The Bisley Bullet

[rox]

Of course it could - if you have £20M or so to spare.

You start by refurbishing platform 0 at Brookwood (to the North of platform 1 and well to the west end of the station). Then you lay track all along the gentle slope down parallel to the existing tracks. Rebuild the deck of the bridge by the canal - the abutments form the entrance to the road tunnel under the existing rail tracks - and reposition the substation on the permanent way just west of the road, compensating Network Rail for the interruption to the power supply on the South West Trains part of the network. Continue relaying track and start the gentle curve north, until you reach the 5-span viaduct that crossed the Basingstoke Canal on a curving angle, where if you are lucky the bridge piers may still be in a condition to be re-used. Relay the bridge decks, add track on top. Cut through the forest, put in a level crossing on the Pirbright barracks road, demolish 4 Army FQs (probably the best thing for them anyway), tunnel under the road as it goes uphill to the Queen's Road turn and reopen the bridge structure, relay the permanent way and the track alongside Queen's Road, put in another level crossing right on the bend where the road turns from behind Century to go past the camp entrance, have a chat with the people in the two houses on the corner - I'm sure they will be fine about having the train along the back edge of their gardens, after all they only complain about us firing the cannon about twice a year - then relay some more permanent way, knock down the back of the estates shed and a bit of Erin's garden, put in another level crossing for the road behind Canada House, move David Kent's old Volvo and his garage, add a siding for the Lloyds sleeper car and find a new clubhouse for Lloyds so the station building can be returned to its original use, and you're there (unless of course you want to continue with stops at RO lines, HAC/Inns of Court/ARA and on into Pirbright, in which case you will need another two level crossings to get across Kings Way and Elcho Road). Don't forget a bit of signalling, a train or two, some train crews, a stationmaster and some maintenance people - I'm sure Steve E would go for it.

Given that the speed limit was 10 mph on the straight bits and 5 mph on the curves, it would probably be cheaper and quicker to set up an arrangement where anyone turning up at Brookwood can just call a taxi and charge it to you. But it is only engineering and a little bit of politics.

Iain

What was it Karen said the other day? Why use 1 word when 469 will do?

To sum up: No!

..

[Doz]

But it was an interesting 469... :)

[andrewh]

So the tracks to the target sheds in Century butts have gone? When did that happen? Bring back competitor marking, dammit!

I think before competitor marking ended! They moved the target shed into the main part of the camp (with the hope that it would be more secure), and started using a tractor to take targets to the butts.

[IainWR]

So the tracks to the target sheds in Century butts have gone? When did that happen? Bring back competitor marking, dammit!

I think before competitor marking ended! They moved the target shed into the main part of the camp (with the hope that it would be more secure), and started using a tractor to take targets to the butts.

The narrow-gauge railway in Century butts was still working in the early 1980s (I first came to Bisley in 1979). It had 3 or 4 flatcars, one of which had a little diesel engine that could be used to push / tow the others along. I believe it was separate from the tramway that ran round the rear of Century and out to the Siberia ranges, which had long gone by that time, though you can still find traces of it at the back of butt 19 and in the woods down the Siberia side of Century. A few years back there were a couple of quite detailed articles in the Journal giving the history of Bisley's trams and railways.