accrington railway bridge - Page 3

BOB · 27-09-2007, 14:03

Accrington viaduct consisted of 40ft brick spans 21 in all faced with stone had a maximum height of 60ft 4 piers where taken down and rebuilt in 1866

Nickelson · 27-09-2007, 14:56

english please ?

Ianto.W. · 27-09-2007, 23:44

The rails are laid on an anual basis if you are unfortunate enough to live near it the screeching noise increases towards spring, this rackret was one of the reasons Hyndburn Council moved to Scaitcliffe Houese from the old skill centre'' it is said that only certain carriages can negotiate it at speed as the catch points can only take a little strain main line 'intercity trains csnnot cross it ,so yes it is unique in that respect.

WillowTheWhisp · 28-09-2007, 08:05

I'm not sure if I've understood that. Do you mean intercity trains cannot pass through Accrington?

MargaretR · 28-09-2007, 08:19

If this bridge cannot cope with a modern rail system we have to own up to the fact that it will eventually be ''USELESS BUT PRETTY".
What do we do then? - vote for demolition or preserve it as a museum piece to encourage tourism? - or find an alternative use (anyone for bungy jumping?)

Ianto.W. · 28-09-2007, 13:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

I'm not sure if I've understood that. Do you mean intercity trains cannot pass through Accrington?

It would depend on the lenghth of the carriages, Willow, the distance between the sets of wheels to enable them to negotiate the sharp curve in the rail. If you go to the top of the bridge that crosses the platform and look down the 'track' you will see how sharp it really is. As a rule there is always a new set of tracks stored inside the ones already laid. this is to enable them to be changed at short notice, as they are measured with a special engine at night time. As the Inter-City trains are built for speed, it is not practical to slow it down to three miles an hour. I hope this makes my post a little clearer, As yes given the right equiptment it would be possible for the Iter-City trains to pass through the Viaduct.
The rails wear unevenly at the beggining on one side and the end of the other, making them 'non parrallel. This is where the screeching noise comes from.

WillowTheWhisp · 28-09-2007, 14:43

But we can still have our little local trains going through can't we? Well, not always so local. I've gone by train from Accy to York on the Scarborough train. Hope that one keeps going.

Ianto.W. · 28-09-2007, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

But we can still have our little local trains going through can't we? Well, not always so local. I've gone by train from Accy to York on the Scarborough train. Hope that one keeps going.

Yes these
trains were designed for Trans-Penine travel and negotiating obstacles worse than the Accrington Viaduct, I would think that there are 'tighter' bridges than this betweenScarborough and Blackpool.

Less · 03-10-2009, 14:53

Is our viaduct still two tracks or is it a single track these days?

BERNADETTE · 03-10-2009, 14:59

Two tracks Less

wadey · 03-10-2009, 15:10

There's a very good photo of the Todmorden viaduct showing the curve at
Tod on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Retlaw · 03-10-2009, 17:17

Two Pictures.
The 1st shows the reason for all the screeching
as trains come into Accrington, 2 tight curves
Retlaw.

K.S.H · 03-10-2009, 18:09

Heres a pic of the curve of the Ribblehead viaduct

jaysay · 04-10-2009, 09:28

Thats a great picture K.S.H.

katex · 31-10-2011, 16:13

Don't know whether this is of interest to us from Hyndburn or to any railway enthusiasts out there. Sounds good news though.

BBC News - Todmorden Curve £8.8m reinstatement approved