RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 3, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2017 Hi all Anybody know how the work to electrify the Lickey Incline is getting on? It was originally projected to be completed last year around the time Bromsgrove Station rebuild was completed but was deferred with opening and extension of Cross City trains to Bromsgrove now supposed to be this year instead. There is a work site at Hewell lane, Burcot: See Here: https://goo.gl/maps/vTu5TtG85J32 However, I have not seen anything about the progress and couldn't find anything on Network Rail's site. Some of the over bridges have been heightened/rebuilt at the Barnt Green end but none, as yet, down the Bromsgrove end Cheers Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brigo Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 There was an article on the Rail Engineer site, more about the station rebuilding and signalling, but it mentions the electrification being energised in September with services starting in May 2018. https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/01/17/bromsgrove-corridor-resignalling/ Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 3, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2017 There was an article on the Rail Engineer site, more about the station rebuilding and signalling, but it mentions the electrification being energised in September with services starting in May 2018. https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/01/17/bromsgrove-corridor-resignalling/ Brian Bit in there about the bases for the electrification masts but not much else, unfortunately. No electric service before 2018 would appear to be yet another time slip! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Rathbone Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Masts are being erected on Lickey Incline. Mast bases are in all the way to Barnt Green. All the overbridges on the route have been raised, Finstall Road bridge, Bromsgrove having been rebuilt some years ago. A lot of vegetation has been cleared up the incline, giving some good clear views. Blue 'safe zone' fencing has just been erected along the down side cess in the cutting between BG and Blackwell adjacent to where the 'Midland Region/Western Region' sign used to be. Ian R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 4, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 4, 2017 That's useful Ian sounds like I need one more trip to vigo before the masts go up. When is the next steam special due? Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 4, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 4, 2017 (edited) Masts are being erected on Lickey Incline. Mast bases are in all the way to Barnt Green. All the overbridges on the route have been raised, Finstall Road bridge, Bromsgrove having been rebuilt some years ago. A lot of vegetation has been cleared up the incline, giving some good clear views. Blue 'safe zone' fencing has just been erected along the down side cess in the cutting between BG and Blackwell adjacent to where the 'Midland Region/Western Region' sign used to be. Ian R Some still need raised parapets surely? Finstall Road and St Godwald's Road still have low walls, the ones up the top end have been raised or replaced. Linthurst Newtown has had a completely new bridge deck as has the small road immediately North of Bromsgrove Highway M42. Hewell Lane, Barnt Green has new, higher walls. Keith Edit: Wrong road! Edited April 5, 2017 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher125 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 (edited) There are a number of photos now appearing on Flickr like these, masts are appearing quite quickly it seems. 66115 tnt 66055 31 3 17 by dave gommersall, on Flickr HST 43378 on Lickey 1s51 to Glasgow by Stuart Williams, on Flickr Edited April 5, 2017 by Christopher125 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 5, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2017 (edited) I know precisely where the HST was photographed as Pikes Pool Lane runs down the other side of the railway with that distinctive ivy clad tree next to the building which is in Pikes Pool Centre. I think the 66 is a bit further down where Pikes Pool lane dives under the railway (by about the 13th wagon). Both of those are south of the work site on Hewell lane so are not too far north of Bromsgrove Keith Edited April 5, 2017 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D854_Tiger Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 I recently overheard a couple of London Midland drivers, travelling on the cushions on my local line, shall we say questioning the fitness for purpose of the class 323 for dealing with day in day operation up the Lickey. Prone to wheel slip and a suggestion their electrical equipment might not be up to the demands that hill has to offer. The suggestion being they were under powered even by Turbostar standards. Looking at the spec they would appear to have around 400 hp per coach, which is slightly less than a class 170. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 7, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2017 (edited) I recently overheard a couple of London Midland drivers, travelling on the cushions on my local line, shall we say questioning the fitness for purpose of the class 323 for dealing with day in day operation up the Lickey. Prone to wheel slip and a suggestion their electrical equipment might not be up to the demands that hill has to offer. The suggestion being they were under powered even by Turbostar standards. Looking at the spec they would appear to have around 400 hp per coach, which is slightly less than a class 170. According to Wikipedia, sourced from "The Railway Centre" (?) They have a total of 1566hp which is equivalent to 522hp per car (Porterbrook [the owners] list the power output as 1168kW which is the same) A 168/170 only has 422hp per car Even a 350 only has the equivalent of 500hp per car so the323 seems to be far from underpowered! Strike that out Wikipedia has got it wrong, the 350 has two 1000kW power cars, out of 4 vehicles, which equates to 500kW per car (Angel trains info) Keith Edited April 7, 2017 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 7, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2017 Some LM diversions today Hereford/Worcester services via Stourbridge rather than Bromsgrove due to "Engineering Works" Strangely Cross Country are not affected! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold CovDriver Posted April 8, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2017 I'm certainly looking forward to driving our 323's to Bromsgrove I believe they'll cope just fine but not so sure during the leaf fall season (perhaps we might have to learn the road to Cheltenham just in case) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 8, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2017 Banking a unit up the hill isn't a new thing! See bottom photo on this page... http://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/640314fs.html Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 I'm certainly looking forward to driving our 323's to Bromsgrove I believe they'll cope just fine but not so sure during the leaf fall season (perhaps we might have to learn the road to Cheltenham just in case) Oh no, not the 323s again! I get sick of them on the Cross City line; there's no variety. Wouldn't a 170 or if LM are feeling generous a 350 be nice? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold CovDriver Posted April 8, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2017 Oh no, not the 323s again! I get sick of them on the Cross City line; there's no variety. Wouldn't a 170 or if LM are feeling generous a 350 be nice? An to think we will be getting more 323's from Northern sorry you'll have to enjoy 6 car sets for a little bit longer on the cross city Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 In my years of commuting into Birmingham on the Cross City I found the 323 to be nice units and excellent at the job once they had learned to cope with frosty days. Compared to the Class 304s they largely replaced (and which were used temporarily on the Cross City) they were much better, I've always hated the 304s with their bungee sprung seats, concrete suspension and threepenny bit wheels. Whoever thought sticking Gresley bogies to a 60 year old design under a modern electric unit was a good thing needs to be told it wasn't. North of Blake Street on the old ploughed field track of the 90s the 304s could break your neck. The 323 rarely lost composure even on the crumbling northern end of the line. It may be monotonous on the Cross City with just 323 operation but the line is first and foremost a means of efficiently moving a large number of people into and out of Birmingham and reducing their need to drive into the city. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Rathbone Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 The masts are up between Barnt Green and Blackwell. That was quick! Ian R Ianrathbonemodelpainting.co.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 323s have two thirds of axles motored, which I think is the highest ratio of any British unit (alongside the 313s, 507s and 508s). Together with three-phase motors this ought to make them among the best units at maintaining grip when motoring on steep gradients and in poor adhesion. There may of course be other reasons why they fail to match their theoretical potential in practice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 8, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 8, 2017 323s have two thirds of axles motored, which I think is the highest ratio of any British unit (alongside the 313s, 507s and 508s). Together with three-phase motors this ought to make them among the best units at maintaining grip when motoring on steep gradients and in poor adhesion. There may of course be other reasons why they fail to match their theoretical potential in practice. Dont forget 395s, 8 of 12 axles driven. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold CovDriver Posted April 8, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2017 323s have two thirds of axles motored, which I think is the highest ratio of any British unit (alongside the 313s, 507s and 508s). Together with three-phase motors this ought to make them among the best units at maintaining grip when motoring on steep gradients and in poor adhesion. There may of course be other reasons why they fail to match their theoretical potential in practice. Don't get me wrong the 323 units are great to drive very responsive I can run on the cross city like today's turn at work and I only ever used step 1 braking and managed to keep time as for acceleration it's always a case of it's like keeping a raging bull under control in perfect dry conditions but once there's a slight bit of rain or the dreaded leaf fall it's slip and slide if you don't know what your doing. This is more than likely down to power to weight ratio. But today I managed to trip the OHLE circuit breakers out at Erdington so that was fun at least it was sunny at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
28XX Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) I started a thread "Wires to Bromsgrove" back in January. My work has changed again so I'm not so easily able to scout for developments. Edited April 9, 2017 by 28XX Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 I was on the Cross City line to Birmingham on my way to an afternoon spotting session at Tamworth when at one of the stations a whole lot of schoolchildren got on. I spoke to one of the teachers who said that they had been on a school trip to the university. He also said that going by train was the quickest and easiest way. There is so much traffic in Birmingham city centre that a coach would be both slow and expensive. This shows the importance of suburban rail routes in city centres. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 10, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 10, 2017 Plenty of masts appearing now When I went under the road bridge on Hewell Lane, Bromsgrove today you could see them disappearing up the incline towards Blackwell. They were not there one week ago! I assume all the previous work has been making the foundations, once they are in the masts can go up pretty quickl. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 10, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 10, 2017 I started a thread "Wires to Bromsgrove" back in January. My work has changed again so I'm not so easily able to scout for developments. I didn't find anything when I searched (never can!) so started a new thread, but following your heads up have just found it. There has been nothing posted after 25th January. Maybe we could merge the two together? Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted April 10, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 10, 2017 I have seen an article, I think in Modern railways, saying that they are looking at repowering the 323's as the traction package is a but dated. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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