They will certainly hasten the demise of the current (cracked) cast iron bridge!

George

Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear!

There are going to be freight trains through Whaley Bridge for a limited period.

How will people manage??

The same way as people in other towns with freight trains manage, and the same way that people in Whaley Bridge used to manage up to the mid-1960's when there were freight trains all the time!!

That must be 24 trains over the 9 days, I would imagine that most of the quarries will be closed over this holiday period. Newspapers are not a reliable source of information the best use is for wrapping chips or in the wc. Two freights noticed today.

I am not certain how far by rail it is from Combs to Br 42, but legally, every train has to be able to come to a complete stand from maximum line speed in 1.25 miles so I think they can leave braking a bit later than Combs.

I am not surprised the poster has hardly noticed the trains as, on long welded rails and even at 50mph, they glide past.  Let us have a discussion about the road alternative which made my windows buzz every few seconds when I lived on the A6.

I do not know Mr Robinson's house but, if it is the one I am thinking about, I would hazard a guess that mining and road traffic are far more significant factors in its present shape.

By the way, stone trains typically weigh 2500 tonnes and every train replaces 75 of the heaviest road vehicles currently allowed on our roads.  I say currently, because moves are afoot to increase lorry weights (size already will increase from 1st January) so that hauliers can take traffic from rail and put the stone back where we all want it (I don't think) past all our front doors.

George

Edited by user 27 December 2011 13:01:57(UTC)  | Reason: Decided that trains squeak rather than speak, aware that other opinions exist

I think many on here are creating an image of residents holding down ornaments as the 4-15 passes by in the style of some early 1960's sitcom with the increase in freight.. That is simply not the case! Modern railways are much smoother and quieter than their previous steam hauled predecessors. I think Mr Robinson's house (all three) and Mr Clarke's will have shown much more signs of wear and tear in the days of steam rather than today....they have survived pretty much unscathed in the 100 or so years so far.

My views on demolishing bridge 42 are well known from previous posts. It is a fact that the Buxton line loses money and is subsidised. The Mc Nulty report into lines like ours has not suggested directly that they should close (more by implicaion perhaps as some reviewers have noted) but it is obvious that there needs to be an increase in usage for it to survive in the long term whether passenger or freight.

I agree with the general principles of your argument but I disagree that a cast iron structure cracking can be described as neglect.  There are no external signs available to the engineer of the impending cracking and even if there were, the only solutions would be replacement with a better material or closure.

I have previously stated that the best solution would be a modern structure hiding behind the original cast iron spandrels, but a desire to increase road clearances and allow larger lorries to pass through Whaley seems to rule this out.

George