L2's are great!

I can give you the figures, just let me know which ones you want and from which towers

Ill try screengrab the full L3 plans with the data, it might not be clear but all my plans i have were pre photocopied etc.

These are some more L2 prints

These are the L3 C plans 

13 minutes ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

What on earth towers are those? Those are not normal L2 D10 or D30 crossarms. Check your own plans earlier (you’ll have to guess which are L2 and L3 as you didn’t indicate in any possible way what was what). If L2 was ever constructed to that design, the design changed considerably afterwards. L2 around here has very different crossarms, and the bracing is different between D10 and D30, as I can see from your plans it is for L3 also. The plans are just too small to be able to draw the crossarms and show the difference.

Those are original CEGB blueprints for the L2 series and here are the normal L3s

It wont let me rotate it for some reason

16 minutes ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

You like making it a headache to figure out what your photos represent but I did identify the location of that L6 JLE D90, and I was able to compare it to the drawing on my L6 page. It’s near enough the same. The drawings are never accurate to begin with.

I might at some point have a go with your L4 and L7 plans. The L4 drawing has the missing D90 type and the missing bracing members from National Grid’s D60 drawing (for now I just estimated those pieces from photos). The L7 drawings are either inaccurate or the design changed—a number of final crossarm bracing members are missing—but are usable and I can use my own photos to put back the missing bracings. (The final crossarm bracing members for L2 and L3 are generally impossible to make out in those hopelessly small drawings, and for L2 this is an important detail as D10 and D30 have distinctly different crossarm bracing — possibly the same with L3 but I never got to L3 in person this year. I suspect they were just drawn too small to begin with.)

Well its just the way ive posted things since joining this forum in 2019, I guess we are all different in the way we word things.

But there are these plans for the L2 D10 and D30 that i have which should help, i forgot i had these.

On 26/06/2022 at 20:54, L2's are great! said:

Also having never seen a blaw knox L6 D90 tower before, am i right in saying this is one of them??

Heres the Blaw Knox D90 Equiv on route heading west out of monk fryston

22 minutes ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

How much work goes into designing a pylon? If that is the only L6 JLE D90, was it worth the time taken to design it, compared to getting (say) BICC to put in a D90, or to just take a different route? Seems odd how little some of the different types were ever used.

It is bizarre how difficult it is to find certain D90s but then again if D60s can be used then that's usually the more common alternative approach I'd say.

The most common L6 D90 is the BICC design, followed by balfour beattys version and the blaw knox variant for which, I only know of 3 in existence. Even with L3 for example, there is no L3 D90, most D90 towers in L3 routes are L2 D90s 

Are there any other L6 JL Eve D90s other than this one? I know of 3 D40ECs, 2 at Chesterfield, one at Nursling but hadn't found any other D90s 

1 hour ago, pharrc20 said:

Not many L2 lines with more than one D90 tower - another localish one is the Kearsley to Whitegate 275kV line VJ I think it is (off top of me head) that has two D90s, first is second tower out after leaving Kearsley and the second is further along line next to M60 orbital motorway near Middleton, Manchester.

This YYS Runcorn line runs to what is now the INEOS plant. Not sure if the line has ever been altered aside from the 400kV connection into the Rocksavage power plant and extra L8 ST tower that was inserted. Only part of this line appears on the NGC data iirc. Don't forget that a D90 tower is used to deviate lines from 61 upto the full 90 degrees angle, where the turn has to be more than than a D60 can go.

Cheers Paul

Ah yes that was the other example. Kearsley has that very rare D90 with equal arms too, or does that even count as a D90?

Oh yes i noticed that there was an ST tower situated right next to a modified L2 D10 tower. Ah thats probably why, but when i looked at it from above, the angle seemed lower than 60. Either that or that is the lowest angled L2 D90,  but then again you've got a similar scenario at Nursling with that BICC D90.

Best wishes, Felix

This very short L2 route consists of only 10 towers and links Frodsham Sub to Rocksavage Power Stn. Part of the line is half 132kv half 400kv, but wanted to share because that D90 is not on a full 90 degree turn. Makes me wonder if it was rerouted but I can't seem to find out. This section is just 132kv and is at the very end of the route. Interestingly there is another D90 further down especially when L2 D90s are not that common.

An interesting shot I found on the web.

Shows the East Claydon-Cowley Line only a few months old in December 1967 on the approach to East Claydon Sub

15 hours ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

Is there a means to upload them such that they retain their original filenames, and their high resolution? This forum crushes images down to a tiny sizes and the images are all randomly named (seemingly prior to upload). What happened to the RHS of each, with the series name, date, dimensions etc?

 

So far I have chosen not to trace L6 BB or L2 as the drawings are just too small and in too poor quality, although I am not convinced that the missing detail in the L2 drawings ever existed. L2 D10 and D30 have different crossarm bracing and nothing I have seen so far is of any use in drawing either. One PDF I found shows the difference clearly but nonetheless it’s drawn badly, and the plans omit D30 and the crossarm bracing is too cramped to recreate.

 

Looking at the incredible models I see here, there must be some good plans of the PL generation out there (that I am not allowed to have), but I have all but given up on pylons at this stage, as what I am working on is just not deemed to be desirable by anyone.

I started down this path to scratch my own itch, and I have scratched it to the point of bleeding. Beyond that, I only retain my desire to continue things if there is a clear desire for it to succeed.

There is a tower bible that i have saved as a pdf and it has a good selection, but admittedly there are plans that i too am missing yet i know they exist. I think the only way to obtain some is to know someone who works for national grid because the plans are sure to be saved on the system. 

On 02/11/2022 at 00:42, Daniel Beardsmore said:

Current plans status of all lattice types with known designations >= 132 kV⁴:

 

PL1 and PL1b: requires investigation as there is still no information on how these differ
PL1a single circuit: plans needed
PL1a double circuit: covered by the Tower Bible but D56 and DT90 are missing
PL2: never seen; plans are missing from the Tower Bible
PL3: never seen; plans are missing from the Tower Bible
PL4: further plans needed as Tower Bible coverage is incomplete
PL7: further plans needed as Tower Bible coverage is incomplete
PL9: known only from a brief listing in relation to optical fibre conductors; never seen
PL10: known only from a brief listing in relation to optical fibre conductors; never seen
PL16 single circuit: plans needed
PL16 double circuit: further plans needed as Tower Bible coverage is incomplete (missing numerous DD types)
L16: covered by the Tower Bible (notwithstanding non-bible DT towers)
L55: believed to be the same as L16 but only the D2 plan is recovered¹
L132: seems to be synonymous with L16/L55³
L66: plans needed, none recovered
L2: good condition plans needed, including SFX and D10 crossarms as these are omitted from the standard plans
L3: plans needed, none recovered
L4: may as well have the whole lot as National Grid’s ones are incomplete and inaccurate (D90 missing, D60 and D30 incorrect)
L6: needed: L6 BB (current plans are too squashed/degrated), L6 JLE, L6 BICC, L6(c) all types
L7: plans needed
L8: uncertain; the L8(c) plans are warped from reproduction errors
L9: plans needed, none recovered
L12: all good

L12L: plans needed (L12 LD30/L12L D30)
L13: plans needed
L34: better plans needed²

 

All plans can be made publicly available for everyone’s benefit if permitted, or kept offline and used publicly only for creation of recognition diagrams.

 

¹ the “3-X” type is still a mystery; it could be J L Eve’s version of PL16, i.e. CEB-L132 0.175 conductor³ — needs further examination of 3-X lines to inspect the deviation towers

 

² the S or S2 plans are truncated and thus missing the inscription (the missing part of the tower base was guessable), and the S30° plans are missing a page and the bottom of the existing page. It’s possible that the plans are marked “GEN.OHL.275/L34” which would be where its name comes from. One of the L2 plans is indeed marked “GEN.OHL.275/L36”, and L55 gets its name from the marking “GEN.OHL.132/L55”. L66 may be the same.³

 

³ Standard CEB-L132 had (at least) two conductor types: 0.4 and 0.175, with the latter being Blaw-Knox’s PL16. Eve designed the 0.4 type and in typical Eve fashion never named it, which seems to be why it’s variously called L16, L55 or L132!

 

⁴ attempting 33/66 kV lattice is plain lunacy!

Here are the all plans i have

11 hours ago, pharrc20 said:

The tower data I have for the ZPA line describes tower 42 next to the A640 road as shown in the photo link above as being an L2 D60 dated 1961.

 

Unfortunately, tower misuse is rife it seems, there is PL1 D60 used as a D tower not far from the old long gone Agecroft power station north-west of Manchester, once seemingly used to diverge either a PL1 D line from an S line or two S lines. One line is now long but used to run to Whitegate/Chadderton power station and the other is still largely in place and runs towards Kearsley and the former power station there.

 

Cheers Paul

Thats bizzare. Must of been altered when the line was assumingly diverted.

17 minutes ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

It would help to have the links along with the pictures, so that we don’t have to faff about finding the way to the same location to get better angles, examine successive towers along the line etc (necessary to identify those baby L8s, for example).

 

Based on what meagre data I have managed to acquire so far, I guess the distant towers are height-extended L8 (top part is L8, bottom part I have no data for). The close-up one seems to be the body of L2 D60 (with the wedge top instead of the pyramid top of D10/D30), combined with the D60 inner-angle crossarms on both sides.

 

I am guessing that by “oddity” you mean the idea of an L2 with unusually short crossarms?

The tower is situated on the Stalybridge junction line that comes off the Rochdale to Ferrybridge route. Just by Littleborough

13 minutes ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

It would help to have the links along with the pictures, so that we don’t have to faff about finding the way to the same location to get better angles, examine successive towers along the line etc (necessary to identify those baby L8s, for example).

 

Based on what meagre data I have managed to acquire so far, I guess the distant towers are height-extended L8 (top part is L8, bottom part I have no data for). The close-up one seems to be the body of L2 D60 (with the wedge top instead of the pyramid top of D10/D30), combined with the D60 inner-angle crossarms on both sides.

 

I am guessing that by “oddity” you mean the idea of an L2 with unusually short crossarms?

Ill find a link, this was just a screengrab i did a while back that i came across. Yeah its a one of a kind I believe with the D60 wedge however arms of an L2 D10 tower. As the line is L2/L8 i can guess that it was added in as a spare using bits that they had from decommissioned towers. The L8's are just bog standard L8's with refurbed insulators. 

Now this is one oddity that ive never seen of before. 

One of my photos of the 4TE line, which still has its original bracings

Just now, L2's are great! said:

These are indeed Blaw Knox L6s

However the DT tower is of JL Eve design

20 hours ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

What a fascinating sight — they have turned a transmission line into an art installation, even if only temporarily! It’s like one of those beach sculpture sets, and you had the perfect weather to offset the towers in the photos.

 

You out pylon spotting or, like me, just a photo opportunist? A lot of the photos I’m putting together now were just taken as a matter of fascination with no intention to do with them what I am doing now.

 

I assume these are Blaw Knox L6. I am just going by these diagrams, but the bracing does not entirely match:

 

https://twitter.com/PaulRee36122250/status/1447170086784094208/photo/2

 

Each side of the centre crossarm¹ has four bracing triangles, but only three in the diagram. Errors in these details are confusing, but enough of the details match that it seems correct. The deviation tower does not match; the diagram has a PL7-like inverted triangle in the peak.

¹ I am guessing that each pair of arms forms one crossarm, based on existing wording in various material, but what does that give you for PL1 single circuit towers? Three arms instead of three crossarms?

These are indeed Blaw Knox L6s

14 hours ago, Daniel Beardsmore said:

This is a clearer view:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@58.5596734,-3.6069703,3a,20.8y,109.74h,96.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smZ1Ow5Ei7aHsxxJ7ZuqCag!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

It’s like a cross between L12 and L2 (I thought it transitioned to L4 from that last photo).

 

Google Street View from 2009 shows just 132 kV PL16, while Open Infrastructure Map shows 132 kV and 275 kV side by side between Dounreay and Thurso. Street View now shows only the baby L12s, so this suggests that the 132 kV line was replaced by 275 kV and that Open Infrastructure Map was drawn during the interim period with both there, before the PL16s were dismantled. (Between Redbourn and Luton there is a de-energised line that has been left unused for years!)

 

This in turn implies these are baby L12s, i.e. a new(er) 275 kV type based on L12, possibly as there was insufficient justification for larger, heavier 400 kV towers. Essentially a redesigned L3 I suppose.

 

Designation: unknown. Nice find!

Ahh yes the Dounreay - Thurso Line , It makes sense that they're of L8 variant although strangely at Saltend they link to an L12 DJT. Seeing as L8 and L12 were designed at the same time, it would not surprise me if this was almost a smaller cross design between the both of them.

A rather odd type that is fairly rare. There is the line that runs from Creyke Beck to Saltend and then are two other examples between Dounreay - Thurso South and Spittal. They seem to link up to L8 DT's. Although anyone know what tower series they are officially apart of?

Also having never seen a blaw knox L6 D90 tower before, am i right in saying this is one of them??

Hi all, with the impending refurbishment of 4VK from Cottam heading south, and the loss of L6 quad lines going thick and fast. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how long the 4TE line will survive on quad. Are there any known plans for work to start on that line, predominantly the section just west of Cowley up to Northleach??