Pylons .

[Pylon King]

[Daniel Beardsmore]

1 minute ago, Pylon King said:

Looking for a super accurate model I have a couple of PL1 designs for sale . The original CEGB drawngs were used while each model features between 350-450 individually cut components . Collection from Surrey as they are too delicate to post . Open to offers .

 

What scheme are these from? CS PL1 (Central Scotland)? I only know of two schemes using those towers: CS PL1 and Bedford to Little Barford, the latter we are tentatively taking to be SEE PL2. (SEE PL1 was split between GEC and Callender’s).

[L2's are great!]

Getting up close and personal with the ZA line! Featuring towers ZA493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498 and 499!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I was “born” under that line! Not literally, but my parents were living under that line at the time. I was supposed to pass under that line today but I explored a public footpath I had never tried before and spent a couple of hours lost in fields …

 

PS the farthest two towers in the first photo are L8 D30 replacements …

Edited July 20, 2024 by Daniel Beardsmore

[L2's are great!]

Underneath the ZL Line (Stanton by Bridge- Iver) at towers 447 and 448. 
Looks like 448 is being painted! The DT45 is 449A at Amersham Substation

[L2's are great!]

Tried a walk around East Claydon to get to see the SF60s that dive under ZL and join 4YJ to 4YH and undoubtedly failed to get close. Did get these views though showing the set up from a distance 

Edited August 17, 2024 by L2's are great!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Looking at the public footpath map and comparing it to Google Maps, I can see that it could be a struggle, as you would have hedgerows and trees to contend with:

 

https://footpathmap.co.uk/map/?zoom=16.5&lng=-0.91037&lat=51.92556

 

Essential tools for pylon hunting include a good telephoto lens (I have 12×, a bit more zoom would not go amiss) and the public footpath map. It also helps when your trains don’t get cancelled or, due to late running, decide that stopping at Wivelsfield is no longer viable … (thanks Thameslink).

 

 

 

 

Lots of long spans in Burgess Hill — note the double Stockbridge dampers on both sides of the peak. It looks like every span was rated long, which is most unusual. The rule is that any single span can exceed the normal span (by a large margin) but the sum of two adjacent spans is considerably limited. (I don’t know if I have the figures for L6 large spans.)

 

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Finally got to do my Maidstone trip, after a disappointing visit to Cheddington last weekend for Watsham’s SL. Sadly, the leg to Maidstone East uses Electrostars, so still no journey on a Networker …

 

Curiously, a fellow who lives in the road leading to the substation told me that I was the second person in the last month to visit and photograph the Maidstone PL1(b) DT. I was not aware that anyone else was seeking out PL1(b), and of all the PL1(b) DT towers in the entire south-east, why that one? I only chose as it as it’s the only one I could find that I could reach by train, but everyone else drives …

 

 

PL1(b) DT … facing into the sun … will attempt to improve the levels at some point.

 

 

Note that each crossarm only has a front raker. I don’t have the GA or ED for the DT — I only have D2, D30, D60 and S2.

 

 

Note that the peak is vertical at the front. Never seen that before …

 

 

If Open Street Map is correct, this deviation is around 2°, the limit on a D2.

 

 

A clear view showing that all the rakers are flats, not L section.

 

 

Interesting peak assembly.

 

 

Old-school approach to junctions: a triangle of three towers:

 

https://openinframap.org/#16.34/51.287539/0.544535

 

Looks to be formed from D60 towers.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Silly site still has that bug where 6.2 MB of photos is accused of exceeding 10 MB. Computers that can’t add up … Charles Babbage is spinning in his grave …

 

The DT is PT1, the first D2 is PT2. I am assuming the next D2 is PT3, but the junction tower is PT7 and is the 8th tower … Oops.

 

 

This unit had a much better ride quality than the 375/6 on the way down, even though the seats were plusher on the latter … it also lacked the rattly tables … Also had a loud compressor, like the TfW 197s …

 

 

Friendly neighbourhood pylon …

 

 

Interesting place — wish I had had more time to explore and photograph. I wanted a shot of the prison but I was in a tearing hurry to get to the station and not miss my train!

[BR46]

Hey all, long time stalker of this thread and thought I'd finally get involved now we have our own house and I can maybe model the Bucknall (Potteries loop ) line. 

 

As a kid these Pylons kick started a bit of an obsession but recently I noticed they seem unusual when looking at the rest of the line. The line looks like a a lower voltage than the L6 type towers? but these ones are quite tall? There are 2 of these towers at this size that go into a corner pylon then into a third tall Pylon like these. The rest are smaller like the 4th photo.

 

 

 

The rest of the line look like this...

 

 

The line seems to come from a substation at Victoria Road (Stoke-on-Trent) and heads through Bucknall up to a more major substation at Cellarhead. I'm not sure what the line is for. After Victoria road it heads south to Tittensor then splits off.

 

 

One thing I found interesting about this line after doing more research on the train line is, it seems relatively modern. Photos that I can find from around 1963/4 show the train lines from a mile radius without the Pylons. I asked my Dad about this the other day who said he thinks he remember them being put up. Him and my mum have lived in the area from 1973.

 

Photos of Bucknall station from 1962 and 1994 with and without Pylons in the next post... any info on these Pylons, area or the potteries line would be appreciated. 

 

 

 

[BR46]

As per the last post 

 

1962 (No background Pylon Line)...

 

 

1994 the last train to head down the line before closer. Pylon line in the background.

 

[Daniel Beardsmore]

They are L7 towers, 132 kV. The L7 tower suite comprises a mixture of BICC and Eve designs (BICC line tower, Eve D30 and D60, BICC D90/DJT, Eve DT), and indeed there are some resemblances to BICC’s and Eve’s designs of L6 towers. Somewhere in the 70s the suite was metricated as L7(c); the design didn’t change.

[BR46]

51 minutes ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

They are L7 towers, 132 kV. The L7 tower suite comprises a mixture of BICC and Eve designs (BICC line tower, Eve D30 and D60, BICC D90/DJT, Eve DT), and indeed there are some resemblances to BICC’s and Eve’s designs of L6 towers. Somewhere in the 70s the suite was metricated as L7(c); the design didn’t change.

 

Thanks for this Daniel! I will get researching. Is there anyway to find out what the line serves/ why it was built and age? I guess if it turned metric as you say this would mean the line is mid 70s maybe. 

[Daniel Beardsmore]

L7 is a 60s design; it was metricated in the 70s (adapted such that new towers could be constructed from metric-section steel bars following metrication of the UK steel industry — L7(c) is still a current design). Questions surrounding the line itself would be something to pose at the Pylon Appreciation Society forum if it were still active. (The forum is still functional, but it suffered an exodus of active interest a few years back, before my time there.) If this line were constructed in the mid 70s or later they will be L7(c) metric towers.