L2's are great!

Interesting how the L3c was much more achievable although just for the D2 tower type, and I can only imagine the troubles and some of those towers are on very steep inclines.

And then this rare circumstance of a D90 on the XF line. D90's on L3 lines are very uncommon hence they just used the L2 variant.

Tynemouth Sub and always a delight to find another D90, just up from the one close to the Tyne crossing.

Ahh I had a strong feeling it had something to do with the wind as that line runs through some steep valleys just north of Hutton sub. They certainly caught me out first time I saw them I suddenly thought L2 can take quad??

Its clearer to see here because you can see the spacers are angled diagonally rather than straight.

Another finding of recent is the rather different looking position of the insulators particularly with the D10s and D30s on the Hutton-Harker route. Either that or there are strong winds up there.

Good guess but no. Eggborough today hasn’t any L2s near it. It’s all mainly L6s. This is the ZN route near the Rugeley Tee

Guess the location and lines

Ooh one of those 2 D90s! Isn’t the other one right at the start of the 2nd section of 4TE?

A shot taken back in July, of the eastern part of the 4TE route which is still surviving in its original condition, how long for is up for debate. Interestingly the line switches to a more refurbished look about 2/3rds into the route towards Seven Springs.

Found this shot which shows the current set up much clearer

Although I don’t remember seeing any L2 ST towers at Hams Hall last I checked, probably brought down when the power station went

Drakelow just looks like a maze from a distance. Especially because 4 different L2 routes meet up in one place as well as the fairly short L6 circuit to Bustleholm which was recently rerouted and now has an L12 DJT as it’s ending. You can see the D30 has been rerouted and extended support on the right arms I think. Having a check back on google maps and sometime between 2019 and 2021 they disconnected the DT45. Up to 2019 it seems to have been connected just to the sub possibly for that exact reason (training)

I know the Rugeley one is a deffo and then a few other shorter 275kv lines. The Penn-Drakelow is one of those half and half ones with one circuit on 275kv the other 400kv. Ohh I’d be very interested to see any photos you get if you do manage to make a visit there. Set ups like that certainly require a visit especially when google maps doesn’t do it justice. HS2 has crucified the northern end of the Hams Hall-Feckenham and a good load of L2s all been lost :(

Something else I stumbled upon Hams Hall in 1952, I imagine this is either the Feckenham line or Drakelow line

Ah thats fantastic to see! I can see the D90s in the bottom photo in the top left and the D30s further down. It seems to have changed a lot more than i imagined. Interesting how that DT45X is wired up when the L8s are already up, i thought it would of been de-strung by the time they went up.

Its a shame those old OS Maps aren't available to have a look at. Oh yes i imagine so, or one of those examples that you see between Penn and Drakelow. That line seems to have a lot of tee's. Oh I'd love to have a closer look myself but unlikely since im so far away, but its a rare occasion where there are 3 D40s within walking distance. Ah that makes sense, I believe there is one at East Claydon and 2 at the Tyne Crossing at Jarrow basically acting as gantry towers. Well even the Iver end of the line has been taken over by a load of L8s by the M25. I bet when it was the full line, it would of rivalled the 4VK line for length (105 miles), When i looked on the openinfrastructuremap it was clear that the towers were positioned in a straight line making them seem to join up perfectly before the chaos ensued. Ah yes bloody motorways also getting in the way aha. The insulators on that L2 D seem stretched at a push, it would of made much more sense to swap it out for an L8 D because they mirror the L6 design. Felix

Ah thanks Paul, So there used to be 2 DT45s at that site? From looking above its possible to make out that there is one lower height tower below the ZD D90 yet the other seems to be long gone and one of those How that DT45 was positioned the way it was is beyond me. I can only assume that the one circuit terminated on the 3rd arms and the other to the right set of arms yet heading straight on as you see with some ST and STX towers. So the line that comes from drakelow heading for ratcliffe via the claydon line is just omitted from serving willington even tho the triangular set up clearly shows 2 routes into willington rather than one.

Oh wow, what a history!! Yes i did notice those 2 D30s that are right next to the River Trent just north of the old site looked odd and now we know why! It would of made sense to use an L8 DJX tower but I'm glad the 2 D30s remain rather than an intruding L8 rather like the one at Oldbury. Yes because the line splits with one end going towards the triangular junction set up just south of Willington where there are 3 D40s, 2 of which have D60 earth peaks funnily enough. That's fascinating to know the original route went straight to Iver as that's not too far from me. I wonder why they didn't just leave the Coventry to Enderby as one line and have the L2's cross under but then again the M69 is very close and it wouldn't work to have the lines lowered right next to it. The triangular set up is quite interesting to observe on streetview

Its funny you say that Paul, because i came across 2 of them yesterday, and theres one that makes a very sharp turn at Pangbourne Road

The only high resolution ones i have were those individual L2 CEGB Plans. D10, D30, etc.

Something else I came across, talking of D90's is the setup on the approach to Willington substation. Ik that there is 2 D90's that then attach to L8 DTs however there is this abandoned DT45. Is there anything to suggest this was ever connected to the original circuits?

Ooh that'd be great!

What i can do, is compile a list from all the plans i have and post it here, so all the figures add up in an orderly way

Also was looking into Castle Donington Power Station and the backstory of the pylons that ran past there. The L6 BKs came from Ratcliffe Power Station and then there was a switch to L2 which can be seen today. The L2D40 EC was added in way later to connect up the 2 routes as you can make out the L2 DT45 and L2 D60 in the old shot from 1988 however they are not connected unlike today. These L2's run to the cross over near Enderby. Im not sure if the East Claydon section originally connected to the Ratcliffe branch but it looks likely before the L6s came and diverted things with the Ratcliffe line running to Coventry instead. Such a fascinating tale to be had with the routes around the old power station which there is nothing left of. Did the other L2 route which runs to Drakelow/Willington ever divert to Castle Donington?