Could an additional platform at Okehampton be considered?

[trainmania100]

Moderator note: split from

New Station for Okehampton

So train calls at Okehampton Interchange, then Okehampton? I can see that causing some confusion: It's not at all common for 'Interchange' to be used as a station name suffix - so not the kind of thing you'd expect. But on the other hand it wouldn't be at all surprising for someone to refer to a...

www.railforums.co.uk

Guessing there won't be a through platform or run around loop here. I know there were plans for a bay, was there any ever idea of holding a down train to Okehampton at Interchange, and passing the up train to increase frequency?

It would have helped with any sort of freight prospects and railtours

 

[D Williams]

Guessing there won't be a thru platform or run around loop here. I know there were plans for a bay, was there any ever idea of holding a down train to okehampton in interchange and passing the up train to increase frequency? It would have helped with any sort of freight prospects and railtours

Minimum railway, no money for any frills. Infrastructure is very expensive. Freight seems very unlikely unless the quarry were to reopen , which event is even more unlikely. Railtours would be topped and tailed if a path can be arranged.

 

[trainmania100]

Minimum railway, no money for any frills. Infrastructure is very expensive. Freight seems very unlikely unless the quarry were to reopen , which event is even more unlikely. Railtours would be topped and tailed if a path can be arranged.

Fair enough. Was surprised at the announcement of this station in the first place given ivybridge also has indirect links to London via Exeter, is only 30 min drive via yelverton and has a sizeable car park.

 

[D Williams]

Fair enough. Was surprised at the announcement of this station in the first place given ivybridge also has indirect links to London via Exeter, is only 30 min drive via yelverton and has a sizeable car park.

Ivybridge? What's that got to do with Okehampton?

 

[sh24]

Fair enough. Was surprised at the announcement of this station in the first place given ivybridge also has indirect links to London via Exeter, is only 30 min drive via yelverton and has a sizeable car park.

Ivybridge is more like an hour and involves the often congested A386 via Tavistock. It does have direct trains to London but not sure that's going to influence things in any way.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Guessing there won't be a thru platform or run around loop here. I know there were plans for a bay, was there any ever idea of holding a down train to okehampton in interchange and passing the up train to increase frequency? It would have helped with any sort of freight prospects and railtours

Yes, when the Dartmoor Railway was still operational, initial plans were for an interchange station at 'Okehampton East', as it was to be called, with a bay platform for the preserved line. Today any increase in capacity would come from making the independent lines beween Crediton and Coleford Jcn truly double track.

 

[Brush 4]

Yes, that is the cheapest and simplest way to increase flexibility, convert the 2 parallel single lines to the double track they once were, by reinstating Coleford Junction. Also increases capacity to Barnstaple, which must improve the BCR.

 

[MarkyT]

Yes, that is the cheapest and simplest way to increase flexibility, convert the 2 parallel single lines to the double track they once were, by reinstating Coleford Junction. Also increases capacity to Barnstaple, which must improve the BCR.

Not capacity really, which is limited more fundamentally by the single lines beyond. A long dynamic loop should make the timetable on both branches more resilient though, tolerant of a few minutes delay in one direction without affecting the other. Siting the junction pointwork east of Yeoford would avoid the need for a second platform there. Only Barnstaple trains could call clearly, but that's no change from now. Going east of Crediton, the double track could extend to just short of Newton St Cyres, without requiring more expensive station work.

 

[Meerkat]

Freight seems very unlikely unless the quarry were to reopen , which event is even more unlikely.

The quarry could reopen couldn’t it - still owned by one of the aggregate companies last I read?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Aggregate Industries still own Meldon Quarry, but all the machinery for stone crushing, grading etc. has been removed. Network Rail own the track to Meldon and the run-round loop there, but A.I. still own the sidings.

During the refubishment of Okehampton Station it was discovered that there was not the regulation clearance between the two tracks in the platforms - despite the fomer GWR Sunday and Dartmoor Rly services happily co-existing - so to reinstate the Down Main would require a trimming of the already narrow platform. Okehampton Interchange is being designed a single platform station with no provision for a second.

 

[nw1]

Ivybridge is more like an hour and involves the often congested A386 via Tavistock. It does have direct trains to London but not sure that's going to influence things in any way.

I'm not an expert on the road system but I would indeed be surprised that you can get to Ivybridge from Okehampton in half an hour. The direct route must presumably be a B-road over Dartmoor, which would be slow and hilly.

 

[trainmania100]

I can see meldon quarry related threads have been closed but it's worth mentioning it here, a 5yr lease has been granted for extraction to resume aggregate workings out of Meldon Quarry. Pay per ton levy to AI. Not sure who is actually taking operation of the work. Just reading extracts from an okehampton group.

According to another form (Freghtmaster interactive) the vegetation is being cleared already and will be done so by June.

90% minimum material output to go via rail due to protected nature around the quarry roads.

With this in mind, could we see the prospect of a second platform or line (at least from okehampton parkway to Oke) being introduced in light of this? I say that speculatively in that the freight could follow the 150 up the single line and pass in the station or something.

If you can access Facebook, you can read it here;

Okehampton Information Hub | Some activity going on at Meldon quarry, anyone know what | Facebook

Some activity going on at Meldon quarry, anyone know what? I took this picture from a balloon in 2017.

www.facebook.com

 

[JKF]

There’s been a few quarries reactivated over the last few years, some down to HS2 and other big infrastructure schemes, so interesting that this one seems on the cards too. The economics must stack up for it. It’d be nice if the workings came through Bristol but suspect they’ll cut the corner from Taunton.

I wonder what redundant quarry will be next, Tidenham? Think the line to that one is now a cyclepath.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I can see meldon quarry related threads have been closed but it's worth mentioning it here, a 5yr lease has been granted for extraction to resume aggregate workings out of Meldon Quarry. Pay per ton levy to AI. Not sure who is actually taking operation of the work. Just reading extracts from an okehampton group.

According to another form (Freghtmaster interactive) the vegetation is being cleared already and will be done so by June.

90% minimum material output to go via rail due to protected nature around the quarry roads.

With this in mind, could we see the prospect of a second platform or line (at least from okehampton parkway to Oke) being introduced in light of this? I say that speculatively in that the freight could follow the 150 up the single line and pass in the station or something.

If you can access Facebook, you can read it here;

Okehampton Information Hub | Some activity going on at Meldon quarry, anyone know what | Facebook

Some activity going on at Meldon quarry, anyone know what? I took this picture from a balloon in 2017.

www.facebook.com

Intriguing - there is nothing in the local press as yet. The hourly passenger service fully occupies the section from Crediton so any stone trains would have to run at night - I can't imagine any new signalling is being installed. I am down there next week so will try to find out some more information.

 

[trainmania100]

A week Line closure in place early march to do with the new station. I don't know if an entire platform can be built in that timeframe but it would make sense to try get as much done as possible
8th - 14th march.

Seen some pictures of diggers in meldon quarry from January clearing up some earth. I'll head down late next week as well if the weather is permitting. Overdue a walk along the path

 

[MarkyT]

Intriguing - there is nothing in the local press as yet. The hourly passenger service fully occupies the section from Crediton so any stone trains would have to run at night - I can't imagine any new signalling is being installed. I am down there next week so will try to find out some more information.

They'd have to run at night or they'd need to thin out the passenger service at selected off-peak times to create the stone paths. To run the freights among existing services, an extra loop or the extension of the mooted proper double track between Credition and Colford Jn by about 5 or 6 km towards Okehampton would be required. That might also allow the passenger frequency to be stepped up to 2TPH at certain peak times, while using the capacity for aggregates at other times.

The current signalling uses a hand-exchanged One Train Staff block system. The staff has a key attached that can be used to unlock the ground frame at Okehampton. After passage of a freight into the sidings, the ground frame can be normalised, reestablishing the trapping protection for the passenger line, and the key removed, but a passenger train cannot follow the freight to Okehampton and back while it loads easily as there's no quick way to normalise the block from that end. It's plausible to arrange transport of the staff by road back to Crediton for use by a following passenger train, but for more flexibility, the block working would need changing to a double-ended block configuration where the freight can lock itself into the sidings beyond Okehampton via additional equipment at that end rather than personnel having to ferry the physical token all the way back to Crediton.