Farm
Colne Valley Railway.

 

[EllieAquitrain]

Do cable cars have gauges?

Good point, I shouldn't have included it!

I guess the cable diameter? In any case, not Standard gauge!

 

[Donny_m]

Tintern has 2 old carriages as a cafe on 50m of track.

Bristol docks railway runs from the M Shed to (somewhere near B Bond warehouse as the old terminus became the metro bus route a few year ago)

Avon valley railway from Oldland Common to Bitton.

Brunel Holiday park in Dawlish Warren is a sidings of rails and coaches unconnected to the mainline.

 

[InOban]

Did anyone mention Crich tram museum?

 

[janahan]

So I make the list of LU connections (using Carto Metro):

Bakerloo Line
- Queen's Park: to Watford DC Line

There are a couple of others on the Bakerloo Line, such as south of Willesden Juntion to the North London Line, and at Harrow and Wealdstone to the north part of the Watford DC line (Queens park connects to the south, and of course between Queens Park and H&W it shares the Watford DC line)

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Foxfield Railway, Staffordshire.
Previously connected to the mainline just west of Blythe Bridge (when it was a colliery railway).
The incline down from Caverswall Road Station towards the mainline was used in preservation but hasn't been for some years. I used to be able to see and hear the trains from my bedroom window but the trees grew to block the view. There also used to be some wagons at the bottom of the incline, visible from the mainline but I think they were moved. Google seems to suggest that one wagon remains.

Churnet Valley Railway, Staffordshire with its various branches from Leekbrook Junction. Nominally connected to the mainline at Stoke-on-Trent.

 

[EllieAquitrain]

There are a couple of others on the Bakerloo Line, such as south of Willesden Juntion to the North London Line, and at Harrow and Wealdstone to the north part of the Watford DC line (Queens park connects to the south, and of course between Queens Park and H&W it shares the Watford DC line)

For the Underground at least, where it shared track with NR services I used the LU/NR boundaries — so Harrow-Amersham counted as Metropolitan Line, but Queen's Park northwards didn't count as Bakerloo Line.

 

[AM9]

There's a short length of isolated standard gauge track by West Horndon station. I assume it's used for track worker training.

There's another one of those adjacent to the ramp from Blackfriars to Metropolitan Junction. It's physically located just above Ewer St.

Meanwhile off the commercial railway there's a short length (about 500m) of SG track at Bressingham Hall which I assume is still used on steam days. When I went on it in 1972 or 3, it was on the footplate of a black 5 or Royal Scot, (as memory serv es me). I do remember that it was a bit hairy as footplate level was like ploughing through the trees. That track has jad some pretty respectable locos on it over the years. It is about 3Km for Diss station.

 

[mrd269697]

I’d imagine the Llangollen Railway is one of the longest, at 10 miles long. To my knowledge heritage railways longer than this have connections to the national rail network. It’s also 2 miles longer than the Island Line (Ryde-Shanklin)

 

[A S Leib]

I think the Alderney Railway's standard gauge (but none of the Manx ones are).

 

[Western Sunset]

Train ferries would be isolated from their systems whilst in the middle of the English Channel (or wherever)...

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Are there any trains left at the Science Museum in South Kensington? I know Deltic used to be there but that was ages ago.

 

[Western Sunset]

Does the Island of Sodor count?

 

[Taunton]

There's about 10 feet of the onetime Edinburgh cable tramway, complete with centre cable slot, in situ in Waterloo Place, at the east end of Princes Street. It's original, was left as a museumpiece, and dates from when one of the cable lines from the east terminated there in the early 1920s. Bizarrely, the city roads department has zero recognition for its historic value, and have painted white roadmarkings for a bicycle area right across the original running rails . But the rails are still there, hopefully someone less inept will be in charge one day and have them restored.

Google Maps

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[uvarvu]

There is some track outside Warmley Signal Box with an engineering trolley on it.

 

[Mothball]

I have interesting want know how often the link in use, l means usually if a tramway system that no tram-train service should isolated with railway.

The connection at Bury, while by no means frequent has seen a fair amount of use over the years. Including 2 steam engines! A lot, if not all the original T68's received Modifications at Baron Street before entering service,
"Thomas" visited Queens Road depot for an open day in 1994,
The Major track renewals in the mid 2000's saw regular use by the East Lancs's 37's.
T68 1003 left Metrolink for the fire service, via the connection.
Various track machines entered the network having been offloaded in Baron Street,
And the ELR have provided traction for some overnight engineers trains several times, including another steam engine.

I'm not sure if its seen use since a runaway MPV fouled the line however.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Mar 2022 ==

The connection at Altrincham (Deansgate Junction 603 points) is theoretically available for use, but as far as I can tell has never actually been used since opening. I can't even find evidence of use during the 2008 track renewals.

I wonder if the 08's used for that could have come over the connection? Its been years since I travelled on the Altrincham line but in a time before Trafford depot I can't think of anywhere a low loader could be lined up to drop them off.