"TheOneKEA" wrote

I presume then that the spur to Claydon LN&E Junction is nominally
intact to allow the refuse trains to be propelled into the down siding
and thence to the pits, correct? I had heard that some of the rails on
the mothballed line between Bicester and Bletchley had been stolen.

The line from Oxford is open for passenger trains as far as Bicester Town,
and for freight as far as Claydon LNE junction. The Avon binliner normally
comes this way, and reverses down the spur to Calvert. The line from Claydon
to Bletchley isn't currently in a fit state for trains, and ISTR that I had
heard the suggestion that some rails had been stolen.

Peter

In article . com,
TheOneKEA wrote:
I presume then that the spur to Claydon LN&E Junction is nominally
intact to allow the refuse trains to be propelled into the down siding
and thence to the pits, correct? I had heard that some of the rails on
the mothballed line between Bicester and Bletchley had been stolen.

The line which is closed is that from Claydon to Bletchley; as far as I
know the line from Bicester to Claydon is still usable.

--
David Wild using RISC OS on broadband

"Peter Masson" wrote:

The line from Claydon
to Bletchley isn't currently in a fit state for trains, and ISTR that I had
heard the suggestion that some rails had been stolen.


Unfortunately, that is true.

TheOneKEA wrote:

I presume then that the spur to Claydon LN&E Junction is nominally
intact to allow the refuse trains to be propelled into the down siding
and thence to the pits, correct?

The containers are removed by way of an overhead gantry crane (and the
empties replaced) which spans one of the reception roads. I'm not sure how
the Freightliner trains (the Cricklewood and the Dagenham Dock) are
processed but in the days when I used to go up there on the Northolt trains
the procedure was firstly to deposit the shunter, who would sling the points
to give access to the terminal, the train would then pull forward onto the
reception siding, the previous day's train empties would be stabled ahead of
it on the headshunt. The loco would uncouple from the arriving train, pull
forward over the crossover into the headshunt and couple to the empties. The
empties would then be taken out past the delivered train and back out onto
the 'main' line, leaving the shunter on site. The shunter would then reset
the road to bypass the terminal. The empty train would then propel back, to
collect the shunter from alongside the points, then proceeding forwards to
Aylesbury and Northolt.

"RPM" wrote in message
...

"Ronnie Clark"
rve.co.uk
wrote in message ...
snip
Calvert was the southern most GC-built station on the London
Extension excepting Marylebone,

Not so. It was the southern most GC station of the standard island
platform
design, but there were another 6 GC designed stations south of Calvert
(excepting Marylebone).

snippage

I guess it comes down to whether or not one counts the Neasden-Northolt
line
as part of the London Extension!

I call that the GC/GW joint line! I always understand the London extension
as specifically referring to the line built from Annesley Junction to
Quainton Road... Other connections, such as Banbury to Culworth Junction and
the GC/GW joint don't cut it with me!


--
Ronnie
--
Have a great day...
....Have a Great Central day.
www.greatcentralrailway.com

"TheOneKEA" wrote in message
ups.com...
Stimpy wrote:
On 21/1/06 16:02, "Ronnie Clark" wrote:

A map showing the approximate layout of the region before
rationalization:
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvertmap.jpg

These photos, taken on May 14th 2005:
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvert1.jpg
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvert2.jpg
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvert3.jpg

Nice one!! For the first time, the modern layout at Calvert makes sense
to
me. Thanks ;-)

I presume then that the spur to Claydon LN&E Junction is nominally
intact to allow the refuse trains to be propelled into the down siding
and thence to the pits, correct? I had heard that some of the rails on
the mothballed line between Bicester and Bletchley had been stolen.

Theoretically, Bicester to Bletchley is "open" (in the same way that
Loughborough to Ruddington was "open". The fact that in the Bletchley area
some lengths of rail were stolen, and then another section was relayed to a
different alignment (both actions therefore rendering the line
discontinuous) is neither here nor there

Certainly Bicester to Claydon is open in a more proper sense as trains still
pass that way to and from Calvert.

I just posted these links elsewhere, but what the hell, I'm feeling
dangerous... I got very bored and went "Google Earth"ing. I probably
shouldn't post this and if GE complain I'll take them down:

http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/grn-ash.jpg (120k)
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvertarea.jpg (600k)


The first is Grendon Underwood to Ashendon Junctions, the second is more
generally the area around Calvert / Quainton Road / Verney Junction,
including the Ashendon line as far as Akeman Street.


--
Ronnie
--
Have a great day...
....Have a Great Central day.
www.greatcentralrailway.com

In article ,
Ronnie Clark rve.co.uk wrote:

I just posted these links elsewhere, but what the hell, I'm feeling
dangerous... I got very bored and went "Google Earth"ing. I probably
shouldn't post this and if GE complain I'll take them down:

http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/grn-ash.jpg (120k)
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvertarea.jpg (600k)


The first is Grendon Underwood to Ashendon Junctions, the second is more
generally the area around Calvert / Quainton Road / Verney Junction,
including the Ashendon line as far as Akeman Street.

What a great set of pictures Ronnie, thanks very much for taking that
time! This is a powerful new tool to find the course of long closed
railways :-)

Nick
--
So when is Tony Blair going to start treating *us* with respect ?

"Peter Masson" wrote in message
...

"Jack Taylor" wrote in message
...
Verney Junction diversion
"subterraneo" wrote in
message
. uk...
Had an email from a Geoff Cole about a Verney Junction diversion in the
70s. Perhaps someone knows the date of this and could help (him) out?

Verney Junction was long gone by then. I suspect that you mean Claydon
L&NE
Junction (where the Aylesbury line diverges from the Oxford line). I do
recall reading about this myself so I'll try and ferret out some
information, if I can find it!

At that time the line between Bletchley and Claydon LNE Junction was in
use
for freight, and the line from Claydon to Aylesbury still is (see the
current thread on uk.r entitled Aylesbury Parkway North). I last travelled
the Bletchley - Claydon (- Bicester - Oxford) line on a special train on a
Network Day around 1990. By then it was not possible for a train going
that
way to call at Bletchley, as the only access was via the flyover.

About 8 years ago there were Christmas Shopping services from Aylesbury to
Milton Keynes, IIRC.

Nick

Nick Pedley wrote:

About 8 years ago there were Christmas Shopping services from
Aylesbury to Milton Keynes, IIRC.

A lot longer ago than that, I'm afraid. The last ones that I remember were
December 1989 or 1990.

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 16:02:21 -0000, "Ronnie Clark"
rve.co.uk wrote:


A map showing the approximate layout of the region before rationalization:
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvertmap.jpg
(Note for pedants, whilst lines are colour coded by original builders, the
spur between Claydon LNE and Calvert Junctions was a WWII innovation, and
not built by any of the original companies!)

What an invitation for pedantry! The stretch from Verney Jct to
Aylesbury was not 'originally' Metropolitan but was the Aylesbury and
Buckingham Railway (worked by the GWR). Stayed that way from 1868
until 1892 when the Met reached Aylesbury and took over the A&B.

Nice pictures, BTW - if I can find some slides I took at Calvert quite
recently of the detail of a binliner being discharged, I will scan and
put them on the web..

These photos, taken on May 14th 2005, show the area of Calvert as it is in
recent times:
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvert1.jpg
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvert2.jpg
http://www.blugman.freeserve.co.uk/calvert3.jpg

In calvert1.jpg, the main running line on the right (formerly the "up" GC
line) is shown heading away north-west from Calvert station's over-bridge
(ie, towards Sheffield in old money). You'll note that in the far distance,
it suddenly veers to the right, snaking out of sight. This was the site of
Calvert Junction, the GC line previously carrying straight on to cross the
Bletchley-Oxford line. The ground-frame in the mid-ground allows the
bin-liner trains to crossover to what remains of the former "down" line,
which is now basically the refuse depot.


Guy Gorton