RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted October 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2017 I remember riding in a 1st generation DMU from Leeds to Wakefield when that stretch was being electrified As we came under the M62 you could see several men up ladders adjusting the overhead. In turn they all got down from the ladders and retracted them as we approached at linespeed. Presumably they were straight back up one we had passed. I certainly don't remember any reports of accidents. Jamie 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted October 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2017 Does anyone know when the knitting will go live, West of Maidenhead? When it does go live, will it be right through to Didcot? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Theoretically true, but in BR days, when I ran stations, we only investigated if there was a major, unexplained variation to previous bills. The BR Estates team was supposed to oversee utilities, but I would imagine this was pretty low on their list of priorities at the time. During sectorisation, as we tried to separate station utility supplies from freight yard supplies (and others), by sub-metering, we uncovered a few oddities, such as our supplies feeding one-time railway cottages. No-one had bothered to separate the power supplies. But the big changes came with privatisation, when many TOCs created their own energy managers, and several were extremely enthusiastic about calculating what the stations they leased were likely to be using, as opposed to what they were being billed. (We had our own chap in Major Stations undertaking the same investigations). The greatest saving, that I know of, was made when it was discovered that the Newcastle station area supply was also feeing an entire industrial estate, which had been railway land many years before. That saved many tens of thousands of pounds a year to GNER, a huge amount to them, but to the total BR bill, it would have barely been noticed. So, as regards traction power, such metering and other measures, to discover the true economic and efficiency effects, by smaller entities, to whom the differences in costs are significant, can only be a good thing. It was the same with Telecomms Surprise how many old railway buildings had “free” phones even until fairly recently 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted October 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 28, 2017 Does anyone know when the knitting will go live, West of Maidenhead? When it does go live, will it be right through to Didcot? I belief the official answer, according to on-train announcements and posters, is that it is already live. However there is still a possession 'for electrification work' at Reading this weekend so the real answer might vary a bit from the official one. and it definitely wasn't live a week ago Monday (when the posters said it was) as one 25kv feeder was clipped through jumper leads to a structure - so no doubt it had been powered up then powered down and earthed. Train alterations and 387s working public services through to Reading and Didcot are now - I understand - scheduled for January instead of the earlier intended December timetable change date which suggests that somewhere along the gant chart GWR received some answers from NR that didn't match the original information it was given. I would suspect that the problem is 50% cock up with dislocation between different contractors all doing their own thing, and because there is no single guiding mind. And 50% because when the BR electrifications were done. The scheme would have been the most important thing being done on that line at the time, and the needed possessions would have been made available with the edges of the train service being altered to suit. Now I suspect that the electrification is of secondary importance to the TOC/FOC's making money, so possessions take much longer to get and what you can have particularly at short notice is even more limited. The number of maintenance activities that used to be carried out during the day between trains but are now booked night possession activities must also soak up a lot of the quiet time where an extra possession could have been slotted in at short notice without causing any problems. The change in safety methods for the electrification work its self also probably has a large impact on the efficiency of the work. Progress would be so much easier if you could still block two roads on which to station your crane and the bolster wagons carrying the booms, then lift the booms into place between trains on the open lines with a bloke with a podging spanner riding on each end of the boom. Then once you have run out the wires, have the droppers fitted and adjusted during the following week between trains by men working from ladders, the lookout removing the ladder leaving the men standing on the contact wire as the trains go past under them. I quite agree however the situation possible with possessions on the quadruple track sections doesn't match the work output actually achieved (and the same can probably be said of double line sections which have reversible signalling if equipment suitable for use adjacent to a 'live' running line is available. There have definitely been instances where road-rail machines were erecting booms on quadruple track sections where one pair of running lines was open to traffic although obviously that couldn't be the case with full length gantries (although having said that some did seem to appear in such circumstances). But sinking piles which could definitely be done under two track timetables on the quadruple sections seemed to have been as much of a dog's breakfast as every other stage of work. And the number of total closures of various sections of route, e.gs the Severn Tunnel and the Badminton line, simply doesn't appear to have been exploited to the extent the length of closure ought to have made possible. Overall route section closures within Rules of the Route (and therefore not qualifying for compensation to train operators) have long been a feature of WR possession planning so could just as readily be used for electrification work as any other tasks. And why erect all the Relief Line masts and booms at Twyford except for one, for which a foundation had in any case been prepared, and get the wires up before coming along and installing the missing mast (which had in any case spent several weeks lying on the ground not far from the site where it was to be erected)? Overall I put a large amount of what has, or in most cases hasn't, happened down to poor planning and abysmal management of the project - the contractors don't stand much chance when they're not given a proper plan to work to. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Regarding the comments as to the way electrification was done in the past I remember seeing a video of the work on the GE to Clacton and Southend and also watched it for real when the wires came to Chingford in the late fifties modern workers would be horrified by it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Does anyone know when the knitting will go live, West of Maidenhead? When it does go live, will it be right through to Didcot? Hi, As far as I'm aware, 3rd January is the start of Electric Services from Didcot through to London, I believe the current plan is for all stopping services between Didcot & London to be fully electric, with a connecting diesel local shuttle from Oxford to Didcot (i,e. there will be no through London service for passengers from Radley, Culham & Appleford). All other services will stay as they are or convert to IEP diagrams (I have got a full IEP diagrams list for now onwards, but I can't reveal it as it purely for use in my work) with IEPs carrying out Automatic Power Changeover at Moreton Cutting. The wires from Maidenhead to Didcot are currently live (and have trains running use them for testing and driver training) all the way through to Foxhall Junction on the Swindon Lines, up to just after Chester Line Junction on the Station Oxford Lines with no wires on the Avoiders, and should be treated as live at all times, the possessions are for testing purposes. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMafia Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 For anyone with a keen set of eyes there are at least 2 387s very well hidden in Didcot yard... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) A tale from the mess room is that during a electrification scheme long since completed, when a pile drilling needed an extra bit of work, they would attach a strap around a labourers ankles and crane him down the hole head first, the tale includes the demise of one such unfortunate. Edited October 31, 2017 by Pandora Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 A tale from the mess room is that during a electrification scheme long since completed, when a pile drilling needed an extra bit of work, they would attach a strap around a labourers ankles and crane him down the hole head first, the tale includes the demise of one such unfortunate. With a teaspoon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 For anyone with a keen set of eyes there are at least 2 387s very well hidden in Didcot yard... 163 and 164 I believe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 With a teaspoon? The rate things have been going, digging the footings with a teaspoon would probably have been quicker. Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 The rate things have been going, digging the footings with a teaspoon would probably have been quicker. Geoff Endacott They might have hit fewer signalling cables if they had. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Just were has the famed electrification train gone have not seen it mentioned just lately or have I missed a post? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted November 3, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 3, 2017 Network rail have uploaded a YouTube video of Paddington to Swindon from the cab. As it's a speeded up run its not easy to see the detail, but it might be of interest 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Network rail have uploaded a YouTube video of Paddington to Swindon from the cab. As it's a speeded up run its not easy to see the detail, but it might be of interest Hi, Between the 0:53 and 0:54 mark (between Taplow and Maidenhead), you can see my new signage for the Traction Change-Over, this will be moved in December to Didcot. It must of been filmed between the 16th & 20th October, as the signs are there, but not the related Balises for the Automatic Change-over. Simon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted November 3, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 3, 2017 Just were has the famed electrification train gone Swindon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Just were has the famed electrification train gone have not seen it mentioned just lately or have I missed a post? As far as I'm aware, it is being used every night, I see one regularly in the Platforms in Swindon, waiting to get to a work site, on my back from College on Wednesday & Thursday evenings. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Just were has the famed electrification train gone have not seen it mentioned just lately or have I missed a post? Maybe it's in the sidings next to Box Tunnel along with all the other spare equipment in the strategic reserve. Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted November 4, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2017 I'm not sure that the Electrification train was ever designed to operate as one unit.IIRC it was a series of sub units, each of which did part of the job. It seems that those sub units are being used, but not one after the other in a coherent linear strategy. The cab ride video was interesting as it did seem as if there was a considerable amount of contact wire and almost complete Electrification west of Steventon and well on the way towards Swindon. Jamie 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted November 4, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2017 I'm not sure that the Electrification train was ever designed to operate as one unit.IIRC it was a series of sub units, each of which did part of the job. It seems that those sub units are being used, but not one after the other in a coherent linear strategy. The cab ride video was interesting as it did seem as if there was a considerable amount of contact wire and almost complete Electrification west of Steventon and well on the way towards Swindon. Jamie It's doesn't seem to be just one train, but I don't know if the idea was that all the bits would be out at a given time following each other along, or whether different ones were expected to be used on different occasions. The "High Output" bit of the name doesn't seem to quite have lived up to expectations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Network rail have uploaded a YouTube video of Paddington to Swindon from the cab. As it's a speeded up run its not easy to see the detail, but it might be of interest Wow, that train was fast, even on the Slow, sorry Relief Line ! It was noticeable that there doesn't appear to be a single OLE structure erected in the Swindon station area, even at this late stage in the project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Wow, that train was fast, even on the Slow, sorry Relief Line ! Nice to see a cab view of the track layouts that Stationmaster Mike designed around Foxhall Junction and Challow too. David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium corneliuslundie Posted November 4, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 4, 2017 There have been a lot of complaints about the intrusiveness of the catenary of the scheme. The other day I came across the Pennsylvania Railroad electrification from the 1930s. Be glad they were'nt doing the GW main line. Some of those masts are twice as tall as the ones in the photo. Jonathan 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 The tall masts are pylons to distribute the power. Since there was no grid connections in the olden days the railway had to distribute its own power along the line from the power station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 The tall masts are pylons to distribute the power. Since there was no grid connections in the olden days the railway had to distribute its own power along the line from the power station. Not forgetting that the Pennsylvania Railroad's electrification operated (and still does so) at 25Hz in order to deal with the problems inherent the use of AC traction motors in the days before on board rectifiers were a practical proposition. Like the German/Swiss/Austrian railways, operating at 16.7Hz for the same reasons, it has to have its own internal HV power supply network. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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