2J52 is the culprit today....loss of coolant at Whitchurch, delaying two freight trains. Something HAS to be done about this
What a fantastic 'whoosh' moment above as well.
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Marches blocked yet again by A Broken Down Freight.
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What a fantastic 'whoosh' moment above as well.
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Engineers' line reference (i.e. three letters, sometimes with a numeric suffix) as shown in the sectional appendix.
The Planner
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Whereas we would have no clue to what the ELR was if you quoted it to us, we use the LOR numbers in the Sectional Appendix such as MD101 etc...
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Which as has been said means nothing to us signallers.
We rarely look at the Sectional Appendix as we have no need to. We know our own sections and possibly a bit of the sections either side.
My father worked this route as a driver for nearly twenty years; I was in the train planning office at Crewe for twenty years. Never heard it referred to as The Marches Line {isn't that a recent marketing name?}. North and West was used sometimes .....
Not sure it really matters .....
Not sure it really matters .....
How about 'Borders Railway' - oops, now hang on!
Maybe not over there, but the various routes are routinely referred to, informally and formally, by their ELRs over here - most importantly when a location is being referred to by its mileage or bridge number. At one of my boxes, with a junction (and each route from the junction having a bridge 58, with a fairly regular history of strikes in each case, all within the area of control of the same box), it's by far the least ambiguous way of uniquely identifying each! Yes, I know that it's really not that important on here, but my point was that it's a bit daft arguing endlessly over what is and what isn't the Marches line, when there's no single definitive answer anyway.
TorqueOfTheDevil
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Can we have a bit of perspective here please?! Whether or not Crewe to Shrewsbury is part of the core Marches route, both freight trains which were delayed yesterday near Whitchurch were heading south from Shrewsbury, which is without doubt part of the Marches route and therefore relevant to this thread. For what it's worth, the Marches Gen group describes itself as:
My understanding is that, to many people, the Marches route is Chester to Newport via Wrexham. However, what happens between Shrewsbury and Crewe has such an effect on the 'proper' Marches route that it is often combined under the same heading. Is that unreasonable?
My understanding is that, to many people, the Marches route is Chester to Newport via Wrexham. However, what happens between Shrewsbury and Crewe has such an effect on the 'proper' Marches route that it is often combined under the same heading. Is that unreasonable?
Proud Salopian
Member
Today - AGAIN - the Marches is blocked.
Why is nothing being done to resolve this on-going problem? Because there clearly is one.
Why is nothing being done to resolve this on-going problem? Because there clearly is one.
Llanigraham
On Moderation
What and where was the blockage today?
anthony263
Established Member
Truth be told I think all of the freight operators who use the route have had at least 1 failure on the route so maybe Network Rail should bang some heads together.
All the freight operators who use the route should put money into the pot which can then pay for a loco & driver to be put on standby duties at say Hereford
All the freight operators who use the route should put money into the pot which can then pay for a loco & driver to be put on standby duties at say Hereford
PHILIPE
Veteran Member
As has been pointed put before, as long as the Freight Companies pay Track Access charges, there's not much can be done,especially in these of fragmentation.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The culprit this morning was 56087 (Colas) working 6V54 Chirk to Teigngrace Logs between Woofferton and Leominster. It would have failed at approx. 07 00 and left assisted at approx. 11 15. The assisting loco (66957) came from Stoke Gifford leaving there at 08 30.
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ChiefPlanner
Established Member
NR are allowed to "commandeer" any loco to clear the line - (for which payment is made to the relevant operator) - it is in the Network code - however 4 and a quarter hours is an incident which would have led to a serious interview with the Divisional Manager in my day ...(personally)
a good off
Member
During the day for example 0700-2100 (2 x 7hr shifts) there is definitely a case for having a thunderbird loco stabled in the bay platform at Hereford with spare driver stabled nearby. It would pay for itself not just in reducing delay minutes but actually providing the general public with a service in the fact that the job would get moving a lot quicker!
After a couple of recent incidents I can confirm this.
Maddening as hell when the companies loco which failed on one particular occasion had LE's passing me in either direction as I was 'asked' to stable my train and go assist.
D1009
Established Member
I'm not sure it's quite as simple as that, I'd like to see them commandeer the loco off the Royal Train for that purpose
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
I'm not sure it's quite as simple as that, I'd like to see them commandeer the loco off the Royal Train for that purpose
Yes sir - as a young Operations Manager I commandeered the "Royal Train Standby loco" from a place "somewhere in East Anglia" to run a trainload of military vehicles from a port to Nottingham. (the 2 x 31 had no fuel)
It was a very clean class 47 from Stratford - the train crew had new uniforms and so on.
Course in those days we had a railway where decisions could be made - the train I ran with the 47 was a "royal train" really. On her behalf.
PHILIPE
Veteran Member
Yes. Good idea. Then you come to the question of who's going to pay for it.
Gareth Marston
Established Member
Look at the incident logs for the last 3 years and apportion by FOC who was at fault - might make Colas go bust though
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
16 part cancellations and over 1200 delay mins. That is a lot of inconvenienced people.
PHILIPE
Veteran Member
It's not all 56s. 66s and 60s and 70s also.
anthony263
Established Member
One of the class 60's operated by Colas failed at the Pencoed loop on Tuesday night so a class 70 was sent yesterday to recue it.
So failures can happen anywhere but as others have said it is happening all too often on the marches line
So failures can happen anywhere but as others have said it is happening all too often on the marches line
PHILIPE
Veteran Member
There are frequent failures on the SWML also as one can gather from Journey Check
Pacerpilot
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You may be interested to know that a loco and driver have been on standby at Stoke Gifford between 0900 and 1500, and again between 2200 and 0600 all last week and rostered again next week. I don't know if it's for the foreseeable future but I shall keep you informed. It was that very loco and driver that rescued 6V54 on Thursday.
TorqueOfTheDevil
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Interesting, although inevitably the failure occurred outside the times at which the standby loco was available. No doubt everyone involved did what they could to clear the line, but four hours is still a long time on a fairly busy route!
NI 271
Member
Look at the incident logs for the last 3 years and apportion by FOC who was at fault - might make Colas go bust though
I rather doubt that. You may not have heard of their parent company but just read the box to the right of that page, and you'll note one thing they aren't short of is money...
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
When one wishes to take his good lady wife to Hereford from our area of Cheshire as a treat to visit the cathedral there, a reading of this thread does not exactly fill one with confidence of a trouble-free long rail journey.
Gareth Marston
Established Member
I've averaged maybe 25 trips a year down the Marches the last few years and there's only the one occasion when a freight has messed things up really badly.
They tend to be in the northbound direction predominantly when they happen so you'll get to Hereford come what may. You'll have the option of escaping via Worcester if it's really bad!
New access for all elevators have recently opened at Hereford. It's a long but flat walk into the city centre from the station and beware they charge to see Mappable Mundi though access to the rest of the cathedral is free.
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