An aerial flight over the disused Great Central Railway from the outskirts of Brackley to the Banbury Lane bridge, just beyond Sulgrave. Video taken with a DJI Mavic 3 during October 2022
Excellent video! The impact of the HS2 is pure thoughtless destruction. The GCR only ran for little over 60 years. Seems such a waste. I 've done this walk Brackley to Helmdon along the track bed a few times. I can also remember watching the tracks being lifted shortly after closure. Great camera on your drone, really picks out the shear beauty of the surrounding countryside. I was very fortunate to grow up in this area.
Thanks for your comments :). I doubt HS2 will last anywhere near as long as the GCR. Maybe, once common sense prevails, and HS2 is closed, parts can be reutilised and parts of GCR reopened, such as Aylesbury to the old Varsity Line, and so on :)
Great flight out there, what an amazing camera that drone has on it. I kept imagining steam trains running along that route, oh well back to Train Sim World 3 on my XBox then.
Fantastic footage of this wonderful line that should never have been closed Infilled bridges are an act of pure vandalism and should not be allowed..but those that are untouched are absolutely beautiful, along with Helmdon viaduct which looks in very good condition considering it's 120+yrs old.
That was fantastic to see an up to date view of the state of play around Brackley with reference to HS2. I was convinced the Radstone bridge had gone, but the line is far enough south of it to leave it untouched which is nice. Plenty of the line north of the bridge looks walkable too which is interesting. I don't know how these drones work but you must have one hell of a signal to it if you were filming from Brackley all the way up to Banbury Lane - is that a stupid statement?
HS2 should not be going near that bridge, although currently (or at least last time I went that way) the lane is closed to through traffic due to the construction work. The video was shot in segments, and stitched together using cross transitions, and although I can see these because I know where they are, I'm chuffed that they are less noticeable to viewers. Thanks!
The one around 0m30s flying along HS2 route? That was way higher and presented no risk 👍. The advantage of these planes not having exhaust silencers is you can hear them from 2 or 3 miles away, allowing plenty of time to react.
Notice how little space the old GCR line takes and then compare it with the HUGE amount being desecrated by HS2. Even if some is eventually reinstated it will take many years to recover. Is this progress?
Has there been much progress to this Victorian technology in the last 150yrs? I'm sure HS2 will suffer exactly the same issues of the Victorian lines, such as leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow and industrial disputes, its just nobody will notice because nobody will be using it...
I note temporary works access roads cross the old GCR. Does HS2 cross the GCR then? And if so will hs2 bridges span the gcr or will the hs2 plans obstruct the future grand central railway expansion!
HS2 does cross GCR in this video. No bridges or anything. Any future GCR hopes are dashed, as HS2 broadly uses the route for miles further south of this point, only really deviating away at Brackley.
Excellent video! The impact of the HS2 is pure thoughtless destruction. The GCR only ran for little over 60 years. Seems such a waste. I 've done this walk Brackley to Helmdon along the track bed a few times. I can also remember watching the tracks being lifted shortly after closure. Great camera on your drone, really picks out the shear beauty of the surrounding countryside. I was very fortunate to grow up in this area.
Thanks for your comments :). I doubt HS2 will last anywhere near as long as the GCR. Maybe, once common sense prevails, and HS2 is closed, parts can be reutilised and parts of GCR reopened, such as Aylesbury to the old Varsity Line, and so on :)
Great flight out there, what an amazing camera that drone has on it.
I kept imagining steam trains running along that route, oh well back to Train Sim World 3 on my XBox then.
I imagine that only steam ran on that section, probably never diesels. I'm still impressed by how it still looks like a railway, even after 55 years.
Fantastic footage of this wonderful line that should never have been closed Infilled bridges are an act of pure vandalism and should not be allowed..but those that are untouched are absolutely beautiful, along with Helmdon viaduct which looks in very good condition considering it's 120+yrs old.
I guess the infilled ones needed something done to give them the strength for modern traffic, and if no longer required as a bridge....
Great trip 👍
Thanks for your comments and support :)
That was fantastic to see an up to date view of the state of play around Brackley with reference to HS2. I was convinced the Radstone bridge had gone, but the line is far enough south of it to leave it untouched which is nice. Plenty of the line north of the bridge looks walkable too which is interesting. I don't know how these drones work but you must have one hell of a signal to it if you were filming from Brackley all the way up to Banbury Lane - is that a stupid statement?
HS2 should not be going near that bridge, although currently (or at least last time I went that way) the lane is closed to through traffic due to the construction work.
The video was shot in segments, and stitched together using cross transitions, and although I can see these because I know where they are, I'm chuffed that they are less noticeable to viewers. Thanks!
@@theboy-uk Definitely didn't see the joins!!!!
did you not hear or see the plane?
The one around 0m30s flying along HS2 route? That was way higher and presented no risk 👍. The advantage of these planes not having exhaust silencers is you can hear them from 2 or 3 miles away, allowing plenty of time to react.
Notice how little space the old GCR line takes and then compare it with the HUGE amount being desecrated by HS2. Even if some is eventually reinstated it will take many years to recover. Is this progress?
Has there been much progress to this Victorian technology in the last 150yrs? I'm sure HS2 will suffer exactly the same issues of the Victorian lines, such as leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow and industrial disputes, its just nobody will notice because nobody will be using it...
I note temporary works access roads cross the old GCR. Does HS2 cross the GCR then?
And if so will hs2 bridges span the gcr or will the hs2 plans obstruct the future grand central railway expansion!
HS2 does cross GCR in this video. No bridges or anything. Any future GCR hopes are dashed, as HS2 broadly uses the route for miles further south of this point, only really deviating away at Brackley.