Intermediate stations on the run from Monmouth Troy - Redbrook - Tintern - Tidenham - Chepstow - Newport - Cardiff

Portskewett is subject to the question of "Is it possible to re-open this station?". Being on the mainline, it will attract additional costs and would be harder to factor into schedules. The site is still clear so it would not be impossible to deal with it at some point. Penallt, Whitebrook and St Briavals are possibilities for re-opening for a very slow service. They would help serve the remote area. At present they are likely to be re-opened, although St Briavals will be slightly north of its former location and Penallt a little way south. Tintern Quarry North is to link into the Wye Valley Walk where it joins the trackbed of the railway. Although the path itself would probably be re-routed along the top of the hill, the stop would allow for circular walks from Tintern. Tintern station is omitted from this diagram - it depends on whether or not we are allowed to stop trains in the middle of a busy tourist attraction. Tidenham and Netherhope are good places to walk between, and the view across the Severn along the way is excellent. Tidenham and Redbrook are due to be the passing loops, so stopping will be essential. Severn Tunnel Junction is "Change here for Bristol and London". The virtually compulsory stops at Llandogo, Redbrook, Wyesham and Monmouth Troy would also be (naturally) retained, although Llandogo is not due to see a passing loop. This is a service for tourists, not for anyone who wants to get somewhere. Overall journey times will be long, stops will be regular, and the view will be excellent. Especially as we are planning trains with large windows and good views through the cab. We are, however, hoping to cut journey times from a 1 hour 25 minute Monmouth - Cardiff journey time. At Cardiff there will be a 25 minute turn-around time (you know, we could extend this journey further west if we wanted to - the nearby towns of Penarth or Barry - or Cardiff International Airport, if it comes to that) while Monmouth will have a longer one of some 45 minutes, owing to the design of the timetable. The shortage of loops prevents a better service (as well as the fact that the area is fairly sparsely populated). Extending to Cardiff depends on whether or not we get track space. If we don't the requirement for one unit will suddenly disappear (along with a drastic shortening of the turn-around time to 15 minutes). The fleet size will not be big - six units will probably be adequate most of the time. Perhaps we should buy two-car Pacer units instead and refurbish them. Problem with Pacers is that there was a reckoning with the prototype unit that it disliked jointed track at 45 mph. This is a shame as this is what these units have spent their whole lives working. We aren't offering any improvements in this field. The list of stops is on the left. We could include a picture of each of them but we really can't be bothered and, besides, the budget's too tight.

Signalling

This is the signalling plan. It's the sort of thing which can be seen in old signal boxes up and down the country. New ones look a bit more basic and have more flashing lights. Put simply, it shows where all the signals, points and passing loops will be. The tracks are, of course, marked by the two parallel black lines. The blue bands between the stations are the River Wye, not a fancy way of marking the ends of the sections of railway(which are marked by the little red dots - the signals and stop boards). The black blocks at the stations are the platforms. There won't be much in the way of signals, points or passing loops though. Conservation rules have lead to promises from other developers that some track (particularly the loops laid for the quarries) will be left in place so that any plants and animals which only live on disused railways (and therefore have presumably evolved/ been created in the last 30 years) can survive in their chosen environment. This rules out using the loop at Tintern Quarry, so it is omitted. Various issues at Troy - the local gas station - rule out re-building the second platform. The platform would also add to the costs of re-building the station and would never be used anyway, so it is omitted.On the other side of the tunnel is the maintenance depot, to be built on a convenient field next to the A40/ A449 dual carriageway. This needs a headshunt for things to drop into while they are being shunted between sidings, so this would be laid on the section of the tunnel which would have been occupied by the line into Platform 2. The track layout of the depot is pretty much shown in full. Electric trains are on the agenda, so there should be fairly minimal noise and exhaust. The top two tracks ("roads") and the siding would be inside a maintenance and storage shed (built to blend in with the area) while the bottom roads would merely be loops for stabling stock on. The tunnel is marked as it will have an effect on how the depot operates and how the exit will have to be signalled (signals cannot be placed inside the tunnel for safety reasons, so trains will have to stop at each end) but as no other tunnels along the route have this effect, they are not marked. At the other extreme of the line, the track layout at Chepstow is to remain the same (to minimise disruption) although this will involve trains running "wrong line" between Wye Valley Junction and Chepstow station. No signals means no wiring, and no wiring saves having to lay it out and then replace it when someone reads on Wikipedia that copper wiring is worth a lot and signalling cables are made of the stuff, and duly comes out and nicks 500 yards of signalling cable, closing the line until you can buy more. So the route itself is to be worked under the "Radio Electronic Token Block" system. A block is a section of railway, and only one train may occupy a block at any one time. A token gives a train permission to enter the block. The tokens are given to the driver over a radio system by a computer, so humans do not have to do so much at the control end. This minimises the risk of human error, a frequent cause of accidents; although to minimise the risk of computer error, a human watches over the computer to ensure that it behaves. The ends of the block are marked by large "Stop" boards telling the driver where he is so that he can obtain the next token. It is very cost-effective, and our system will involve a small control centre at Tidenham (designed to look like a Great Western signalbox) which can then safely manage the entire line. Loops will be provided at Tidenham, Tintern and Redbrook. The other original station, St. Briavels, will be demoted to a halt. Tintern loop is merely there to provide some flexibility, allow trains to run late without causing chaos, and generally look good - the proposed hourly service will not actually require it. As the station currently acts as a tourist attraction and museum, the "Stop" boards will be done up to look like the Great Western designed them in the 1920s, not British Rail in the 1980s. The picture at the bottom shows a highly authentic "Stop" board. At the top is a light to show that it is safe to proceed across the level crossing located beyond the board. Then is the bit which says "Stop". Then underneath it adds that the driver should obtain the token and permission to proceed. The next bit tells the driver to operate the level crossing and check that the light at the top is working before crossing. Then there is a blue light which shows if the track ahead is occupied. Then the board says where it is (Porthmadog) so that the driver doesn't get lost, and at the bottom is the sign which the railways use to warn drivers about level crossings. The standard "Stop" board omits all the bits which apply to level crossings. Congratulations! If you have read this section, you have just learnt far more about radio signalling than you will ever need to know again.