The LNER Encyclopedia

I have just had a message regarding the re opening of Rowanburn Drift Mine near Canonbie with the reinstatement of 10 - 15 miles of Waverley track at the southern end. This is one of the Scottish parliament schemes to reduce the generation of electricity by nuclear energy using clean coal technology. At the moment Scotland imports its coal.
The coalfield is an extension of the Cumbrian field and not the same stuff that was found in the mines in the central belt.
I hope this scheme delivers we may get a full Waverley by stealth especially if timber from Kielder comes out at Riccarton and heads south to link up with this new proposal. Then all there is to do is link Riccarton with Melrose and bingo one Waverley route.

Ay up!

Fingers crossed.....

Richard you being of the Geological persuasion, can you explain the differences in the coal to be mined at this proposed new pit and the coal in the central belt. Also another semi geological topic that has come up is fracking does the end result of this process bear any resemblence to the now forgotten Shale Oil mines in Scotland.

"...Then all there is to do is link Riccarton with Melrose and bingo one Waverley route..."

Don't you worry, Tweedmouth, we're on it!

http://waverleyrouteha.wordpress.com/20 ... rogress-2/

Dave.

52D: A search on Rownburn Drift Mine on Google brings up this thread as the first hit.

Searching on Canonbie, especially on the BGS Map (available as an app for your Android or iPad), shows Carboniferous Coal Measures. Pretty much related to the rocks in the Carlisle area.

They're the same age as the Carboniferous coal in the central belt (and most of Britain's coal), but they look to be more related to the English coal. Although virtually on the trace of Iapetus suture, they appear to be more related to the English coal.

Iapetus suture is where the Iapetus Ocean closed and is roughly where the Solway Firth is, today. It closed before the Carboniferous, but would have been replaced by mountains which were rapidly eroding during the Carboniferous. The Scottish Carboniferous was on the American side and has American characteristics (eg. none of the big limestone deposits that make the Yorkshire Dales so famous).

Fracking: I'll have to admit to not knowing much about the Lothian oil shales, and have wondered how similar they are. I think they can be grouped into a similar set of deposits - along with the Alberta oil tar sands.
Note that today's fracking is going after natural gas, although there are plans to expand into oil.
As an aside, last weekend we had three small earthquakes (I felt one) which were probably fracking related, although it is impossible to rule out movement on a buried fault system we have here. The local paper claimed the epicentre of the first was at the road intersection here - not bad considering the USGS couldn't locate the earthquake to better than 10km!

Thanks Richard and Coronach above for my geology lesson and Coronach i follow you on several sites inc facebook.

Interesting Not one that has come to my notice before. The recent ORR consultation on track access charging and the possibility of increasing it for coal flows resulted in a strong reaction from the Scottish Opencast industry based on their competetitive position vs. match US or Columbian imported coal prices. So a new drift sounds like a big ask - with DawMill on the verge of closure suggesting the pressures. It is not the lack of coal - it is the ability to be able to mine it profitably. I fear Canonby is going to be a step too far - much as I would love to see the south end of the Waverley route reopened for freight

For those who do not purchase The Guardian, you may be interested in this article in today's paper:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/0 ... -reopening

Clean coal technology....how the seriously deluded can be lead up the garden path.