On 15/08/2011 23:06, The Gardener wrote:
And for nostalgia's sake, here's what you would have seen once a day
at North Acton in 1984:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6053903...57626998739154

Once upon a time that was Castle class working, seen at Beaconsfield on
a summer's evening in 1962 hauled by 5026 Criccieth Castle:

www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/A055.tif

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On Aug 15, 11:06*pm, The Gardener wrote:
On Aug 15, 10:22*pm, "Peter Masson" wrote:



"cj" wrote

Do 2 Chiltern trains an hour really necessitate the suspension of the
Greenford trains (AFAIK they weren't even running up that branch, but
turning off at Acton?) Could FGW not have run a Hayes/Hanwell-
Greenford service (as they have done before e.g. Ladbroke Grove/lorry-
v-train incident at West Ealing)?

Much of Old Oak Common West Junction to Northolt Junction is single track,
and the permitted speed is pretty low (40 mph?). So it's almost certainly
necessary for a proportion of the Chiltern trains to be routed via Drayton
Green. They will also take up Relief Line paths between West Ealing and
Paddington, and occupy platforms at Paddington. It does however seem that
Network Rail and fGW have given up too easily, and it should certainly be
easier to find out what's going on.

The walk from West Ealing to Drayton Green isn't actually all that far.

Peter

I went that way on Saturday and a half-hourly service was running from
Paddington to the Chiltern line, with all trains using the direct line
via Park Royal. I agree that a combination of the single line and low
linespeed precludes more than 2 tph that way but if that can run on a
Saturday, then the only thing that is different on a weekday seems to
be the availability of paths between Old Oak West and Paddington. The
weekday Chiltern service shows 2 tph running non-stop from Paddington
to Gerrards Cross in about 30 mins, which tallies with running on the
direct line.

Here's a shot of one such train at North Acton:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6053903...in/photostream

And for nostalgia's sake, here's what you would have seen once a day
at North Acton in 1984:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6053903.../set-721576269...

Note the awfully-polite graffiti too as a sign of the times:
"[unclear] is an ugly mug", what an insult!

Nick

The presence of stop boards implies something was going on. One
wonders that in the absence of paths, and given the opportunity
presented by a two-week blockade, if TPTB have decided to take the
opportunity to do some major renewals on the branch.

Which route are the bin trains taking this week?

John

On Tue, 16 Aug 2011, Nick wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:06*pm, The Gardener wrote:

And for nostalgia's sake, here's what you would have seen once a day
at North Acton in 1984:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6053903.../set-721576269...

Note the awfully-polite graffiti too as a sign of the times:
"[unclear] is an ugly mug", what an insult!

"Batho" - you can make the picture embiggen substantially if you click in
the right places.

That's probably Batho Lane, brother of Bollo.

tom

--
Freedom, Beauty, Truth, and Love!

On Aug 16, 1:28*pm, "John" wrote:

Which route are the bin trains taking this week?

John

I cannot confirm this, but a contributor to another (private) group to
which I subscribe has not reported seeing any bin trains this week, so
either they are cancelled for the duration or are being diverted via
Oxford and Bicester. (Of course, the Northolt bin trans will not be
affected by the closure of the Greenford branch.)

On Aug 15, 10:10*pm, cj wrote:

Do 2 Chiltern trains an hour really necessitate the suspension of the
Greenford trains (AFAIK they weren't even running up that branch, but
turning off at Acton?) Could FGW not have run a Hayes/Hanwell-
Greenford service (as they have done before e.g. Ladbroke Grove/lorry-
v-train incident at West Ealing)?

I did think suspension without even a rail replacement bus service was
rather poor.

But why not a combination of extra stops in the Chilterns and a DMU
shuttle?

Neil