Talk:Berks and Hants Railway

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A fact from Berks and Hants Railway appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 January 2008, and was viewed approximately 1,194 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that only the shorter of the two Berks and Hants Railway lines actually entered Hants, the longer being entirely in the county of Berks?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/January.

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Beyond Westbury

An anonymous editor has changed the sentence In more recent times the term "Berks and Hants" has been used by railway enthusiasts to refer to the whole line... to read In more recent times the term "Berks and Hants" has been used to refer to the whole line.... It is my understanding that the former is correct – if anyone knows of an official publication that specifically refers to the line between Westbury and Taunton as the Berks and Hants then please let us know what it is, otherwise I will revert this edit. Geof Sheppard (talk) 08:25, 7 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Network Rail refer to route GW500 Reading to Cogload Junction as the Berks and Hants line in the rules of the plan.

ZoeL (talk) 14:34, 13 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for finding that - it shows that if you use a term often enough it becomes "official"! Geof Sheppard (talk) 07:25, 15 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

According to the Quail trackmaps, the route between Reading and Cogload Junction is indeed Line of Route Code GW 500, but split into several engineers' line references as follows:

BKE (BasingstoKE branch) from Westbury Line Junction (36 miles 17 chains) to Southcote Junction (37m 62ch)
BHL (Berks and Hants Line) from Southcote Junction to Patney Junction (81m 19ch)
SWY (Stert & WestburY line) from Patney Junction to Heywood Road Junction (94m 45ch)
WES (WEStbury avoiding line) from Heywood Road Junction to Fairwood Junction (97m 2ch)
WEY (WEYmouth branch) from Fairwood Junction (111m 18ch) to Clink Road Junction (114m 44ch)
FRA (Frome Avoiding line) from Clink Road Junction to Blatchbridge Junction (116m 37ch)
WEY from Blatchbridge Junction (116m 52ch) to Castle Cary Junction (129m 50ch)
CCL (Castle Cary & Langport) from Castle Cary Junction (115m 32ch) to Cogload Junction (138m 30ch)

So, the Berks & Hants proper, as it exists today, is just 43 miles 37 chains out of approx 100 miles. --Redrose64 (talk) 19:41, 20 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Current Freight Usage

The article is up to date on passenger services but freight is ignored completely. Both original branches of the Berks and Hants play significant roles in modern UK freight haulage. The Hants branch is a key component in the nationally important Southampton to Midlands route which is soon due to have gauge enhancement works for the haulage of 9'6" boxes on intermodal freight services (both Freightliner and EWT). The Berks branch has carried (and continues to carry) millions of tonnes of Mendip limestone for the construction industry, delivering to the terminal at Theale and others in London. There are (were?) oil terminals at Padworth and Theale too. As I haven't found out how to join the Railways Project, I cannot edit the article myself. Is there anyone who can make it more complete by including modern freight? Stuartsh (talk) 17:34, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

GWR Absorption

When was the B&H actually absorbed by the GWR? I rather think it was quite early on. Unfortunately, MacDermot (in his History of the Great Western Railway) is unclear; but in Appendix I, he shows the opening of the Reading-Hungerford section on 21 December 1847 in the main GWR list rather than in the separate lists for absorbed companies. This suggests that absorption occurred before opening. --Redrose64 (talk) 19:48, 20 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

MacDermot's History is written from a Great Western perspective, and the tables at the back include lines operated but not owned by the GWR. However in this case they are correct - the GWR put up the money for the Berks and Hants and legally absorbed it in 1846. Geof Sheppard (talk) 12:49, 22 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]