Repairing Railway Landslides with Network Rail

Network Rail invited me along to see the work that goes on behind repairing the railways when landslides occur, at two locations near each other in deepest Surrey on the Redhill/Tonbridge line, and the East Grinstead line.
Thanks to Chris and the team at Network Rail, whom also provided the drone footage.
Note: This video was recorded before the current restrictions for essential travel only and social distancing were put into place.

[@Danburybeeches]

One of the things I love most about Geoff’s videos is how he can take what on the surface might be a ‘boring’ topic or idea, and bring it to us in such a human, understandable and fascinating way. Thanks for all you do Geoff!

[@Westhamsterdam]

The more interesting thing would be to explain how the Victorians built these things without JCB´s in extremely remote locations!

[@jdos2]

I'm glad you're fans of vintage traction- cheering on the 37's made me smile!

[@franktuckwell196]

As an ex train driver for BR it was always the same, "If everything is running o.k., then no passengers remember. If everything goes wrong ( even by Act of God), passengers never foget".

[@bfapple]

Sadly, that is the way for railway workers and engineers. If we are doing our jobs correctly, we are not noticed.

[@RandomHuman4022]

Imagine how strong that landslide must be to just casually move the trees. Like, whole trees. Just sliding along. Casually. That's mental.

[@RandomHuman4022]

@@geofftech2 The result would probably involve a lot of poo...

[@gabri_maybe]

@@geofftech2 if a tree falls off onto the tracks,that would be a Branch line (get it?)

[@Hannah_Em]

It's partly because tree roots help to stabilise the earth that they sit in, so the root-reinforced section of earth is predisposed to shear away from the earth beneath it and slide away as one coherent chunk of earth (literally a landslip, as a sheet of earth slips away down a gradient). It's not an exaggeration to say that the average landslide is going to weigh hundreds or thousands of tonnes; soil density varies, but a clay soil like they were talking about here typically weighs around 2 tonnes per cubic metre, so you'd only need 500m^3 (for example, a chunk of earth measuring 25m * 10m * 2m) to hit a thousand tonnes of earth, not to mention all the trees, rocks etc. within and on top of it!

[@joermnyc]

Unless it's the Ents.

[@johnfry1011]

Reece it’s really freaky when you see it happening, and I can also say you never realise how fast you can run!

[@matthewrandall1061]

The spoil trains for the Lingfield works run past my house at 6.30 am and back at 21.30. Still undecided on how much I enjoy a 66 on full throttle that early in the morning but they do sound rather good.

[@mlies37]

So good to see Chris again!

[@axelhejnebo9142]

Kind of reminds me of the Getå rail disaster in 1918 where the embankment was destroyed by a landslide. Before it was discovered an express-train bound to Stockholm from Malmö ran straight into the pit and at least 42 people died. It really gives you an understanding of what consequences these sort of things can have.

[@paleriksson3345]

Yeah, and just imagine the loadful of manual work to repair all the damages in those Days. And of course, no 37s around...

[@axelhejnebo9142]

@@paleriksson3345 I suppose they had to do with B and F-class engines, hard times.

[@connorcranes]

Hi Geoff! I work for the crane company featured in this video and have spent a crazy amount of time doing embankment works over the last year. I drove the piling rig for the Hook, Epsom, Barnehurst and Salisbury slips. Great work but so inconvenient to the commuters

[@timpullin9601]

Like a kid in a sweet shop! Your enthusiasm is even more compelling than the subject. Can't argue with you about the class 37s though. Got to love that tractor sound. Thanks Geoff!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Class 37s just for Geoff! Now that's a surprise

[@caw25sha]

Huge respect for these guy's expertise and hard work.

[@works9989]

As a SE driver who drives the Southern services to Redhill from Tonbridge, i'll be looking forward to my first trip over this route to see the scale of the work that's taken place.

[@Boyinabox]

As a passenger on that service daily, thanks for the great job you and rest of the staff do!

[@works9989]

Thank you. Hopefully one day the service will continue onto London Victoria. I felt sorry for the people who live along that line when the service no longer continued onto Victoria/London Bridge.

[@theaonergardener]

@@Boyinabox yess secound that big up

[@andrewkilkerr38]

More engineering please Geoff. Amazing to see what goes in to keeping the trains running.

[@lawrence18uk]

Just goes to show what an incredible job the Victorians did in the first place... :-D

[@Westhamsterdam]

Without any JCB´s. This was probably done by hand!

[@paulgracey4697]

One of the most impressive feats of railway landslide reconstruction I have seen here in the U.S. occurred many years ago where a mainline in Utah was covered by a slip from a nearby mountain that created a natural dam that then filled with water. The line had to be rebuilt around the lake, and the natural dam reduced in height to be stabilized. Too much earth had come down to remove it completely. All done with in less than a year, as I recall. Much later, and much smaller in scale was a bridge washout that occurred at the mouth of the Ventura River in California. I had missed being able to use the train on that weekend from Santa Barbara to go to my home south of LA. so I bicycled down along the coast to see the washout I had heard about. To my surprise there was a crew of Union Pacific workers rebuilding the bridge. The washout had occurred only a day and a half before, yet these workers and their huge trucks had convoyed all the way there from Omaha Nebraska overnight.

[@dshack4689]

Thanks for sharing about the dam, that's impressive! Do you have a google maps link to the location? For example, for this video of Geoff's I have searched around and found the location in Google maps (with satellite view mode instead of maps) and so can paste that weblink here: www.google.com.au/maps/place/Edenbridge,+UK/@51.2136495,0.0045016,260m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47df50358e51f325:0x256fb495e173979f!8m2!3d51.196259!4d0.065451

[@paulgracey4697]

@@dshack4689 It was a long time ago, in1983 but once I googled the Utah Lake region I did remember that that it took out the small railroad town of Thistle, UT. Apparently since that time Union pacific has built tunnels through a part of the landslide, and a tunnel was built to drain the lake. Thistle is now a modern "Ghost Town" and a popular hiking area due to the notoriety. Both highway and railroad were rebuilt at a higher elevation as the slippage still happens with large rainstorms.

[@chrisharrison3598]

Thanks Geoff for a very informative video, nicely produced & edited. I hope Network Rail appreciate all your efforts in providing us, the general public, with such interesting videos.

[@StreuB1]

In all honesty, people have no clue how enormous of an engineering, logistical and heavy equipment task work like this is. Same in the US; rail work teams are the fastest construction and engineering teams you will ever see. They can take a 6mo job and knock it down to weeks. Unreal how fast they can work; because they have to.

[@pedroSilesia]

People in general have no clue about most things. You ask them about fuuuutball or celebrities lives they know everything

[@michaelgreen1515]

@@pedroSilesia ask nicely and they will often explain, once returning from Cheshire I felt sorry for a team of workers whose engineering train broke down and the time to recuce the train took longer than the period of requested line closure.

[@Linleys]

Totally good Geoff. Thank you for putting this together. You are lucky to get an invite to go along to such an impressive railway works area. Shocking slips. I will have to research more about the "rotational" slip details - I was lost with that! And your "piles" gag - oh dear :) Take care.

[@michaelgreen1515]

Obviously water does a lot of damage to a lot of things besides railways, however I think it is really important to get this video out to a wider audience than just us railway geeks.

[@AbsoluteTVYT]

Awww I hoped you had visited Wivelsfield, where all the "rabbits" had been burrowing, causing a landslide on the London/Brighton ML.

[@stevenjlovelace]

The ash was really cool. A little piece of Victorian Britain.

[@RJBCollege]

Excellent video ". I used to commute from Coventry to Reading and a land slip near Banbury meant we all went via replacement buses between Leamington Spa and Banbury in both directions, which made the commute 2 hour each way rather than 1. Yes it was a pain and somewhat unpleasant but two things: 1) When the line re-opened and we saw the finished repair it was very impressive. 2) The bus operation itself was extremely slick and about as efficient as it could ever have been. Thanks for showing us the behind scenes work which we never normally see.

[@alcopley7684]

Great drone footage, you can really see the scale of the problems.

[@heighwaysonthewing]

East Grinstead oh yes always a winner that plus hi viz and railway repair team , my hat is at an angle a second world war service man would be proud of.

[@jgodfrey546]

Very interesting to see how this sort of work is carried out

[@richardwarner5491]

Really informative Geoff , amazing what can be done so quickly !

[@SultanAman]

My appreciation and respect to all the brilliant men and women at Network Rail for their awesome work. Love our rail services.

[@qaukc1242]

One of the best youtubers by far

[@jaymir4776]

True

[@CL_49.]

Those class 37’s!!! 😍😍😍

[@caw25sha]

Feels like they have been around forever and will be around forever.

[@northessextransportvideos4304]

Thought id see you here 😂😂

[@CL_49.]

NorthEssexTransportVideos 😂😂

[@greatbritishentertainmentl5636]

"Piles" of excellent trackside repair information - thanks Geoff.

[@sniffadoghq]

I'm so confident of the quality of the videos here I click thumbs up whilst buffering before I even watch them

[@darrenblois8495]

Makes you respect the work done by the 19th century navvies, doesn't it!

[@Westhamsterdam]

The Victorian viaducts that are still standing today! Getting on now for 180 years! How did they build these embankments in remote locations without JCB´s?

[@brad4057]

In one of the Charlton rail tunnels there is a old cave under the tracks and apparently when they built the railway 100+ years ago they just propped up the rails with sleepers and sand..Next big problem...

[@wealdenpete]

That's a really well produced report - one of your best. Thank you.

[@neilburns8869]

Good to see that they are obviously taking such a long term approach. The guy saying that hopefully these repairs will last at least another century. Obviously with Climate Change it's quite difficult to predict but fingers crossed. Also very heartening to hear is that they have thought about the impact on the local wildlife.

[@emt43043]

I only watched it for 37s full credit to all involved

[@iaspex1289]

9:12 I find it amusing that the digger said 'Suttle' on it whilst there's a very loud banging noise in the background haha

[@JohnTalbot-k6xi]

Thanks for the inside story, lots of hard work and science (!!) Network Rail has the best people

[@ianjones4116]

Was the cause of the tragic accident in Scotland recently. Great vid again . Thanks Geoff.

[@guycore5478]

Chris is always awesome and looks like Martin Freeman and Taron Egerton had a love child.

[@Mergatroid]

It's impressive to see the job they're doing in handling those landslides. Here in Chicago a few years ago we had a train line (just a little branch line with trains shuttling between a few stations) that was entirely shut down to due a landslide caused by construction on adjacent land. The line was closed for several months and did eventually reopen. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Line_(CTA)#2015_embankment_collapse

[@johnstilljohn3181]

Very good - great they let you such a busy site...

[@keithlambell1970]

Really interesting to see the hard work behind rail repair. Thanks Geoff

[@michaelbruchas6663]

The drone shot just blows me away. The mass of the works!

[@marksaddler]

Thanks for another great & informative video 👍

[@JayTG123]

"This landslide terminates here, all change please"

[@cringyminecraftbakertrainm1331]

Jay Goodman 😂🤣

[@ianbarnes9947]

I was one of the rail replacement bus drivers, first at Edenbridge from start to finish and then finished off the East Grinstead job when, because of the covid hotel closures, all the northern drivers went home. It was long hours, with very few rest days and mucho grumbling from the public.....and of course zero recognition.

[@heypresto26]

I live just over 1/2 a mile from the Dormans work site, and working from home I've heard that thud-thud-thud sound from the sheet piling for days and days now! Great video, thanks for coming down this way.

[@paulhill8224]

Great video Geoff Marshall, that was really interesting to watch I didn't know how much work, that goes into a landslide when it happens, now I do so thank you for that.

[@johnlaw3323]

Great vlog love seeing network rail engineering behind the scenes works. Many thanks.

[@jonathancook4022]

I love a bit of civil engineering. Its the foundation upon which everything rests.

[@WhiteTiger333]

Fascinating stuff! I guess it's a statement to 19th century engineering that the railbeds have lasted as long as they have! Thank goodness no trains or people have been damaged in the landslips.

[@davekirwin]

Excellent stuff - nice to be able to get close and hear about the massive efforts required to fix what most people think is an easy thing to sort. Well done Geoff and the orange army. Nice to see Chris again. Also, bonus tractor action!

[@milesfinch]

I loved this video. A behind the scenes video is always appreciated and informative. More like this please.

[@thoughtsonfitness3249]

A well organized and a well controlled site ..... very impressive and a good village set up.

[@davidmylroie6595]

Thanks Geoff. Really interesting.

[@stevensaunders1677]

Another excellent video that deserves a wider audience. One small point on the Crowhurst curve comment - it was closed in 1955, several years before Beeching’s “Reshaping of British Railways” report was published.

[@garysalmon1519]

Fascinating, thanks for the behind the scene look.

[@ShaunieDale]

I’m so glad you’ve covered this Geoff. I’ve been watching your videos for some time, mainly for the London Underground stuff. Then here you are in my home town of Edenbridge! I popped over to the site at Crowhurst quite a few times to see the progress. I think my love of the railways came about because I grew up in a cottage in the woods not far from Markbeech tunnel. On a quiet night I could hear the trains go in one side and come out of the other! I don’t seem to have got over it! Keep on making quality videos!

[@mauricecoggins3861]

Thanks Geoff for this informative and interesting video to watch. Note 4am now havingea night when cannot get back off to sleep so really appreciate these kinda videos.

[@MrGreatplum]

What an informative video! Thanks, Geoff!

[@TMRC-AshdownPark]

Nice to be able to see the work that's taken place to repair the line. Didn't realise it was as involved as that though. Respect to Network Rail though for working so hard to get the line reopened. 😃😃😃

[@rolandharmer6402]

Excellent, many thanks. More please!

[@Danielevans2]

I'm from East Grinstead!!!! This messed up our trains! Great to see the behind the scenes

[@mikenkatechandler5243]

Interesting Geoff ty take care everyone Its Bonkers what we are going thru all around the globe atm Kate and Mike Western Australia

[@telemachus53]

Now I know what happened to the kids in "The Railway Children."

[@johnsmith-wx5fb]

Pots pots

[@Matthewsbuses1997]

I don’t mind it when there are replacement buses in place because it just adds to the adventure

[@thewoolwichbusguy]

they are free too :)

[@Matthewsbuses1997]

LondonTransport_Roblox15 that’s true and I just love buses and trains so I’m not fussed at all haha

[@rosiefay7283]

It also adds to the time it takes to reach your destination.

[@thewoolwichbusguy]

@@Matthewsbuses1997 haha ye i love buses and trains especially when your buses are on time. once i waited 25 mins and then the 47 from liverpool street to lewisham got cancelled.

[@Matthewsbuses1997]

LondonTransport_Roblox15 I always get the 47 because that’s my local bus 😅

[@BillParslow]

Terrific video - thanks!

[@cr0nin]

My best excuse for being late to work was “mudslides in Tooting”.

[@splodgersplodgy1362]

Thankfully Geoff and his friends here are safely self isolated at home, respect to all those trackmen still going to work

[@GarethHall1983]

Informative Video - Thanks! They have been doing some epic work on the Bexleyheath line near Barnehurst (my local) to remedy Landslips for many years to come. Still on-going I believe in the background.

[@kimmadsen9811]

love your videos. looking forward to going to englands rail sometime net year.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

I am so glad they recognize the value of engaging the public (that's you lol) Thank you network rail.

[@michaelpilling9659]

A very impressive video Geoff.Thanks for explaining what is going on and how the repairs are taking place. Climate change has a lot to answer for.

[@Mirandorl]

I remember "the before times", when the worst thing that could happen in your day was that you had to get on a rail replacement bus. You could even cough on it without getting shot.

[@Westhamsterdam]

People are a little paranoid these days!

[@robwilkie1]

Really interesting Geoff - thanks. Close to where I lived until recently so know the area well.

[@jfreelan1964]

Much better than network rails "polished" videos. At least you take the time to give a rudimentary explanation, of why it takes so long to repair.

[@icascone]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@joffdorling3562]

Great video mate I really like watching your videos there really fun and interesting to watch 😊👍👍

[@Daniel-jf5fd]

Actually a brilliant video!!

[@jamess1817]

Excellent video. Each aspect of a job like this could warrant a video of its own. I like the Class 37s in use as engineering trains. I heard in the past after the arrival of many class 66s arrived in the UK the surplus old locos were even lent to work on new lines in Spain.

[@greghilton7797]

Good one. Thanks Geoff

[@christopherbutler7588]

Very interesting video thanks 😊

[@EdgyNumber1]

Nice video, cheers Geoff!

[@SimonTog]

Wonderful video :)

[@emjackson2289]

Love the retro Class 37s. Used to see them stabled next to Bristol Temple Meads.

[@CityWhisperer]

Well at least they got brand new shiny tracks...for now.

[@seanmawson296]

great video a very good indite into the landslide problem. In my home town of Leamington Spa we have a junction onto the WCML so wen we had a landslide on the CML we could get up to london not by rail replacement busses but by changing onto the WCML changing at Coventry and gettingup to London Euston

[@stephendines1936]

Nice one Geoff.

[@FlywithmeNetAu]

The PPE suits you so well Geoff, you look like you're made to be a foreman. Love it.

[@spiccybaby]

Having been a commuter on the Redhill-Tonbridge line years ago and being very familiar with the Edenbridge area, I found that fascinating (I seem to recall a previous slip at Crowhurst in the 1970s). I've always thought that the Crowhurst spur onto the Oxted line would have been extremely handy over the years - I know there's a ton of lineside gear on the site of the South junction, but that could all be reopened if there was the will and a few quid, the trackbed is still there, under the trees.

[@zebrabanana]

Ah now I know what comes thundering past the house every night at 22:50. It’s the class 37! I’m further up the line. Great local video!

[@ufx808]

Interesting. 👍

[@ollie-jkiubn]

Good,job on east grinstead and Eden bridge.

[@HenrysAdventures]

Brilliant informative video! It would be great if they could reopen the Dormans Loop while they're at it! Love the class 37 shot from a unique vantage point!

[@jimbegin6554]

Thanks for this video - shows the scale of the task! If only you could predict the land slips in advance....?

[@redbeard2474]

Chris is back! 🙌

[@ianjones4116]

What could 'Isambard' build with all that machinery. Great to see Pway getting some coverage. No Pway, no 37s Simple. Not all about Drivers. Railway was a massive Family , in my day . 👍

[@josephdurling2565]

Manual relays was bread and butter work for our old gang

[@TheDaf95xf]

Nice one Geoff 👍🏻