Supporting the carol service at Imber Church, apparently.

 
A rather ambiguous note in the 'Line Update' section of JourneyCheck:

Individual journeys are listed as "not calling at Worcester Foregate Street".

 
Yes.

Also, it was curious to watch several passengers off the up service at Warminster the other day cross to the down side and walk past the open exit by the footbridge to the 'Way Out' notice for the booking office exit to find that that that was closed: they retraced their steps to the very visible side exit.

Meanwhile I couldn't locate the ticket machine, then found I was looking at it. To passengers entering the station, it presents an anonymous grey flank that I'd dismissed as a piece of lineside equipment.

Mark

 
Are there too many signs at our stations - even the smallest ones?



Are they all necessary?

Are they all correct?

Do they all apply at this station?

Will passengers have time to read them?

Are they written in understandable English?

Will people be able to find the answer to any question even if the answer id there?

Are they all legible when needed?

Is anything missing?

 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m87jlv97ro


Photographs in the article.

 

Oops - 13, 14, and 15 not yet correctly identified - 16 is indeed Newcastle Central

13.


14.


15.

 

 
Sunday Dec 14
The 1P50 11:57 Gt Malvern - Paddington has been terminated at Moreton-in-M, following "multiple engine issues".

According to RTT this was rostered as a 9 coach IET, 800314.

The following 1P54 (from Worcester) runnning 51 late. RTT shows this as stopping at Moreton for only 2 minutes. Pretty smart if it had to pick up all the passengers from the previous service.

I'm relying here on the online systems - any eyewitnesses?

 

Yes, and there has to be limitations otherwise a small charter operator would instantly go under if it was the cause of a significant incident.

 
Erm, grahame: there are also 13, 14, 15 and 16 in your original post here. 

I know, because I got 16 right! 

 
Its structures (occasionally) repurposed in surprising and popular ways.


https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottage/Cotswolds-Northamptonshire-Coton-Fm/The-Tunnel-at-Bridge-Lake-Farm-and-Fishery-1132709.html

Not, though the series of three bridges towards the top of the climb out of the Cherwell valley, structures allegedly nicknamed by loco crew as 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity'.

Surprised the staff featured in the film are so prepared to smile for the camera.

Mark

 
If you have Google Earth, you can use the menu 'View/Historical imagery' for the bridge site, allowing you to leaf through a striking set of aerial images from c.1985 to the present day, showing that from 2020 the river's main channel at the bridge switched to the west bank of the Spey for what appears to be the first time in the history of the structure. It may be that 2023's Storm Babet prompted some of this.

This might prove to be a reminder that some events that we like to think of occuring at rates that we'd think of as 'Geological' with respect to time spans can actually happen quickly - long periods of quiescence and then a short spell of rapid change.

Mark

 

Thanks, Chris ... and I have "bumped" it on my social media ... an excuse to post more pics too

 
More photos here from Facebook.

Mark

https://www.facebook.com/groups/5847179865409002/permalink/24998004463233255/

 
Ah. The piers are not masonry, each pier for the approach spans is a pair of concrete-filled iron cylinders sunk to... bedrock(?) and clad in masonry, and for the supports in question, both have failed. The water is esturine and the mode of failure will prove to be informative for other similar structures. But, especially given their concrete cores, perhaps not corrosion - looking at old OS mapping, the deep water channel of the river has shifted and now bears on and surrounds the failed piers so it may be that they've simply been washed out of the ground.

Mark

 

All the ones in my quiz ... and I tend to plan for places where for the most part there is a train ...

 
More on the viaduct from the Forgotten Relics web site.

Mark

http://www.forgottenrelics.org/bridges/spey-viaduct/

 
Double checked another report to ensure the images weren't A.I. but unfortunately this is real. Looks to be that scour has felled one of the masonry piers supporting one of the smaller steel spans.

Mark

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/6915286/river-spey-viaduct-collapse/

 

The penalties are covered in the charter companies contract with NR / ORR, there will be limitations to the penalty; the penalties work in both directions ie a TOC, FOC or NR causing delays to a charter as well as a charter fault.  Charter operators will operate with 2 locomotives to cover for a loco failure which is more than can be said for TOCs

 

All?

 
Sunday December 14

And after a good day on Saturday...

1W01 09:50 London Paddington to Hereford (12:57) is reported on RTT as being cancelled after Oxford "due to unknown cause (ZW)".

 

Indeed - I understand from Western Pathfinder that it's had a significant wash and brush up and a bit more too - some more of his pictures follow.   Now - why - are we going to see an improvement in services to match the improvements at the station?

 
I'm just giving this topic a gentle 'bump' reminder: there are still three days to go.

CfN. 

 
For bobm..............

 
Pilning?

 

  It was hiding the corner ...

 
Delays to services between Truro and Penzance
Due to a fault with the signalling system at Redruth trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines. Disruption is expected until 12:00 14/12.
Train services between Truro and Penzance may be delayed.
Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
Several track circuits have failed in the Redruth area. Trains are being talked past signals in both directions, causing delays.

A track circuit is part of the signalling system. Track circuits tell the signalling system if a section of track has a train on it. If a track circuit stops working, trains need to stop at the local signal so that the Driver can speak to the Signaller to confirm if the track ahead is clear. This can lead to delays, especially if several track circuits have stopped working.:
_
What are we doing about it?

We are working with Network Rail to be able to return to running our normal timetable as soon as possible.

Network Rail are investigating the fault

Issued at 09h27

 
A station managed by GWR ... and an opening for a discussion.  Not my picture - credit to be applied and more pictures added during the day

 


He was in the cab shovelling coal like crazy !

 
Where's the mouse?