3rd Rail - Removed Track Miles

[A0]

Technically 4 rail, but Epping - Ongar.

 

[Gloster]

Are you sure of that? I thought I remembered reading about it (as a current event) later in the 1980s; the Friends of Alton Station website says 1985; and in this cab ride video from 1988 much of the disused track is still in place.

The date of 1980 was in Signal Box Register, Volume 4: Southern Region (Signalling Record Society, 2009) and in Volume 17 of Pryer’s Signal Box Diagrams (no date), but one could have fed off the other. However, I have found both pretty reliable in the past.

 

[Lloyds siding]

Manchester Victoria - Bury (now part of Metrolink)

And Bury - Holcombe Brook. (not Metrolink).

And if you want every bit of track: Hall Road depot and Meols Cop depot and the link line between Seaforth and Litherland (L&Y) and Seaforth Sands (LOR).

 

[steamybrian]

Moorgate-Farringdon (Widened lines)
Kew Bridge-South Acton?
Bricklayers Arms branch (unusual being freight only)
Epsom Downs branch singled in the 1970s

London Underground lines-
South Acton-Acton Town
Shoreditch-Whitechapel
Epping-Ongar
St Marys Curve (Whitechapel)

 

[D6975]

Farnham-Alton singled 1980; Moreton-Dorchester singled 1985.

I'm pretty sure that Moreton-Dorchester was singled before it was electrified, so no third rail reduction at all.

 

[Railsigns]

Farnham-Alton singled 1980

Farnham to Alton was singled on 21 July 1985, and the loop at Bentley opened on 24 November 1985.

 

[pdeaves]

Moorgate-Farringdon (Widened lines)

not third rail, though

 

[A0]

Epping-Ongar

Mentioned in post #31.

Shoreditch-Whitechapel

Sort of.... most of the route was reused to get to Shoreditch High Street. The last bit to the old Shoreditch station though would be correct.

On the other side of the Thames, Dalston Jnc to Broad Street was 3rd rail, though when the ELL was rebuilt it was reinstated from ~ New Inn Yard to Dalston Junc.

 

[VWRO2]

Shortest length removed...4th siding third rail removed a couple of months ago at Staines chs.

 

[43096]

Moorgate-Farringdon (Widened lines)

That was wired at 25kV AC overhead, not third rail.

London Underground lines-
South Acton-Acton Town
Shoreditch-Whitechapel
Epping-Ongar
St Marys Curve (Whitechapel)

Pedantically, wouldn’t those have been fourth rail rather than third rail?

 

[Dunfanaghy Rd]

The singling in 1980 had no intermediate loop: the loop at Bentley was only added in 1987. Holybourne Siding had been added in 1986.

The singling took place in 1985, bizarrely it was on a Monday after the morning peak. My last train of ballast for the track reinstatement from Alton to Medstead was booked to run that morning, but was stuck in Woking Yard for weeks until someone could work out a pathway.
It was installing the Bentley Loop that started the 'disco lights' thing. It was down to the heavy return traction current not having enough CM&EE rail to go through so it picked on the S&T rail as well!
Pat

 

[Lloyds siding]

Apologies if this is not posted in the right category. I have been wondering for a while how many track miles of UK railway have been removed (or converted to OHLE) over the years, that were already 3rd rail electrified.

Lines that spring to mind are:

* Copyhold Junction to Horsted Keynes
* Folkestone Harbour Branch
* Elmers End to Addiscombe
* West Croydon to Wimbledon (became Croydon Tram)
* North London Line (various parts converted to OHLE)

If a system of 'trading miles' (old for new) was allowed, would there be enough miles of new 3rd rail lines to cover 1 or more of the diesel islands south of the Thames?

If you're going to be doing 'mass balance equations' then you need to allow for the extensions of third rail in the not too distant past.
Therefore, here on Merseyside, we have extensions from Kirkdale-Kirkby, Rock Ferry-Hooton and Ellesmere Port and Chester, and Liverpool Central-Hunt's Cross and the Loop line through Liverpool, with a few sidings too. Then there's a newly electrified depot at Kirkdale, though the maintenance shed is non electric for safety.

 

[zwk500]

If you're going to be doing 'mass balance equations' then you need to allow for the extensions of third rail in the not too distant past.

If you take it to the logical extreme, you'd say there should be almost none at all, because very few stretches of track were built with third rail from scratch.

 

[Railcar]

The Epsom Downs branch was singled just south of Sutton. Trains to Epsom Downs now wait on Sutton's Platform 4 before a train from Epsom Downs arrives at Platform 3 (which clears the singled section) Recently, there have been plans to restore to 2-track from Sutton to Belmont to cater for the 'Cancer Hub' development on the Sutton Hospital site.

 

[Mikey C]

The NLL as stated elsewhere in this thread was 3rd rail in its entirety from Richmond to North Woolwich. (The 4 track section from the ECML to Dalston used to have 2 lines of OHLE and 2 lines 3rd Rail with other parts being dual electrified (Camden - Stratford section springs to mind)). The West London Line (Willesden Jnc - Clapham Jnc) wasn't 3rd rail until Eurostar came to town and the juice rail was extended from Clapham to North Pole. ( I travelled on both lines in the 80's, 90's and early 00's). I haven't been on the Stratford - Custom House - Woolwich section since it went to DLR and I can't add dates to when the changes took effect as they were all observations when out spotting on Travelcards or Rovers.

Stratford to Canning Town went over to the DLR (so a different form of 3rd rail), Canning Town to roughly Silvertown became part of Crossrail (OHLE) while the final part of the line to North Woolwich closed completely.

 

[urbophile]

That was wired at 25kV AC overhead, not third rail.

Pedantically, wouldn’t those have been fourth rail rather than third rail?

Pedantically, if there were four rails there must have been a third one.

 

[Whistler40145]

Watford Junction to Croxley Green?

 

[A0]

One which hasn't been mentioned - mainly because it closed in the 1950s, the branch to Rickmansworth Church Street. Though I believe it may have been to LMS 4 rail standard.

And how about Southend Pier Railway - which was 3rd rail up until 1978.