Saturday Variety

 Ballachulish's Big Bridge ...

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... opened with appropriate ceremony in 1975 ...

... but, unlike yesterday's Connel Bridge, it was built for two way traffic!

It replaced a ferry which had been operated for passengers only since 1773. Unlike at Connel, however, there was a road round Loch Leven which allowed the parsimonious or adventurous to avoid the ferry,

As we saw at Connel, there was a railway to Ballachulish which has its very own station for interchange with the ferry.

The interchange was not lavish. 

The line continued beyond the above to a station called Ballachulish Glen Coe.

Ballachulish Ferry was not at Ballachulish whilst Ballachulish Glen Coe was not at Glen Coe! But, if you were very lucky you might catch a MacBrayne's bus up the hill!

So it was that cars were carried, precariously, from the early 1900s.

Rather them than me, opines fbb, at the thought of aiming a heavy motor car up two planks!

More on ferries and bridge in tomorrows blog.

Farewell Conductors

Birmingham 'Metro' Trams began, as was trendy at the time, with self-service ticket machines at tram stops.

There were problems with the machines so they were removed and conductors arrived.

Now the operator is going back to the future. Off-tram ticket machines have been around for a while but ...

... the news now breaks that conductors are being removed and "transferred to revenue protection duties".

What, all of them? No chance; as then there would be no point in getting rid if conductors.

Brummie locals are not happy. They prefer a member of staff accessible in every tram because the driver us inaccessible in his cosy cab.

Sheffield Supertram ...

... had ludicrously complex machines where you bought a ticket and then had to validate it as a separate action. 

The technology was unreliable AND confusing, so when Stagecoach won the operating contract, it was onwards and upwiars with conductors.

How long will it be before conductors are back in Birmingham?

News From Ulaanbaatar

This is certainly the first ever item in an fbb blog from Mongolia. There it is, comfortably (?) sandwiched between Russia and China. Frankly, fbb wasn't sure!

To cope with busy freight routes via the capital city ...

A brand new by pass line is being built.

We are told that the line will pass close to the airport ...

... presumably to the south thereof, and that it will reduce train congestion in the city.

The Next Step

Remember Velvet? At their launch we saw just part of a new train, soon to be delivered (!) for "Open Access" services in France.

Cunningly, Velvet had only stuck sticky-backed plastic on the front section of a borrowed driving coach!

Well, positive things are now happening.

This does NOT mean that Velvet will run any trains, but it does mean that they have passed initial tests to be an acceptable contender to submit bids for track access paths.

Keep plodding on, folks!

A Line of Coopers

It was a collage of Walsall buses from Pinterest that guided fbb to the 'Cooperline' web site.

There was grandfather ...

... a railway photographer and modeller.

Father ...

... was a prolific painter of buses and commercial vehicles as seen in the Walsall collection.

The "boy", Dave Cooper, is into the Art of the Natural World.

The Cooperline web site us well worth an extended perusal. Prints are on sale there.

First 10 Quiz Answers

Correct response in BLUE

Brylaine

Nottingham Playhouse

Crystal Palace, London

London Underground heritage specials

British Coachways

Stroud, Gloucestershire

Reading

Brighton

Hereford

Southdown

Maidstone

The second set of answers will appear tomorrow.

 Next Variety blog : Sun 6th Sept 

Two Bridges To Cross (1)

Travel North From Oban ...

... you will cross two significant inlets. The southern stretch, Loch Etive, is traversed by the Connel Bridge.

In the north we have the Ballachulish Bridge.

Both replaced ferries but at very different times in history. 

The Connel Bridge is the older of the two.

The bridge was built by Arrol's Bridge and Roof Company to carry the Ballachulish branch line of the Callander and Oban Railway, which opened on 20 August 1903. Nearly 2,600 long tons (2,640 t; 2,910 short tons) of steel were used in its construction and it cost almost £43,000 to build. When complete it had a longer span than any other railway bridge in Britain except the Forth Bridge.

But it was a railway bridge, and beside it was a rather primitive ferry ...

Aug 1797 Leaving Dunstaffage, we crossed the narrow mouth of Loch Etive by what is called the Connel ferry. The tide rushes through this channel with such rapidity, that it sometimes forms a cascade of six feet know as The Falls of Lora. 

The boat is launched from one side of the river, and entrusted to the torrent which carries it with great rapidity down the stream, the men all the while tugging at the oars, till at last it reaches the opposite side a considerable way lower down. Notwithstanding the perilous nature of the stream itself, the uncertainty of the old crazy boat they use, frequently thronged with passengers and terrified horses, who betray great uneasiness in passing I heard of no instance in which an accident had been fatal to any one.

Really?

Here is a map, showing the ferry route ...

... and we see the approach road from the south.

Here we have a map showing the single track railway ...

... and zoom in a bit, we can make out the ferry on its Western flank.

Access to the North Connel ferry slip is via the old main road replaced by the new A828 that now uses the track bed of the railway. We can enjoy the old road ...

... but Google Maps runs out of steam before running into Loch Etive!

But others have photographed the slipway itself!

Whilst on the southern side of the inlet, opposite the Osprey Hotel ...

... is just a vestige of the former south shore slip.

But once the railway bridge was open, the ever resourceful Caledonian Railway saw a way of making a bit of money.

They ran a rail/road bus from Connel Ferry station on the south side to North Connel. The vehicle was, effectively, a motor bus with rail wheels.

It pulled a little trailer for luggage and parcels delivery and ran a few journeys along the north side of the water to Bonawe.

The ride will have been VERY bumpy!

A 'proper' ferry ran from Taynuilt to Bonawe ...

.. in later years with turntable deck for vehicles, later improved to carry coaches and single deck buses. 

The ferry closed at the same time as the railway that crossed Connel Bridge.

But back in 1914, the Caldonian Railway had an even better idea for making money. Instead of running the road/rail bus, the company would slew the track over to one side of the bridge deck and squeeze in a narrow one lane road.

Cars when not permitted if a train needed to cross!

It was all controlled by gates at both ends and a phone link between signalman and gate keepers.

A teenage fbb remembers crossing in West of Scotland drizzle (i.e. a downpour) with father at the wheel. Surely the Caledonian Railway and its BR successors made far more money from tolls than it did from trains!

When the railway closed, better access roads were built ...

... tolls were removed and a proper road and footpath were added to the bridge deck.

The carriageway was still not wide enough for two way traffic.

Traffic lights now control the bridge ...

... and yes, in the peak holiday season there are still delays.

Tomorrow we travel further north as part of a Saturday Variety blog which will also include answers to the first 10 teasers from the Bank Holiday quiz.

 Next Variety blog : Sat 5 Sept