There should have been a loop put in at Bamford for Westbound traffic too. Or make Earles Loop passenger certified as currently it is only for freight. So many easy wins that could be done. Especially a facing crossover for freight from the West to get into Earles without drawing forward and having to reverse in.
The 1R74 soon caught everything up waiting for the block into Earles area of control. The problems have just been pushed further West. Rather than trains queuing at Totley like they used to, they now queue waiting for absolute Block signalling from Earles, in circumstances like this.
The 'loop work' in the scheme was very largely focussed on making it possible to regulate the longest likely
freight trains through the Dore triangle.
Any westbound freight from the Sheffield direction can be held in Heeley Loop, now 'extended' thanks to signal re-positioning. Any westbound freight from the Chesterfield direction can be held on the extended Dore South Curve. Any eastbound freight can be held in the new Bamford Loop. Freights can then be 'released' at the optimum time to keep them on the move. This process will no doubt improve as drivers, signallers, timetable planners and controllers get more used to and confident with the new set-up.
It is worth noting that almost all eastbound freights are loaded and thus slow to get away from any stop. Westbound freights are generally empty and much quicker off the mark. (The Immingham-Hope coal trains, only a couple per week, are the obvious exception.)
I fail to see any material benefit in a westbound loop at Bamford. As for a passenger capability at Earles; by that point a stopping passenger train has only two more stops to make - at Edale and Chinley - before getting clear at New Mills South. It was cause more/extra delay to the stopper than a fast train would avoid, given the lengthy and uneven block sections.
Earles sidings look very much like, sidings. One is often used as a loop by freight trains and sometimes used to shelter special services but not normal timetabled passenger services.
It would give more options if it were relaid to passenger standards.
Resignalling west of Bamford is planned, but no confirmed dates aa yet.
Introducing a facing crossing for freight entering Earles from the west would give more options. At present anything coming that way has to reverse in, blocking both lines for longer than a straight pull through.
Trouble is the speed of railway projects from planning to delivery. The Hope Valley scheme took 25-30 years. The Hope Valley cement works is due to close in 2042!
On that basis relaying one track as a passenger loop now is justified. Resignalling westwards from Bamford and Earles certainly is. The crossover is needed now but would it still be good value if delivered in 15-20 years time?
Westbound freights held at Earles are usually being held clear of the single track Chinley South-East curve because of other moves and congestion around the Peak Forest quarries.
It would require major re-modelling and resignalling to provide full 'trap' protection for passenger use of the loop.
There seem to be a lot of mentions about a West crossover at Earles but there aren't any regular freights from the West, just Freightliner light locomotive moves that can reverse in quickly. The Hope cement is all eastbound to Dewsbury, Walsall, Dagenham and Theale and the coal, which did used to come from Cwmbargoed and reverse, now comes from Immingham.
Where is the business case?
