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


Paul.Uni
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I must say this is a good piece of light entertainment with enough facts to keep people interested. Too many facts and you go down the geek/nerd route and loose the normal viewers , but too little and it just ends up as fluff . Having a presenter who's enthusiasm shows helps.

 

OT- the comment about motorways, have any of you looked at them? Most of the old structures have been replaced due to either age, expansion or not meeting some "must survive a run away truck

 nuclear bomb proof" risk assessment. On the M1 between Sheffield and Wakefield there is some of the original bridges over the motorway, and to say they are just concrete bridges, they are surprisingly eliigant . Some even look like they are not even fastened together, just slotted together like giant Lego.

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1 minute ago, cheesysmith said:

 

 

OT- the comment about motorways, have any of you looked at them? Most of the old structures have been replaced due to either age, expansion or not meeting some "must survive a run away truck

 nuclear bomb proof" risk assessment. On the M1 between Sheffield and Wakefield there is some of the original bridges over the motorway, and to say they are just concrete bridges, they are surprisingly eliigant . Some even look like they are not even fastened together, just slotted together like giant Lego.

Many of the early bridges with slender supports have had massive concrete baulks built around them as it was deemed they would collapse if an HGV hit the supports.

It may well have actually happened, as some years ago I got stuck on the M6 in Lancashire after a truck brought down the overhead gantry sign after hitting a support.

It was quite a long delay!

Some of the concrete bridges that spring out of the embankments do look as if the deck was just dropped into place after the sides had been built

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9 hours ago, melmerby said:

Many of the early bridges with slender supports have had massive concrete baulks built around them as it was deemed they would collapse if an HGV hit the supports.

It may well have actually happened, as some years ago I got stuck on the M6 in Lancashire after a truck brought down the overhead gantry sign after hitting a support.

It was quite a long delay!

Some of the concrete bridges that spring out of the embankments do look as if the deck was just dropped into place after the sides had been built

Something similar did happen, later established to be a sloping bridge that had a sub-standard clearance over the hard shoulder.  Warning: this link spontaneously starts a very noisy video ad.  

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/m20-bridge-collapse-bridge-collapses-onto-vehicles-on-major-motorway-a3331036.html

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Thoroughly enjoyable .

 

Just a wee bit disappointed the bit on the Connel Bridge wasn't longer and we didn't actually get to see a train go over it . I know its a road now but there must be some footage somewhere of a Ballachulish Train going over it.   But that's only a small criticism . Still a good piece .

 

Am I correct in thinking the Windsor Central Station used to be a bus station too?  Vague memories of a school trip , would have been 73, and seeing buses under the overall roof , but I might be wrong .  Great restoration job . That pub looked very tempting . Hopefully one day soon .   The Polish Roundhouse bit was very interesting . Yes amazing that turntable rotated , looked quite freely too. 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Legend said:

Thoroughly enjoyable .

 

Just a wee bit disappointed the bit on the Connel Bridge wasn't longer and we didn't actually get to see a train go over it . I know its a road now but there must be some footage somewhere of a Ballachulish Train going over it.   But that's only a small criticism . Still a good piece .

 

Am I correct in thinking the Windsor Central Station used to be a bus station too?  Vague memories of a school trip , would have been 73, and seeing buses under the overall roof , but I might be wrong .  Great restoration job . That pub looked very tempting . Hopefully one day soon .   The Polish Roundhouse bit was very interesting . Yes amazing that turntable rotated , looked quite freely too. 

 

 

Yes, it was. Used by Thames Valley (later Alder Valley) services terminating in the town but not LT/LCBS.

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15 hours ago, melmerby said:

Many of the early bridges with slender supports have had massive concrete baulks built around them as it was deemed they would collapse if an HGV hit the supports.

It may well have actually happened, as some years ago I got stuck on the M6 in Lancashire after a truck brought down the overhead gantry sign after hitting a support.

It was quite a long delay!

Some of the concrete bridges that spring out of the embankments do look as if the deck was just dropped into place after the sides had been built

 

That last comment is pretty much a true statement. Bridge decks often contain expansion joints, they actually sit on bearing pads restrained by their own weight. 

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9 hours ago, Legend said:

Thoroughly enjoyable .

 

Just a wee bit disappointed the bit on the Connel Bridge wasn't longer and we didn't actually get to see a train go over it . I know its a road now but there must be some footage somewhere of a Ballachulish Train going over it.   But that's only a small criticism . Still a good piece .

 

Am I correct in thinking the Windsor Central Station used to be a bus station too?  Vague memories of a school trip , would have been 73, and seeing buses under the overall roof , but I might be wrong .  Great restoration job . That pub looked very tempting . Hopefully one day soon .   The Polish Roundhouse bit was very interesting . Yes amazing that turntable rotated , looked quite freely too. 

 

 

Some Thames Valley bus routes terminated at Windsor & Eton Central and, once they had turned, waited under the roof but it wasn't a bus station as such. Picture attached, probably taken when I was living in Windsor 1973-7. Nice little group of Bristol Lodekkas. Most of the time that I knew it, the clock was without hands. I think Tussaud's put the hands back when they restored the station for Royalty & Railways. After that exhibition closed it was bodged into the awful shopping arcade that it is now. I don't know whether the TV programme made the point but the station was a gift from the GWR to Queen Victoria for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. She asked them to built the second glass roof, over the Royal part of the station "to keep my soldiers dry". (CJL)

Windsor & Eton Central.jpeg

Edited by dibber25
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9 hours ago, Legend said:

Thoroughly enjoyable .

 

Just a wee bit disappointed the bit on the Connel Bridge wasn't longer and we didn't actually get to see a train go over it . I know its a road now but there must be some footage somewhere of a Ballachulish Train going over it.   But that's only a small criticism . Still a good piece .

 

 

I wonder when the rails were removed?

The line closed in 1966 & I drove over the bridge in 1970 whilst touring Scotland and for some reason I seem to think the rails were still embeded in the tarmac.

Am I imagining it?

 

The was a railway bridge over another loch (Creagan) further along the branch, again it is now a road bridge but it has a new deck on top of the bases of the original bridge piers.

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On 03/02/2021 at 22:24, dibber25 said:

I think Tussaud's put the hands back when they restored the station for Royalty & Railways. After that exhibition closed it was bodged into the awful shopping arcade that it is now

I remember visiting that exhibition a couple of times in the 1980s, very enjoyable.

 

During the programme the other night, did I glimpse that the replica Dean Single loco is actually still there?

 

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2 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

I remember visiting that exhibition a couple of times in the 1980s, very enjoyable.

 

During the programme the other night, did I glimpse that the replica Dean Single loco is actually still there?

 

Sadly not, it disappeared after the exhibition closed and the area turned into the shopping mall.  I can't understand how they were allowed to convert the Royal waiting room into a bar!

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On 03/02/2021 at 23:11, melmerby said:

The was a railway bridge over another loch (Creagan) further along the branch, again it is now a road bridge but it has a new deck on top of the bases of the original bridge piers.

 

Blimey, I remember crossing that bridge in 1988 with my pushbike. It was just a disused railway bridge at the time and using it avoided several miles of road around the loch. I see that it was converted to a road bridge in 2001.

 

Graham  

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20 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

During the programme the other night, did I glimpse that the replica Dean Single loco is actually still there?

 

20 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

Sadly not, it disappeared after the exhibition closed and the area turned into the shopping mall.  I can't understand how they were allowed to convert the Royal waiting room into a bar!

 

When I visited Windsor about 3 or 4 years ago, I'm certain I saw the replica loco - but no tender.

 

To be honest, I thought it looked a bit out of place.

 

As for converting the royal waiting room into a bar, a lot of things seem to have their price.

 

In practice, though, this might have been one of the best things that could have happened to it - as the company (and people) running it would be keen to keep the stuff that sets the place apart from anywhere else they could have "set up shop".

 

Let's face it, if you were going for a drink - and could choose between going somewhere nondescript and somewhere with a fascinating history, I suspect you might wish to check out the place with history.

 

If nothing else, the history is a potential talking point - and something which would bring people through the door - I can't see the pub company wanting to lose / wreck any of this.

 

 

Huw.

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On 27/11/2019 at 13:45, Georgeconna said:

Not a Fan of that bloke presenter but fingers crossed it is a good series.

Anyone who wears a scarf with a London Underground "D" stock moquette pattern, and hails from Metroland itself can't be all bad.

 

And having watched a lot of his programs, and been to some of the places that he's covered, some of which I know moderately well, I think they're first class.  Enthusiastic, yes, knowledgeable, yes, such a change from some of the dumbed down or sensationalist over the top commentaries on so many of the digital TV/media channels.

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On 03/02/2021 at 13:45, Phil Parker said:

The biggest problem with the show is that I want to visit the places. A trip to Windsor would be on the cards if it were permitted. Still, I'll just have to make do with telly.

I have visited, and even lived very close to some of them. It really is great to see places that I know on TV. But I totally share your view that it does make you want to see the spots that you know again, and go to the ones that you don't know.

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19 minutes ago, melmerby said:

In the last episode a photo of Boston (MA) South Terminal Station throat crept in and didn't understand what it had to do with the program.

https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a11368a.jpg

image.png.80a28f12aef5c99508e48daa2f8f5665.png

 

I have a feeling that it was one a series of images used to depict various worldwide rail network sizes - referencing the US, Europe etc. It may be that in a very rapid editing process to get everything to fit the US bit was cut but the image remained. I don't know without investigating, sorry!

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On 07/02/2021 at 16:48, Mike_Walker said:

Sadly not, it disappeared after the exhibition closed and the area turned into the shopping mall.  I can't understand how they were allowed to convert the Royal waiting room into a bar!

 

What else were they supposed to do with it?

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31 minutes ago, timdunn said:

 

I have a feeling that it was one a series of images used to depict various worldwide rail network sizes - referencing the US, Europe etc. It may be that in a very rapid editing process to get everything to fit the US bit was cut but the image remained. I don't know without investigating, sorry!

Hi Tim

There were a several images shown in quick succession and there may have some reference too it, but if there was I missed it.

I recognised it instantly through my trawls of railway photos on the Shorpy site.

 

Keith

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On 07/02/2021 at 16:48, Mike_Walker said:

Sadly not, it disappeared after the exhibition closed and the area turned into the shopping mall.  I can't understand how they were allowed to convert the Royal waiting room into a bar!

I always think that "Royal Waiting Room" is a bit of a misnomer.  I can't see any HRH of any description hanging around waiting for the 17:45 back to Buck House and nipping in to the waiting room to keep warm. More like the train waits for the Royal passenger(s) and their retinue to turn up. But i suppose the Royal Waiting Rooms were needed just in case of breakdowns, so that HRH didn't have to risk associating with the proletatian rabble like me in the ordinary waiting rooms, or heaven forbid, having to use the public conveniences! 

 

Reminds me of the joke: "Royal A says Royal B 'You know, B, everywhere we go smells the same.' Royal B replies 'Yes, A, I thought that, just like wet paint.'" :jester:

 

I'll get my coat before they come to drag me off to the "Tower". 

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