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Reedham, Somerleyton, Mutford Bridges None Operational


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19 minutes ago, grendel said:

I have been looking and I can find no modern designs for swing rail bridges - is this because with continuous rail they are no longer possible.

 

10 minutes ago, Baitrunner said:

If a 60ft rail needs half an inch gap for expansion,  does a welded rail of say 600ft need ten times this. So 5 inches using my figures?

Grendel I think you have nailed it there mate

Baitrunner your assumptions are not to far off from memory, i think half inch is a tad much but bear in mind the LWR can be over a mile long, and the expansion joints over 2 feet in length.

23 minutes ago, grendel said:

(like the interlocking issue that Robin encountered with the road bridge).

Mechanical interlocking expands and contracts on the roding that puts the pin in or out for the bridge swing. So yes the interlocking pins can become jammed due to heat or cold, all this talk takes me back to my elctro mechanical training on British Rail in 73/4 ish .......

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1 hour ago, Bound2Please said:

Baitrunner your assumptions are not to far off from memory, i think half inch is a tad much but bear in mind the LWR can be over a mile long, and the expansion joints over 2 feet in length.

Thanks Charlie. I did find another article that quoted over 2ft expansion gaps on an 1800ft section. So mine was a bit OTT but that's a big old gap. 

Sounds like we have to put up with it then. Or someone invents trackless trains or we all cut the tops off our big boats. 

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13 hours ago, Bound2Please said:

I'm sure Vaughan will correct me if i'm wrong here.

Were the swing bridges put in place for comercial river traffic, not pleasure craft.  I am pretty sure i am correct in this thinking, so there fore pleasure boats should be thankful, for any time the bridge opend to allow them safe passage.

Sorry to be late on this one but yes, originally, the railway was built across what was already an established commercial maritime navigation and so the rail company had to respect the right of navigation.

Should we now be thankful? Again yes, but our whole existence on the Norfolk Broads rivers depends on the insistence on ancient rights of navigation. Without them, the RSPB would have taken over long ago. This is why I keep banging on about the rights of access to a public staithe. In this respect, the swing bridges are no different.

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I am firmly of the belief that there are many old laws/traditions or ways that could do with objective re-assessment, just because something has worked for the last 100 years doesnt mean its right for now. 

Take level crossings for instance, where it can be demonstrated that the modern day impact of a crossing far outweighs the benefit of having a train crossing at that point then the railway taking priority should no longer be accepted as justification for the delays and other economic constraints the railway may actually be in some part responsible for.

Whether this means re routing track or closing stations that other infrastructure can easily cater for then I think in some cases it would be more sensible to enforce changes on network rail rather than the Government having to spend millions coming up with solutions to deal with it. 

Much of the day traffic is nose to tail for up to a mile south of Oulton Broad and similar from the North, it is a real inconvenience and cant be helping the local economy. 

I firmly believe if there was no level crossing at Oulton Broad North Lowestoft might manage just fine without this proposed third crossing as there would be atleast 1 reliable way to cross lake lothing. 

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when it comes to reducing pollution, just how many cars are sitting in the queues, emitting exhaust smoke at the most uneconomical speed (tickover) in those queues, to gain a pollution reduction for those using the train.

A study was done in Canterbury, they shut the westgate Arch to traffic through the arch (the other direction goes around the side) and diverted it across the level crossing and around the alternate route, as an aid to reducing traffic emmission pollution in the area - the traffic would flow much better (they said)

at the start of the 'trial' they changed the footpaths so that you could not drive through the arch.

After 3 months the 6 month trial was brought to an end, due to the doubling of the traffic exhaust pollution levels in the roads the leading to the level crossing on each side. they had to undo the footway works and new kerbs they had installed (in anticipation of the positive results of the trial) and re-open the archway to traffic (it is now shut to busses and coaches - but then the double decker busses were special models designed to get through the arch*(about 1" to spare) and coaches were always getting stuck half way through.

* the special busses were tapered at the top  and the wing mirrors were narrower, if your mirrors cleared either side by 1/2" you were central in the arch and could get through. coach mirrors always hit the sides.

you can see the taper from where the windows start on the top deck in the picture below.

6331820317_ba8dd7feb9_b.jpg

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"Without them, the RSPB would have taken over long ago"... I'd love to know the basis for that assumption. In the Norfolk/Suffolk Broads area, as far as I can see the RSPB are only present at Strumpshaw Fen, Buckenham Marshes, Rockland Marshes, Surlingham Church Marsh and Berney Marshes. All of these are leased, none are owned, by the RSPB and as far as I can see, none of these reserves have any detrimental effect on the landscape or boating issues, quite the reverse in fact. They and the reserves of the Norfolk Wildlife trust, Hickling Broad, Martham/Somerton Broad, Ranworth Broad, Upton Broad & Marshes to name just a few, appear to be managed in a way that is very respectful of the 'Grazing marsh landscape' that we all love. I probably don't need to remind anyone, that in the Common Market 'Grain mountain' days of the past, many of these grazing marshes were drained and ploughed up, in the dash for subsidies, almost destroying them in the process. Raising the RSPB as some kind of 'spectre' to be feared, appears to be not based on fact, quite the reverse, both the RSPB and N.W.T. have proved to be the saviours of thousands of acres of our beautiful Broadland grazing marshes. In addition, like boating, the nature reserves bring many thousands of visitors to the Broads every year, with the financial benefits this brings to the area...

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when it comes to reducing pollution, just how many cars are sitting in the queues, emitting exhaust smoke at the most uneconomical speed (tickover) in those queues, to gain a pollution reduction for those using the train.
A study was done in Canterbury, they shut the westgate Arch to traffic through the arch (the other direction goes around the side) and diverted it across the level crossing and around the alternate route, as an aid to reducing traffic emmission pollution in the area - the traffic would flow much better (they said)
at the start of the 'trial' they changed the footpaths so that you could not drive through the arch.
After 3 months the 6 month trial was brought to an end, due to the doubling of the traffic exhaust pollution levels in the roads the leading to the level crossing on each side. they had to undo the footway works and new kerbs they had installed (in anticipation of the positive results of the trial) and re-open the archway to traffic (it is now shut to busses and coaches - but then the double decker busses were special models designed to get through the arch*(about 1" to spare) and coaches were always getting stuck half way through.
* the special busses were tapered at the top  and the wing mirrors were narrower, if your mirrors cleared either side by 1/2" you were central in the arch and could get through. coach mirrors always hit the sides.
you can see the taper from where the windows start on the top deck in the picture below.
6331820317_ba8dd7feb9_b.jpg&key=8bacdbc8951f891db31299d42a2cae435413e8d07bbec3c93b8ca7907878b9b5
But can they do it backwards?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

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2 hours ago, kingfisher666 said:

"Without them, the RSPB would have taken over long ago"... I'd love to know the basis for that assumption. In the Norfolk/Suffolk Broads area, as far as I can see the RSPB are only present at Strumpshaw Fen, Buckenham Marshes, Rockland Marshes, Surlingham Church Marsh and Berney Marshes. All of these are leased, none are owned, by the RSPB and as far as I can see, none of these reserves have any detrimental effect on the landscape or boating issues, quite the reverse in fact.

The large area known as Sutton Fen was purchased outright by the RSPB for the sum of £1.5m in 2007, since when visitors have been positively discouraged, as has any media interest.

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37 minutes ago, Paladin said:

The large area known as Sutton Fen was purchased outright by the RSPB for the sum of £1.5m in 2007, since when visitors have been positively discouraged, as has any media interest.

I believe Sutton Fen is a closed reserve for both ecological and safety reasons, it is an area of pristine, untouched fen and as such is extremely boggy in places. I believe the RSPB do 'guided visits' on occasions, but the fen is extremely fragile and these visits are indeed rare. My guess would be, that the lack of media coverage, is more to do with protecting the reserve from 'on the spur of the moment' visitors, but perhaps my guess is wrong and you may know the true reason... I didn't include Sutton Fen in my list above, solely because it isn't open to the public, which all of the others are.

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Interestingly the Victoria Road crossing in Oulton Broad has been stuck down this evening, complete with police road closed sign and 2 network rail orange suited guys leaning on the barriers. 

You couldnt make it up round here.  

What I dont understand is why the barriers at OBN need to be closed for a train that stops at the platform before the crossing heading in the Reedham direction. 

Is it really that dangerous for the barriers to stay up untill just before the train is due to depart.

Rather than expecting everyone else to be held up while they unload prams, bucket and spades, expectant mothers and the rest of the traveling circus.....

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21 hours ago, Bound2Please said:

Well tell the train users the line is going back to 60ft's and see the commotion,

I had a good look at the track over the two bridges earlier today and can say that or a few miles each side of both bridges the track is not welded but 60 foot sections joined by fishplates. Therefore it would look as though summer rails are indeed an option.

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12 hours ago, Bound2Please said:

Try the railway act im sure it must be on line some where.

Thanks, I was looking for something a little more "readable"

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20 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

Interestingly the Victoria Road crossing in Oulton Broad has been stuck down this evening, complete with police road closed sign and 2 network rail orange suited guys leaning on the barriers. 

You couldnt make it up round here.  

What I dont understand is why the barriers at OBN need to be closed for a train that stops at the platform before the crossing heading in the Reedham direction. 

Is it really that dangerous for the barriers to stay up untill just before the train is due to depart.

Rather than expecting everyone else to be held up while they unload prams, bucket and spades, expectant mothers and the rest of the traveling circus.....

I believe there was an incident when a train crashed through a barrier that opened the road for vehicles and pedestrians.

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11 hours ago, Bound2Please said:

If that were that simple, it would take a plate layers gang about 45 minutes to do on each bridge. I havnt worked on the railway since 1987 as jumping out of the way of 100mph trains is a youngmans job. But now with H& S they shut it for even a simple failure. oh well progress is not always best.

I went over both bridges today (twice) and the trains slow down to about 10 mph when passing over the swing bridges.

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2 minutes ago, Philosophical said:

I believe there was an incident when a train crashed through a barrier

A barrier I think not a gate quite possibly, as it has happened when a train has rolled back a foot'ish at gated crossings where the gates are opened to road traffic when a train in a platform.

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