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

[RJS1977]

On 22/03/2023 at 00:01, melmerby said:

 

I thought they said they alternated between the two and staff were always available should they need to take control from the other side (either way) if necessary.

 

Certainly having two such centres seems a more resilient idea than say having the whole main line from Paddington to Bristol and beyond controlled from one building with no backup. But nobody would do that, would they.....?

[melmerby]

What was going on with that clock at Findlaters Corner?

It was said that it had been sent away to a clock restorers in S. London.

What we saw going back, appeared to be a mostly new dial and a radio controlled electric mechanism. I doubt that was what was removed.

[The Stationmaster]

On 22/03/2023 at 00:01, melmerby said:

 

I thought they said they alternated between the two and staff were always available should they need to take control from the other side (either way) if necessary.

They did indeed say that.  However it used to the situation that the English end ROC was the normal one and the one in France was effectively there only  for emergency use (although it no doubt had periods of operation to allow staff to keep themselves up to date).

[Edwin_m]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

What was going on with that clock at Findlaters Corner?

It was said that it had been sent away to a clock restorers in S. London.

What we saw going back, appeared to be a mostly new dial and a radio controlled electric mechanism. I doubt that was what was removed.

I guess the face and the hands could have been original.  The mechanism, not so much.  

[melmerby]

No comments on last night's episode?

I first used the "New" Coventry station when steam trains were still around.

 

He didn't mention the nameplate & crest of (4)6240 which used to be on display.

The loco actually visited the new station in 1962, after it opened.

Edited March 30, 2023 by melmerby

[Ian Hargrave]

20 minutes ago, melmerby said:

No comments on last night's episode.

I first used the "New" Coventry station when steam trains were still around.

 

He didn't mention the nameplate & crest of (4)6240 which used to be on display.

The loco actually visited the new station in 1962, after it opened.

Interesting. It was my first Duchess…then in BR blue.Copped at Llandudno Jct. In August 1952. My only visit to Coventry station came in 1963 after a short journey from New Street on a Euston bound train headed by another of the same….this time BR maroon 46245 City of London. I’ll watch later.

[AMJ]

There will always be more filmed at the time and often gets left on the cutting room floor.  Similarly I know of which photos I have supplied and suspect that only a few will appear in the Leeds programme.

[caradoc]

The bedroom in Coventry station was interesting, but it wasn't clear I think whether there was only the one, or several? 

 

[Graham108]

On 23/03/2023 at 11:22, melmerby said:

What was going on with that clock at Findlaters Corner?

Some other dodgy stuff there now - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11936313/Central-London-crossroads-bizarre-mishmash-road-markings-leaves-motorists-baffled.html?ico=mol_desktop_home

[The Stationmaster]

On 31/03/2023 at 12:44, caradoc said:

The bedroom in Coventry station was interesting, but it wasn't clear I think whether there was only the one, or several? 

 

Normally there were several - at Bristol Temp,e Meads there were at least half a dizen and they were still in use in 1985 when I used a meeting room on the same floor of the building. 

[31A]

48 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Normally there were several - at Bristol Temp,e Meads there were at least half a dizen and they were still in use in 1985 when I used a meeting room on the same floor of the building. 

 

I remember there were some upstairs in Cambridge station when I worked there in the 1980s; I don't know how many but I remember the Buffet staff talking about them.

[Pacific231G]

On 20/03/2023 at 16:30, Ian Hargrave said:

Another great programme this week. As a schoolboy travelling overnight from Switzerland an early morning crossing from Boulogne was rough and caused me the only bout of seasickness I have ever suffered. I was happy to disembark at Folkestone Harbour ( the station now lovingly restored) and board the boat train which was hauled and propelled up the incline by a collection of antique SR tanks to the junction where a waiting Bulleid was ready to take us onward to Victoria…..1956.

I used Folkestone Harbour a couple of times at least en route to Paris in the 1970s early 1980s . The boat train was an EMU but it was still interesting to go beyond Central and then back down the incline. I far preferred it to Dover and was delighted that it has been restored. At one time there seemed to be a preference for London-Paris services to go via Folkestone-Boulogne rather than Dover-Calais so I assume the total journey time was a bit faster. One of those trips was the last time I crossed the channel on a proper railway ferry- i.e a not a powered car barge. I don't know what the ship was but it was steam turbine and did the trip a lot faster than any car ferry (speed cats and hovercraft excepted). On one occasion we also used the hovercraft that ran to Boulogne Aeroglisseurs with a notably fast RTG set  (Rame Turbine à Gaz) for the run to Gare du Nord.  The last time I was there the station (a simple platform laid alongside a loop line used for the now demolished steel works) and the hovercraft terminal were still intact though the station platform had lost its canopy. 

[timdunn]

Forgive me fir not keeping up with replies on here as I have done better in the past!  I will try to deal with a few here:

 

@Pacific231G. I should note that I think the ”arch”’s removal was sad: it should have been moved, ugly to some or not. Together with the central hall they were worth saving. We are perhaps lucky that a few parts of the old Euston exist in a museum: perhaps they will one day have the prominence they deserve. I think it was was an ugly building and a strange choice, but then some people hate the Seaton Tramway station or new Canaerfon station and I think both are quite good.

 

 

Channel Tunnel: yes the control centres are alternated either weekly or fortnightly. The day of filming was a week when there were the other side.

how far did we go? I think we got to about four miles offshore: we went no further simply because of time pressures. This stuff is filmed at a rapid pace: the budgets for TV are ever shrinking (“why is there so much rubbish on tv?” People ask. Answer: Ty because there isn’t much money to pay for it, on the whole.) so we had to meet, security checks /briefs, do the tunnel filming, same again for control centre, plus some outdoors stuff. That’s about 12 hours… we ain’t got time to drive to France!

As with every location there’s both lots more we filmed that we can’t fit  in 22 mins, or lots more on location that we couldn’t get time to film. But then for me one of the ideas of these progs is to inspire you to go dig deeper elsewhere, or tell others about what you’ve learned to inspire others.

 

@melmerby Findlater’s. That was to have been a much shorter segment but a chance chat on the day of filming led me to get the team to return on the Sunday for the clock refitting. I can confirm that the clock dial with numerals itself is original but the backing -previously glass - is now shatter resistant plastic polymer. The mechanism inside is tiny and digital and new and can be remotely altered. The hands are also new . It is now (when I checked it last night) functioning perfectly!

 

 

::

 

[31A]

I've very much enjoyed this series (as I have the others) and couldn't decide whether "Like", "Thanks" or "Interesting/Thought Provoking" were appropriate buttons to press in response, so please accept all three from me and I hope for further series to come!

 

[eastwestdivide]

I've never seen a better visual definition of the word "glee" than when turning the Goole bridge!

[Mike_Walker]

I don't think an episode passes without me saying out loud: "Calm down Timothy".  But his enthusiasm is infectious.

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, timdunn said:

@melmerby Findlater’s. That was to have been a much shorter segment but a chance chat on the day of filming led me to get the team to return on the Sunday for the clock refitting. I can confirm that the clock dial with numerals itself is original but the backing -previously glass - is now shatter resistant plastic polymer. The mechanism inside is tiny and digital and new and can be remotely altered. The hands are also new . It is now (when I checked it last night) functioning perfectly!

Thanks for the clarification Tim.

 

 

 

[RJS1977]

4 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

I don't think an episode passes without me saying out loud: "Calm down Timothy".  But his enthusiasm is infectious.

At least it's not "Language, Timothy!"

[Pacific231G]

7 hours ago, timdunn said:

Forgive me fir not keeping up with replies on here as I have done better in the past!  I will try to deal with a few here:

 

@Pacific231G. I should note that I think the ”arch”’s removal was sad: it should have been moved, ugly to some or not. Together with the central hall they were worth saving. We are perhaps lucky that a few parts of the old Euston exist in a museum: perhaps they will one day have the prominence they deserve. I think it was was an ugly building and a strange choice, but then some people hate the Seaton Tramway station or new Canaerfon station and I think both are quite good.

 

 

Thanks Tim and I did enjoy your meeting with the architect responsible for Coventry which I might have dismissed as a not very interesting modern building but would look at very differently now. Ashford International's mothballing seems a great shame. The thing I could never understand with the Channel Tunnel was why they tried to hide its entrance. Keeping the nimby's off their back I suppose but It looks more like the entrance to  a storm drain than a civil engineering masterpiece- One wonders what Brunel would have built there.  The Goole bridge was wonderful and I did enjoy your excitement at operating it.

[Ian Hargrave]

7 hours ago, 31A said:

I've very much enjoyed this series (as I have the others) and couldn't decide whether "Like", "Thanks" or "Interesting/Thought Provoking" were appropriate buttons to press in response, so please accept all three from me and I hope for further series to come!

 

 
For the future perhaps,a look at the USA,starting in NYC with Grand Central,Penn Station ( the original)  the Subway and the El & a walk on the High Line. Some great material there ? Meanwhile the series is the tv highlight of the week IMHO. 
 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

21 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 
For the future perhaps,a look at the USA,starting in NYC with Grand Central,Penn Station ( the original)  the Subway and the El & a walk on the High Line. Some great material there ? Meanwhile the series is the tv highlight of the week IMHO. 
 

 

 

Sydney NSW with a beautifully outwardly preserved and 're-purposed' (horrible word that it is) necropolis station with a distinctly ecclesiastical feel to its architecture.  Plus a mainline station which is very unusual in not telling you where it is but is simply called 'Central' although it isn't - the city's most central station is called Town Hall.

[Graham108]

Great piece of camerawork - wonder who it refers to (there's so much choice!)

[Gordon Connell]

On 05/04/2023 at 16:38, Ian Hargrave said:

 
For the future perhaps,a look at the USA,starting in NYC with Grand Central,Penn Station ( the original)  the Subway and the El & a walk on the High Line. Some great material there ? Meanwhile the series is the tv highlight of the week IMHO. 
 

 

 

 

As much as I've been enjoying the series, and I have, I've missed having a foreign piece in each episode. I know Tim has said that budgets are shrinking but I hope they manage to put this back for the next series. Nonetheless thank you for some really enjoyable viewing.

 

Gordon

[melmerby]

On 05/04/2023 at 16:38, Ian Hargrave said:

For the future perhaps,a look at the USA,starting in NYC with Grand Central,Penn Station ( the original)

Or any one of several "Union" Stations, which were generally built with high levels of grandeur, many these days serving a very meagre Amtrak service. (or none at all)

"Harvey Houses", mostly (all?) on the Santa Fe main routes.

[melmerby]

Another good episode tonight.

 

The bit about the Lincoln railway history missed out a particularly awkward level crossing at Pelham Street (Durham Ox Jn.), east of the station where the GCR crossed the GNR on the level (to get to the MR station) in the middle of the level crossing:

Note the signalling wires/rods coming over the bridge from the signal box

 

Eliminated when the elevated road was built in 1961

 

NLS georeferenced map:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.1&lat=53.22528&lon=-0.53571&layers=168&b=1

 

 

Nice to see inside New Street box, just before it was decomissioned

As I understand it the equipment is staying in there.

Maybe it could be opened for tours (IIRC they have had a restricted number of visits)

 

Possibly even a computer to interface with the switching diagram for a simulated session?

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by melmerby