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East Coast Mainline Blockade for Werrington Junction diveunder


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23 hours ago, rockershovel said:

 

I can certainly tell you that rodding them is an absolutely horrible job! 

 

We had dirty, rusty water flood people's lockers and we had to have the floor up to fix electrical problems.

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13 hours ago, Donington Road said:

I was going to put together a video of the whole weekend shutdown but as there were many short video clips to assemble it started to get a bit unweildy.
So I have decided to make the video in parts which also helps me with the rendering process and prevents my computer throwing a few wobblies.
I am sorry that some clips are a bit wobbly in places as I do all shooting hand held and old hands tend to wobble more than I like, plus the wind is a nuisance at times on those exposed bridges.
Talking of wobbles, note the container flats on the up Stamford, especially the three rear ones.

 

Part 1 is Friday afternoon before the 22:30 possession showing the new and old Stamford lines in use before the Up Stamford line is joined to its new alignment.
I thought it gave some unusual views with the width between the Up and Down lines, although when the dive-under is completed the width will be even greater as the Up Stamford will be moved back closer to the ECML.

 

 

 

Many thanks for the video. Good to meet you earlier this afternoon. I am now warming up after my cycle ride and a late lunch. I am glad I had my winter Peterborough Cycling Club jacket on plus extra layers!

I have posted a few photographs from my mobile phone.

Edited by Crun
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3 hours ago, Richard E said:

Been  out this morning, as at 10:35 the northern end is complete.

I remembered my steps today, it makes taking these shots a lot easier. :declare:

 

Good photos from Walton end again Richard.  At least you got something of interest.

How inconsiderate of NR, they did all the interesting work while we were asleep. :jester:

 

I don't want to duplicate those photos you have already posted, so just a small selection.

The north end with the rail grinder in action.  I see they are already digging out from the underbridge towards the old track bed.

 

IMG_1988a.jpg.6645db25eab3a43f1573464e367b7855.jpg

 

South end

IMG_1995a.jpg.86404a8a2ad9460ed48cf750213ca3d4.jpg

 

 

Some ropey track panels being taken up from the old Up Stamford.  Looking at the various types of sleeper, it is surprising there are no wooden ones. :jester:

IMG_2003a.jpg.8cb8ed749a57daf860114efe83bfecb5.jpg

 

IMG_2001a.JPG.6227de30f38b75f25efd5a5740ef064a.JPG

 

And finally the old Down Stamford signal at Cock Lane has met its maker, R.I.P.

Looks as though it was suffering from rust rot. :cry:

IMG_2007a.jpg.57059a15e424466af67171b893fe7cff.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, Richard E said:

The plans posted by Donington Road a couple of pages back seem to show the down Stamford slewed to roughly the centre of the new formation once the dive under is completed. It certainly will not go back on or near the old down Stamford (also ECML down slow) alignment as that runs down the centre of the dive under. It can't be moved too far without having to rearrange the OHLE and rebuild some of the culverts/under track access point yet again surely?

I tried to make it clear that the Down Slow ECML (removed) is the old long gone ECML down slow, by not referring to the Stamford line, which is approx where the new Stamford southbound line will be (according to the diagrams).

Obviously not.:huh:

Edited by melmerby
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6 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I tried to make it clear that the Down Slow ECML (removed) is the old long gone ECML down slow, which is approx where the new Stamford southbound line will be (according to the diagrams)

 

I think I know how you are interpreting it, but please correct me if I am wrong.

The very old ECML down slow, before it was designated to the down Stamford only began at Werrington Junction running northwards, alongside the old Werrington watertroughs.

The ECML Down Fast and Up Fast have always been in the position they are today.

Perhaps these diagrams help.

 

1799364847_werringtonjunction1912c.jpg.99fb4809978dc29126e1e4ca1834b6f0.jpg

 

926108596_werringtonjunction1968.jpg.9fd9ef19694674b6d5bd12f3d21a5a9a.jpg

 

 

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Yes, that's what I was trying to convey, but obviously not very clearly.

The new southbound Stamford line to the East of the dive under cutting will as far as I can see be pretty close to the formation of the down old ECML slow. (at least part of the way)

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53 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I tried to make it clear that the Down Slow ECML (removed) is the old long gone ECML down slow, by not referring to the Stamford line, which is approx where the new Stamford southbound line will be (according to the diagrams).

Obviously not.:huh:

 

Not your fault, I'm not familiar with the ECML alignment going back that far, that's all. Thanks to both you and DR for the clarification for me.

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2 hours ago, Donington Road said:

 

I think I know how you are interpreting it, but please correct me if I am wrong.

The very old ECML down slow, before it was designated to the down Stamford only began at Werrington Junction running northwards, alongside the old Werrington watertroughs.

The ECML Down Fast and Up Fast have always been in the position they are today.

Perhaps these diagrams help.

 

1799364847_werringtonjunction1912c.jpg.99fb4809978dc29126e1e4ca1834b6f0.jpg

 

926108596_werringtonjunction1968.jpg.9fd9ef19694674b6d5bd12f3d21a5a9a.jpg

 

 

That's very helpful. So in older times there would have been 6 tracks  heading north from Werrington Jn. - namely up and down slow and fast on the ECML and also the two Stamford lines. More recently, up to the start of the diveunder work there have been 5, with the down slow ECML and down Stamford being one and the same.

 

Just to clarify on the diveunder works. If I've undrstood this correctly, the Stamford lines will be split either side of the diveunder. It seems unclear at this stage if the down Stamford line operating today will be in exactly the same place when the diveunder works are complete - if not the overhead equipment will need to be moved again.

 

John.

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19 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

That's very helpful. So in older times there would have been 6 tracks  heading north from Werrington Jn. - namely up and down slow and fast on the ECML and also the two Stamford lines. More recently, up to the start of the diveunder work there have been 5, with the down slow ECML and down Stamford being one and the same.

 

Just to clarify on the diveunder works. If I've undrstood this correctly, the Stamford lines will be split either side of the diveunder. It seems unclear at this stage if the down Stamford line operating today will be in exactly the same place when the diveunder works are complete - if not the overhead equipment will need to be moved again.

 

John.

Yes, from Wennington Junction northwards there was a Down Slow which was the westernmost track of the ECML.

The Stamford tracks were completely separate to the ECML from Peterborough Station.

Presumably it was felt that a complete down slow from Peterborough would be useful and to save extending the existing line the 3 or more miles south to the station the Stamford track was used instead.

 

We could do with "now" (with the diverted tracks) and "then" maps that can be overlayed to see exactly how the new tracks will compare with the current positions.

 

 

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47 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Yes, from Wennington Junction northwards there was a Down Slow which was the westernmost track of the ECML.

The Stamford tracks were completely separate to the ECML from Peterborough Station.

Presumably it was felt that a complete down slow from Peterborough would be useful and to save extending the existing line the 3 or more miles south to the station the Stamford track was used instead.

 

We could do with "now" (with the diverted tracks) and "then" maps that can be overlayed to see exactly how the new tracks will compare with the current positions.

 

 

 

The attached pdf of the 'finished' track layout is pretty explanatory.

There are no public plans that I know of, of the Stamford line track layout as it is today 5th January 2019.

Following the track plan on the pdf and purusing the many photos on this thread it is pretty easy to see why this is the state of play today.

The purple lines are the track layout when finished. The black lines are the existing track before work commenced.

At this point in time the Up Stamford line runs adjacent to the Down Stamford on the new alignment furthest west.  This positioning of the Up Stamford is to create the largest possible working area between two live running lines (Stamford & ECML).

Once the dive-under is completed, the Up Stamford will be repositioned next to the ECML and will run between that and the dive-under, leaving the Down Stamford in the position it is today.

 

werrington junction plans stitched.pdf

 

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1 hour ago, John Tomlinson said:

That's very helpful. So in older times there would have been 6 tracks  heading north from Werrington Jn. - namely up and down slow and fast on the ECML and also the two Stamford lines.

Yes

 

More recently, up to the start of the diveunder work there have been 5, with the down slow ECML and down Stamford being one and the same.

Correct

 

Just to clarify on the diveunder works. If I've undrstood this correctly, the Stamford lines will be split either side of the diveunder.

Correct

 

It seems unclear at this stage if the down Stamford line operating today will be in exactly the same place when the diveunder works are complete - if not the overhead equipment will need to be moved again.

Yes it will be in its present position, according to Network Rail.

See the attached pdf in my previous post.

 

 

 

Hope that answers your questions John.

 

Just to confuse things even more here is an older upgrade that my father took me to see, I vaguely remember the steam crane and the rather large telegraph poles, but that's about it .

 

werrington_junction_1959.jpg.8504f48a3d9354084bba213576a2b734.jpg

Edited by Donington Road
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I think I'm over compensating my perceptions for what's in the recent photos.

The track seems to pass much closer to the footbridge than the diagram suggests, which gave me the impression it was further west than the final position shown on the work diagram.

It's probably due to the foreshortening effect of the telephoto views.

The final position still leaves the down Stamford a long way from the diveunder however, I thought NR might want to release some of the land they have acquired for the temp track positions by moving it somewhat closer.

 

Edited by melmerby
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Went to the NR monthly 'roadshow' which includes pictures of work to date. Funnily enough many of those on show look as if they've been 'borrowed' from here, I did a double take on some! We must have had one of their guys taking pictures at almost the same time as us.

 

One that we couldn't get is the drone shot showing the state of play at the end of September, well we now have a copy for your delectation. What this does show is the dive under itself at top left and progress on the dive under cutting on the east side. It has already changed quite a bit around the Lincoln Road area. Work stalled over Christmas but they will now move to that area with a lot of piling work to be done to reinforce the A15 dual carriageway bridges.

 

The new temporary footbridge (that will span all 4 tracks on the joint line) at the bottom left of the picture was due to open today, I don't know if it did.

 

IMG_6728.jpg.2021b251c42e1d6de98d0c6c9908d1bd.jpg

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2 hours ago, melmerby said:

I think I'm over compensating my perceptions for what's in the recent photos.

The track seems to pass much closer to the footbridge than the diagram suggests, which gave me the impression it was further west than the final position shown on the work diagram.

It's probably due to the foreshortening effect of the telephoto views.

The final position still leaves the down Stamford a long way from the diveunder however, I thought NR might want to release some of the land they have acquired for the temp track positions by moving it somewhat closer.

 

 

It doesn't appear they will. The down Stamford is 'fixed' because it crosses the newly built underbridge, about half way between Cock Lane and Hurn Road,  The initial use of this underbridge is to remove the spoil from the dive-under construction between the Stamford & ECML.  Once completed, the underbridge will act as NR's maintenance access for the tunnel under the ECML.

To the west of the down Stamford will be an access road again for NR, next the newly created waterway and west of that will be an access road for the Environment Agency.

It seems that there will be no public access in this area at all.

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2 hours ago, Richard E said:

Went to the NR monthly 'roadshow' which includes pictures of work to date. Funnily enough many of those on show look as if they've been 'borrowed' from here, I did a double take on some! We must have had one of their guys taking pictures at almost the same time as us.

 

One that we couldn't get is the drone shot showing the state of play at the end of September, well we now have a copy for your delectation. What this does show is the dive under itself at top left and progress on the dive under cutting on the east side. It has already changed quite a bit around the Lincoln Road area. Work stalled over Christmas but they will now move to that area with a lot of piling work to be done to reinforce the A15 dual carriageway bridges.

 

The new temporary footbridge (that will span all 4 tracks on the joint line) at the bottom left of the picture was due to open today, I don't know if it did.

 

IMG_6728.jpg.2021b251c42e1d6de98d0c6c9908d1bd.jpg

 

Considering that aerial photo has been hung a few times, poked about and travelled who knows where, it came out pretty good on the phone Richard.  Thanks for posting it.

I like your word, roadshow, much better than the word meeting which it is anything but.

Roadshow = drop in, have a chat with NR (very nice people), talk to old and new friends, have a laugh and reminisce, a formal meeting it is not.

The next dates for NR Roadshow will be 3rd February, 2nd March, 30th March and 27th April, all at the Loxley Community Centre, Werrington. (next to the Crable & Winkle pub), 3:00pm-7:00pm

 

Edited by Donington Road
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10 minutes ago, melmerby said:

In the sequence when that Grand Central DMU went past (around 6:45 - 7:05) what appears to be a very noticeable dip in the main line could be seen.

 

Yes, it has been commented on before.

If there is a dip there it is not noticeable from any other location or at ground level.

From the video location the line curves to the right immediately after Werrington Junction then straightening out under Cock Lane footbridge before the curving again at Walton.

The telephoto lens exacerbates the curve giving the impression of a serious dip.  I am not saying there is no dip at all but the optics do distort horizontals and verticals at times at times.

 

Looking north from Cock Lane

 

281635662_2019-0029.jpg.285ada58da993c29994928a84f19ff13.jpg

 

Looking south to Walton from Cock Lane.

 

1346869263_2019-1118.jpg.3eb827be0a5fdcda51d44ab5642bf23e.jpg

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The last part, of last weekends shut down of the Stamford lines showing services back to normal, although very little up traffic whilst I was there.
There is a temporary 50mph speed restriction on the Up Stamford, to make sure things don't fall off before the track is bedded in.
The whole of the Down Stamford appears to be operating at 75mph.

 

 

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57 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I presume that there is some sort of level crossing that allows access to a construction site that's rail locked. Thanks for the videos.

 

Jamie

 

At 6:25 in the last video, you can see on the left hand side the two abutments with railings on the top.

That is an underbridge where the spoil will come out from the dive-under.

It will then be used as the maintenance  access for the dive-under when it is completed.

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15 hours ago, melmerby said:

The new signal on the up Stamford seems to have moved position noticeably, unlike the down where it was just moved across inline with the old one.

 

Yes, probably done that way to protect the future junction nearer the Walton footbridge should a SPAD occur.

There is a signal on the ECML up slow about 50 yards north of Hurn Road that protects Werrington Junction, so that is why I'm applying the same logic.

 

EDIT:

I am wrong because the signal is only temporary.  Once the Up Stamford is moved the other side of the dive-under the present signal will go with it or be redundant.

Edited by Donington Road
not the correct assumption.
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