Pylons .

[pharrc20]

15 hours ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

From what I saw the tower of choice was the L8, that’s what exists currently..... It might change but that might never happen.

As a general rule L8s replace L2s, L6Ms used to replace any L6s but if only running twins then an L12 could be used instead - an example of this is where the original L6 and later L12 lines from Keadby near Scunthorpe towards Immingham and the two routes cross so instead of putting in costly diamond crossings to take the L12 over the L6 then simply swopped the lines so the original line starts off as L6 then mid way along swops to L12 for a while then swops back to L6; the newer line starts off as L12 then swops to L6 then back to L12; you get the idea...

 

Cheers Paul

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

1 hour ago, pharrc20 said:

As a general rule L8s replace L2s, L6Ms used to replace any L6s but if only running twins then an L12 could be used instead - an example of this is where the original L6 and later L12 lines from Keadby near Scunthorpe towards Immingham and the two routes cross so instead of putting in costly diamond crossings to take the L12 over the L6 then simply swopped the lines so the original line starts off as L6 then mid way along swops to L12 for a while then swops back to L6; the newer line starts off as L12 then swops to L6 then back to L12; you get the idea...

 

Cheers Paul

Ah yes the L12 lines near Keadby I have seen, I have photos of them somewhere so I need to find them when I get back. You mentioned L12s can only use double conductors, there’s an L12 on the outskirts of Newport that has quad conductors as it comes off a quad conductor BB L6 line

[RELIEF SIGNALMAN]

On ‎08‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 23:01, pharrc20 said:

A couple of photos showing examples of what I consider to be pre-grid designs mainly now in use on 11 - 66kV lines

 

One of showing a tower not far from where I live in Hazel Grove - this used to be part of a line running from Stockport to Macclesfield originally double-circuit I believe. Now used for local 11kV distribution. The ID plate on the tower still read Norweb back then and stated it was Tower 6 Line 9

 

These next two are near Stalybridge up on the hillside above the Stalybridge to Huddersfield line if they haven't gone. Two different types of D2 towers

 

A pair of towers used to take a pole line up and over the Manchester to Chester railway line not far from where the WCML passes underneath at Hartford Junction. A similar pair can be found south of Winsford crossing over the WCML there as well.Not 100% sure if they are pre-grid or not

 

Another design this time on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare you can see them as you enter Weston by train from the Bristol direction although the actual line runs south towards Taunton and is or was going to be dismantled soon or at least the part around Weston is. I will see in a few weeks if this has been done yet or not when I am staying in Weston.

 

And lastly what looks like a scaled and slimmed down PL1b single-circuit design that runs from Waterswallows substation near Buxton towards the town itself probably the remains of an original much longer line that used to run all the way from Stalybridge now truncated at New Mills.

 

Just a few of my photos lol

Cheers Paul

The photos of the two pylons carrying power over the  Manchester to Chester railway line now carry 33Kv. They probably date back to the 1930's and 1940's. They look very similar to the ones they had on the Crewe to Legacy (Wrexham) power line, since replaced by 33Kv poles, also north of Crewe near to the site of Coppenhall Junction which they crossed the WCML an continued towards Winsford, the rest of the power line were on double poles with long crossbar at the bottom carrying 4 wires and a smaller one on the top carrying the other 2. They have since been replaced by standard 33Kv poles. Over in North Wales further examples can be seen carrying 33Kv between Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. There is one example of a similar tower overlooking Llandudno from the top of a nearby hill. This one being built by the North Wales Power Company and probably dates back to the 1930's .

[pharrc20]

6 hours ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

Ah yes the L12 lines near Keadby I have seen, I have photos of them somewhere so I need to find them when I get back. You mentioned L12s can only use double conductors, there’s an L12 on the outskirts of Newport that has quad conductors as it comes off a quad conductor BB L6 line

Ah right not been down Newport way for donkeys years... lol. Wonder if that was a replacement tower then? Which side of Newport the east or west? Unless it is one of these mystical L13s???

 

Cheers Paul

[pharrc20]

3 hours ago, RELIEF SIGNALMAN said:

The photos of the two pylons carrying power over the  Manchester to Chester railway line now carry 33Kv. They probably date back to the 1930's and 1940's. They look very similar to the ones they had on the Crewe to Legacy (Wrexham) power line, since replaced by 33Kv poles, also north of Crewe near to the site of Coppenhall Junction which they crossed the WCML an continued towards Winsford, the rest of the power line were on double poles with long crossbar at the bottom carrying 4 wires and a smaller one on the top carrying the other 2. They have since been replaced by standard 33Kv poles. Over in North Wales further examples can be seen carrying 33Kv between Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. There is one example of a similar tower overlooking Llandudno from the top of a nearby hill. This one being built by the North Wales Power Company and probably dates back to the 1930's .

Thanks for that Relief Signalman, they are odd looking little towers. Is the Llandudno one still there perched up on that hillside? I can remember that one from when I used to stay at Conwy Morfa in the early 1980s and we would drive into Llandudno and see it on the way. Almost like it wants to be a cable car tower but on the wrong hillside - looks like it is still there the short line of towers then according to Bing Maps OS Map.

Cheers Paul

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

1 hour ago, pharrc20 said:

Ah right not been down Newport way for donkeys years... lol. Wonder if that was a replacement tower then? Which side of Newport the east or west? Unless it is one of these mystical L13s???

 

Cheers Paul

It is to the west of Newport in one of the industrial estates, near to the abandoned D2 road, it appears there’s 3 D25s, followed by a DT, then a D55 before returning to a BB L6 D60. And yes unfortunately they are L12 as the cross arms are the L12 look. The L13s if I remember are only for triple conductors.

 

best regards, Matthew 

 

 

[pharrc20]

21 minutes ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

It is to the west of Newport in one of the industrial estates, near to the abandoned D2 road, it appears there’s 3 D25s, followed by a DT, then a D55 before returning to a BB L6 D60. And yes unfortunately they are L12 as the cross arms are the L12 look. The L13s if I remember are only for triple conductors.

 

best regards, Matthew 

 

 

Not just sure where you mean but will have a nosey on froogle earth

 

Cheers Paul

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

10 hours ago, pharrc20 said:

Not just sure where you mean but will have a nosey on froogle earth

 

Cheers Paul

Ah ok I’ll get a couple of snips off google earth and put them on here.

 

best regards, Matthew

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

As promised here’s the quad conductor L12, it’s more a converter but still unusual being as they are only built to contain twin conductors.

 

best regards, Matthew

[pharrc20]

6 hours ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

As promised here’s the quad conductor L12, it’s more a converter but still unusual being as they are only built to contain twin conductors.

 

best regards, Matthew

Ok cheers what road is that near in Newport - wonder if near the substation they built in early 2000s to the west of Newport the one you see from Newport to Cardiff line?

 

Cheers Paul

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

 

1 hour ago, pharrc20 said:

Ok cheers what road is that near in Newport - wonder if near the substation they built in early 2000s to the west of Newport the one you see from Newport to Cardiff line?

 

Cheers Paul

 

Unfortunately that road is unnamed, I do remember seeing a railway though so that might be the one.

 

best regards, Matthew

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

Also I forgot to ask, are there any plans for these type of L2s? And is there an L3C D60?

 

 

[RELIEF SIGNALMAN]

22 hours ago, pharrc20 said:

Thanks for that Relief Signalman, they are odd looking little towers. Is the Llandudno one still there perched up on that hillside? I can remember that one from when I used to stay at Conwy Morfa in the early 1980s and we would drive into Llandudno and see it on the way. Almost like it wants to be a cable car tower but on the wrong hillside - looks like it is still there the short line of towers then according to Bing Maps OS Map.

Cheers Paul

Yes, its still there on top of that hill. The other lightweight looking pylons on the other side of this pylon on the hill were removed many years ago and replaced by single poles carrying the 3 phase bars across. There are still some of the lightweight types still in existence as the power line heads towards Colwyn Bay before changing to poles again before reaching there. Last visit to Anglesey also saw some early type of pylons that used to carry 66Kv??, nowadays 33Kv from Llanfair PG? to a place called Caergeiliog near Valley. Will try and find a photo of one to put on here.

[pharrc20]

4 hours ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

 

 

Unfortunately that road is unnamed, I do remember seeing a railway though so that might be the one.

 

best regards, Matthew

Had a look around Imperial Park and the substation there and yes it looks like they have used L12s here - the google maps imagery dates from 2011 and shows them as twin conductors so your photo shows the transition back to quads, which given the D30 has to transition somewhere so that it links back into the L6s. Likewise at the other end of the L12 section where it links back to the L6 D60, which you can't really pick up on street view it presumably goes from twin to quad on the L12 D55 or L6 D60.

 

Cheers Paul

[pharrc20]

3 hours ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

Also I forgot to ask, are there any plans for these type of L2s? And is there an L3C D60?

 

 

I have never seen any plans for those, which I presume are some sort of L2 hybrid design maybe developed to try and stop conductor clashing where the all of the cross-arms are the same length. So this design was developed. This is the Coventry-Berkswell YYA line, which features L2 DT45 and D90 and towers then for most of the way is made up of these other towers, I called them L2c (c for extended middle crossarm) in D, D10, D30 and D60 variants then right at the end on the approach to Berkswell substation reverts back to standard L2 towers.

 

Yes there is an L3c version of the L3 D60 but as far as I am aware it is the same, only the D tower differs with having the extended middle cross-arms

 

Cheers Paul

[pharrc20]

3 hours ago, RELIEF SIGNALMAN said:

Yes, its still there on top of that hill. The other lightweight looking pylons on the other side of this pylon on the hill were removed many years ago and replaced by single poles carrying the 3 phase bars across. There are still some of the lightweight types still in existence as the power line heads towards Colwyn Bay before changing to poles again before reaching there. Last visit to Anglesey also saw some early type of pylons that used to carry 66Kv??, nowadays 33Kv from Llanfair PG? to a place called Caergeiliog near Valley. Will try and find a photo of one to put on here.

Ok cheers there appears to be lots of pre-grid designs. Are the ones that run over the top from Conwy Valley towards Bangor in parallel to the 132kV PL16s and 400kV L6 lines still there? Not been up that way for ages

 

Cheers Paul

[Pylon King]

Pylon Literature published many years ago.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Pylon King

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

10 hours ago, pharrc20 said:

I have never seen any plans for those, which I presume are some sort of L2 hybrid design maybe developed to try and stop conductor clashing where the all of the cross-arms are the same length. So this design was developed. This is the Coventry-Berkswell YYA line, which features L2 DT45 and D90 and towers then for most of the way is made up of these other towers, I called them L2c (c for extended middle crossarm) in D, D10, D30 and D60 variants then right at the end on the approach to Berkswell substation reverts back to standard L2 towers.

 

Yes there is an L3c version of the L3 D60 but as far as I am aware it is the same, only the D tower differs with having the extended middle cross-arms

 

Cheers Paul

Ah ok, now remember they are the same as I went under an L3C line recently and there was a D60 but it was the standard version.... I should’ve remembered D’oh

 

best regards, Matthew

[RELIEF SIGNALMAN]

18 hours ago, pharrc20 said:

Ok cheers there appears to be lots of pre-grid designs. Are the ones that run over the top from Conwy Valley towards Bangor in parallel to the 132kV PL16s and 400kV L6 lines still there? Not been up that way for ages

 

Cheers Paul

Yes, still there. the 400Kv L6's run from Deeside to Pentir (near Bangor), 132Kv Deeside to Pentir via Dolgarrog. Also a 33Kv from Dolgarrog on light pylon structures running to Minffordd Substation near Bangor (info from one of my cousins who worked with the National Grid 1970-2000).

[pharrc20]

4 hours ago, RELIEF SIGNALMAN said:

Yes, still there. the 400Kv L6's run from Deeside to Pentir (near Bangor), 132Kv Deeside to Pentir via Dolgarrog. Also a 33Kv from Dolgarrog on light pylon structures running to Minffordd Substation near Bangor (info from one of my cousins who worked with the National Grid 1970-2000).

Nice to see they are still going strong!

 

Cheers Paul

[pharrc20]

18 hours ago, Pylon King said:

Pylon Literature published many years ago.

Nice literature. I have some booklets that I got from the CEGB in the late 1980s and a few from National Grid shortly somewhere.

 

Cheers Paul

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

Presenting England’s southernmost 400kv substation: Indian Queens. I have more photos including going under the L2 D60 so let me know if you want any more

 

 

 

 

[pharrc20]

2 hours ago, LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004 said:

Presenting England’s southernmost 400kv substation: Indian Queens. I have more photos including going under the L2 D60 so let me know if you want any more

 

 

 

 

Looks like a L2 D4T45 in the fifth photo. The third looks like a DT as well or is it a D40EC??

One on my to do list one day!

Cheers Paul

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

50 minutes ago, pharrc20 said:

Looks like a L2 D4T45 in the fifth photo. The third looks like a DT as well or is it a D40EC??

One on my to do list one day!

Cheers Paul

I honestly don’t know it just looked like a D60 as the pattern and shape looked the same, I saw a D60 too and will do a comparison using a couple of pics, it might well be but like I said, it’s just what it looked like.

 

best regards, Matthew

 

 

[LMS_LNER_SR_GWR_fan2004]

Also, what L6 would this be? I know it’s of a Balfour Beatty design and I know it has traits of a D60 but I want to know if it’s a special type of tower. There is another type of this at another substation (name I have forgotten) that has a similar design too.