Basingstoke - Alton remains

[Sulzer023]

Does anyone know why a stub of the Alton line survives just outside Basingstoke. I have seen a photo of disused track and buffer stops in a tree lined setting - is this still connected to the main line?
Thanks

 

[Bill EWS]

It was used as a head shunt for the down sidings. When I first used it as a head shunt back in 1965 it extended more towards the works and you got a fair number of wagons over it to shunt back into the sidings. I can't remember the name of the works but it was a well-known company. The stub was cut was cut back a bit by the early 70's. We had a regular freight trip where we used the head shunt. I recall when someone let the brakes off a rake of wagons in the siding and they ran back through the buffer stops and onto the road at Basingstoke station.

 

[Snow1964]

Does anyone know why a stub of the Alton line survives just outside Basingstoke. I have seen a photo of disused track and buffer stops in a tree lined setting - is this still connected to the main line?
Thanks

This section used to go to large factory belonging to Thorneycroft, so remained decades after the rest of the line closed

It wasn’t the only example on SW main line, a stub of the Ringwood line remained at Christchurch (serving South West Hants water works). I think they may be reason why Christchurch retained it manual signals until early 1970s (didn get colour lights with 1960s electrification)

 

[fgwrich]

As mentioned above, there isn't really much left of the former Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway through the town anymore, as a fair bit of it was lost under the Basingstoke Ring Road development scheme of the 1970s. Originally the line curved off at the Stub you mention (by the water works and allotments) and would have down down to where the Ring Road West is now. The former Thorneycroft Factory is where Morrisons is now and there is a little mention of the factory in the Superstore - including a former crane by the petrol station (not that you'd really notice is though!), and it would have had sidings off the branch.

The line then carried on across what is now the Winchester Road Roundabout, heading in a near straight line towards the Viables roundabout - where a short stretch of track remains), curving through what is now the towns new Police Station and across what is now the M3 out towards Cliddesdon and Beyond to Alton.

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[Sulzer023]

Thanks for all replies - is it still connected to the down sidings or is this just an isolated piece of track now?

 

[pompeyfan]

I believe it’s still technically connected, but NR have stop boards and sleepers placed over the running rails approximately 245 meters from the signal to exit the down sidings. I believe it’s recently been cut back and I wonder whether it’s anything to do with the franchise holder requiring extra stabling room for rolling stock. I believe I saw plans to add an extra 2 12 car roads with CET facilities.

 

[swt_passenger]

I believe it’s still technically connected, but NR have stop boards and sleepers placed over the running rails approximately 245 meters from the signal to exit the down sidings. I believe it’s recently been cut back and I wonder whether it’s anything to do with the franchise holder requiring extra stabling room for rolling stock. I believe I saw plans to add an extra 2 12 car roads with CET facilities.

The stuff I pulled from the track access application, (post #18 in the SWR stabling discussion), described it as 1 x 24 car siding with CET. That possibly makes sense if the site is constrained in width, because obviously length wouldn’t be a problem. Are Barton Mill Sidings 24 car length?

I just looked in the public sectional appendix, although not a scale plan it still shows a single siding which continues to a short curve away from the main lines named Thorneycroft siding. Last time I looked from a passing train, probably last year, the tracks definitely seemed to be continuous into the undergrowth...

 

[Train wasp]

A bit off topic but still about Basingstoke station. Does anyone know when the down bay platform was last used. I don’t think there is any track there now and there hasn’t been for sometime from memory.



thanks

 

[fgwrich]

A bit off topic but still about Basingstoke station. Does anyone know when the down bay platform was last used. I don’t think there is any track there now and there hasn’t been for sometime from memory.



thanks

I can't tell you when it fell out of use I'm afraid (I'll try to find out) but it certainly hasn't had track in it for some time. it's not impossible to re-instate and I do believe there's been some on-off talk about putting track back into it for some time - either as a headhunt or extra road for stabling or as a re-instated Bay platform again.

You might find these pictures rather interesting - I've just found them through a quick Flickr browse.

basingstokeandaltonlightrailway photos on Flickr

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