Lynton and Barnstaple TWAO

[34006]

Does anybody have any news on the Lynton and Barnstaple , Transport and Works application ? Are they only applying to get to Parracombe, or the whole line through Blackmoor Gate ?

 

[Trainlog]

Does anybody have any news on the Lynton and Barnstaple , Transport and Works application ? Are they only applying to get to Parracombe, or the whole line through Blackmoor Gate ?

The endgame of the L&B railway is to try and get to the outskirts of Barnstaple when it can get the funding and permissions. At the moment, yes Parracombe is the main target just so that they can show that they are successful with extending the line and once trains have got to Parracombe then Blackmoor will be worked on immediately. As of current its mainly the fact of negotiating the site of Blackmoor station as there are proposals that it could be a park and ride with the L&B once the line gets there.

Hopefully the momentum will pick up once they have gone from Woody bay to Parracombe as the Welsh highland was like this in the early 90s but that picked up very quickly and was finished in 2011 so there is hope that something similar can happen with the L&B.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway - Parracombe appeal January 2023

With the New Year, comes the news that the funding for the Return to Parracombe appeal has reached £700k

www.lynton-rail.co.uk

 

[34006]

If the L and B had the money available today, would they be able to extend to Parracombe. Is the TWAO in place ? and if not when is it expected ?. For the moment they are unable to reach Blackmoor Gate, because the Devon County Council have plans to build a roundabout just to the north over the trackbed. I think it needs the L and B to burrow under it.

 

[TheBeard]

It must be so difficult to get on but it is succeeding g slowly, hats off to them

 

[341o2]

An announcement on their website is that there are sufficient funds to extend from Killington Lane to Bridge 64, the next goal is to reach Bridge 63 between Killington Lane and Parracombe.

Yes, the ultimate goal of the railway is to reopen as much as possible. I am not sure of the status of Lynton station, back in the 1980s a short length of track was laid and a former industrial diesel loco made the first movement over the L&B since its demolition

https://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/news/view/parracombe-appeal#

With the New Year, comes the news that the funding for the Return to Parracombe appeal has reached £700k and, therefore, we have sufficient funds to reconstruct the railway to Bridge 64.

This figure is a tremendous total achieved in a relatively short time of just over 7 months and includes a generous contribution from Gift Aid of approximately £42k. Thank you once again to all of you who have contributed.

Those donors who have sponsored a foot, or more, of the trackbed to Parracombe (£360) continue to receive certificates of donation featuring a painting of Parracombe Halt by Eric Leslie. All donors who have made a qualifying contribution up to December 31st should have received a certificate by now.

 

[alf]

I am cross.
I have been a L&B life member for years & the amount of info on the web site & the passworded members section is zero for months.
There was nothing there about the £700k stated above and I have looked back to last October( which took 20 secs)

Forums but not the official L&B web site have mentioned 2 big issues.
A The failure to buy Blackmore pub which was & should be the Station again (myself & a friend have substantially contributed to the purchase fund among very many others)
B gossip that the council want a roundabout where the line was planned to go.
It is rumoured there are other serious planning issues too.

Please will some one from the railway reassure us here & on the Web Site that I am talking tripe, or if I am not, tell where the railway stands.

But let’s not have reassurance from well meaning but uniformed posters like me who know no more than me!

It is a great project but L &B members & enthusiasts do not want to be treated like mushrooms...kept in the dark etc.

 

[Fragezeichnen]

It does seem like an extraordinarily ambitious project. The website quotes £1.7 million just to reinstate a relatively short distance of the narrow gauge trackbed that will extend from the halfway point between two of the original stations.

I can only assume the cost comes from reconsttruction of 4 bridges, and, presumably, using professional contractors for the work. And to to reach Barnstaple there are 60 more bridges to go...

 

[D Williams]

Welcome to the world of construction costs!

There's no doubt that the L & B supporters and officers have done a tremendous job in getting the railway to its present state however I question the robustness of the long-term business plan. Running trains over a mile or so of track is one thing but operating the length of the entire line is quite another. Given that the West Somerset Railway, which is not too far away, carries about 185,000 a year and by the admission of its chairman, is struggling to survive I wonder where the passengers in sufficient numbers for the L & B will come from? The Welsh Highland and the Ffestiniog have had to re-shape their services away from the traditional railway timetable to a "coach trip" in order to avoid running partly-filled trains. Twenty years ago the latter was jam-packed. North Devon is still a relatively sparsely populated area that doesn't get the visitor footfall of South Devon or Cornwall. One mile is far too short for a viable railway but nineteen miles back to Barny?

 

[Meerkat]

The Welsh Highland and the Ffestiniog have had to re-shape their services away from the traditional railway timetable to a "coach trip" in order to avoid running partly-filled trains.

What does this involve please, I don't understand.

 

[JGurney]

What does this involve please, I don't understand.

I may be only partly-informed (and biased) but I gather some operators have taken to running trains in rather the style of coach outings. Rather than operate trains to timetable with stops at intermediate stations and a full range of fares available, they require advance bookings on trains with only one possible starting station and the only journey option being a return for the whole trip. In the event that there are insufficent bookings then the service is cancelled and fares refunded or an alternative time offered. This reduces costs, but has the effect of making any journey except a return from one end (or buying a return in that direction but not returning) impossible. Supporters of the model point to the savings and argue that hardly anyone wanted any journeys except returns from the end with a car park, critics either did make such journeys and want to keep doing so, feel that this makes the operation less like a 'real railway' or think that while it is true that the 'coach trip' style punters are the majority, most volunteers tended to be drawn from the minority of other users and so fear this approach might alienate them.

 

[the sniper]

Forums but not the official L&B web site have mentioned 2 big issues.
A The failure to buy Blackmore pub which was & should be the Station again (myself & a friend have substantially contributed to the purchase fund among very many others)

I'm really not keen on the deviation planned at Blackmore Gate to avoid the old station/pub. Ideally the latter could be remodelled to allow the platforms to be near where they originally were. That layout works for Spooners on the FR.

It does seem like an extraordinarily ambitious project. The website quotes £1.7 million just to reinstate a relatively short distance of the narrow gauge trackbed that will extend from the halfway point between two of the original stations.

I can only assume the cost comes from reconsttruction of 4 bridges, and, presumably, using professional contractors for the work. And to to reach Barnstaple there are 60 more bridges to go...

It can't help that immediately beyond the current extent of the line the route passes under a bridge and into a deep cutting that have been largely infilled, that'll require a fair amount of work to clear. Personally I think they need to get Wistlandpound Reservoir to Woody Bay done if it's to have a decent prospect of being a long term attraction, but I doubt they'll ever get much further. Lynton is a nice long term aspiration to have beyond that.

 

[stuu]

It does seem like an extraordinarily ambitious project. The website quotes £1.7 million just to reinstate a relatively short distance of the narrow gauge trackbed that will extend from the halfway point between two of the original stations.

I can only assume the cost comes from reconsttruction of 4 bridges, and, presumably, using professional contractors for the work. And to to reach Barnstaple there are 60 more bridges to go...

You aren't going to get much out of contractors for that sort of money! I would imagine it's more the cost of things like hiring plant, and running it - diesel isn't cheap after all. The WHR cost something like £40m and that was ~15+ years ago so I can well believe that £1m a mile is the going rate, even with mostly volunteer labour

 

[geoffk]

You aren't going to get much out of contractors for that sort of money! I would imagine it's more the cost of things like hiring plant, and running it - diesel isn't cheap after all. The WHR cost something like £40m and that was ~15+ years ago so I can well believe that £1m a mile is the going rate, even with mostly volunteer labour

And the WHR trackbed was still intact because of the legal situation applying at the time the original line was closed - whereas the L&BR's route comprises a patchwork of different land owners.

I may be only partly-informed (and biased) but I gather some operators have taken to running trains in rather the style of coach outings. Rather than operate trains to timetable with stops at intermediate stations and a full range of fares available, they require advance bookings on trains with only one possible starting station and the only journey option being a return for the whole trip. In the event that there are insufficent bookings then the service is cancelled and fares refunded or an alternative time offered. This reduces costs, but has the effect of making any journey except a return from one end (or buying a return in that direction but not returning) impossible. Supporters of the model point to the savings and argue that hardly anyone wanted any journeys except returns from the end with a car park, critics either did make such journeys and want to keep doing so, feel that this makes the operation less like a 'real railway' or think that while it is true that the 'coach trip' style punters are the majority, most volunteers tended to be drawn from the minority of other users and so fear this approach might alienate them.

Yes, there has been correspondence in the magazines about this style of operation, which made sense during the Covid restrictions.

 

[stuu]

And the WHR trackbed was still intact because of the legal situation applying at the time the original line was closed - whereas the L&BR's route comprises a patchwork of different land owners.

Very true, however the railway already owns the section as far as Parracombe, so the cost is purely for construction

 

[paul1609]

I am cross.
I have been a L&B life member for years & the amount of info on the web site & the passworded members section is zero for months.
There was nothing there about the £700k stated above and I have looked back to last October( which took 20 secs)

Forums but not the official L&B web site have mentioned 2 big issues.
A The failure to buy Blackmore pub which was & should be the Station again (myself & a friend have substantially contributed to the purchase fund among very many others)
B gossip that the council want a roundabout where the line was planned to go.
It is rumoured there are other serious planning issues too.

Please will some one from the railway reassure us here & on the Web Site that I am talking tripe, or if I am not, tell where the railway stands.

But let’s not have reassurance from well meaning but uniformed posters like me who know no more than me!

It is a great project but L &B members & enthusiasts do not want to be treated like mushrooms...kept in the dark etc.

Have no connection to the L&B other than i once sat next to the chairman at a HRA Dinner but having been involved with another "new build" scheme if you are negotiating with third parties in the modern media world its a very difficult situation where you will be damned if you do, damned if you don't. Problem is any information that's given to members will invariably be picked up by local press. Most local journalists are fighting for their jobs and the only way they keep them is by attracting "click bait" to their websites. this involves getting an announcement from an organisation and presenting it to the public with the most controversial slant possible unfortunately.

 

[alf]

Excellent news from the L&B.

They have purchased the Old Station House Inn at Blackmore Gate.
So there is no need for a diversion there & the very visible Inn on a busy road with a big car park will be a great signpost for the railway.

It was announced yesterday & is a big step towards building the next leg towards the village of Parracombe.

 

[Flying Phil]

It certainly is good news re the purchase of The Old Station House Inn, there is also a fair bit of former railway land with the sale I believe.
It certainly is a long term project, but with Exmoor Associates steadily buying former track bed land to the South and the operation at Woody Bay, progress is being made. Well Done to all concerned.

 

[30120]

Excellent news, Blackmore Gate has been on/off off/on for such a long time, and now the team have secured it. Congratulations to all.
That's all the stations now bar Pilton. The scale of the project is increasing.