Extended head shunt agreement with Network Rail
- bryanwhitfield5
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
One of the restrictions during the Big Shunt was the limited space available at the South of our site adjacent to the fence marking our boundary with Network Rail. With just enough room for one short item of rolling stock, it was the reason for the multiple shunting moves required.
Having already foreseen this issue, the VoBR has been negotiating with Network Rail to lengthen our head shunt beyond the current demarcation fence and into their territory, allowing us useful extra space for future rolling stock manoeuvres.
Our Network Rail contact has been very sympathetic to our cause and in early September met with VoBR volunteers to determine where the stop block should go at the end of our new extension. We’ll gain 200 extra yards, which will enable us to shunt full length vehicles such as the Pacers.
The new extension won’t allow us to run charters into Oldminster Sidings as the track is disconnected from the live Network Rail lines and there’s an essential point missing! However as the head shunt is on NR territory we’ll need to refurbish the track to their standards, which means more work for our Permanent Way team to replace 34 sleepers. It also means we can use the ex-Cheltenham GWR gates to safeguard the access from our site to the new improved head shunt – once they’ve been renovated!
