Historic double track heritage railways

[steamybrian]

deleted

 

[Magdalia]

And were any lines, again aside from the GC, taken over from BR with a double track formation still down?

Did BR single the Stratford-Cheltenham line before it was closed to freight, and/or remove the track after closure?

 

[Ashley Hill]

Did BR single the Stratford-Cheltenham line before it was closed to freight, and/or remove the track after closure?

I believe it was double to closure. Closed due to a bad derailment. It was lifted between 1979/80.

 

[Taunton]

I understand that BR used to charge separately for the disposal of land and tracks.

The long thin strip of land commonly had little value other than adjacent farmers, and came with its own liabilities such as maintenance of bridge structures. The tracks on the other hand, particularly the rails (more so than used timber sleepers), had a definite scrap or reuse value, so often the sale was only of the alignment, with the tracks removed before sale. It was common for a greater length of land to be bought, but tracks just got reinstated bit by bit as funds came available. In most cases, and I think the West Somerset was an outlier, tracks had already been removed before the sale. I think many of the lines had also qualified BR for government "Track Rationalisation Grants" that were around in the era, which required the removal of tracks.

One of the aspects of such line disposals is that, although rural land had little value, any significant station site in a town was different. BR realised this, to an extent that when the various regional bus companies were sold off in the 1980s the DfT did not, and saw that it would be worth far more to property developers than as a heritage railway. The West Somerset station in Minehead is an example, BR had already had property developer enquiries about it when closure was announced, only the involvement of the council as ultimate owners overcame this.

 

[341o2]

I remember such a story regarding property auctions. Someone decided to attend one, "as an observer", got carried away, and ended up winning a strip of land alongside a railway. The problem was that there was no access - not via the railway, nor via the two farms bordering the land, as the farmers refused access via their land as did the railway. So he ended up selling at a loss, the land was resold at a further loss, then one of the farmers brought it at a considerably lower price than the original auction.
Not everything apparently a bargain is

 

[Matt P]

The Llangollen station to Llangollen Goods Junction section of the Llangollen Railway was once part of the double tracked section of the Ruabon to Barmouth line between Ruabon South and Llangollen.

 

[Richard Scott]

I believe it was double to closure. Closed due to a bad derailment. It was lifted between 1979/80.

Definitely double to closure.

 

[Trainlog]

The Spa Valley Railway are the only heritage railway to buy double track in situ.
Because the track was in poor condition the decision was taken to use the best bits from both lines to make one good single line. Sections of the second track survive as sidings of the passing loop at Groombridge.

Do you include the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is double from Hythe to New Romney. It was double to Dungeness but was singled when it was reopened after WW2

I reckon the RHDR track singling is worthy of a mention, might not be BR or standard gauge but is definitley rich in its own history. Kinda sad they never thought of redoubling the whole line as its fun hearing the steam locos thunder past each other on the Hythe section.

 

[MisterSheeps]

The North York Moors Railway was double tracked in I think 1847, but was singled again during WW1

NLS 1950 OS 1" map shows Rillington to New Bridge (N of Pickering), and Levisham to Grosmont (thence to Whitby Town) as double track.

 

[mike57]

NLS 1950 OS 1" map shows Rillington to New Bridge (N of Pickering), and Levisham to Grosmont (thence to Whitby Town) as double track.

I didn't realise that double track sections survived that long. I will do a bit of exploring on the NLS website https://maps.nls.uk/

 

[MisterSheeps]

I didn't realise that double track sections survived that long. I will do a bit of exploring on the NLS website https://maps.nls.uk/

OS could be out of date of course, depends on survey date. If you are really interested, I could find out, my brother is volunteering for them checking boundaries.

 

[mike57]

OS could be out of date of course, depends on survey date. If you are really interested, I could find out, my brother is volunteering for them checking boundaries.

I'll have a dig around anyway, its only personal interest, everything I have read points to singling during WW1 as an 'economy measure' but the scope of those measures and any reinstatement are less clear. Its my local heritage railway which I support in a small way, and historical stuff is one of my hobbies, I like the challenge of being able to provide definitive answers to questions, sad I know...

 

[2392]

The North York Moors Railway was double tracked in I think 1847, but was singled again during WW1

Only between Levisham and Pickering New Bridge. The rest all the way from Pickering to Rillington [on the York-Scarborough line] and north from Levisham to Whitby Town were double track. The section Grosmont-Whitby was until the eighties. Sections of the line from Grosmont to Middlesbrough were built wide enough for doubling but weren't. Though the 'Boro Nunthorpe was double again until the eighties +/-.