Jump to content
 

All change - North Wales.


Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

I would assume that during the earlier engineering possession, the old platform line was needed to allow the main to be relaid.  That was, I presume, then removed without needing a full line possession, where as the points will need a full engineering possession - probably easier to just lock and clamp them out of use until such time as a possession is taken at an adjacent location. That way it avoids closing the railway un-necessarily.

 

Just a guess!

 

Rich

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I would assume that during the earlier engineering possession, the old platform line was needed to allow the main to be relaid.  That was, I presume, then removed without needing a full line possession, where as the points will need a full engineering possession - probably easier to just lock and clamp them out of use until such time as a possession is taken at an adjacent location. That way it avoids closing the railway un-necessarily.

 

Just a guess!

 

Rich

 

Full possesions have happened several times since the loop was taken OOU.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I don't understand why they didn't just slew the down fast across to the existing platform unless there is some issue with disability access on the old platform edge, sorry the "passenger/train interface"!

 

Regards mostyn I had a nose round the skips over the weekend while I was waiting to leave the possession there to see if there was anything worthwhile in there, nothing sadly Other than a signal ladder with top hoop from one of the semaphores, a bit too big for me to ask if I could have though!!

 

Drainage maybe ?

Maybe it's going to be like offas dyke and they aren't going to fill it at all so when the English get off the train they can't actually get into wales

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'll second that !!!!  Larry and I know how feels to be an  immigrate in a strange land .........Get all the benefits FIRST  :jester:

Our family knew folk in North Wales for years, hence our move here in mid 60's. When I traveled back the first weekend after working here for a week,  it was the first time I smelled Oldham's smoke polluted air!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Our family knew folk in North Wales for years, hence our move here in mid 60's. When I traveled back the first weekend after working here for a week,  it was the first time I smelled Oldham's smoke polluted air!

 

Don't  remind  me!! ( Once   A  Mancunian, well I suppose  I  still am!!)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Our family knew folk in North Wales for years, hence our move here in mid 60's. When I tled back the first weekend after working here for a week,  it was the first time I smelled Oldham's smoke polluted air!

Its always a shock to the system going back to civilisation ....it's the sheer amount of noise that I can't get to terms with when I go back to the Runcorn area  :scared:

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

What's the betting the new platform won't be long enough when new trains arrive?

 

It doesn't need to be - pretty much all new trains now come with Selective Door Operation and unless the station is a busy one, the application of SDO is a very cost effective solution.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I don't understand why they didn't just slew the down fast across to the existing platform unless there is some issue with disability access on the old platform edge, sorry the "passenger/train interface"!

 

 

 

Presumably because that slew would require large transition curves to maintain the same linespeed as the through line currently has.

 

Extending the platform outwards is a technique used at several Chiltern line stations including Bicester North, Princess Risborough and Gerrards Cross to give a few examples.

 

Obviously the other benefit is simply plain lining a set of points is a lot quicker than moving track onto a new alignment so possessions can be much shorter.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What's the betting the new platform won't be long enough when new trains arrive?

 

The new platform face is a bit shorter than the old one, which was about 10 coach lengths. Trains stopping at Abergele are normally 3 car units. 

 

See coachman's photos.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Talking of curves reminded me of one summer Saturday in 1989 when I was filming events at Abergele. Trains were coming through thick and fast and often out of sequence. I was told the signalmen at Rhyl weren't very helpful to the Abergele signalmen and so if a train was approaching from Rhyl with the horn blowing, it meant the signals were set incorrectly for that particular train. Whether the Abergele signalman was fed up or not by this stage, he left the signals and points set for the platform loop. The driver of the non-stop Leeds-Llandudno must have been equally p*ssed off when he realised the road was not being re-set for him and so accelerated through the points at quite a good clip, the coaches swaying from side to side as they snaked into the platform road. The train shot past my position and out through the points at the other end of the loop, which probably tipped the guard out of his seat in the back coach!

 

One morning in the mid 1960's I saw a Class 40 buried up to its nose in the ballast beyond the Down platform. I presume the train had come down the slow line from Rhyl but the slow line had been removed beyond Abergele and the points were set for the non-existent track! Abergele & Pensarn Station has seen its fair share of misdemeanors over the years.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Presumably because that slew would require large transition curves to maintain the same linespeed as the through line currently has.

 

Extending the platform outwards is a technique used at several Chiltern line stations including Bicester North, Princess Risborough and Gerrards Cross to give a few examples.

 

Obviously the other benefit is simply plain lining a set of points is a lot quicker than moving track onto a new alignment so possessions can be much shorter.

 

 

Extending the platforms out, making them wider, is also a nice to have safety consideration these days with the much quieter and faster trains that are around.

Link to post
Share on other sites

The "cables" are actually plastic ducts between drawpits.  The whole lot will be buried leaving only the manholes in the platform surface, which can be used to pull cables through as required. 

 

I don't know what the other channel is but could be for lighting (the original lights on the back of the platform probably won't light the wider platform adequately) or perhaps drainage. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I popped down to the station today for a looksee.  I don't know if this is part of the signaling....

 

post-6680-0-87533100-1490533428.jpg

 

85mph line speed. Semaphores intact but signalbox was switched out during today....

post-6680-0-44891300-1490533430.jpg

 

New view beside the signal box...

post-6680-0-85227900-1490533431.jpg

 

Spot the missing landmark.................................................. Ooh look, no footbridge....

post-6680-0-21004600-1490533433.jpg

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I popped down to the station today for a looksee.  I don't know if this is part of the signaling....

 

attachicon.gifWEB Abergele 15.jpg

 

 

Yes it is part of the signalling system - it is there to let Guards (or station staff at locations that have them) the state of the signal ahead. They need to know because it is against the rules to dispatch a train with the signal ahead at danger, in case the driver sets off by mistake. The severe consequences of this were dramatically demonstrated in 1989 when a guard gave the right away to the driver at Belgrove (Glasgow) 1989 who then set off past the red signal and smashed head on into another train passing over the adjacent junction. Of course these days we have TPWS, but the rule is still there and any attempt to dispatch against a red signal is treated with the upmost seriousness

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...