8mm Forum: Closure Of Severn Tunnel

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Topic: Closure Of Severn Tunnel

Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 28, 2013 04:54 AM

For those members in South Wales proposing to use the train on Saturday 26 October for the Ealing Convention, please note that the River Severn railway tunnel will be closed on that day. Trains will travel via Gloucester.

Those travelling from Bristol Parkway (as I am) should note that the normal half-hourly service to Reading & Paddington will be extended to a two hour interval with trains starting at Bristol Temple Meads.

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Maurice

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Mal Brake
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 591
From: Neath, South Wales, UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted September 28, 2013 11:21 AM

Hi Maurice
Fortunately I will be traveling on Friday 25th but thanks for the info anyway.
Have you been following the C5 TV programme 'The Great Western'?
After what one of the staff said about flooding in the tunnel should all pumps fail I think I'll invest in some scuba gear. [Smile]

I have a very interesting S8mm BTF 2-reeler about the tunnel's construction, some amazing engineering carried out on that job.

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I'm gonna live forever or die trying

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 28, 2013 12:06 PM

Hi Mal,
I knew you were travelling earlier but I thought others might be interested. When I booked on-line weeks ago the web-sites seemed crazy, from Bristol Parkway there are normally half-hour services which come from either Swansea or Cardiff. Eventually I found a train and booked but although I was asked if I wanted a seat reservation the site refused to comply.

It was only yesterday that I visited Parkway Station when all was revealed, the closure of the tunnel was upsetting the normal schedules. Only after the third attempt could the assistant actually book on my Reading trains (each way.) As you know I am changing at Reading for local service to Ealing Broadway.

As Sid Field used to say, "What a performance!"

The Severn Tunnel film I have on one of my BTF DVDs from the BFI, indeed, fancy, the pumps going night and day.

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Maurice

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted September 28, 2013 04:01 PM

When I saw Maurice's thread title I thought the Severn Tunnel was closing for good! [Eek!]

I have been through that tunnel many times and I guess it must leak like a sieve as they have to continuously pump it. Nevertheless it remains a major Victorian engineering acheivement and it was always a thrill for me going thru it on the way to Cardiff from Paddington.
I am old enough to remember when there were no Severn road crossings and you had to take a ferry boat from Beachley on the Welsh side to Aust on the English side.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 29, 2013 02:31 AM

And what a work of art it was to get a car on to the ferry boat, the access was wet and slippery, the boat was small and didn't hold many cars. Most car drivers went the longer way north (and then south) where they could cross the river in a much easier toll-free way.

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Maurice

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Robert Crewdson
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1031
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 29, 2013 08:50 AM

Maurice, as a West Countryman you might remember the old GWR brakevans that only had an entrance at one end, as compared to the SR, LMS, and BR, which had entance/exit at both ends. I was told by an old railwayman that the GWR brakevans were removed from service after a guard died in a fire in the Severn Tunnel. There was only one exit and he was trapped.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 29, 2013 11:58 AM

Never much interested in railways although as a child I spotted numbers of the steam locos, when in the Severn Tunnel I was only happy when we emerged unscathed at the other end.

We rarely used the tunnel though because at one time there was a railway bridge at Berkeley, this we used when going on holiday to the Forest of Dean.

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Maurice

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted September 29, 2013 02:40 PM

I wonder how much time (if any) was actually saved by using this ferry. It must have taken at least 20 minutes to load all the cars on, and another 20 minutes or more to unload. I seem to remember there was a turntable on the vessel to turn the cars around, so it must have been quite a palava. All that to save a 60 mile loop through Gloucester.
Maybe the real benefit was saving petrol.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 29, 2013 03:00 PM

You turned ninety degrees to get on to the ferry, then drove onto the turntable, there staff turned it and the car to point to the car's parking position. On busy times the boat was not large enough to accommodate all who were waiting, thus adding to the delay.

Even more delay if the tide was out. Don't forget that the Bristol Channel and the River Severn have one of the largest rise and falls of the tide in the whole world.

Petrol was cheap in those days so there was not a lot cost saving using the ferry because there was the cost of the ferry itself.

Here's an interesting link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aust_Ferry

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Maurice

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted September 29, 2013 03:28 PM

Thanks for that link Maurice. The whole operation looks and sounds very unsafe! [Eek!]

I'm suprised there were no serious accidents over the many years it operated.

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