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The Architecture The Railways Built - Series 4 coming early 2023 on Yesterday


Paul.Uni
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Enjoyed last evening's topics from Tim D, particularly the history of the Rhine Bridge at Koln.   Like an earlier poster commented, I didn't realise the current bridge was a replacement of earlier structures, and after WW2 it had been rebuilt from much of the material of the prewar structure.  I thought it was all a brand new structure dating from the Fifties, give its condition after it was destroyed.   Noted that there had been previously a road bridge alongside, not replaced after WW2.  

 

On a 2019 visit to the city I took the attached pictures of the bridge.  The road approach to the bridge over the river from the Cathedral side is shown, complete with a short stretch of tramlines still in the road surface.  The high viewpoint photograph is a public access viewing platform at the top of an adjacent office block.

 

Certainly it is a great place to watch trains, even if it is a bit repetitive in the train types, but there are very few gaps when there is nothing happening.  

 

A great series of programmes by an enthusastic front man in Tim.  [Alisdair]

 

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We did a riverboat trip and moored alongside the bridge only a few years ago.

 

The local guide was in her 20's and kept mentioning the "RAF Inner City Redevelopment Team"...it had to be explained to an elderly American lady who seemed quite surprised there had been a war......:rolleyes:

 

It was a good visit, a highlight was the Roman Mosaic floor just off the main square.

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"RAF Inner City Redevelopment Team" - priceless.

 

 

Edit:

 

Saying that, I can't help wondering if people from certain UK cities would really make similar comments about the Luftwaffe.

 

Politics aside, during the war, a number of cities and transport networks - in a number of countries - were carpet bombed, by both sides.

 

Afterwards, the "powers that be" were left with little choice but to rebuild, often from scratch.

 

In some places, they did an excellent job of rebuilding - in others, they did not ... .

 

 

Huw.

 

 

 

Edited by Huw Griffiths
Edited for clarity - and to avoid any thoughts of tasteless jingoism.
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6 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

and going back to 2010 I spent a fair few hours in Cologne station but never noticed the bridge just outside!  Well it was 2 a.m. and rather dark. I did walk out the station the other way and saw the cathedral, a stunning sight in the dark when you're not expecting it.

I was in Cologne mid/late 80's for a trade fair at the Messe and stayed in a hotel just across from the station.  Needless to say an evening walk was necessary and it just happened to end up on the platform.  The road route to the Messe crossed the Rhine a few hundred metres from the railway bridge and I remember thinking at the time what an impressive structure it was.

 

What was equally impressive was the pub we went to in the city centre (past the 'Dom' - amazing building) where they served 'Schweine Haxe(?)', large portions of pork legs with seemingly endless 'biers'.  At the end of the evening the waitress knew exactly what we had each had despite her not writing anything down!

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I have been to Koln several times and crossed the bridge by train and on foot, but didn't realise until I read a magazine article recently (Today's Railways Europe I think) that the spans on the north side was only added in the 1980s, to allow another pair of lines to cross the river - the lines with the green and white train on in the photo above.

 

I wondered whether the former spans on the south side, that the now unconnected tram lines lead to, could be seen in some of the stills in the TV programme, which showed troops marching across the bridge.  It looked wider than the walkway that's there now.

 

13 minutes ago, 5050 said:

What was equally impressive was the pub we went to in the city centre (past the 'Dom' - amazing building) where they served 'Schweine Haxe(?)', large portions of pork legs with seemingly endless 'biers'.  At the end of the evening the waitress knew exactly what we had each had despite her not writing anything down!

 

Sounds a bit like the "Früh am Dom"!

 

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7 hours ago, 5050 said:

What was equally impressive was the pub we went to in the city centre (past the 'Dom' - amazing building) where they served 'Schweine Haxe(?)', large portions of pork legs with seemingly endless 'biers'.  At the end of the evening the waitress knew exactly what we had each had despite her not writing anything down!

 

Yes, but were you in a fit state to be able to disagree with her? ;):D  

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On 10/03/2021 at 13:02, caradoc said:

Agree the Bristol TM section was fascinating. IIRC the intention, some years ago now, was to restore Brunel's train shed to operational use to provide more capacity ? The sight of that, with OLE inside (if electrification ever gets to Bristol) would be interesting !

 

Going back to BTM. Does anyone know when the Brunel station actually stopped being used as terminal platforms? I've got a memory from about 1964 of seeing it with track in place and platform numbers but it didn't look as if it was still being used.

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20 hours ago, Huw Griffiths said:

"RAF Inner City Redevelopment Team" - priceless.

 

 

Edit:

 

Saying that, I can't help wondering if people from certain UK cities would really make similar comments about the Luftwaffe.

 

Politics aside, during the war, a number of cities and transport networks - in a number of countries - were carpet bombed, by both sides.

 

Afterwards, the "powers that be" were left with little choice but to rebuild, often from scratch.

 

In some places, they did an excellent job of rebuilding - in others, they did not ... .

 

 

Huw.

 

 

 

 

Its not true that Germans don't have a sense of humour . Another one of these Generalisations .  I remember wondering round the town centre of Duren, which is not far from Cologne and complimenting my host on how tidy and modern everything was . Yes came the reply , of course the RAF helped us with this . 

 

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12 minutes ago, Legend said:

 

Its not true that Germans don't have a sense of humour . Another one of these Generalisations .  I remember wondering round the town centre of Duren, which is not far from Cologne and complimenting my host on how tidy and modern everything was . Yes came the reply , of course the RAF helped us with this . 

 

 

I've heard the same with Frankfurt despite the deaths of thousands, "the RAF started the process of Frankfurt becoming a major financial centre (mitt Deutsche dead-pan irony)". Plus they made it look better than Coventry (not difficult) when they rebuilt it - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.1101989,8.6821115,3a,75y,342.28h,105.59t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMlBUs_Vv3qTLFYSnvPmIdtCW_SVmhSOGyhO33v!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMlBUs_Vv3qTLFYSnvPmIdtCW_SVmhSOGyhO33v%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya311.75375-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

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Unfortunately as Exeter proved a couple of weeks ago those ‘modifications’ have a rather scary ongoing legacy here too. I bet that digger driver had cold shivers when he saw the ‘controlled’ explosion!

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58 minutes ago, Legend said:

 

Its not true that Germans don't have a sense of humour . Another one of these Generalisations .  I remember wondering round the town centre of Duren, which is not far from Cologne and complimenting my host on how tidy and modern everything was . Yes came the reply , of course the RAF helped us with this . 

 

In a similar vein we did a trip to Nuremburg and a young guide took us to what were the national Socialist rally grounds and associated buildings.   In general conversation it was noted  how good and precise his English was, he replied that he had got the box set of 'Colditz' from the 70's and used that to learn from. He initially said it was the best tv series he'd seen, but we both agreed after discussion that Das Boot was an equal (if not better).

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On 11/03/2021 at 09:04, timdunn said:

Yes, we'd wanted to included the B&E offices - as well as the Midland extension and the later 1930s platforms, the rest of the vaults and even more of the Brunel building (indeed we filmed them all) but there's only so much you can cram into a 25-min TV story before it becomes too dense. Remember, these aren't exhaustive histories - there are excellent books for those - but these are carefully crafted to bring out the best bits, tell the most interesting stories to a wide audience and hopefully help the most seasoned of enthusiasts see a place in a different light, or for them to even find a new feature. 

 

BTW I am the one who asks to go up on most of the tall bits - and whilst I am slightly concerned, I know it is a privilege to get access and I'd rather go up there so that we can share it on telly for others to enjoy, than not. I do have my limits though :) 

 

Next week is the Midland Hotel at Morecambe, Huddersfield station and Hohenzollern bridge, Cologne.

Hi Tim

I finally got a chance to sit back and watch the BTM /Estonia programme this evening. A very enjoyable fifty minutes (as have all the previous episodes been) so thanks very much for that.

 

The funny thing is that the last time I visited BTM, and it wasn't that many years ago, I was able to wander across part of the Brunel station shed  from the main platform. It was fairly scruffy though and was being used as a car park, I think for railway staff.

1704806173_Brunels_original_station_at_Temple_Meads_2002CCDavidStoker.jpg.8bbc4798c82fb72ec6a1ace80f5f4a90.jpg

  This 2002 image by David Stoker (Creative Commons) Is more or less as I remember it but I was there far more recently, maybe five or six years ago.

 

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8 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Hi Tim

I finally got a chance to sit back and watch the BTM /Estonia programme this evening. A very enjoyable fifty minutes (as have all the previous episodes been) so thanks very much for that.

 

The funny thing is that the last time I visited BTM, and it wasn't that many years ago, I was able to wander across part of the Brunel station shed  from the main platform. It was fairly scruffy though and was being used as a car park, I think for railway staff.

1704806173_Brunels_original_station_at_Temple_Meads_2002CCDavidStoker.jpg.8bbc4798c82fb72ec6a1ace80f5f4a90.jpg

  This 2002 image by David Stoker (Creative Commons) Is more or less as I remember it but I was there far more recently, maybe five or six years ago.

 

Most of that is the so-called Digby Wyatt shed, explained on the programme that Digby Wyatt had nothing to do with it.  There's a small part of the Brunel shed visible in the background but it's mostly behind the wall.  

 

I believe it's more recently been a car park for passengers, and if you exit towards the ferry you still pass through it (subject to whatever may have happened in the last year and a bit since I've visited).  It was briefly considered as a possible site for a tramstop in one of Bristol's many light rail proposals, but getting the trams out towards the right of that picture without a ridiculously slow and noisy curve would have caused too much damage to the historic building (admittedly not the most historic part).  

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On 18/03/2021 at 11:19, Legend said:

Its not true that Germans don't have a sense of humour . Another one of these Generalisations .  I remember wondering round the town centre of Duren, which is not far from Cologne and complimenting my host on how tidy and modern everything was . Yes came the reply , of course the RAF helped us with this . 

 

Unfortunately a generalisation that's found its way into a number of adverts over the years - sometimes exploiting it - sometimes appearing to debunk it.

 

I can also remember a talk on Radio 3 in the 90s - in which Andrew Sachs explained how a lot of German humour works.

 

Apparently, it tends to be nice and dry. Also, the "punchline" never actually gets mentioned. It tends to be an "elephant in the room" - of which everyone present is only too aware - and there are also plenty of unsubtle hints.

 

For some reason, this brand of humour doesn't always "travel" very well between countries ... .

 

 

On 18/03/2021 at 11:35, AY Mod said:

I've heard the same with Frankfurt despite the deaths of thousands, "the RAF started the process of Frankfurt becoming a major financial centre (mitt Deutsche dead-pan irony)". Plus they made it look better than Coventry (not difficult) when they rebuilt it

 

I don't know.

 

Perhaps some people might like picture postcards showing ring roads ... .

 

 

23 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

In a similar vein we did a trip to Nuremburg and a young guide took us to what were the national Socialist rally grounds and associated buildings.   In general conversation it was noted  how good and precise his English was, he replied that he had got the box set of 'Colditz' from the 70's and used that to learn from. He initially said it was the best tv series he'd seen, but we both agreed after discussion that Das Boot was an equal (if not better).

 

I never saw much of "Colditz".

 

As for „Das Boot“ - that is excellent. I can't help wondering if the real reason I haven't since seen lots of submarine based dramas is because they'd be measured against it - and they'd probably fall short.

 

 

Huw.

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2 hours ago, Edwin_m said:

Most of that is the so-called Digby Wyatt shed, explained on the programme that Digby Wyatt had nothing to do with it.  There's a small part of the Brunel shed visible in the background but it's mostly behind the wall.  

 

I believe it's more recently been a car park for passengers, and if you exit towards the ferry you still pass through it (subject to whatever may have happened in the last year and a bit since I've visited).  It was briefly considered as a possible site for a tramstop in one of Bristol's many light rail proposals, but getting the trams out towards the right of that picture without a ridiculously slow and noisy curve would have caused too much damage to the historic building (admittedly not the most historic part).  

Thanks Edwin

The last time I was there it probably was a car park for "customers" and I was exiting towards the ferry- though not to actually use it. I had a couple of hours to kill and wanted to explore the early docks. 

 

I now realise that I have visited the original Brunel shed. It housed Prof. Richard Gregory's Bristol Exploratory from 1989 to 1999. We were using the BBC studios for a maths series and my Series Producer knew Gregory from contributions he'd made to an earlier science series so, soon after it had moved there, he invited us to look round. What I totally failed to realise was the difference between the Brunel shed and the (not) Digby Wyatt extension of it. I'd been in the latter fairly often happily convinced that I was admiring Brunel's work.  It simply never occured to me that the original GWR terminus would have been shorter. 

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I liked the section on Malmo Central, I was there in 2019 when I popped over from Copenhagen for a couple of hours. I had completely missed that is was gluelam, but the old station is very nice and not just the bits shown. In contrast the new glass section was rattling in the wind, it felt like the wind coming through the doors was causing the wire to flutter.

 

Wingfield Station was something which is hard to spot from the train but it is nice to see it. There must be something about Wingfield as the manor is in a similar condition, not helped by hostile natives stuffing up access.

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33 minutes ago, Bomag said:

In contrast the new glass section was rattling in the wind, it felt like the wind coming through the doors was causing the wire to flutter.

It's probably meant to do that.  By coincidence I was watching another programme on a high-numbered Freeview channel ("How did they build that" on Smithsonian) which featured a market building in Rotterdam and explained that the panes are joined by flexible material and this type of window is able to flex in and out to reduce risk of damage in high winds.  

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On 24/03/2021 at 17:04, timdunn said:

That's a wrap for series 2! (And as above, we've just finished filming series 3.

All 20 episodes aired so far are now free to watch on the UKTV Play app and website, available in the UK. Cheers for the previous feedback and suggestions too - we did read it all. https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/shows/the-architecture-the-railways-built/watch-online

 

Before that airs though, there'll be "Secrets of the London Underground" on the Yesterday channel, dates TBC. That features stuff often that most people won't have seen before too. Cheers!

Whilst I thoroughly enjoy the ATRB series, my personal preference would be to have a single subject in each episode - I'm sure you have enough material recorded to achieve this. Sometimes I feel it's difficult to really appreciate something when it's broadcast for only a few minutes then it all switches to something else.

 

Graham

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On 02/03/2021 at 22:29, dagrizz said:

Great programme tonight. We're off to Bennerley viaduct as soon as restrictions are eased. It's only an hour away from us so will make a good day out with a walk included. 

 

Graham 

 

Visited today. At the moment you can't walk over the viaduct. We talked to someone who I think is a 'Friend of the Bennerley viaduct' and he said Sustrans still had to fix the planking before letting people on there. The approach walkways are well advanced but he said it would be autumn before opening.

 

benn.jpg.21576e4711aa5106fc0786a7951be643.jpg

 

Graham

 

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On 27/03/2021 at 11:09, Graham108 said:

Whilst I thoroughly enjoy the ATRB series, my personal preference would be to have a single subject in each episode - I'm sure you have enough material recorded to achieve this. Sometimes I feel it's difficult to really appreciate something when it's broadcast for only a few minutes then it all switches to something else.

 

Graham

 

Agreed. It can feel a bit superficial at times, and that's irritating. I don't find this programme sufficiently interesting to seek it out, certainly not to brave the sighing, eye rolling, wandering in and out of the room and conspicuous clattering in the kitchen which tend to accompany the suggestion of watching something that isn't endless soap operas and 1980s sitcoms, which is a shame given the subject. 

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