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New Preserved Railway in NW?

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vidal

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http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...s/salford-trafford-steam-trains-plan-12805401

Ambitious plans to create a new £30m steam railway are being launched today - in what could be a huge new tourist draw for the region.


A new campaign has been launched to transform a disused stretch of track between Irlam and Timperley into a new heritage attraction - which would include the re-opening of the Cadishead Viaduct...


...Neil calculates the cost at between £25m and £30m. The Hamilton Davies Trust is proposing the establishment of a new trust, the Cheshire Lines Railway Trust, to deliver the project. Meanwhile HDT will continue to fund the feasibility and will be prepared to kick-start the work if a funding partnership can be assembled working with the statutory bodies...

Plans to link Irlam to Timperley using CLC route closed in 1980's. Personally it looks like a pipe dream that will never get going.

Anyone willing to invest?

James
 
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timj

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I agree about pipe dream, also it smacks of politics and compulsory 'fun'. Too much about statutory bodies, funding partnerships and other business gobbledygook rather than trains, tracks, stations, tickets & enthusiasts.

More and more enthusiasts have now lived through only diesel and electric trains in their childhood on their local railways. Yet someone keeps telling us to keep going after steam!
 

Bletchleyite

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More and more enthusiasts have now lived through only diesel and electric trains in their childhood on their local railways. Yet someone keeps telling us to keep going after steam!

People will pay for steam. The Wensleydale started out trying to be DMU-only and had to capitulate, for example.
 

trash80

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Yes a preserved railway that only attracts enthusiasts won't prosper, they need to draw in the wider public.
 

paul1609

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I agree about pipe dream, also it smacks of politics and compulsory 'fun'. Too much about statutory bodies, funding partnerships and other business gobbledygook rather than trains, tracks, stations, tickets & enthusiasts.

More and more enthusiasts have now lived through only diesel and electric trains in their childhood on their local railways. Yet someone keeps telling us to keep going after steam!

Unfortunately you cant just set up a new railway without involving the statutory bodies now.
 

Darren R

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I'm a bit confused by this; where is Mr McArthur proposing to run trains to and from? It can't be Irlam station, as the Manchester Evening News implies, because this would need a reversal at Glazebrook Junction. Or is he proposing to build an entirely new east to south chord? And where is he proposing to run trains to at the other end?
 

Tim R-T-C

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An interesting proposal, sounds like a business plan rather than an enthusiast plan, which might be a good thing. Too many enthusiast groups have no apparent understanding of where money comes from to fund projects like this. A firm business proposal might actually see this plan go somewhere.

However at lot of heritage lines rely entirely or largely on volunteers for a lot of the jobs and people might be less willing to volunteer on a line that was being run as a business rather than a charity.

There does seem to be some ambiguity over whether the line is to be a heritage line, or one offering timetabled passenger service. Are they looking to run a private commuter railway with steam trains at weekend?

The comments about steam locomotive owners are slightly odd, 'giving them somewhere to run their engines' seems to imply that they will be charging owners to run services on their tracks.
 

sprinterguy

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I'm a bit confused by this; where is Mr McArthur proposing to run trains to and from? It can't be Irlam station, as the Manchester Evening News implies, because this would need a reversal at Glazebrook Junction. Or is he proposing to build an entirely new east to south chord? And where is he proposing to run trains to at the other end?
The improvements to Irlam station seem to have been mentioned primarily to highlight the involvement of the same individual. It sounds more like the line would run between the sites of the former Cadishead station (or a point immediately north thereof) and West Timperley station, of which elements of both still exist. The idea of the undertaking "linking communities in Trafford and Salford" in any meaningful sense seems like a non sequitur though, based on the content of the article: The line would first and foremost be a self-contained heritage operation.

In any case, is there really much demand for regular travel between Timperley and Cadishead or Irlam, or much in either location to attract the casual visitor? The success of a preserved line relies on much more than a "build it and they will come" mentality that considers the railway in isolation. A journey of barely five miles removed from any obvious tourist attractions seems unlikely to attract a great deal of custom in my opinion. To incorporate such a substantial structure as the Cadishead Viaduct into such a comparatively modest operation also seems like a very efficient way for a millionaire to burn through some of that fortune!
 
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montyburns56

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The improvements to Irlam station seem to have been mentioned primarily to highlight the involvement of the same individual. It sounds more like the line would run between the sites of the former Cadishead station (or a point immediately north thereof) and West Timperley station, of which elements of both still exist. The idea of the undertaking "linking communities in Trafford and Salford" in any meaningful sense seems like a non sequitur though, based on the content of the article: The line would first and foremost be a self-contained heritage operation.

In any case, is there really much demand for regular travel between Timperley and Cadishead or Irlam, or much in either location to attract the casual visitor? The success of a preserved line relies on much more than a "build it and they will come" mentality that considers the railway in isolation. A journey of barely five miles removed from any obvious tourist attractions seems unlikely to attract a great deal of custom in my opinion. To incorporate such a substantial structure as the Cadishead Viaduct into such a comparatively modest operation also seems like a very efficient way for a millionaire to burn through some of that fortune!

I was thinking that it might be best if it was built initially as a line from Timperley to Partington without crossing the Ship Canal, so as to save on the cost of rebuilding the Cadishead Viaduct. Then if the line becomes successful, they can consider rebuilding the viaduct.
 

tiptoptaff

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The comments about steam locomotive owners are slightly odd, 'giving them somewhere to run their engines' seems to imply that they will be charging owners to run services on their tracks.

Won't happen. If he thinks that owners will pay for the privilege of running their engines on his railway he is sadly mistaken and will quickly sink! Can't see any loco owners taking engines away from any hire agreements where they are being paid for each day's service. Can't think of any arrangement where this doesn't happen - either in cash or in kind.

Liken it to Hertz - it would be them paying me to drive one of their hire cars to give them "someone to drive their cars"
 
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