General Discussion
Maybe I should appreciate that the sea wall is being rebuilt full stop but I'm massively disappointed by the concrete sections which are more akin to what you see on a new motorway. I thought the work would have been sympathetic to the original wall and faced off to match, not patched up.
Mcjrpc, is this picture the first time that you've seen the railway wall since the storm? The work done to rebuild it has actually been very sympathetic to the original wetstone wall, considering the need for it to be built quickly and for it to be durable. It will also weather over a couple of years to be a similar shade to the parts of the railway wall that were unaffected.
No JC, I've seen it but I was hoping the concrete was merely the substrate which would be clad in material similar to the original 'cobble' appearance. Weathering won't achieve that.
And Pete, sleaze off will you.
@Mcjrpc. I totally agree with you about the seawall. I thought it was going to be made much higher. It needs to be. But what do I know. I`m not local and I view this through the DB Railway Webcam. I Wish you could do Capitals on here.
Stephen. I'd imagine that making the railway wall much higher would only be effective (in terms of damage prevention) if it was also made much much wider. Please note that the railway wall isn't the same thing as the seawall.
In that case JC, I was referring specifically to the appearancec of the railway wall and I'm disappointed to see that such an iconic and beautiful stretch has been scarred by the concrete sections. As you point out, it's a railway wall and not a seawall, therefore even more reason to think it could have been restored more sympathetically.
Spotlight last night (I think I've got this right) was saying we can expect a second platform/crane to turn up alongside this one. Don't know when. But it still looks as though we won't get our seawall walk back till January (assuming no more storms !).
Rather than having a wall trackside sea side of the line would it not be better to have a railing as at marine parade ?
Perhaps they would feel alot safer knowing that all the weight of the the water wasnt being held between the rail-line walls in between waves the wall on the land side could remain but on the sea side a kerb with rails as op marine parade the level of the walkway could be fixed to suit but top of the kerb needs to be lower than the track as at marine parade
Annother makes no sense at the best of times, however his/her edit to their previous post makes impossible reading.
@Roberta. You have said it exactly thats just what would happen. And go on DB FB page very good photo of NR man battling against waves.
@stephen15 - cranes from holland eh? now i know a proper job is likely to be done. they know a thing or two about keeping the sea at bay.
@Clive. I got my information from NR website, someone else on another website said one was coming from Holland.
Just come back by train from Exeter. At Exeter St. David's a couple with suitcases and from up north (could tell by their accents) got on. Between there and D.Warren I picked up that they were down here going to Torquay for a long weekend break.
Anyhow, when we got to Dawlish Warren the fella got up out of his seat and was looking with great interest out to sea. First off I thought he was taking in the view but then when he started to look inland as well I thought to myself "I bet I know what he's looking for".
So.......as I was getting off at Dawlish I got out of my seat early and having to pass him I asked him if he was looking for where the railway had broken up in February? "Yes" he said just as we were passing the picture above. "I wondered where it was - thank you for lettting me know."
Now the point of my relaying this tale is that:
1. Just cos us locals know where the hole in the wall was doesn't mean that people from outside the area do.
2. It made national if not international news for goodness sake - of course tourists want to see where all the action happened.
3. So, it is a tourist attraction - but if on the train there is nothing to tell them that X marks the spot as it were how will they know?
So, just wondered if our new tourist attraction could be advertised on the trains?
Just a thought.
Nice one Lynne. Here's a similar idea and I joke not. The 'Orange Army' did an astoundingly quick job puttig the railway back up and running and the Institution of Civil Engineerng was quite rightly proud of it. Have some fun watching the attached link of their latest promo 'Happy Video. It is completely London centric. Then ask yourself is there something similar Dawlish could put together and suggest to the ICE to promo Dawlish in a similar eye catching way.
As below:
http://www.ice.org.uk/News-Public-Affairs/ICE-News/Happy-engineers-get-dancing-to-Pharrell-hit
Oh Clive that is an absolutely brilliant idea! (just click on the link here to view http://www.ice.org.uk/News-Public-Affairs/ICE-News/Happy-engineers-get-dancing-to-Pharrell-hit).
Dawlish Cllrs? Dawlish Chamber of Commerce? Dawlish Warren Tourism? New Town Centre manager? What say you?
and.........the local secondary school could be involved as well? We need more people studying the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects do we not?
Oh and.........once the wall has been rebuilt and is open to the public once again perhaps walking educational trips along the wall could be a new tourist feature? Combined marine biology, geology, engineering field trips perhaps?
Cloud, every, lining, silver,a, has (potentially!)
This is a great idea, and is achievable. As well as adverts on the train, there should be something on the sea wall itself to mark the area. I have suggested a statue of Brunel. It would be worth considering a joint venture with South Devon College and the University as well as the Community College, and I'm sure Network Rail would be interested with regard to the eduational trips.
For starters: I think the photo posted at the very top of this thread is ideal for publicity purposes. Then a simple map showing where on the rail line between Dawlish Warren and Dawlish town this is. X could mark the spot quite literally.
Then include a new logo - two black swans looking at each other with what might appear to be a twig or some grass being held between their beaks. On closer inspection however it is not twigs or grass but that iconic sight of the railway line dangling mid-air. This two black swans with dangling railway line held in their beaks is not my idea by the way (Mcjprc was it yours?). It was suggested on another thread on this website some months ago. I thought it a brilliant idea then. I think it a brilliant idea now.
(update: just found the thread in question https://www.dawlish.com/thread/details/33711 scroll down to the April 2014 postings by Mcjprc, Clive and myself)
Also - First Great Western has a magazine called Escape. It is available free to all FGW customers. Does anyone know if the repair works have featured in it? If not, might it be an idea that they could do so?
and - I see from looking at Escape online that there is a competition for a two night stay in Newquay in Cornwall. So..........why not a competition for a two night/weekend stay in one of the holiday establishments in the Warren/B&Bs in the town running alongside the article & pics about the repairs?
and - as well as something like that being in Escape how about targetting civil engineers and railway enthusiasts directly via any magazines targetted specifically at that them? @Clive and @stephen15 do you know of any such publications?
Thought the contact details found in this link might be useful for any of us wanting to feed in ideas re promoting the railway.
http://www.citizensrail.org/new-riviera-line-officer-to-help-railway-to-bounce-back/
Celia Minoughan is the project lead for the Riviera Line and can be contacted at the link above from Lynne. Do email her with your ideas as she is keen to hear from as many people as possible. She has been in post since early this year and has already achieved a huge amount. The Community Rail Awards Annual Gala took place last Thursday in Scarborough and the Riviera Line won two 1st places and a 3rd place, mainly due to Celia's efforts in encouraging volunteers like Friends of Dawlish Station. Dawlish won the Outstanding Teamwork Award for the rebuilding of Dawlish Station. The Riviera Line also won the Innovation in Community Rail Award for the development of 'The Riviera Line.com', which was Community Rail's first responsive website, and also picked up 3rd place in the Best Station Garden and Large Floral Display Category for the work done at Torquay station.
@Lynne. I know that there are railway magazines that will probably cover the Dawlish issue later on this year but I do not know of magazines covering civil engineers. There must be some but I dont know the names. By the way can you spot the Dawlish Beach Webcam?
Happened to come across this vid on youtube of the barge and crane being moved from the docks at Teignmouth to its current resting position at Dawlish. Filmed using a quad/hex copter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIZpaCjpaEU&feature=player_detailpage&list=UUk3I2Dq2shm5ndRZfJQfUvA