choc
Academy Starlet
Posts: 149
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Post by choc on Jul 26, 2020 13:08:17 GMT
There are a series of videos from a gentleman made last year about the route/line.
(Part 1)
Nice idea along with linking a line to Alton Towers but it has been talked about several times before amounting to nothing.
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Post by maninasuitcase on Jul 26, 2020 16:39:52 GMT
Would be great of they bought it back.
Ive walked part of it myself and the track is still there, but would need some investment on ballasting, signalling, bridge checks and importantly embankments as there have been a few land slides near abbey hulton in the past.
As mentioned the last time the line was used was in the 80s for oakamoor sand trains.
To reconnect not only with leek but other areas has to be an environmental positive.
Stories of bringing trams back which was mentioned the other year would also be great.
Its about this city got dragged into the 21st century.
The motor car killed the loop line, but just imagine if it had survived. We could have used it as a tram/light railway system.
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Post by maninasuitcase on Jul 26, 2020 16:46:30 GMT
94 was the last time the line was used on a pathfinder train from stoke to leekbrook.
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Post by Dutchpeter on Jul 26, 2020 16:51:19 GMT
I believe if you walk these lines, you are effectively trespassing as they remain the property of Network Rail. Not that anyone is arsed of course 🤣
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Post by elystokie on Jul 26, 2020 17:05:55 GMT
There are a series of videos from a gentleman made last year about the route/line. (Part 1) Nice idea along with linking a line to Alton Towers but it has been talked about several times before amounting to nothing. Spookily enough I was in that very car park yesterday, I saw that tunnel under the road and wondered wtf it was all about. Now I know  |
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Post by maninasuitcase on Jul 26, 2020 17:10:46 GMT
I believe if you walk these lines, you are effectively trespassing as they remain the property of Network Rail. Not that anyone is arsed of course 🤣 Its pretty much a dog walkers paradise. I remember reading in the sentinel that some woman in endon campaigned to stop it reopening even though it wasnt out of use. Fortunately she got knocked back. |
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Post by spiderpuss on Jul 26, 2020 17:30:23 GMT
My issue with all of this there's no direction from the top. All we keep hearing is "Northern Powerhouse" and this sodding expensive HS2 line, which oddly doesn't really help anyone above Wolverhampton. I cast my mind back when there was all the flooding, there was mention of opening the Oakhampton line, and yet nothing ever came of it. If we want real change then I need to see it in policy. Policy to add stations where there are conurbations, policy to re-open much needed lines and policy not to just spend money on glamour projects.
I know it's wrong to compare with Holland, it's a small country, but there train improvement policy is mindblowing. New stations where they are needed, improved stations, new rolling stock. There isn't much room to add new lines, however I'm sure they would be added if needed. The fact that a city the size of Stoke doesn't have a central trainline &/or station would make them (the Dutch) faint.
Our staggering drunk approach to doing these things is pitiful.
The other issue is that people have got very used to not using trains from Leek. So a quick call to city cabs or using their own transport is too easy.
I could go on, you feel we're never really make progress on this issue here.
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Post by desman2 on Jul 26, 2020 18:07:34 GMT
I remember back in the 60's getting a train from Newcastle ( opposite the Borough Arms ) and changing in Stoke to connect with the London train. Going up to Hanley from the same which incidently had a decent station . Good old times
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Post by zerps on Jul 27, 2020 15:40:55 GMT
Would be great of they bought it back. Ive walked part of it myself and the track is still there, but would need some investment on ballasting, signalling, bridge checks and importantly embankments as there have been a few land slides near abbey hulton in the past. As mentioned the last time the line was used was in the 80s for oakamoor sand trains. To reconnect not only with leek but other areas has to be an environmental positive. Stories of bringing trams back which was mentioned the other year would also be great. Its about this city got dragged into the 21st century. The motor car killed the loop line, but just imagine if it had survived. We could have used it as a tram/light railway system. Did we used to have trams mate? Genuine question |
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Post by nott1 on Jul 27, 2020 15:53:24 GMT
I used to catch that train at Bucknall station , which was at the bottom of Lime Kiln Bank, and go to the match at the Vic.
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Post by mrcoke on Jul 27, 2020 15:56:19 GMT
Would be great of they bought it back. Ive walked part of it myself and the track is still there, but would need some investment on ballasting, signalling, bridge checks and importantly embankments as there have been a few land slides near abbey hulton in the past. As mentioned the last time the line was used was in the 80s for oakamoor sand trains. To reconnect not only with leek but other areas has to be an environmental positive. Stories of bringing trams back which was mentioned the other year would also be great. Its about this city got dragged into the 21st century. The motor car killed the loop line, but just imagine if it had survived. We could have used it as a tram/light railway system. Did we used to have trams mate? Genuine question |
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Post by zerps on Jul 27, 2020 15:58:19 GMT
Brilliant. Hanley swent from being decent to an utter cess pit in the 20th century. According to my Nan 😂 |
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Post by lordb on Jul 27, 2020 16:31:42 GMT
My issue with all of this there's no direction from the top. All we keep hearing is "Northern Powerhouse" and this sodding expensive HS2 line, which oddly doesn't really help anyone above Wolverhampton. I cast my mind back when there was all the flooding, there was mention of opening the Oakhampton line, and yet nothing ever came of it. If we want real change then I need to see it in policy. Policy to add stations where there are conurbations, policy to re-open much needed lines and policy not to just spend money on glamour projects. I know it's wrong to compare with Holland, it's a small country, but there train improvement policy is mindblowing. New stations where they are needed, improved stations, new rolling stock. There isn't much room to add new lines, however I'm sure they would be added if needed. The fact that a city the size of Stoke doesn't have a central trainline &/or station would make them (the Dutch) faint. Our staggering drunk approach to doing these things is pitiful. The other issue is that people have got very used to not using trains from Leek. So a quick call to city cabs or using their own transport is too easy. I could go on, you feel we're never really make progress on this issue here. We need to be colonised by the dutch for 50 years or so |
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Post by spiderpuss on Jul 27, 2020 22:01:52 GMT
My issue with all of this there's no direction from the top. All we keep hearing is "Northern Powerhouse" and this sodding expensive HS2 line, which oddly doesn't really help anyone above Wolverhampton. I cast my mind back when there was all the flooding, there was mention of opening the Oakhampton line, and yet nothing ever came of it. If we want real change then I need to see it in policy. Policy to add stations where there are conurbations, policy to re-open much needed lines and policy not to just spend money on glamour projects. I know it's wrong to compare with Holland, it's a small country, but there train improvement policy is mindblowing. New stations where they are needed, improved stations, new rolling stock. There isn't much room to add new lines, however I'm sure they would be added if needed. The fact that a city the size of Stoke doesn't have a central trainline &/or station would make them (the Dutch) faint. Our staggering drunk approach to doing these things is pitiful. The other issue is that people have got very used to not using trains from Leek. So a quick call to city cabs or using their own transport is too easy. I could go on, you feel we're never really make progress on this issue here. We need to be colonised by the dutch for 50 years or so Not sure what the current situation is, but between Eindhoven and Utrecht they scrapped the timetable and just made the train run every 10 minutes! If you miss one, you just wait another 9 minutes!! |
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Post by ashleyscfc on Jul 27, 2020 22:35:15 GMT
Bit ominous that she wants all that data off you. Dare I suggest she knows that the trainline will never be built and she just wants your number and email for the next election ring around... Ding ding ding |
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Post by Northy on Jul 28, 2020 8:14:20 GMT
Yeah like Manchester + Leeds need any more money spending on them.... you’re right, we’re seen as very poor relations? 🤷🏼♂️ The railway line between them does, it needs electrifying, that's what the money is for. |
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Post by maninasuitcase on Jul 28, 2020 19:22:17 GMT
When you look at a railway map of stoke in the 50s and 60s, the city was awash with railway lines.
The mineral lines alone could have made for some serious light railway infrastructure and connected every corner of the city.
Couple that with the loop line and it would have been amazing.
Now we have a token railway line with a half arsed service, and thats even worse in longton on the stoke to derby line.
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Post by foghornsgleghorn on Jul 28, 2020 21:16:35 GMT
There are a series of videos from a gentleman made last year about the route/line. (Part 1) Nice idea along with linking a line to Alton Towers but it has been talked about several times before amounting to nothing. Everyone says what a great idea a rail link to Alton Towers would be but there are so many reasons why it would be a white elephant: 1/ Alton Towers does very nicely out of car park charges 2/ The railway line is at the bottom of the bank in Alton, people arriving by train would then need to change from train to buses, which somehow have to get onto the road with crap access. Towers could of course build a new entrance but all their retail etc is geared around the main entrance 3/ The railway line is hardly direct. When it gets to Leekbrook Junction the trains would have to reverse and then trundle down the heritage Churnet Valley line at low speeds. Some years ago the Moorlands & City Railway talked of running a park-and-ride service from near Stoke station. Who exactly, having driven most of the way to alton was going to park up in Stoke and get on a slow train for a journey they could do much quicker (and cheaper) by car? 4/ Rail access cold only really work for people coming from certain parts of the country and certainly not anywhere east of Alton. The numbers likely to switch to rail would mean the railway would be incredibly expensive, idle for 6 months a year (along with the expensive-to-lease trains)and lead to just a relatively small reduction in traffic. Towers visitor numbers are unlikely to increase far beyond current levels. The list goes on with such things as the good folks of Oakamoor reportedly not keen on the idea of the railway returning etc etc If the Churnet Valley ever extends to Alton then maybe the odd excursion train to Towers might work if the onward access to the park can be sorted, apart from that the only hope would be if legislation restricted car use . As for Stoke to Leek - maybe, but people should be aware that the Government is tickling everybody's nostalgia with talk of reversing Beeching cuts and reopening branch lines all over the north. Of course this might happen but I suspect most will get no further than some feasibility report, if even that far. There was a good opportunity to spend on rail schemes in the post-covid bounce-back spending but nearly all of it went on roads..... |
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