Is Looe connected to the main line?

[charlee]

Is the Looe branch actually connected to the Cornish Main Line? Eveytime i go past it , Platform 3 seems to be across the road and on a differnent line. Is it connected? I would assume it was as the units would never be able to come off for matenance etc.

For example if i was a train company i wanted to run a Plymouth/Exeter to Looe service would that be possible?

 

[Zoe]

Is the Looe branch actually connected to the Cornish Main Line? Eveytime i go past it , Platform 3 seems to be across the road and on a differnent line. Is it connected? I would assume it was as the units would never be able to come off for matenance etc.

For example if i was a train company i wanted to run a Plymouth/Exeter to Looe service would that be possible?

Yes, there is a connection.to the branch via the L & L siding.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Yep, connected via a chord that leaves the branch before the platform, and joins the mainline facing south / west only; though it is available to access from the north / east via a crossover after the mainline platforms, I suspect it is only available on ECS moves though.

 

[MCR247]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looe_Valley_Line

The diagram shows it is connected

 

[Drsatan]

I suspect it is only available on ECS moves though.

Services to Moorswater Cement Terminal (assuming it's still open) also use the branch.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Services to Moorswater Cement Terminal (assuming it's still open) also use the branch.

I meant with regard to potential passenger services - but thanks anyway, I never knew the line carried on after Coombe (Junction Halt).

 

[Oliver]

I meant with regard to potential passenger services - but thanks anyway, I never knew the line carried on after Coombe (Junction Halt).

I got off a train from Looe at Coombe Jct Halt a couple of years ago. The conductor told me I was the first passenger she'd ever known get off there!

 

[Trainbuff]

Yes Coombe halt is one of the least used stations in the country. The connection is correctly pointed out as only for freight and ECS movements.

 

[185]

As you stand on the Looe Platform at Liskeard station, you can see the link curve 20yds away just behind the building opposite.... ie the curve comes off the mainline from Penzance and swings sharply around to the left, joining the Looe line just after the end of the Looe platform.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Yes Coombe halt is one of the least used stations in the country.

Indeed, its passenger loadings make the loadings of the next stop, the quaintly named St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, look positively metropolitan in comparison :roll:

 

[Liam]

What is gained by not stopping at Coombe Jn? The train has to stop ayway for the driver to switch ends.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It stops about 20 yard short of the station, so it maybe saves a minute?

 

[Class172]

Are you actually going to benefit that much from a one minute saving. It's a rural line, time isn't essential.

 

[caliwag]

Services to Moorswater Cement Terminal (assuming it's still open) also use the branch.

Yup still open, saw a cement train on the connecting curve on Monday.

 

[Liam]

Yup still open, saw a cement train on the connecting curve on Monday.

Where do they come from/go to? Fowey? Or do they have to reverse and head North?

 

[Rugd1022]

Where do they come from/go to? Fowey? Or do they have to reverse and head North?

Worked by Bristol based FLHH Drivers I believe

 

[TheWalrus]

It would be beneficial to construct a chord to avoid coombe really, also saving a couple of minutes and a small amount of money!

 

[jopsuk]

Really? I'd have thought it would take a long time to recoup that investment.

 

[N Levers]

Just shut the line and replace with a guided busway or something...

 

[starrymarkb]

Just shut the line and replace with a guided busway or something...

How long would it take for the conversion costs to be recouped by replacing a hourly 153 in winter or a 150 in summer with buses?

 

[12CSVT]

The chord linking the Looe branch to the main line is, as far as I'm aware one of the few bits of track belonging to Network Rail where no train will be allowed to carry passengers under any circumstances. I was on a railtour which did the Looe branch a few years ago and everybody (including railtour stewards) had to get off while the stock was transferred from the main line platform to the branch platform.

 

[VideozVideoz]

Yes Coombe halt is one of the least used stations in the country. The connection is correctly pointed out as only for freight and ECS movements.

When you look up Coombe on the National Rail website, it displays this message: "Between the hours of 1700 and 0900 passengers will be unable to alight at this Station. Passengers travelling to this Station are advised to travel to Liskeard from where road transport will be provided to Coombe Halt."

Does anyone know why? Something to do with safety?

 

[Zoe]

Does anyone know why? Something to do with safety?

The station has no lights.

 

[paul1609]

The chord linking the Looe branch to the main line is, as far as I'm aware one of the few bits of track belonging to Network Rail where no train will be allowed to carry passengers under any circumstances. I was on a railtour which did the Looe branch a few years ago and everybody (including railtour stewards) had to get off while the stock was transferred from the main line platform to the branch platform.

Not really sure thats true.On more than 1 occasion Ive arrived/ departed on the up main line platform in a Looe train.That would have been in the 1990s though.

 

[richw]

The chord is of a track quality no longer permitted for passenger workings

 

[Schnellzug]

Are you actually going to benefit that much from a one minute saving. It's a rural line, time isn't essential.

About 100 jobs could depend on that saved minute, by the calculations used for HS2, it seems.

 

[The Crab]

As it fits nicely, this is something I posted some time ago:

"An amusing variation on this theme. In 1988 I travelled from Liskeard to Looe. On this line it is necessary to reverse at Coombe Jct to continue to Looe. We trundled down to Coombe Jct (about 100 yards short of Coombe Jct Halt), stopped just clear of the points and the driver sounded his horn. This meant "If there is anyone on Coombe Jct Halt platform, show yourself now". The driver saw nobody and made his way to the other cab. I had spotted someone on the platform and informed the guard as he passed at ground level. The crew agreed among themselves to reverse to the platform. To maintain appearances the guard got into the leading cab and "drove" the train by grasping the large handbrake wheel with both hands and swaying slightly from side to side (a bit like the old films where the actor was "driving" a stationary car). All the time he was muttering "We blew up but there was nobody there. We blew up but there was nobody there". "

 

[VideozVideoz]

The station has no lights.

But aren't there quite a few stations/halts with no lights?? ALso no mention of having to get road transport in the FGW timetable

 

[Bedpan]

15mph is approximately 7 yards a second, so by stopping 20 yards short the saving would be about 6 seconds in total.

Also (from post 15) the Fowey branch diverges off the main line a short distance west of Lostwithiel, so no connection with the Looe branch.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

But aren't there quite a few stations/halts with no lights?? ALso no mention of having to get road transport in the FGW timetable

Not really, Llangelynin on the Cambrian Coast line was closed in the 1990s as lighting was required, and it was deemed to be too expensive for it to be justified given the station's usage. All stations have to be lit now if they have a reasonable level of service; to be honest though Coombe Junction Halt may well be one of the last few stations in the country not to have to lights.

15mph is approximately 7 yards a second, so by stopping 20 yards short the saving would be about 6 seconds in total.

Also (from post 15) the Fowey branch diverges off the main line a short distance west of Lostwithiel, so no connection with the Looe branch.

Forget what I said, having checked Quail I can now say that it is closer to 80-120 yards - on the train however it feels a lot shorter...