Banbury - all the changes

[The Planner]

XC were the ones that said it had to be in one blockade.

 

[mikestone1952]

I see that most if not all trains booked in the DGL are shown in RTT as DCV at Banbury Depot Junction, then platform 1 and DGL from Banbury North Junction.
;
Is there a seperate location for Banbury South Junction not picked up by RTT?

 

[The Planner]

Depends how they have done the revised TPRs. I can't see the point of timing at Banbury South if there isn't a signal section between that and the platform, you would just show the platform number at the Banbury timing point as that is enough to know where the trains are.

 

[mikestone1952]

Will ARS work just on the basis of platform numbers?

 

[BanburyBlue]

Photo's showing progress on platform 4.

Can see progress on new P4.
Old P4 disconnected (assume main line tracks already re-laid?)
New P3 starter.

These were taken Monday.

PS: Can anyone tell me why my photo's keep turning round when I upload them?

 

[mr_jrt]

PS: Can anyone tell me why my photo's keep turning round when I upload them?

The phone/camera will probably store the orientation of the device when the photo was taken in the image's metadata, so it can be automatically rotated. When this process goes awry then you can end up with incorrect rotation.

 

[duffield]

The phone/camera will probably store the orientation of the device when the photo was taken in the image's metadata, so it can be automatically rotated. When this process goes awry then you can end up with incorrect rotation.

Further to this, there are a number of free tools for editing or removing this data (known as EXIF data).

Have a look at this:
http://www.techgyd.com/software-view-edit-remove-exif-data-from-photos/7762/

Just removing the EXIF data from a copy of the picture before you upload it is probably the simplest way to prevent the orientation from being changed.

 

[fgwrich]

For those of you in the area, the South Box has it's last day today. Presumably it's switched out tonight if not already, demolition sadly scheduled for tomorrow morning. Plant is already on site and ready to go.

 

[BanburyBlue]

For those of you in the area, the South Box has it's last day today. Presumably it's switched out tonight if not already, demolition sadly scheduled for tomorrow morning. Plant is already on site and ready to go.

Progress I know, but still a sad day.

 

[L&Y Robert]

For those of you in the area, the South Box has it's last day today. Presumably it's switched out tonight if not already, demolition sadly scheduled for tomorrow morning. Plant is already on site and ready to go.

Is anyone - any 'body' or organisation taking any of the works from inside? The lever frame, for example, or the block instruments? Then there's all the stuff outside - point rodding, cranks, signal wires and pulleys - that sort of thing. There has been a surfeit of signal-box gear in the past, but equipment like this must be getting fairly difficult to come by these days.

 

[MarkyT]

Instruments, relays etc are easy to strip out quickly. Just cut all the wires, remove fixings where they're screwed down and lift out. Apart from the lead off bed immediately in front of the box most of the rodding, rollers, cranks, signal wires and pulleys can remain in place until later. The actual lever frame structure is usually self supporting and can be dismantled after the remainder of the building has been largely demolished around it.

 

[keredsonej]

S & T guys are going in after the box closes just before midnight. They have 8 hours to salvage spares/parts for use in the Worcester area before the box is demolished tomorrow morning.

 

[keredsonej]

The final stages of Banbury South in the early hours of Saturday 30th July. S & T staff are stripping spares and parts for use on the Worcester area.

 

[Elecman]

Presumably 7-5-5 was exchanged between the 2 Banbury boxes?

 

[DaveHarries]

Presumably 7-5-5 was exchanged between the 2 Banbury boxes?

Indeed it was: various videos and photos on the "Signalboxes and Signalling" group on Facebook. The lever frame at Banbury South was, however, not removed prior to demolition.

Dave

 

[BanburyBlue]

Indeed it was: various videos and photos on the "Signalboxes and Signalling" group on Facebook. The lever frame at Banbury South was, however, not removed prior to demolition.

Dave

Hi. Just looked and can't find this group on FB. Do you have a link?

 

[keredsonej]

The final insult. So very sad.

 

[The Planner]

Why is that an insult? has it gone into a skip? or more likely someone has got and took it home with them.

 

[swt_passenger]

Why is that an insult? has it gone into a skip? or more likely someone has got and took it home with them.

Don't you know old brick built sheds have feelings?

 

[keredsonej]

The nameplate is destined for the National Railway Museum collection.

 

[jimm]

Oxford Mail story about the end of Banbury South box, with a picture gallery showing the demolition

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14...Banbury_Station_as_signalmen_work_last_shift/

 

[mikestone1952]

Wierdly the CrossCountry replacement buses from Didcot were labelled all stations to Banbury!
In reality they only served Oxford and even that seems pointless as there are GWR services to Oxford and a separate Oxford-Banbury-Leamington one.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Wierdly the CrossCountry replacement buses from Didcot were labelled all stations to Banbury!
In reality they only served Oxford and even that seems pointless as there are GWR services to Oxford and a separate Oxford-Banbury-Leamington one.

Technically they are all stations...at least all the stations CrossCountry serve! But that's part of the reason there are Customer Service/Bus Co-ordinator staff, to ensure people get on the right bus.

 

[Gagravarr]

Wierdly the CrossCountry replacement buses from Didcot were labelled all stations to Banbury!
In reality they only served Oxford and even that seems pointless as there are GWR services to Oxford and a separate Oxford-Banbury-Leamington one.

From Oxford going south, GWR are running buses at :00 and :30. Cross Country are supposed to be running buses at :15 and :45, but I gather those are being run with the same ones that come down from Banbury and aren't on time. What seems to be happening is around :20 and :50, GWR being loading their buses in the absence of any Cross Country ones, then the CC buses get loaded around the hour / half our when they finally appear. Clear as mud...!

 

[mikestone1952]

Technically they are all stations...at least all the stations CrossCountry serve! But that's part of the reason there are Customer Service/Bus Co-ordinator staff, to ensure people get on the right bus.

;
Technically they aren't - technically "all stations" means just that. Bus co-ordinators rarely look at tickets and many people don't ask, in addition to the propensity for people to ask about a train/bus's destination rather than where they actually want to go.

 

[BanburyBlue]

Just walked over the Middleton Road bridge today.

Platform 4 looking like a platform now - tarmac and paving in place, just doing some finishing off work.

Platform 2 bay filled in with hard-core - assume this will be 'tarmacked(?)' over.

Yesterday (Thursday) the down relief past platform 1 had no track, today all in place - amazing the difference a day makes. Although can't see any evidence of the turnouts from the down goods to the down main beyond the North box?

One thing that did surprise me was that there were engineers just north of the road bridge pulling in what I assume were signalling/telecommunications/points cables. I would have thought this would all have been done by now? Now Friday, line re-opens Monday - must be a hell of a lot of functional/safety testing required before a live train is allowed on the track?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

RTT suggests all is fine through Banbury today.
Is the work completely complete, or are there bits still waiting to be commissioned?

 

[Bill EWS]

Returning from Aberdeen last Wednesday the bus connection for Didcot was very good. A none-stop run from Leamington Spa to Didcot and I arrived home a lot earlier than with the change at Oxford. No complaints there.

 

[BanburyBlue]

See on National Rail, that signal problems at Kings Sutton causing delays - teething problems I assume?

BTW, is it King's Sutton, or Kings Sutton?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

See on National Rail, that signal problems at Kings Sutton causing delays - teething problems I assume?
BTW, is it King's Sutton, or Kings Sutton?

The village itself thinks it's King's Sutton (like King's Cross, King's Norton and King's Lynn). http://www.kingssutton.org/
I don't know what the railway thinks, but Quail only has Cross/Lynn with an apostrophe.
Of course in some circumstances it could be Kings', but I can't think of an example of that (but there is a Queens' College in Cambridge).