The Bristol Railway Archive

On my travels I see te new Bridge to take the place of the crossing is in place. It is a steel one by the look of it. and Red.

Finally caught up then

Two pages of photos, showing before, during, and after the "Big Lift":

http://www.tauntontrains.co.uk/

I think these two photos show off the sheer scale of the operation best.

http://www.tauntontrains.fotopic.net/p13490850.html (tiny people!)

http://www.wsr.org.uk/2005/04/silk_1_ma.jpg (tiny bridge!)

That was one hell of a crane

as you say james ive just caught up. it must have been a massive operation,sorry to see the crossing will be closing , but i think it will now help the West Somerset Railway to help fulfill there goal , in getting there line through to Taunton Station. I wasent aware of the great Taunton Archive web site, it looks good.

Was the bridge built on site? It looks too big to transport there!

I see by the photos the bridge was built on site and welded together, a massive undertaking.

It was built in sections at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast...the same one that built the Titanic

From thisissomerset:

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk

A sad story, with a rather foreboding comment, at the end, from the 'Council spokesman'.

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MYSTERY DEATH AT SILK MILLS
More News | Back to home page

22:00 - 01 June 2005

A woman who died on the railway line in Taunton at the weekend could have been on the tracks for up to 12 hours before her body was discovered.

Construction workers and a passing motorist reported the body at 8.45am on Sunday when they saw it by the Silk Mills level crossing.

British Transport Police said she had injuries consistent with being hit by a train and were not treating it as suspicious.

West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose is expected to open an inquest later this week.

She has not been named but is thought to be a 51-year-old from the Taunton area.

She was found on the southbound track but it is not known yet which train struck her. A British Transport Police spokesman said that was not unusual and was being investigated.

The line was re-opened about two hours after the tragic discovery.

The county council has reassured the public safety measures are being built in to the bridge under construction at Silk Mills to try to prevent it becoming a suicide hotspot. A spokesman said the area is secured at night and during the day anyone entering the site would be challenged. There are also precautions to prevent anyone climbing the bridge once it is completed. Locked doors will seal off the steel arches at either end.

The council said: "It has been something we have considered carefully throughout the design process."

There's enough railway bridges to jump off already, why would Silk Mills be "special"? The suicide hotspot in Taunton is the multi-storey car park!

Anyway, Taunton is a town where people die...old people move here to do it and younger people who see no future here (no job prospects, overpriced housing etc) and can't escape kill themselves...it's a bloody depressing place really.

good Morning
Just found this 'chat' as it is a depreesing day today; with nothing better to do

Silk Mills crossing is a very important innovation for a couple of reasons. the main one being that it will give direct access between Taunton and Minehead with no iteruption. BUT the West Somerset Railway have NO INTENSION of EVER going into Taunton with any of their trains ever. The reason is very simple, and it has nothing to do with the state of mind of Denies Taylor, it is because at present the interchange at Bishops Lynard is a big money earner for the WSR. and as they are the land owner as well what would they do with it if the trains ran into Taunton.

Also if they ran into Taunton it would throw out the running time table that has taken years to get up to speed, (Remember this is Cider drinking Counrty) talking of speed they are limited to 25mph so they could not compete with the bus timings for commutors to Taunton/Bristol etc.. They also stopped their early morning DMU workings many years ago, which used to be popular and reverted to steam, which although very romantic takes a long time to get upto steam and ready for working - whereas with a DMU you just turn the key and go.

The railwya company that wants to run between Taunton and Minehead is run by John Walker and is called the Taunton & Minehead Railway Company. John who is (as far as I am aware still vice chair of RDS Bristol Area Branch) plans to run heritage DMUs which can run at 40mph and so beat the bus timings.

I have not spoken to John for a few weeks, but because of this 'chat' I will telephone him tonight and seek his permission to pass on his phone number to anyone who is intrested in knowing more.


Byeeee for now

From the BBC News site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4305324.stm

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Bridge is opened by raffle winner

A long-awaited new bridge over a railway crossing in Taunton was officially opened on Monday.
Work on the bridge at Silk Mills began in October 2004; it is part of a ú14.5m scheme including a 600-space park and ride site to the south of the railway.

It was opened on Monday by the winner of a St Margaret's Somerset Hospice raffle, and will be accessible to the public by the end of this week.

It is hoped the bridge will solve one of the town's biggest bottlenecks.