Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Over the next two weekends, Poole level crossing is being renewed - so no trains between Bournemouth and Wareham. Varied array of locos from four different companies - DB Schenker, Freightliner, GBRf and Colas - the latter being a Class 70. Due to the sharp curvature through Poole Station, the new track has come pre-curved. Haven't seen that before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 4630 Posted February 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 28, 2015 Interesting. Thanks for posting Peter. Looks like they've loaded Hornby 2nd radius curves whereas they should have loaded at least 3rd radius. I assume they're not demolishing the Victorian pedestrian footbridge adjacent to the level crossing as part of this work? All a world away from the little gate box that was next to the gated level crossing when I was growing up in the area. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Hopefully the footbridge is safe. People were queueing to get over it as it effectively divides the main shopping street in two. Can't understand why some people were slightly miffed when I was standing in the middle of it taking photos...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Hope the ro-railer doesn't select reverse gear by mistake..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Here's the main centre of the action by the level crossing, as viewed from the footbridge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted February 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 28, 2015 Footbridge is safe there's no other option, can you imagine the scrum if the barriers failed without it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Pity it's not Derby County...... Anyway, for the number spotters amongst us, the trains in the pocession at Poole, in the order they arrived are: 66143 TNT with 66024, 66551, 70808, 66738 and 66037. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 It was a lovely sunny morning, but by the time I got too Poole this afternppn the clouds had descended. Here's the view from the footbridge at High Street level crossing. The up line has been relaid - just waiting for the ballast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Many of yesterday's locos had departed, but a new pair were 66069 TNT with 66021. Here they approach the crossing with fresh ballast, whilst PW staff do some tweaking to the newly-laid track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trog Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Going by the pre-curved rails and details like the blue left handed clips at the ends of the rails it looks like some one has put quite a bit of thought into setting this job up. I wonder why they are using hardwood sleepers though, as concretes would last longer and being heavier would help keep the track where it belonged. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Many of yesterday's locos had departed Not departed as such, but they were on the Holes Bay causeway. I went down yesterday, as well as today on my bike to try and see what engines were down there. Film camera in hand of course. Saturday 28/02/15 Sunday 01/03/15 Regards, Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Very nice Matt. Judging by the position of the locos and the weather, you must've came just as I left yesterday, whilst you were before me today. Did you get the number of the tamper on the up line by any chance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitbull1845 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Typical. Live 5 mins up the road and didn't even realise this was going on.. funny I was in my garage 30 mins ago and I heard horns that weren't the norm. Sounded like a 73 but more than likely the tamper. Thanks for posting the pics and info.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted March 1, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2015 Many of yesterday's locos had departed, but a new pair were 66069 TNT with 66021. Here they approach the crossing with fresh ballast, whilst PW staff do some tweaking to the newly-laid track. Here's the not too dissimilar view from a little over thirty years ago: It's changed a bit... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Thank you Peter.Unfortunately, as it was parked parallel to the bus storage depot, I couldn't get the number. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Typical. Live 5 mins up the road and didn't even realise this was going on.. funny I was in my garage 30 mins ago and I heard horns that weren't the norm. Sounded like a 73 but more than likely the tamper. Thanks for posting the pics and info.. Don't fret Scott, they'll do it all over again with the Down line next weekend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted March 1, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2015 Going by the pre-curved rails and details like the blue left handed clips at the ends of the rails it looks like some one has put quite a bit of thought into setting this job up. I wonder why they are using hardwood sleepers though, as concretes would last longer and being heavier would help keep the track where it belonged. Just what crossed my mind! Jointed as well with its added maintenance etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted March 1, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2015 Going by the pre-curved rails and details like the blue left handed clips at the ends of the rails it looks like some one has put quite a bit of thought into setting this job up. I wonder why they are using hardwood sleepers though, as concretes would last longer and being heavier would help keep the track where it belonged. Just what crossed my mind! Jointed as well with its added maintenance etc. There is a very simple reason for using wood on sharp curves - the track gauge must be slightly wider than on the straight or otherwise there is a very real risk of flange climb and the wheelset derailing. Concrete sleepers are mass produced to suit the standard UK track with all fixings (chair base holes, Pandrol / Fastclip fittings) based around UK standard gauge, (1435mm IIRC) but on sharp curves (and through sharply curved points) a fiddle factor must be added. Using hardwood sleepers allows this 'fiddle factor' to be added and the chairs spacing adjusted accordingly As an aside the Bluebell's new carriage shed was heavily restricted in terms of the locos that could be used to get the Pullman stock out as the approach trackwork used concrete sleepers (which had fixed chair positions) and even locos like the C class were at risk of derailing or suffering damage from the track. Relaying it on wooden timbers allowed the gauge to be widened slightly easing the stress on locomotives using that siding. As for using jointed track, well that is again down to the curvature. Although CWR may seem very flexible you get to a point where it simply is not feasible to bend it any further (as in safe to do so without storing up a hell of a lot of excess energy and potential alignment issues for decades to come). As a result the use of short jointed lengths is sometimes the only way of getting round tight turns. An example local to me is Lewes where the sharply curved London bound platforms are laid with individual rail lengths joined together in the traditional manor and Poole is similar. The thing is because of the curvature the speed is low so actually the benefits of CWR are not as great as it might seem (as opposed to on gentle curves or straight lines). Yes it does mean there are more joints to check but as with many things on todays railway, there is not a lot you can do about the alignments the Victorians decided on back when vehicle lengths were much shorter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 There used to be a check rail on the inside of the curve. You can see it on one of my pics on the old Down line. Although some of the wooden sleepers have wider baseplates to fit a check rail, it looks like most of the new curve won't have one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted March 1, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2015 There used to be a check rail on the inside of the curve. You can see it on one of my pics on the old Down line. Although some of the wooden sleepers have wider baseplates to fit a check rail, it looks like most of the new curve won't have one. Ah yes - thats a good point. I don't believe you can get concrete sleepers with the correct holes etc to mount the special chairs required where check rails are fitted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted March 2, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 2, 2015 Ofcourse, I'd completely forgotten about gauge widening! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted March 2, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 2, 2015 In a sense completely OT, here is some track renewal work at Poole again, a little over thirty years ago, but on the other side of the station along the carriage/run round sidings (with apologies for the quality of the film stock): Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trog Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 On reflection and as mentioned by others the timber sleepers are probably so a check can be fitted, as I don't think there is a current concrete check rail sleeper. It is probably nothing to do with the gauge as you can adjust that on some types of concrete sleepers by using different nylons, or combinations of sleeper and rail. The use of jointed will be down to the problems of holding the track to a curved alignment of that tight a radii in hot weather. Without that problem if say the track was in a tunnel CWR would be better, as it would save the trouble and expense of using pre-curved rail to stop the track going all 50p bit at the joints. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Red Fox Posted March 4, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 4, 2015 About time this stretch of track was done, many of the old sleepers in the station area looked to be in a terrible state. I travelled through the station yesterday and a number of the sleepers at the start of the curve in the station had the chair fitted for the check rail (I assume these are the wooden sleepered panels furthest from the camera in the first picture of this thread) but no check rail fitted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I went back to Poole today, in the hope that there would be a different set of engines in attendance for the works. Apart from 66738, the engines that were there are different ones to the previous weekend. Regards,Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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