Bullhead on the main line

[ejstubbs]

Approaching Wolverhampton on a Virgin Voyager from Telford yesterday, I noticed what looked for all the world to be bullhead rail on some sections of track at the north end of the station.  Granted, some appeared to be sidings of some kind, but I'm pretty sure some of it was on tracks that led to/from platforms.  Did I imagine in it - a febrile delusion brought on by spending four days in Telford, perhaps?

 

On a different subject: the Pendolino that took me back to Edinburgh was uncomfortably warm.  Not quite so much that I felt it necessary to disturb the woman in the aisle seat so that I could remove my suit jacket, but still not exactly relaxing.  I don't use VTWC very often - are they always like that?

 

(I also noted a random looking collection of tents and 'bashies' pitched in a patch of scrubby woodland on the east side of the line, I think near Wolverhampton Junction North.  Presumably some kind of informal colony for homeless persons.  What a wonderful society we live in.)

[caradoc]

No, you are not seeing things, some of the points at the north end of Wolverhampton station are bullhead rail.

 

Personally I find Pendolinos a little on the cool side, so that I normally wear a long-sleeve shirt so I can remove my jacket ! Still, I suppose temperature on trains is, like the firmness of the seats, always subject to individual preference.

[ejstubbs]

I am quite sensitive to cold, and there was a guy sat on the other side of the coach wearing a t-shirt, as well as two youngish kids sat opposite me wearing short-sleeved polo shirts.  So I think it was a tad warm in there yesterday.  The train was fairly full, mind.  Perhaps the aircon struggles to cope above certain levels of passenger loading?  Or it was just badly adjusted.

[D854_Tiger]

I am quite sensitive to cold, and there was a guy sat on the other side of the coach wearing a t-shirt, as well as two youngish kids sat opposite me wearing short-sleeved polo shirts.  So I think it was a tad warm in there yesterday.  The train was fairly full, mind.  Perhaps the aircon struggles to cope above certain levels of passenger loading?  Or it was just badly adjusted.

 

There are unique environmental factors pertaining to Wolverhampton, the Black Country, Birmingham and the people that live there that can affect air conditioning systems, a bit like how jet aircraft engines can be affected by flying over a volcano.

 

It has also affected the evolution of the people that live there, the most obvious being the way that we speak.

[TheSignalEngineer]

 

On a different subject: the Pendolino that took me back to Edinburgh was uncomfortably warm.  Not quite so much that I felt it necessary to disturb the woman in the aisle seat so that I could remove my suit jacket, but still not exactly relaxing.  I don't use VTWC very often - are they always like that?

)

I don't know about Pendolinos, only use them about twice a year but the Voyagers used to be terrible. There didn't seem to be any sync between the a/c units at each end of the coach, I think they must have had independent sensors.  If one was pumping out hot air and the two were not set the same the other could be freezing.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Regarding the Bullhead, there were a few bits of point work  around Birmingham and Wolverhampton that were difficult to bend up in flat bottom. They had to be specially made whereas they were virtually standard bits in BH. The bits of plain line in between were thus easier to do in BH as well.

[D854_Tiger]

Approaching Wolverhampton on a Virgin Voyager from Telford yesterday, I noticed what looked for all the world to be bullhead rail on some sections of track at the north end of the station.  Granted, some appeared to be sidings of some kind, but I'm pretty sure some of it was on tracks that led to/from platforms.  Did I imagine in it - a febrile delusion brought on by spending four days in Telford, perhaps?

 

On a different subject: the Pendolino that took me back to Edinburgh was uncomfortably warm.  Not quite so much that I felt it necessary to disturb the woman in the aisle seat so that I could remove my suit jacket, but still not exactly relaxing.  I don't use VTWC very often - are they always like that?

 

(I also noted a random looking collection of tents and 'bashies' pitched in a patch of scrubby woodland on the east side of the line, I think near Wolverhampton Junction North.  Presumably some kind of informal colony for homeless persons.  What a wonderful society we live in.)

 

 

I believe there's still plenty of bull head around but probably no longer on high speed main line, anything above 70/75 mph, thinking Skegness and the Cambrian for a start, and I can't imagine the Far North lines would ever need replacing.

[D854_Tiger]

Regarding the Bullhead, there were a few bits of point work  around Birmingham and Wolverhampton that were difficult to bend up in flat bottom. They had to be specially made whereas they were virtually standard bits in BH. The bits of plain line in between were thus easier to do in BH as well.

 

I can't remember ever noticing a flat bottom single or double slip point in the UK yet but I'm sure they must exist by now.

[Edwin_m]

I can't imagine something like the layout at Newcastle, where a group of double slips replaced most of the famous diamonds in the early 90s, would have been laid in anything other than flat bottom. 

[locoholic]

There are unique environmental factors pertaining to Wolverhampton, the Black Country, Birmingham and the people that live there that can affect air conditioning systems, a bit like how jet aircraft engines can be affected by flying over a volcano.

 

It has also affected the evolution of the people that live there, the most obvious being the way that we speak.

It's been a while since any of the volcanoes in the Black Country erupted! Maybe today's earthquake will stir things up a bit...

[TheSignalEngineer]

I can't remember ever noticing a flat bottom single or double slip point in the UK yet but I'm sure they must exist by now.

I remember some double slips being put in at New St and they were an absolute PITA. I think on the last relaying of the West end there was a lot of bespoke design because standard FB components just wouldn't fit into the available space between the platforms and the tunnels.

[The Stationmaster]

I can't remember ever noticing a flat bottom single or double slip point in the UK yet but I'm sure they must exist by now.

 

They have been around for a very long time indeed and without going that far back I can well remember taking a long time to de-ice (yes ice, not frost) a flat bottom rail double slip on New Year's night 1979.  As soon as I got one end clear the other end had re-frozen and eventually I had the fixed steam lance on one end of the loco going at one end of it while I used the flexible lance at the other end then adding a couple of cwt of salt to various parts (someone had forgotten to overhaul the gas-fired switch heaters that winter).

[D854_Tiger]

It's been a while since any of the volcanoes in the Black Country erupted! Maybe today's earthquake will stir things up a bit...

 

There has already been the great Dudley earthquake of 2002, which caused a million and a half pounds worth of improvement.

[D854_Tiger]

I can't imagine something like the layout at Newcastle, where a group of double slips replaced most of the famous diamonds in the early 90s, would have been laid in anything other than flat bottom. 

 

I guessed there would be some somewhere but the trend nowadays, wherever possible, seems to be to replace slip points with more conventional point work, provided the room exists, and, if it doesn't, to resort to simplifying the track layout, if the traffic levels allow for it.

 

Places like New St, Newcastle and the London termini will continue to operate them but otherwise they must be a dying breed as re-signaling schemes spread.

 

On the Continent they still seem to like them.

[Edwin_m]

I guessed there would be some somewhere but the trend nowadays, wherever possible, seems to be to replace slip points with more conventional point work, provided the room exists, and, if it doesn't, to resort to simplifying the track layout, if the traffic levels allow for it.

 

Places like New St, Newcastle and the London termini will continue to operate them but otherwise they must be a dying breed as re-signaling schemes spread.

 

On the Continent they still seem to like them.

In fact the planned changes to Kings Cross appear to be getting rid of most/all of the slips by "stretching" the throat layout beyond the tunnels.  There is no such relatively easy solution for New Street or Newcastle. 

[Wickham Green]

I don't know about Pendolinos, only use them about twice a year but the Voyagers used to be terrible. There didn't seem to be any sync between the a/c units at each end of the coach, I think they must have had independent sensors.  If one was pumping out hot air and the two were not set the same the other could be freezing.

Probably one end detecting the temperature at the other end and thinking 'Bl**dy 'ell it's 'ot in 'ere' so going to full freezing mode while t'other end's thinking its a wee bit chilly yonder so sets itself to maximum tropical ....... each would work fine by itself, no doubt.

[great central]

An additional bit on this topic, picture taken today near Nottingham branch junction on the Nottingham route, just outside Grantham, bullhead rail with newly replaced sleepers. The chairs are dated 1956, quite likely the rail is similar vintage. When I saw staff on the track a couple of weeks back expected the rail to be replaced, but still good obviously.

 

[russ p]

Up until late 2000s there was a lot of jointed bullhead between Norwich and Ely which was 90mph for units!

Was great rattling over there at 90 in a 158 especially with the semaphores and pole routes that still existed then.

Sadly now just another boring featureless railway

[The Stationmaster]

An additional bit on this topic, picture taken today near Nottingham branch junction on the Nottingham route, just outside Grantham, bullhead rail with newly replaced sleepers. The chairs are dated 1956, quite likely the rail is similar vintage. When I saw staff on the track a couple of weeks back expected the rail to be replaced, but still good obviously.

 

IMG_20180328_093344975.jpg

 

Spot resleepering is a common practice and has been for many years.

[great central]

Up until late 2000s there was a lot of jointed bullhead between Norwich and Ely which was 90mph for units!

Was great rattling over there at 90 in a 158 especially with the semaphores and pole routes that still existed then.

Sadly now just another boring featureless railway

Quite a bit on 30 ft lengths as well!

[Southernman46]

I can't remember ever noticing a flat bottom single or double slip point in the UK yet but I'm sure they must exist by now.

The Waterloo West Crossing ladder (mostly double slips) was relayed in FB back in 2002

[Classsix T]

Up until late 2000s there was a lot of jointed bullhead between Norwich and Ely which was 90mph for units!

Was great rattling over there at 90 in a 158 especially with the semaphores and pole routes that still existed then.

Sadly now just another boring featureless railway

Late 2000's Russ? You in a parallel future universe up in Norfolk?

 

I only ask as we still have to pluck the arrows out of the car when we get back to Suffolk buh.

 

Oh late "Noughties" yer meant...tsk.

 

C6T.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Spot resleepering is a common practice and has been for many years.

On my old patch the PWay would often extend the life of a stretch of track by replacing about one in three of the sleepers on secondary routes.

[russ p]

The very rare stuff these days is concrete sleepered bullhead sometimes referred to as austerity track, the last time I saw some on a passenger line was Ancaster on the Allington to Sleaford line

Edited March 28, 2018 by russ p

[TheSignalEngineer]

The very rare stuff these days is concrete sleepered bullhead sometimes referred to as austerity track, the last time I saw some on a passenger line was Ancaster on the Allington to Sleaford line

Absolute nightmare with track circuits. We had some on the approach to one of the early AHBs. The barriers were always staying down as the track circuit failed to pick after the train passed.