Does anything other than the PPM go down the Stourbridge Town line?

[birchesgreen]

Does anything other than the pair of Class 139 PPMs ever go down the short Stourbridge Town line? The Class 950 every now and then perhaps?

Could any special railtours (of the type run by the BLS) go down it? Have they?

 

[The Planner]

It would need to be a short train considering where the connection to the mainline and the length of the platform.

 

[_toommm_]

I doubt a charter could run down as I believe the line is one whole single block, and if not, there's nowhere for the PPM to pass it, nor nowhere for it to disembark passengers once the tour is at the station. Presumably it could go at night bit that would defeat the purpose.

I can imagine a 950 would go down definitely, although with how light the PPM is, the track won't need as much maintenance as other branches

 

[bussnapperwm]

The only vehicles permitted according to the sectional appendix are the class 139 units if I read it right.

 

[takno]

I doubt a charter could run down as I believe the line is one whole single block, and if not, there's nowhere for the PPM to pass it, nor nowhere for it to disembark passengers once the tour is at the station. Presumably it could go at night bit that would defeat the purpose.

I can imagine a 950 would go down definitely, although with how light the PPM is, the track won't need as much maintenance as other branches

Riding down it you don't really get the impression that it's had any maintenance since the PPMs took over, and probably for 20 years or so before that

 

[adrock1976]

Riding down it you don't really get the impression that it's had any maintenance since the PPMs took over, and probably for 20 years or so before that

I remember Stourbridge Town station being rebuilt back around 1994. The platform was previously on the left hand side as you alight from the train at Town, and was re-sited on the present day right hand side. This platform was long enough for a Class 153 which was operating the shuttle at the time. Back in the late 1980s, it used to be a single coach Class 121 that operated the shuttle.

This is a line I know well, as I am originally from that neck of the woods.

 

[DavidGrain]

As the class 139 operates a 10 minutes frequency over this single track line there is no likelihood of any other unit being allowed on the line.

I have taken this from the http://www.miac.org.uk/class139.html

Because the Stourbridge Town line is single track throughout with a single road railcar shed there is no easy means to swap the order of the units in order to allow services to be operated by the spare unit. The only means to achieve this is to park one of the units on the short spur to the main line whilst running the other unit off the branch to the shed. On 1st November 2012 Pete Wilcox took this photograph of this rare manoeuvre. Notice that No.139001 has a “Not to be Moved” sign attached to the cab side in order to comply with the “one loco in steam” procedures.

Reference: Parry People Moves press releases and web site at www.parrypeoplemovers.com

 

[CyrusWuff]

Class 153s are also cleared for operation over the branch, along with Mk1 and Mk2 loco-hauled coaching stock and all the available classes of Diesel loco (and Class 88s on Diesel power) listed in the Sectional Appendix. (The fact that the platform at Stourbridge Town is only 27m long notwithstanding!)

Operations are mutually exclusive, however, so you couldn't (for example) alternate between Class 139 and Class 153 operation for successive trips by having one shunt from the Town platform at Stourbridge Junction into one of the sidings then bringing the other into the Town platform, etc.

 

[bussnapperwm]

Class 153s are also cleared for operation over the branch, along with Mk1 and Mk2 loco-hauled coaching stock and all the available classes of Diesel loco (and Class 88s on Diesel power) listed in the Sectional Appendix. (The fact that the platform at Stourbridge Town is only 27m long notwithstanding!)

Operations are mutually exclusive, however, so you couldn't (for example) alternate between Class 139 and Class 153 operation for successive trips by having one shunt from the Town platform at Stourbridge Junction into one of the sidings then bringing the other into the Town platform, etc.

Reading that, it's made me really love to go down the town branch on a HST mini (same with my local line, the round oak line

 

[takno]

I remember Stourbridge Town station being rebuilt back around 1994. The platform was previously on the left hand side as you alight from the train at Town, and was re-sited on the present day right hand side. This platform was long enough for a Class 153 which was operating the shuttle at the time. Back in the late 1980s, it used to be a single coach Class 121 that operated the shuttle.

This is a line I know well, as I am originally from that neck of the woods.

If remember back in the early 80s properly there were station buildings on the platform and everything. I'm not sure that was even the platform they replaced with the current one though. The first gen DMU wasn't very regular, but it was a much smoother ride than now, and got you a fair bit closer to town.

 

[DavidGrain]

A more detailed history of the line is available on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stourbridge_Town_branch_line

Originally this was a double track line. It was later separated into two parallel single lines with passenger trains using one line and freight on the other. The freight line continued on to the other side of the town centre to a canal basin. There have been a number of accidents on this line because of the steep gradient and trains over-running the end of the line.

 

[DavidGrain]

Reading that, it's made me really love to go down the town branch on a HST mini (same with my local line, the round oak line

We live in hope that the plans to reopen the Round Oak Line from Stourbridge Junction as far as Brierley Hill will come to fruition. Round Oak will have to be served by the West Midlands Metro. At least they are clearing the vegetation.

 

[Gravypants]

It's just the 139. If you visit SBT, it's a seriously rough ride & you'll be glad to get off it.

 

[DavidGrain]

Some of the rough riding will be down to the track but four-wheelers are always rougher rides than bogies.