RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 30, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2016 Anyone know if today was its first time in use? Can't find anything on the internet. I'll post up some pictures, though they're not my best. 43002 (in blue/grey) was also out and about today. According to Real Time Trains services from LHR only restarted today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 So where's my New Years Honour for standing on a bridge in freezing fog taking pictures of trains................. Here's an up HEX coming down the new ramp to join the up main. The track's all sorted now. Note the new "Playmobile" signal on the right. Looking the other way (from Dawley Road bridge), we see an up HEC on the newly reinstated connection to the up main. Usually these trains would use the ramp to the up relief, but they were closed - hence the engineer's train standing on the adjacent down relief. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMafia Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Wires now up on Platforms 13, 14 and 15 at Reading to some extent, 13 looks like it's missing some bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Wires now up on Platforms 13, 14 and 15 at Reading to some extent, 13 looks like it's missing some bits. Platforms 13 and 14 seemed to be fully wired for the length of the platform, whilst Platform 15 only has the Earth Wire I think. (I couldn't have a good look as I had to get to work!) Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher125 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 There are some photos on Flickr which should help: Reading Platform 15 has Overheads by dan warman, on Flickr Reading Platforms 13 + 14 has Wires by dan warman, on Flickr First Great Western 43147 by Ajax46., on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Banger Blue Posted January 3, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 3, 2017 A screenshot of the moment a rather large crow became an ex-crow courtesy of 25,000 volts: Having served in some rather dodgy spots of the world, the preceding massive flash & bang outside the office window certainly got the old ticker racing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 A memorial will be place alongside the mast by the RSPB and South Today will do a piece about cruelty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talisman56 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 There are some photos on Flickr which should help: Reading Platform 15 has Overheads by dan warman, on Flickr Reading Platforms 13 + 14 has Wires by dan warman, on Flickr First Great Western 43147 by Ajax46., on Flickr I don't see a coat-hanger on the top of the loco... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMafia Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Tonight on the night shift at Reading.. Work on platforms 1 2 3 7 and 8. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 A screenshot of the moment a rather large crow became an ex-crow courtesy of 25,000 volts: IMG_0689.PNG Having served in some rather dodgy spots of the world, the preceding massive flash & bang outside the office window certainly got the old ticker racing! Weren't the much-vaunted and expensive increased clearances on the GW electrification supposed to prevent that sort of thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon47603 Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 If you follow this link and click on the video link. A really interesting time lapse video of 3 Bridges being removed or modified over the xmas period in South Wales: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/timelapse-footage-captures-moment-three-12405662 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 6, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2017 If you follow this link and click on the video link. A really interesting time lapse video of 3 Bridges being removed or modified over the xmas period in South Wales: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/timelapse-footage-captures-moment-three-12405662 Now if only we could do the whole scheme by timelapse it'll be ready by about half past 3... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted January 6, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 6, 2017 If you follow this link and click on the video link. A really interesting time lapse video of 3 Bridges being removed or modified over the xmas period in South Wales: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/timelapse-footage-captures-moment-three-12405662 I love watching those. Am I the only one who thinks that the 360 excavators look like prehistoric birds dipping and pecking away. Jurassic Park comes to life. Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 I've a contact who works at a local power station, he's paid to shoot pigeons with a high powered air rifle, since they cause mayhem when flying through air gaps at 400,000 V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMafia Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I don't think my eyes were deceiving me but looks like your gantry has come down at Didcot Mr Stationmaster! I'll recheck on my way back later, wasn't really paying attention at 125mph... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 13, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2017 I don't think my eyes were deceiving me but looks like your gantry has come down at Didcot Mr Stationmaster! I'll recheck on my way back later, wasn't really paying attention at 125mph... Probably has - I understood from something posted on here a while back that such vandalism was planned. Honestly makes you wonder if planning ahead is such a good thing after all (However all our electrification clearance structures put up from the west end of Didcot westwards are still there so the extent of vandalism isn't too bad, and getting that job done is one which was completed on time and within budget although that was just as well as BR didn't pay for it.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan452 Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 FYI MP Ben Howlett continues work to secure electrification of Great Western mainline - http://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/politics/mp-ben-howlett-continues-work-secure-electrification-great-western-mainline-70909/ Friday 6th January 2017 Ben said: “We had a frank discussion and my understanding is the issue is greater than just financial which is preventing this project completing on time. “There is a lack of skilled labour in the UK to actually implement the electrification of mainline services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher125 Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 For anyone wondering how things are going, a couple of videos by Michael Fleet have been uploaded showing how electrification and Crossrail works have progressed between Paddington and Reading, taken on the 8th - wiring looks all but complete as far as Maidenhead, with progress beyond there looking very encouraging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 FYI MP Ben Howlett continues work to secure electrification of Great Western mainline - http://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/politics/mp-ben-howlett-continues-work-secure-electrification-great-western-mainline-70909/ Friday 6th January 2017 He forgot to add ".....all at the same flipping time, like we had naively demanded, but we won't take the flak for that, we'll make sure everyone else does, and anyway we've bought all these bi-mode trains now so we can't afford to do it anymore." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 19, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) For anyone wondering how things are going, a couple of videos by Michael Fleet have been uploaded showing how electrification and Crossrail works have progressed between Paddington and Reading, taken on the 8th - wiring looks all but complete as far as Maidenhead, with progress beyond there looking very encouraging. There looked to be a couple of gaps on the Reliefs - Langley to Slough and east of Burnham plus through Taplow station and the Twyford station masts are still absent although the foundations were mostly complete a couple of months back (but the holes in the platform canopies had not been cut). It was rather amusing i see that one of the 1961 signal gantries east of Shottesbrooke is still in use (should have gone at easter 2016) although all the new ones are now in place with most in commission. The other thing I noticed is that there are still a lot of headspans in place east of Airport Jcn and I understood the original proposal was to replace them with steel structures west of Acton although I'm not sure if that was part of the Crossrail scheme or the GWML scheme. Overall there is definitely progress but some of it still seems painfully slow and disjointed. Edited January 19, 2017 by The Stationmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher125 Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) There looked to be a couple of gaps on the Reliefs - Langley to Slough and east of Burnham plus through Taplow station The wires are hard to see in a few places but when I checked I couldn't see any gaps, the following video for example shows wires up through taplow: Edited January 19, 2017 by Christopher125 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 There looked to be a couple of gaps on the Reliefs - Langley to Slough and east of Burnham plus through Taplow station and the Twyford station masts are still absent although the foundations were mostly complete a couple of months back (but the holes in the platform canopies had not been cut). It was rather amusing i see that one of the 1961 signal gantries east of Shottesbrooke is still in use (should have gone at easter 2016) although all the new ones are now in place with most in commission. The other thing I noticed is that there are still a lot of headspans in place east of Airport Jcn and I understood the original proposal was to replace them with steel structures west of Acton although I'm not sure if that was part of the Crossrail scheme or the GWML scheme. Overall there is definitely progress but some of it still seems painfully slow and disjointed. There were several signal gantries still in place in the White Waltham area when I passed through on the way to/from the Maidenhead show on 7th. Some of them had had the earth wire threaded through them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher125 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 The wires are hard to see in a few places but when I checked I couldn't see any gaps, the following video for example shows wires up through taplow: To add to that, a recent traveller has confirmed that as far as they could see all the wire runs are up as far as Maidenhead - very welcome news indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 The other thing I noticed is that there are still a lot of headspans in place east of Airport Jcn and I understood the original proposal was to replace them with steel structures west of Acton although I'm not sure if that was part of the Crossrail scheme or the GWML scheme. Everything east of Maidenhead is the Crossrail project. West of there is the GWML electrification project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 The wire runs may be up, but there is still a lot of work to be done before they would be fit for operations. Judging by my own station (West Drayton), there are droppers missing, catenary and contact wires out of longitudinal register with each other (and that within a few spans of a mid-point anchor), contact wire held up by temporary straps, and so on. On top of that, I have heard it said that the whole of the Paddington approaches will need to be rewired to cope with the higher fault currents with the new power supply arrangements. It's an interesting comparison with the Southern Railway's expansion of the DC network that the conductor rail out of Waterloo didn't need to be upgraded significantly until the current generation of rolling stock arrived. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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