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South Tynedale Railway, Lintley Halt to Slaggyford extension

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Old Yard Dog

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I visited this railway on 17th August and drove down to the new Slaggyford station after a couple of round trips from Alston to Lintley Halt. The platform, signal box, booking office and buffet car were all in situ and parts of the car park had been tarmacked. However there is still a lot of work to be done to complete the passing loop.

Unfortunately there was little evidence at Alston station to suggest that trains were only running as far as Lintley Halt. The railway has not reprinted its 2017 leaflet showing times to and from Slaggyford and four middle-aged ladies had good reason to feel aggrieved. They had walked to Slaggyford along the path next to the newly laid track, expecting to find food, toilets and trains when they arrived. They found none of these and had to rush a mile or so back at pace to Lintley Halt in order to catch their return train.
 
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STEVIEBOY1

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I went on that line a few weeks ago and was hoping to go to Slaggyford, but there is still work to be done I think. Hopefully it will be open soon.
 

bramling

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I went on that line a few weeks ago and was hoping to go to Slaggyford, but there is still work to be done I think. Hopefully it will be open soon.

Can anyone give an update on the situation here?

I was hoping to ride over the extension next month, but it's all taken on an air of mystique now. Did anything reach Slaggyford in July?

The STR is a lovely railway and deserves to succeed.
 

Lemmy99uk

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I was there at the weekend and paid a visit to Slaggyford.

The track laying is not complete, there is no signalling installed and the level crossing does not have barriers yet.

I think they will be lucky to get it open this year - certainly not before the end of the summer season.
 

yorkie

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The timetable does now show trains running to/from Slaggyford.

http://www.south-tynedale-railway.org.uk/timetables/
Code:
ALSTON DEPART     10:45   13:15   15:15
KIRKHAUGH         11:00   13:30   15:30
LINTLEY           11:08   13:38   15:38
SLAGGYFORD ARRIVE 11:20   13:50   15:50
          
SLAGGYFORD DEPART 11:40   14:10   16:10
LINTLEY           11:50   14:20   16:20
KIRKHAUGH         11:58   14:28   16:28
ALSTON ARRIVE     12:15   14:45   16:45

Has anyone visited the railway since the extension opened?
 

mitchf

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This was on their Twitter feed yesterday:

As you will be aware from reports in the media, Alston Moor was hit hard by the 'Beast from the East'. Despite the best efforts of our volunteers, we have reluctantly decided that we will not be running trains to Slaggyford from the start of the season as planned.

HOWEVER, we are really looking forward to seeing travellers old and new from Friday when we will be full steam ahead to Lintley behind our brilliant Barber. Trains depart at 10:45, 13:15, and 15:15.
 
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yorkie

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We are planning a visit this Summer. Anyone know if we should wait, or is it safe to book something now?

If anyone else is interested in joining us please do let us know. If there is sufficient interest, we can get a minibus to take us from Alston to Langwathby :)
 

mitchf

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The hope is that the extension will be open by mid May but this depends on work being completed by volunteers.

Until then, the railway will be open as normal but only as far as Lintley
 

mitchf

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We will be running to Slaggyford from SATURDAY 9th JUNE. Trains on Saturday 9th June and Sunday 10th June will be SLAGGYFORD SPECIALS and tickets for these trains MUST be pre-booked via our website. Tickets will be available from 9a.m on WEDNESDAY 30th MAY. From Tuesday 12th June trains will run to Slaggyford as part of our normal operating timetable.

http://www.south-tynedale-railway.org.uk/
 

shredder1

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Great news, I`ve been waiting for the extension to open since I visited last year and also dove up to Slaggyford, sadly I`ll be away on the 9th, but do plan to get up there the weekend after, wishing the railway a very successful first day
 

DarloRich

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Visited the line over the early may bank holiday - we were hauled b ya battery loco which i think was a first! The little stream engine had failed and was in disgrace. The extension wasnt open then sadly.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Visited the line over the early may bank holiday - we were hauled b ya battery loco which i think was a first! The little stream engine had failed and was in disgrace. The extension wasnt open then sadly.

Aah, did the disgraced steam engine have to stand in the corner.
 

markindurham

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This is great news. Well done all. Another step closer to Haltwhistle :) . The next bit, though, will be the really expensive one, as a bridge across the new Haltwhistle bypass, which has breached the embankment carrying the trackbed just south of Haltwhistle viaduct, will be needed.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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This is great news. Well done all. Another step closer to Haltwhistle :) . The next bit, though, will be the really expensive one, as a bridge across the new Haltwhistle bypass, which has breached the embankment carrying the trackbed just south of Haltwhistle viaduct, will be needed.
Are they really planning to get to Haltwhistle?
 

Altnabreac

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I think there is a land ownership issue on the trackbed at Lambley Station that will be the next difficult thing to overcome before any worrying about Haltwhistle bypass!

Extension to Knarsdale would be possible and should keep everyone occupied for a good few years anyway.
 

Trackbedjolly

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This is great news. Well done all. Another step closer to Haltwhistle :) . The next bit, though, will be the really expensive one, as a bridge across the new Haltwhistle bypass, which has breached the embankment carrying the trackbed just south of Haltwhistle viaduct, will be needed.

The breach in the embankment looks to be about 135m with a bridge requirement of 50 to 60m with 2 or 3 spans depending on Highways Agency requirements. It looks like they (HA) left room for dualling the road at some point so it is hard to be more precise.
Yes it will cost money but they might be able to take advantage of NR's bridge renewal programme in the same way that the Strathspey Railway did with the bridge over the River Dulnain i.e. they were given parts to make up the deck of a bridge when the original abutments were still in-situ but that is not the case here. STR will also have to rebuild part of the embankment. It is a shame that there are no longer any major companies in coal mining in the area who could have helped with plant or sponsorship. Hopefully they can get some funding from National Lottery sources.

In the meantime as they are making successful efforts in moving towards Haltwhistle why not build something temporary in the old station yard there? One way of raising the profile and thus raising funds could be to have trains running on a stretch of track leading towards the viaduct or at least have a display in the station so that people can get off the train there or park their cars and spend some time (and money) giving further motivation to reaching their final goal?
 
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STEVIEBOY1

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The breach in the embankment looks to be about 135m with a bridge requirement of 50 to 60m with 2 or 3 spans depending on Highways Agency requirements. It looks like they (HA) left room for dualling the road at some point so it is hard to be more precise.
Yes it will cost money but they might be able to take advantage of NR's bridge renewal programme in the same way that the Strathspey Railway did with the bridge over the River Dulnain i.e. they were given parts to make up the deck of a bridge when the original abutments were still in-situ but that is not the case here. STR will also have to rebuild part of the embankment. It is a shame that there are no longer any major companies in coal mining in the area who could have helped with plant or sponsorship. Hopefully they can get some funding from National Lottery sources.

In the meantime as they are making successful efforts in moving towards Haltwhistle why not build something temporary in the old station yard there? One way of raising the profile and thus raising funds could be to have trains running on a stretch of track leading towards the viaduct or at least have a display in the station so that people can get off the train there or park their cars and spend some time (and money) giving further motivation to reaching their final goal?

That is a very good suggestion. They have sort of done that at Hawes Station.
 

2392

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Yes indeed the embankment has been breached in such a way that the South Tynedale could/can bridge the gap. If/when they get that far, equally there is a strip of land along side the old Alston side of the Carlisle platform earmarked on their behalf. I'm not sure about the rest of the yard off the end of the platform mind.
 

markindurham

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Yes indeed the embankment has been breached in such a way that the South Tynedale could/can bridge the gap. If/when they get that far, equally there is a strip of land along side the old Alston side of the Carlisle platform earmarked on their behalf. I'm not sure about the rest of the yard off the end of the platform mind.
It was nice to see that this was done - future proofing isn't often seen in such matters when the diggers get busy.
 

E759

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Looks a great railway and would love to visit. Alas the remote location and dearth of public transport makes a day trip from Sussex impossible - as far as I can see having just spent an hour looking at train and bus timetables :) And so close to Weardale Railway which was a breeze to do in a day!
 

yorkie

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Has anyone travelled on this railway since the extension was completed?

We are hoping to do a trip this Summer; some of us will take the bus from Haltwistle while others plan to cycle the disused trackbed. Whichever option you wish to take, you'd be welcome to join us.

If this is of interest, please add your forum username to this Doodle: https://doodle.com/poll/2nav2nqs2s97t7id
 

shredder1

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Has anyone travelled on this railway since the extension was completed?

We are hoping to do a trip this Summer; some of us will take the bus from Haltwistle while others plan to cycle the disused trackbed. Whichever option you wish to take, you'd be welcome to join us.

If this is of interest, please add your forum username to this Doodle: https://doodle.com/poll/2nav2nqs2s97t7id


Its a great railway, I`ve done it about 7 times now over the years, we did the extension last year with the Railway Ramblers and then walked the old trackbed into Haltwhistle, have a great trip guys.
 

ScotTrains

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I travelled on the line last weekend. I took the train from Alston to Slaggyford then walked back to Lintley to board the train on its return to Alston. You have about half an hour to do the 1 mile walk so easily achievable.

It's a nice line with plenty of wildlife to see. I'd love to see it extended to Haltwhistle in the future as it would make it far easier to visit the line using rail.
 

2392

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I'd love to see it extended to Haltwhistle in the future as it would make it far easier to visit the line using rail.

That I believe is the long term plan. When you get to the Haltwhistle end of the line, you'll note that the embankment has been pieced by the Haltwhistle [A69] Bypass in such a way as to allow a bridge to be built if/when the S.T.R. get there . As well as the former Alston platform being retained too for cross platform connections. I believe that part of the old yard has also been reserved for their use too once they've rebuilt the line.
 
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