GCR Bridge Project

[Flying Phil]

Thanks for that Up Main and the GCRN Cutting 'Edge team.....do helpers just turn up at that location? .....and if lots turn up, could the bridge site area also be cleared?

 

[Up Main]

Thanks for that Up Main and the GCRN Cutting 'Edge team.....do helpers just turn up at that location? .....and if lots turn up, could the bridge site area also be cleared?

Thanks for your interest Phil.

If you and others are interested in volunteering with lineside clearance, we do have a programme, which is designed to gain quickest returns to maximise the visual impact of the GCRN in opening up the views for train passengers, public views and photo opportunities towards the railway. We aim to build the GCRN Cutting 'Edge team to progress this more effectively. There is no commitment needed, other than willing and enthusiasm and under work with some co-ordinated supervision. The more volunteers we have, the quicker the results get delivered and we can then accelerate the progress on to other areas.

At present, our very small group work on Sunday afternoons, weather and commitments permitting, so there is a lot to do with limited resources. In the first instance, and you are in the area at these times, you are welcome to make yourself known. If so, give us a heads up so that we know you or others are coming.

The area you suggest in your pics is at the far south extremity of the line and has not yet been surveyed for this purpose. As you probably know, immediately south of the A60 road bridge, the former Up Line takes a sharp left curve away from your shot down to the Midland Mainline connection. Because the loco normally rests either on or literally just a few yards beyond the road bridge anyway, the best position for viewing is probably nearer to the Brush works.

For interest, we have a Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=gcrn cutting 'edge@rushcliffe halt, which gives an insight to our activities.

 

[Flying Phil]

The Winter Steam Gala seemed to be very well attended Jan 24th/ 28th despite poor weather on Friday and Saturday. Apparently the "On-train" bridge fund collections over the past two years have raised at least £15,000 so well done to all concerned. The "n" gauge model of the Gap project was working on Loughborough platform and always had an audience.

 

[Flying Phil]

The PreciSpark car park is now finished and the area cleared ready for use. There is still scaffolding up around the North abutment and quite a bit of tidying work still to do on the site. NR are inspecting the bridge prior to them taking it over (the GCR then pay an annual rent to use it). The spoil heap is due to be moved back onto the ERMT site - ready for when it can be used as part of the new northern embankment, as the land it is on, belongs to Loughborough Grammar School - their paddock.

 

[Cowley]

It looks brilliant Phil. What a different view from a year ago.

 

[Rover]

Can't wait to see trains going over it!

 

[Flying Phil]

Can't wait to see trains going over it!

Well this is the view of the "Gap" that remains to be filled before that happens Rover.
And yes, I did ask permission to go onto the PreciSpark car park.

 

[Flying Phil]

Today there were no workers or vehicles/plant on site. The scaffolding was still up on the North abutment and there has been no movement of spoil. The bushes on the embankment are quite sparse and so there should be good views of "Tornado" this weekend.

 

[Flying Phil]

Well Tornado didn't get very close to the new bridge today, but the railings are up on the North abutment, so that must be just about finished and then the scaffolding will come down.

 

[AnthonyRail]

Great progress

 

[Flying Phil]

As there is now a "pause" in construction work I have been wondering about the possible operation of the line in the future. In a much earlier post (#22) "Flipper" outlined the case for double track around the shed, over the canal bridge and as far North as possible along the embankment behind PreciSpark. Obviously this will be a massive cost in trackwork and signalling. Might it be better - certainly initially, just to run a single track alongside the shed, with a point between the shed and bridge. Then have the section of double track as a long loop. Even that loop might not be installed initially. That way we get most of the benefits (Through running and access to NR rails) of joining the "Gap" in a shorter timescale and reduced cost.

 

[Cowley]

As there is now a "pause" in construction work I have been wondering about the possible operation of the line in the future. In a much earlier post (#22) "Flipper" outlined the case for double track around the shed, over the canal bridge and as far North as possible along the embankment behind PreciSpark. Obviously this will be a massive cost in trackwork and signalling. Might it be better - certainly initially, just to run a single track alongside the shed, with a point between the shed and bridge. Then have the section of double track as a long loop. Even that loop might not be installed initially. That way we get most of the benefits (Through running and access to NR rails) of joining the "Gap" in a shorter timescale and reduced cost.

Hi Phil, do you mean then that the double track would end between Loughborough station and the shed and then stay single from there onwards or do you mean putting in a loop from just north of the shed on the new section?
As far as it goes with trackwork and signalling, I wonder what the GCR has managed to stockpile for the job over the last few years?

I can definitely see the sense in just getting it built (but with provisions in place for future improvements) for the time being. But I also think that by the time track starts going down on the link there’ll be an influx of people wanting to help it happen.

 

[mushroomchow]

I don't see it as unreasonable to make double track to beyond the canal bridge an eventual aim. But for the medium term, especially as the aim will eventually be to move Loughborough shed and return that to trackbed, there's nothing wrong with a single line for the time being.

I still think it will be operationally interesting to eventually have the "gap" as a single line section, as with proper signalling it will make both ends a hub of activity during galas, akin to places like the Royal Albert Bridge in steam days.

The dream must surely, eventually, be to reinstate double track north of the gap as far as East Leake, not least because it will greatly improve the flexibility of working with the Gypsum traffic and allow both to operate, rather than one or the other. At the very least, a passing loop in the run up to Stanford Viaduct is going to be an operational necessity.

 

[Flying Phil]

Hi Cowley
I meant that the long loop would be North of the shed, going across the Canal bridge and part way along the new embankment - that should easily be long enough to stable one six coach train if there was a delay "to the North". However, as I said that loop could be provided for, but built later. Lets get a link up and running and, as you say, more people/cash will come on board as it gets closer.
I also hope that there is a "statement of intent" at least, to continue with the "Main Line" Rail Museum - to be based at Leicester North....

 

[Flying Phil]

I popped along to the GCR yesterday and there was no further work to be seen on the North abutment site. The scaffolding is still up and the two accommodation containers are still on site. The midweek service on the GCR was reasonably well attended, after last weeks half term "Paw Patrol" event. The Standard 2 was pulling Mk1's and the three car DMU was running.
It was an interesting contrast, as I had travelled from Harborough to Leicester on an HST, changed to a 222 to Lbro and the return was HST/HST. There are direct H'bro to L'bro services, but only with 222's and I like to use HST's whilst I can. I also took my bike on all the trains as it is quicker to get between the MML station and GCR and from H'bro station to home.

 

[Gostav]

Hello everyone！ Today l went to visit the GCR and take some photo about the Gap，there is no many change there. But another worried point is that l found a lot of graffiti on the piers when l was traveling by GC trains.

 

[IKBrunel]

With regards the 1 vs 2 track Lboro central - Precispark discussion.
Whilst it is possible to walk or cycle between the two Loughborough stations, it's a convoluted route and not very pleasant following polluted narrow terraced streets. There's no bus route between them and no easy way to get to any other GCR stations from the mainline with or without the northern section.
Given the new bridge is only single track and that connections between the midland and central stations are poor, what's really needed is a walking/cycling route in the GCR corridor, but obviously as far from the track as possible and with obviously a decent fence between.
This would provide a much needed connection for visitors visiting by train and widen the appeal of the GCR.
Once you have such a route, you can have a few signposts for it at the midland station, raising awareness of GCR to people passing through the midland station.

Use the 2nd canal bridge for now, and add a lightweight footbridge later when funding/demand build the 2nd track.

Or do we prefer heritage railways to be hidden from view and visited by car...?

 

[Flying Phil]

Gostov - Thanks for those latest pics - Re the graffiti - sadly a fact of Low-Life! but the GCR do try to get it covered up periodically.
IKBrunel - I agree an easier connection between the MML and GCR stations would be good, in fact you can walk/cycle alongside the canal to avoid some of the terraced streets and it actually ends at the GCR Canal bridge. However sadly there is no access to the GCR there, so it is back out to the streets - but a thought for the future?

 

[IKBrunel]

True about the canal offering a similar route, though the steps off the A60 are a bit steep with a bike.
The embankment section is quite a wide corridor to accommodate a path, either way getting over the canal is the challenge.
Adding the walking/cycle route could unlock additional funds for the project.

 

[AndyY1951]

I've walked from the Midland Station to the GCR Station many times in the past along the terraced streets. It always felt like walking through 'bandit country', but to be fair I never had any trouble.
Looking at Google Earth, it looks like the canal towpath is on the east side of the canal, but it is marked 'Canal pathway' on the west between the A60 and the GCR canal bridge, so is it possible to walk as far as the bridge? This path could possibly be extended to form a walkway to the station alongside the shed. Alternatively, it looks like walking along the towpath as far as the bridge to the east of Great Central Road wouldn't be much further overall.

 

[Flying Phil]

This is the way that I go, there is open access just over the road bridge between Lbro MML station and the town. However at the very end, by the canal bridge there is a narrow pedestrian walkway with staggered barriers which need a bike to be lifted over! The path on this side stops here, so you cannot go further under the canal bridge.

 

[mushroomchow]

For what it's worth, I've never had Loughborough down as a particularly rough place, not in that area of town anyway. I guess you could call that area "ethnic" if you're so inclined / bothered by that, but nobody up there would hurt a fly. Just be thankful you don't have to walk through the backstreets of Shelthorpe to get there - that's where you'd go to find trouble in 'Luffbra'.

It's a bit rough round the edges, granted, but hey, surely having to trudge through working class Victorian terraces is a fitting backdrop for a day out on a heritage railway!

I agree that a corridor between the two stations would be desirable, for the potential green credentials if anything, though a Loughborough High Level halt needs to be the end goal.

 

[IKBrunel]

Yes, a Loughborough Midland GCR high level halt would be awesome.

 

[AndyY1951]

I see that the GCR are offering a 'money match' of any donations to the Canal Bridge fund during the month of March.
Does anyone know where this money is coming from? Is it 'new money' from a benefactor, or is it money already owned by the railway, so not additional funding at all, although it might encourage extra donations. The recent Main Line article doesn't clarify the source of the money.
Andy

 

[Flying Phil]

Hi Andy
I think the match funding for March is "New" money. There is a good article about the engine shed and trackwork future requirements, but is also says that the canal bridge may even slip to 2019 if the funding is not in place.....This I find worrying, as "momentum" is easily lost on a long and expensive project like this. Whilst it is good that the ultimate aim is double track to the back of PreciSpark, I, and others it seems, think it would be better to keep the project moving forward in small stages. So the missing North embankment is put back (Navvies and wheel barrows cheapest option but an excavator with two dumper trucks hired in, three men, two to four weeks?). Install a point and lay track to and over the MML. Then put a point under the Empress Road bridge and lay track around the shed up to the canal bridge - there is already track behind the shed.
Get the Canal bridge refurbed - I seem to remember a similar, but smaller bridge, at Swithland sidings was removed and renovated by the GCR in house? Then start rebuilding the embankment, creeping the track as it gets built. Finally the abutments and arches for the Reading bridge decks.
Thus progress and publicity is maintained ......and the funding will keep coming in.
Quite a lot of progress can then be seen as these stages happen - without spending lots of money.

 

[mushroomchow]

The latest issue of Main Line (the GCR's quarterly magazine) has a very exciting article about the plans for the existing Loughborough MPD, showing that there is sufficient space for double-track running along its eastern western side.

I'm not sure how much of it is speculative at this point, but it sounds like the plan is now to retain the existing MPD in-situ, carry out structural repairs and install new brickwork, before extending it northwards to provide greater space for maintenance. There are a bunch of bells and whistles like smoke capture and solar power mooted to vastly improve the site's environmental impact, presumably a nod to the area's status as an AQMA. The running lines will be slewn around that eastern western side and continue as double track beyond the canal bridge, with the single line section starting shortly afterwards and (presumably) controlled by Loughborough signal box. It all looks great.

Edit - WESTERN side of the shed. My directional sense had a mare there.

 

[Flying Phil]

I think you mean the double track is on the Western side of the shed. However I hope they do not try to get all that done at the same time as getting the two lines linked up, as it will take quite some time to raise that amount of money - far better to get a simple, single line link up and running, then improve it in stages.....It would be different if there was a rich benefactor or other source of funding.

 

[Cowley]

Do the above plans mean no future use for the old Workington shed then I guess?
I suppose this is the cheaper option at the moment.
Where are the parts for Workington shed nowadays?

 

[Tomnick]

I think the shed and loco dept generally, already in a pretty constrained site, will struggle to function effectively with even more constraints on its operation - no car parking (and very limited parking on surrounding streets!), limited access for deliveries (presumably by a key-locked level crossing leading straight onto the shed front 'apron'), loss of storage space - let alone expand the engineering function to take advantage of the main line connection. It's positive to see the benefit recognised of extending the double track as far north as possible though!

 

[AndyY1951]

Rather than speculating, read the article. It's clear that key is finding somewhere else for the 40 years-worth of accumulated 'junk' which doesn't make best use of the site. It shows vehicular access along the east of the shed, and says the proposal includes 46 parking spaces for staff and volunteers............