Trivia: Lines proposed but never built (or where a line should have been built)

[70014IronDuke]

...
Connecting curves at Dorchester to allow trains from Bournemouth area to head up towards Yeovil, and at Yeovil to allow trains from the Weymouth direction (and, via the first curve, Bournemouth and points east) to head towards Exeter? Bournemouth to Exeter is currently very indirect indeed by rail. ...

This looks eminently sensible and even begs the question: Why on earth was it not done at some time in the past?

The answer is, of course, that until 1966 you had the Somerset and Dorset directly from Bournemouth West to Templecombe. With that in place, there was never any need for a Dorchester curve.

 

[GrimShady]

Fort Bill to Inverness....definitely; not sure about Fort Bill to Kyle though.

It was planned/proposed in the early 20th century.

 

[HaggisBotherer]

The road network around Blairgowrie is poor. Just country roads which the majority of the time, are congested.

I think it depends very much on your definition of 'congested'. If you've not driven the the roads in the south east of Ingerland, I guess you're not likely to know that the only road in Perthshire that ever actually gets 'congested' in real terms is around Broxden in the rush hour.

I know people who complain that Kingsway gets congested. Compared to the likes of the M25... no, it really doesn't. It's merely a few minutes inconvenience

 

[Macwomble]

It was planned/proposed in the early 20th century.

Ah well, you learn something new every day. Curious to know what the proposed route was though.

 

[Essexman]

I may be wrong but I thought that the Fort Augustus line was intended to be extended to Inverness to give the West Highland a route there competing with the Highland.

 

[randyrippley]

....................Connecting curves at Dorchester to allow trains from Bournemouth area to head up towards Yeovil, and at Yeovil to allow trains from the Weymouth direction (and, via the first curve, Bournemouth and points east) to head towards Exeter? Bournemouth to Exeter is currently very indirect indeed by rail...............

the earthworks at Yeovil for such a curve were actually built but no track was ever laid. Not sure, but I suspect the combination of the conflicting route of the Clifton Maybank goods spur, and the station rebuilding in the early 1900's would have got in the way and made the curve too tight to be used except to access platform 4 (down slow) and the GW goods transfer shed

 

[nottinghamcity]

The cross Birmingham tunnels get proposed from time to time, and I understand that the West Midlands combined authority have not ruled it out, once the camp hill works are bottomed out.

 

[londonbridge]

Wasn't there talk of running the Tyne and Wear metro to Durham??

 

[MarlowDonkey]

There was a proposal for a duplicate line from South Wales to London in around the 1890s. I suppose its fate had it ever been built would have been much the same as the Great Central. Its route into London would have been similar to the lines eventually built between High Wycombe and Neasden and High Wycombe and Old Oak Common. If the Midland had been involved, St Pancras might have been the intended London terminus, although much of the business case was long distance coal to the London area.

 

[Calthrop]

I may be wrong but I thought that the Fort Augustus line was intended to be extended to Inverness to give the West Highland a route there competing with the Highland.

Per my understanding, that extension was planned and much wished for by the North British Railway; but the Highland Railway, even more desirous of not having this competition to contend with, exerted all the pressure and influence they possibly could to prevent a line Fort Augustus -- Inverness from coming into being.

 

[RLBH]

It was planned/proposed in the early 20th century.

I can vaguely see the alignment, though the gradients up Glen Shiel would be decidedly alarming - something like nine miles of 1 in 47 - as well as a challenging coastal section on the north shore of Loch Duich.

One of my idle fantasies is for the Duke of Sutherland to discover narrow gauge earlier, allowing for more lines to be built by the Highland Railway - he openly stated that he regretted that this wasn't the case. On a quick estimate, all the seriously proposed Highland Railway branches in that part of the world could have been built in 3' 6" gauge by the same capital that paid for the network actually built on 4' 8.5" gauge.

Per my understanding, that extension was planned and much wished for by the North British Railway; but the Highland Railway, even more desirous of not having this competition to contend with, exerted all the pressure and influence they possibly could to prevent a line Fort Augustus -- Inverness from coming into being.

Oddly enough, this lead to the situation where the 'branch' at Spean Bridge was built to higher standards than the 'main line' to Fort William - the West Highland was basically designed as a long, straggling single-track branch with passing loops, whilst the Invergarry & Fort Augustus was designed to be a competing main line to Inverness. Presumably had it ever come to fruition in the way the promoters hoped there would have been improvements south of Spean Bridge.

I think it depends very much on your definition of 'congested'. If you've not driven the the roads in the south east of Ingerland, I guess you're not likely to know that the only road in Perthshire that ever actually gets 'congested' in real terms is around Broxden in the rush hour.

You don't even need to get to England - I was cautioned against driving from Southampton to Bournemouth on the grounds of the congestion being so bad. It turned out to be non-existent compared to my Central Scotland commute.

 

[Jagdpanther]

Wasn't there talk of running the Tyne and Wear metro to Durham??

Unlikely although there was once talk of extending the Metro along the old Leamside line to Washington.

 

[Ianigsy]

The branch up the Worth Valley from Keighley to Oxenhope was planned to be extended to Hebden Bridge. I believe they got as far as staking out the route over the moors but nothing ever came of it.

Rob

Presumably the attraction to the Midland would have been direct access from Manchester to Scotland via the S&C - I take the B3 Brontebus over those moors several times a year and presume they would have set out to follow the packhorse road alignment, but the absence of much in the way of intermediate settlement would make it an expensive exercise.

 

[edwin_m]

Presumably the attraction to the Midland would have been direct access from Manchester to Scotland via the S&C - I take the B3 Brontebus over those moors several times a year and presume they would have set out to follow the packhorse road alignment, but the absence of much in the way of intermediate settlement would make it an expensive exercise.

The Midland relied on the L&Y to get northwards out of Manchester to reach its own metals at Hellifield. The two companies were generally on good terms but the relationship could easily have soured at some point. However a route via Hebden Bridge would also have been reliant on the L&Y.

 

[Ianigsy]

The Midland relied on the L&Y to get northwards out of Manchester to reach its own metals at Hellifield. The two companies were generally on good terms but the relationship could easily have soured at some point. However a route via Hebden Bridge would also have been reliant on the L&Y.

Curiously, I've just been reading a book on the Bronte family which refers to a Keighley-Hebden Bridge line being projected during the Railway Mania of circa 1845, following the Worth Valley as far as Oxenhope and then in tunnel under Cock Hill (so running a fair bit to the east of the packhorse road). The intention was to link up the Leeds & Bradford and Leeds & Manchester railways, so predating Midland/L&Y days.