Heritage Railway- which is your favourite line to be extended if possible?

nferguso said:

... although one factor is that 'passive provision' has been made to retain signalling interlocking even if the ironmongery has gone.

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Ah. Didn't know that! Well, that makes it *slightly* more feasible as a long term possibility but still sounds like a rich benefactor would be required or something.
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paul1609 said:

Ive looked at a Sunday day trip but that is more or less impossible because of the lack of connections at Duffield, I think it works out at 7 mins Derby to Duffield, 1hr 15 mins connection and then 33 mins to Wirksworth. This kind of gives the impression that through traffic from national Rail isnt your priority market?

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Connections are excellent on non-Sundays! I've used them a number of times.

Personally if I was going on a Sunday I'd do something like get the 09:56 from Derby, go past Duffield, up to Matlock and back (on the same train) and arrive at Duffield at 11:04 for the 11:15 to Wirksworth (if you are travelling some distance I shouldn't think this would make much difference to your fare). Or if it was sunny, use the picnic area at Duffield while waiting and watch the main-line trains pass.

NB Just in case of confusion (because of my user name etc.) I'm not involved in running the EVR in any way, just a satisfied customer/passenger who lives locally.

GrimsbyPacer said:

Or Ecclesbourne Valley from Derby?

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I'm sure the EVR would like to see the branch reconnected to the MML. However, the problem is the Down Slow (which gave the connection to the branch) was taken up some years a go and to reinstate the connection would cost around a million quid. For that kind of money the railway could reconstruct the original Wirksworth station building and turn it into a visitors centre.
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duffield said:

Connections are excellent on non-Sundays! I've used them a number of times.

Personally if I was going on a Sunday I'd do something like get the 09:56 from Derby, go past Duffield, up to Matlock and back (on the same train) and arrive at Duffield at 11:04 for the 11:15 to Wirksworth (if you are travelling some distance I shouldn't think this would make much difference to your fare). Or if it was sunny, use the picnic area at Duffield while waiting and watch the main-line trains pass.

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However, there is a flaw with your plan in that if you are held at Ambergate waiting to join the MML the connection time of 11 minutes suddenly becomes very tight. In which case you would have to hope that the EVR hold the train although they would have little idea as to how long the train was going to be delayed.

E&W Lucas said:

There aren't many non - car families, that could actually afford the day out.

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There's the rub! Only non car families being catered for? I'm a car-owning family and I leave the thing at home whenever I can, such a burden! Driving's no fun any more, have to find parking place, anxious about leaving it, and of course, one takes too much stuff just because one can. So, car in garage, weatherproof jacket on, few items in shoulder bag, ticket in pocket and out to bus stop, bus to station and catch train to wherever it is - AND - no car to have to think about! Magic! I'm car proof.

GrimsbyPacer said:

Why can't Mid Norfolk run from Norwich anyway?

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It has been looked at to open it up as a commuter line again under what capacity I am not sure, only thing for certain is that MNR will keep hold of the property, so its either them running into Wyndham or letting GA onto their tracks

To me its not viable either way, the line speed down there is around 20mph which means that by the time any train got to Dereham most passengers would have slashed their wrists lol

In all seriousness First run the X1 service from Norwich through to Peterborough and that runs every half an hour and it will reach Dereham quicker than the train and with single tickets £6 and return £10 and weekly £28 cant see the train being competitive on that either

Churnet valley to Stoke on Trent and Alton towers, the track is there from Leekbrook Junchion and useable to Endon, the rest is there but a jungle in places but all bridges are intact and I think the main line connection is there for engineners trains to access a network rail yard(well a spot they seem to use). Its only a few hundred yards long but after the first over bridge jungle comes to mind Ill try and grab a few pics

I would have liked to have seen the running line at MOSI extended out by two track panels to a headshunt at Ordsall Lane giving the flexibility to add an extra carriage to the rake, however Network Rail are now going to utterly ransack the site and cut the running line back so this will never happen.

I would love to see Peak Rail be extended beyond Rowsley since I volunteered there for a couple of years in the early days but I know the missing A6 road bridge is a nearly insurmountable object at the moment unless they were to get an injection of local authority funds. Also in the early 90s the resident of Haddon Hall was dead set against the railway being anywhere near his gaffe but I don't know whether this is still the case.
Bakewell station is still restorable and it would be lovely to see it with the canopies and footbridge back in place.

Wishlist.

1. Llangollen - Ruabon

2. Corwen onwards to the west

3. Bridgnorth - Shrewsbury

4.Bewdley - Tenbury Wells - Wooferton

It's nice to dream ....

A Northampton and Lamport Railway that runs from Northampton to Lamport is something I'd love to see one day.

If I had to choose the extension I most want to see though, I think it'd be the GWSR running right from inside Cheltenham up to Honeybourne, or even Long Marston and Stratford.

First and foremost:
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire. They're making good progress with their Broadway extension and Network Rail, during the Honeybourne station rebuild a few years ago, made provision (namley an extra platform) for the GWR to use one day. Would be fantastic to see them get there, not only because it would give them a mainline station connection, for visitors to change trains off mainline services, but it would also open the possibility of a mainline connection and end their 'land-locked' status.

Secondly:
The Avon Valley railway. Another railway that has made good progress. Hopefully they'll continue their progress toward Bath (though I realise that they'll be limited to, at best, Brassmill lane). Still, this would be of huge benefit to them.

Bodmin Wenford deserves a mention too, especially considering the oposition they face from those who don't beleive that a railway and cycle path can co-exist (perhaps said people should visit the aforementioned Avon Valley).

As for the wish-list (ones that I realise are VERY unlikely to happen):
The Severn Valley. Not going to discuss the dream of it being extended toward Ironbridge; they consistently rule that possibility out and don't like talking about it very much.
I would, however, love to see the old Stourport line reopened as far as possible. It won't happen, and doesn't really go anywhere anymore (too heavily built over as you approach Stourport) but a great deal of the trackbed remains untouched. The tunnel was reported to be in fairly good condition a few years ago.
Same for the old Tenbury branch off the Severn Valley, although assume that this would be ridiculously expensive, with Dowles Bridge no longer being there (aside from the old stone support piers).

Have just become aware of this thread, dormant since June. I have two favourite items of fantasy-fodder of this kind: both modest as regards distance, but I'd very much think (particularly the first) totally impractical.

Isle of Wight Steam Railway: Wootton -- Newport -- Cowes.

Nene Valley Railway: Yarwell Jun. -- Oundle: whereby the railway would come to be actually running "from somewhere to somewhere". I understand that the line into Oundle from the north, in fact remained in service for many years after the 1964 closure of the through Peterborough-to-Northampton route --for freight, and for Oundle beginning-and-end-of-term school trains.
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muddythefish said:

Wishlist.

1. Llangollen - Ruabon

2. Corwen onwards to the west

3. Bridgnorth - Shrewsbury

4.Bewdley - Tenbury Wells - Wooferton

It's nice to dream ....

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AndyJB said:

First and foremost:
Same for the old Tenbury branch off the Severn Valley, although assume that this would be ridiculously expensive, with Dowles Bridge no longer being there (aside from the old stone support piers).

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I gather (wouldn't swear that I have this rightly) that at the inception of the preservation scheme, track was still down on both the Bridgnorth, and the Tenbury Wells, routes. It could conceivably have fallen out that the latter "mighted-be" chosen for preservation; but various factors tipped the balance in favour of the Bridgnorth line.

The line through Tenbury has always struck me, from the map, as looking very intriguing and attractive. I'll admit to feeling a bit regretful that the choice ended up as being for the Bridgnorth line: which whilst in pleasant surroundings, appears to me as -- for much of its length -- rather dull-ly plodding along the valley bottom. If I have things correctly, Tenbury Wells -- Woofferton was closed completely and lifted, a few years previously to TW -- Bewdley; but I'd be thoroughly happy with an "alternative-history" SVR now running Kidderminster -- Bewdley -- Tenbury Wells, as opposed to what we truly now have.

Ash Bridge said:

For me, I would love to see the Bodmin & Wenford reinstated back to Wadebridge, and ultimately to its former terminus at Padstow. Another would be the Llangollen Railway to Ruabon, and at the other end to its former junction with the Cambrian coast line, there's a few others too...

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A massive thumbs up from me on that one

E&W Lucas said:

A post that illustrates the misconception at the heart of this thread.
Railway preservation isn't about opening up as much closed route as possible. It has to be sustainable. In many cases, there would be a diminishing return, for the extra expense of maintaining extra railway. it's not public transport.
Somewhere like the Moors, SVR, etc, are in the business of entertaining a family for a day, in return for their c£50 family ticket. If you can fill the trains with a 24 mile journey, there is no point in adding the cost of maintaining another 6, even if you could raise the millions to reinstate it (and bulldoze supermarkets, major road junctions, re - route to avoid level crossings, etc).
The numbers for Pickering - Rillingoton have been well and truly crunched, and they don't stack up.

My fantasy - to make the journey from Northallerton - Garsdale. Will it happen?
Sadly, I doubt it. Without public funding, the capital costs will be prohibitive. Beautiful though the journey would be, I think it would be too long for a family trip, though I would love to be proved wrong.

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Good points re. Wensleydale. But a family trip doesn't have to be the whole line - the key 'family points of interest' would be Aysgarth, Bolton Castle and Hawes. It would be a stunning preserved railway but the cost to maintain would be eyewatering.

E&W Lucas said:

Practically - the route out of Pickering hasn't been protected, and has been significantly and (realistically) irrevocably developed. 40 years on, the railway has never made any attempt to re - open the route to Malton, whilst always having an eye on running into Whitby. That should tell you something.

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I would have thought a vintage bus service was probably the best way to connect Malton Station with the NYMR at Pickering. A connecting, direct door to door service would be fairly quick. (It would avoid that irritating diversion to Kirby Misperton that the Coastliner has to take in order to service Flamingoland.)

But thinking of other heritage to BR connections, the ELR could be extended to Castleton, but probably more useful might be an extension to a new Metrolink station close to where the line has (or had) an existing connection to Metrolink. One problem with a visit to the ELR is that you don't see much of the railway workshops, shed, storage sidings etc. as they are on the spur towards Metrolink. A service on this extension would solve that problem. It could be a short service running from Metrolink to Bury Bolton Street and perhaps through the tunnel to a short platform near the Transport Museum.

billio said:

I would have thought a vintage bus service was probably the best way to connect Malton Station with the NYMR at Pickering. A connecting, direct door to door service would be fairly quick. (It would avoid that irritating diversion to Kirby Misperton that the Coastliner has to take in order to service Flamingoland.)

But thinking of other heritage to BR connections, the ELR could be extended to Castleton, but probably more useful might be an extension to a new Metrolink station close to where the line has (or had) an existing connection to Metrolink. One problem with a visit to the ELR is that you don't see much of the railway workshops, shed, storage sidings etc. as they are on the spur towards Metrolink. A service on this extension would solve that problem. It could be a short service running from Metrolink to Bury Bolton Street and perhaps through the tunnel to a short platform near the Transport Museum.

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You can see the diesel group's shed from a service train, not that it's much to look at from either the inside or the outside

There's constant talk of extending the line to Castleton, whether or not it ever actually happens is anyone's guess though.

Extending to the Metrolink would be a headache as currently the only way to get locos and fully formed trains onto the spur is by a level crossing. You'd have to figure out a way around that before anything else could be done. Cost prohibitive springs to mind.

Yes - there are some lines that I would like to see extended. But, apart from money, there is one major snag that nobody seems to have considered. Most heritage lines are operated by unpaid volunteers - and many struggle to obtain enough volunteers. Further extensions would only make that situation worse. You would need more locos (primarily steam), and more coaches, but not enough people to keep them all in working order. And with little propsect of getting Osborne's money to pay permanent staff, there would be a danger of being left with rather a lot of slowly decaying heritage lines.

Bevan Price said:

Yes - there are some lines that I would like to see extended. But, apart from money, there is one major snag that nobody seems to have considered. Most heritage lines are operated by unpaid volunteers - and many struggle to obtain enough volunteers. Further extensions would only make that situation worse. You would need more locos (primarily steam), and more coaches, but not enough people to keep them all in working order. And with little propsect of getting Osborne's money to pay permanent staff, there would be a danger of being left with rather a lot of slowly decaying heritage lines.

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One possible solution.

Let some of those, which should never have been closed, and which would form a valuable part of the National network, be bought by the state, and let the heritage sector use the money to consolidate and maybe expand some of the other remaining heritage routes.

I'd love to see Downpatrick & County Down Railway finally extended to Ballydugan as they have been fighting for this for many years now. That would mean there were 2 destinations available from Downpatrick and 2 trains could run simultaneously.

Unfortunately a number of landowners have refused access to the former trackbed.