former chesham shuttle bay future

Chalfont & Latimer has a short bay platform on the southbound side, martello... It won't fit S stock so I doubt it will stay.


A very dirty 5090 at Chalfont & Latimer by charliejohnson19, on Flickr

Strange - the current Wikipedia entry for C&L doesn't seem to have been updated since the end of the shuttle, as ity mentions both that and the Bay in the present tense.

They can't demolish the bay platform itself, as the opposite face is the main southbound platform, but no doubt at some stage the track will be lifted and the points plain-lined: although presumably some form of trap point must remain to protect the main line from a runaway on the branch?

Very recently (last week or so) the track fuses have been removed and the bay taken fully out of use. It now cannot be used except in the most extreme emergency. Basically, if such an event arose it is to be treated as if it is an un-connected / un-electrified piece of track.

Although it's called Chalfont and Latimer, I thought the station was actually in Little Chalfont...

It ws mighty damp today though!

Alternatively new short trains could have been used, either a special S4 train or an Underground version of the 378s used on the Overground.

From what I've read, the use of heritage trains on the system is difficult to organize anyway, let alone having one running on a permanent basis. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but the costs of maintaining spares and (what would inevitably be) exponential engineering time just to keep a single item like that running even on a weekly basis would be unjustifiable on a revenue earning railway.

As much as I would love to see a 4-car A stock plying its trade here I think we have to take a step back. As enthusiasts our judgement is massively and sometimes irrationally skued. The average travelling public really couldn't give a damn about the age or shape of what gets them where they want to go as long as it's economical and punctual. LUL spend a great deal of time trying to ensure this happens. As the greater travelling public are the ones paying the bills we have to concede to the majority.

To counter this, there are several class 121 DMUs (from the early 1960s) still in use on limited services (2 units with Chiltern used on the Princes Risborough - Aylesbury off-peak service and 1 unit with Arriva Trains Wales on the Queen Street - Cardiff Bay).

Of course, once the A-stock has gone, a couple of double ended D-stock units may be more suited for any hypothetical Chesham shuttle.

Oh not this old debate again

Please remember (again) that we run a service, not a museum. The people of Chesham campaigned for a through service, and coupled to the introduction of new trains, this was granted.

However romantic and misty-eyed the shuttle used to be, it's not coming back. Don't get me wrong, it was a virtually trouble-free service, much easier to manage than now. But we have to move with the times.

The bay road has been decommissioned as part of the route towards removing it altogether. Keeping preserved trains there, or using them to run a service costs heaps of money in upkeep and maintenance. It's not going to happen.

The new rolling stock is S7 or S8. There simply is not the budget to get anything like a S4 if such a thing could exist. And if we did get a non-standard unit, then we would have to splash out on non-standard maintenance facilities for it, or find a way of sending the unit(s) away periodically.

There is also no budget for extending the bay platform, and certainly no budget for moving the pointwork. Harrow North Junction is due for renewal and budget setbacks have pushed this major project back. There is no way the layout at Chalfont would come anywhere near being considered for change.

It will almost certainly be locked OOU then. Unless it is decided to retain it for engineers use.

This happened a few weeks ago - I was the controller on duty and by all accounts the driver had a very lucky escape. This picture does not do justice to the full 90 foot beast of a tree that fell across the track.

EDIT: Sunday 22nd May at around lunchtime ;D

Don't turn it over to nature too soon - I believe it will be being used on at least three occasions of weekend engineering work between September and October when the line is closed south of Northwood.

No plans to use it that I'm aware of, and from what I've seen no plans of the line being closed in that area for September or October. The months are filled with a closure south of Harrow, and a handful of city area closures. Other than that, 11th September sees us running a trial of December's new timetable.

Nothing between Uxbridge/Northwood and Wembley Park. No mention on my paperwork of the shuttle operating. Should find out the finer details within the next couple of weeks, but if the shuttle did operate, not only would the bay have to be returned to service (after only just being decommissioned following a 6 month wait) but such a service would be a fair step backwards - especially seeing as by that time there will be a fair few S-stocks available.

Can't see it myself, as it would be a huge waste of resources, but as you say, this is LUL and anything is possible from those who don't consult the ones who operate the service - WTT 331 is one such case. We'll revisit this nearer the time...