mervyn Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 While staying at Bath the weekend noticed that an 800 class started rom the station on diesel power didn't have time to visit the station ,so has it now been completely wired up ? and did they fence off Sydney gardens ? with palisade fencing . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiftyfour fiftyfour Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 You've answered your own question there- if the 800 left Bath on diesel there is a reason it left on diesel and they will always leave on diesel, at least for the foreseeable future as the wires end around Thingley, in adjoining Wiltshire... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 From near Chippenham to Bristol Temple Meads and from Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads were deferred out of the GW electrification scheme when costs were getting too high, as was Didcot to Oxford. Cardiff to Swansea was cancelled entirely. Not entirely unreasonable in some ways as the junctions at the east end of Temple Meads need remodeling before electrification. Government recently gave the go-ahead for that but no news on whether electrification will follow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Hi, Bath electrification rarely a good thing especially a two bar fire dropped in at the tap end. I think they lowered the tracks through Sydney gardens and put up an ugly fence in preparation. Regards Nick 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervyn Posted March 5, 2020 Author Share Posted March 5, 2020 Ta for the replies ,Edwin didn't want to appear obtuse as to the electrification ,sometimes units will use diesel if there is a problem with the pan i just didn't have the knowledge of what state the electrification works were around Bath Spa , hence the question (,have put the proper station name in in to stop the references to electric fires and large bathing vessels filled with water !.....) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 3 hours ago, mervyn said: Ta for the replies ,Edwin didn't want to appear obtuse as to the electrification ,sometimes units will use diesel if there is a problem with the pan i just didn't have the knowledge of what state the electrification works were around Bath Spa , hence the question (,have put the proper station name in in to stop the references to electric fires and large bathing vessels filled with water !.....) Hi, Spa baths are even worse, more conductive electrolyte. Probably why the Romans liked spas and used lead plumbing but didn't use electricity. When I visited Sydney gardens I was expecting to see overhead electrification but at least it was better for photography. Nice art museum in the gardens. I was almost inspired to build a model of Bath gas works and its compact and extensive railways after seeing a model of it at Bath Industrial Museum. Regards Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DY444 Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 14 hours ago, fiftyfour fiftyfour said: You've answered your own question there- if the 800 left Bath on diesel there is a reason it left on diesel and they will always leave on diesel, at least for the foreseeable future as the wires end around Thingley, in adjoining Wiltshire... The limit of the electrification on the Box route is the Swindon side of Chippenham station. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
101 Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 2 hours ago, DY444 said: The limit of the electrification on the Box route is the Swindon side of Chippenham station. It's actually at Thingley which is the Bath side if Chippenham 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 The substation at Thingley is live and supplying the railway, but the wires don't get to Chippenham station. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Do you mean that bit's two rail - like my train set ? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 8 hours ago, Zomboid said: The substation at Thingley is live and supplying the railway, but the wires don't get to Chippenham station. I guess it's something that could only happen in Britain. Jim 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Not taking the wires into Bristol is one of those "surely this wouldn't happen in a developed country" things that we specialise in. From what I heard, the old footbridge in Chippenham station is the problem. It's both too low and listed, and I guess finding a way round that when the project has already been descoped to a laughable extent wasn't worth the money and time it would have taken. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DY444 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) 22 hours ago, 101 said: It's actually at Thingley which is the Bath side if Chippenham It is not. The feeder station is at Thingley. The ole ends on the Swindon side of Chippenham station. Edited March 7, 2020 by DY444 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
101 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) 48 minutes ago, DY444 said: It is not. The feeder station is at Thingley. The ole ends on the Swindon side of Chippenham station. Sorry didnt realise that, when I was told it was being terminated at thingley I assumed the wires went into Chippenham at least - the masts were being prepared/ going up before I retired couple years ago Edited March 7, 2020 by 101 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted March 7, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) On 05/03/2020 at 22:21, NIK said: Hi, Spa baths are even worse, more conductive electrolyte. Probably why the Romans liked spas and used lead plumbing but didn't use electricity. When I visited Sydney gardens I was expecting to see overhead electrification but at least it was better for photography. Nice art museum in the gardens. I was almost inspired to build a model of Bath gas works and its compact and extensive railways after seeing a model of it at Bath Industrial Museum. Regards Nick We think that’s the best side of Bath.The Holburne Museum is the one just inside the gardens.A great place full of fascinating stuff with a classy cafe featuring a terrace where you can sit outsde and enjoy good coffee etc.in the summer and watch families enjoying themselves all accompanied by the drone of passing Hitachis just out of sight slightly uphill in the cutting.It really is a delightful spot...away from the main tourist trail and seagull alley. I often wonder what the effect would be to that particular idyllic spot if the wires went through it. PS...a cruise on the Kennet & Avon is available from just a short walk away.Nice way to round off the visit,listening to the trains so near but tantalisingly out of view.Another world but utterly charming. Edited March 7, 2020 by Ian Hargrave Text error 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 14 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said: We think that’s the best side of Bath.The Holburne Museum is the one just inside the gardens.A great place full of fascinating stuff with a classy cafe featuring a terrace where you can sit outsde and enjoy good coffee etc.in the summer and watch families enjoying themselves all accompanied by the drone of passing Hitachis just out of slightly uphill in the cutting.It really is a delightful spot...away from the main tourist trail and seagull alley. I often wonder what the effect would be to that particular idyllic spot if the wires went through it. PS...a cruise on the Kennet & Avon is available from just a short walk away.Nice way to round off the visit,listening to the trains so near but tantalisingly out of view.Another world but utterly charming. Hi, My last visit to Bath was in my mates narrow boat and we moored for a day or two at Sydney Gardens before having to move on (to near the locks down to the Avon, which were closed at the time due to too much water going down the river). We could do some railway photography after walking his dogs and enjoy the gardens. Saw a heron fly through a canal tunnel and later photographed it from 5 yards away. Regards Nick 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said: I often wonder what the effect would be to that particular idyllic spot if the wires went through it. Well the trains would be quieter for a start... If the fixings are designed with sympathetically (as they would have to be) then it's the kind of thing which would just become unremarkable. I think the design got beyond the idea of a palisade fence. Nobody is bothered now by the OLE through the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, for example. Edited March 7, 2020 by Zomboid 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2020 18 hours ago, Zomboid said: Well the trains would be quieter for a start... If the fixings are designed with sympathetically (as they would have to be) then it's the kind of thing which would just become unremarkable. I think the design got beyond the idea of a palisade fence. Nobody is bothered now by the OLE through the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, for example. There were some illustrations on the 'net at one time of the proposed masts etc for the ohle alongside Sydney Gardens - they didn't look too bad at all. Where the ohle on the GWML has been designed to take the visual aspect into account it isn't very intrusive on the eye although obviously the catenary is still there. The short masts used in one AONB as are not particularly noticeable and have been kept below cutting top level so they're not visible in the general scenery but it was obviously more expensive to do the job that way because the 25kv live feed couldn't be carried at the top of the masts 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 8 hours ago, The Stationmaster said: There were some illustrations on the 'net at one time of the proposed masts etc for the ohle alongside Sydney Gardens - they didn't look too bad at all. Where the ohle on the GWML has been designed to take the visual aspect into account it isn't very intrusive on the eye although obviously the catenary is still there. The short masts used in one AONB as are not particularly noticeable and have been kept below cutting top level so they're not visible in the general scenery but it was obviously more expensive to do the job that way because the 25kv live feed couldn't be carried at the top of the masts And all the while that GWEP (and others) have been trying to cope with both the appearance and working in proximity to the live overhead 25kV ATF cable, the Southern Region DC network has been unobtrusively operating with surface mounted 33kV feeder cables for the last century. Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 There's cabled ATF in places (ECML, GEML), but the problem there is that it doesn't provide the same immunisation benefits that having it near the contact system does. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.W Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 On 05/03/2020 at 19:10, mervyn said: Ta for the replies ,Edwin didn't want to appear obtuse as to the electrification ,sometimes units will use diesel if there is a problem with the pan And sometimes some units will have to run on diesel even when 'under the wires' where there's now too many electric trains for the juice available, eg; TPE North of Chathill LNER North of Edinburgh Waverley 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 5 minutes ago, Ken.W said: And sometimes some units will have to run on diesel even when 'under the wires' where there's now too many electric trains for the juice available, eg; TPE North of Chathill LNER North of Edinburgh Waverley I believe the TPE one is temporary until a new feeder station is commissioned. Not heard of LNER having to do the same beyond Edinburgh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.W Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Edwin_m said: I believe the TPE one is temporary until a new feeder station is commissioned. Not heard of LNER having to do the same beyond Edinburgh. TPE, yes, though in relation to the OP an example of 800s routinely running on diesel under the wires LNER, not sure if it includes the Glasgow, but their others require to change over at Waverley (still in touch with some of my former colleagues) Edited March 9, 2020 by Ken.W 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Ken.W said: TPE, yes, though in relation to the OP an example of 800s routinely running on diesel under the wires LNER, not sure if it includes the Glasgow, but their others require to change over at Waverley (still in touch with some of my former colleagues) The Aberdeens would have to changeover at Haymarket anyway, and I thought the two a day via Stirling were able to run on electric; The Stirling terminator has been worked by a 91 on occasions ! The one Glasgow a day was always a 91 too, so no reason why an Azuma should have to use diesel ? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.W Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 2 hours ago, caradoc said: The Aberdeens would have to changeover at Haymarket anyway, and I thought the two a day via Stirling were able to run on electric; The Stirling terminator has been worked by a 91 on occasions ! The one Glasgow a day was always a 91 too, so no reason why an Azuma should have to use diesel ? I believe the 800s take more power than the 91s, combined with as I said previously a greater number of trains operating on electric. As the 800s don't need to be at a stand to change over, I'd have thought the Aberdeens should have been able to run on electric as far as Saughton Jn (is it? I never worked beyond Haymarket in that direction). Not a lot further, but given the 800s performance on diesel (ie absence of it) it would make a big difference in getting away from Haymarket and up to linespeed. The last I heard, just last month, they were also still having to run on diesel between Waverley and Stirling. As for Glasgow, as I said I'm not sure of, but aren't the SR via Shotts now also electric? Again extra electric trains, and I remember when we did work through to Glasgow, the 91s often suffered from voltage drop on the Haymarket - Carstairs line and the via Shotts were still diesel at that time 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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