Jump to content

Ironic


Oddjob

Featured Posts

Here we are doing the K&A the GWR rail line follows the canal much of the way, ironic that the canal does the hard work surveying the most level route between London & Bristol the the GWR comes along and follows that flattest route which is the canal (straight lining some of it) then puts the canal out of business by competing with it.

 

Just a thought

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Business. It had a better idea. Faster, more profitable. The rail engineers probably thought it was a good idea, too, to follow the lay of the land. Although, I think the A38, that runs by a section of the Trent & Mersey, it is a pain in the neck stretch. At least, I think it's the A38.

 

 

Edited by Higgs
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They weren't daft, those railway engineers. Parts of the Oxford and the Grand Union, and probably other canals, have close associations with railway routes too.

In France it worked against the railways. Hundreds of miles of rural narrow-gauge lines were built alongside roads which, at the time, carried only horse traffic.  It was easy, and the trains, with average speeds of about 15 k.p.h., were much faster than horse-drawn waggons. Then along came the motor vehicles and drove most of the railways into bankruptcy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Oddjob said:

Here we are doing the K&A the GWR rail line follows the canal much of the way, ironic that the canal does the hard work surveying the most level route between London & Bristol the the GWR comes along and follows that flattest route which is the canal (straight lining some of it) then puts the canal out of business by competing with it.

 

Just a thought


Not really because that isn’t the railway line from London to Bristol. In any case the natural routes between major places would have been established before any engineered transport routes were created. It’s not as though canals were the first form of transport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And the railways used the canal to move the stuff to build the railway.

It's called progress.

Wait for Elon Musk's Hyperloop to put every other mode of transport out of business. Not much chance I think!

High speed rail is starting to reduce short haul air travel in Europe. You need to get city centre to city centre times to below 3 hours to do this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Oddjob said:

Here we are doing the K&A the GWR rail line follows the canal much of the way, ironic that the canal does the hard work surveying the most level route between London & Bristol the the GWR comes along and follows that flattest route which is the canal (straight lining some of it) then puts the canal out of business by competing with it.

 

Just a thought

Could have been worse. They built the railway between Ledbury and Gloucester mostly on top of the filled in canal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Oddjob said:

Here we are doing the K&A the GWR rail line follows the canal much of the way, ironic that the canal does the hard work surveying the most level route between London & Bristol the the GWR comes along and follows that flattest route which is the canal (straight lining some of it) then puts the canal out of business by competing with it.

 

The GWR didn't put the canal out of business. They bought it and had to keep it open to navigation (more or less) even though it proved to be a significant cost.

Sadly it was the nationalisation of transport in 1947/8 that brought about the closure of certain previously railway owned navigations.

Edited by NB Alnwick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The GWR bought up the Thames & Severn to stop the Midland railway buying it and using the bed and Sapperton Tunnel as a rival route to theirs from Stroud to Cirencester. 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Higgs said:

Business. It had a better idea. Faster, more profitable. The rail engineers probably thought it was a good idea, too, to follow the lay of the land. Although, I think the A38, that runs by a section of the Trent & Mersey, it is a pain in the neck stretch. At least, I think it's the A38.

 

 

You’re right. Did the stretch a few days ago. What a Bloomin’ racket it makes.

 

The K&A actually assisted in the construction of the GWR also. A bit like digging your own grave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

The GWR didn't put the canal out of business. They bought it and had to keep it open to navigation (more or less) even though it proved to be a significant cost.

Sadly it was the nationalisation of transport in 1947/8 that brought about the closure of certain previously railway owned navigations.

So no canals were closed before then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

So no canals were closed before then?

During the early 1800s some canals were converted into railways but this resulted in a backlash of protests from independent boat owner/operators. As a result, legislation passed in 1855 required  any railway company owning or acquiring a navigable waterway to keep that waterway in navigable condition. The result of this legislation (which was eventually repealed as part of the 1947 nationalisation of transport) was that many canals survived well into the 20th Century even though they were no longer commercially viable. The Kennet & Avon Canal and the the Stratford upon Avon Canal were two examples that survived until 1948 as a result of railway ownership - there were others.

In a way, railways may take the credit for saving many otherwise unprofitable canals long enough so that they could be restored for present day use!

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

In a way, railways may take the credit for saving many otherwise unprofitable canals long enough so that they could be restored for present day use!

...and that IS ironic. It's on a par with, as recently mentioned in these pages, a scrap dealer saving more steam locomotives than anyone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Ray T said:

The Carlisle Canal became a railway.

 

Carlisle Canal - Wikipedia

 

Quite right but that was squeezed in ahead of the restrictive legislation. The merchants and factory owners of the period recognised that railways or tramways presented many advantages over canals in terms of speed (being able to trot rather than walk!) and the elimination of locks. One of the first railways to be built for general carrying was the Stratford and Moreton Tramway which was built as an extension to the Stratford upon Avon Canal in1825 or thereabouts. An interesting fact about this long abandoned route was that the 'stations' (some of which are still standing as residential properties) were called 'Wharfs'! In fact the term station did not come into use until the establishment of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the 1830s and the term was derived from the building provided for early railway policemen who were "stationed" at points along the route to signal trains. This is why in railway terminology a signal person is still colloquially known as a 'Bobbie'

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.