Ron Ron Ron

Construction progress on the Colne Valley viaduct is past the half-way mark. The launching girder, "Dominique" has almost reached the recently installed viaduct section, that spans Moorhall Road. This is just past the half way point. .

The Colne Valley viaduct photos ? Taken just over a week ago apparently. .

That's just a typical bi-lateral agreement, where there's no deregulation. The surprising thing is that there's any direct links at all, considering the official political stances of each nation. .

A good point. I might be wrong about the compatibility of mainland UIC gauge trains though. Academic though it is. .

I don't know for sure, but I've always presumed they'd have to be. Incidentally, I understand that with a HS1 to HS2 linked being ruled out, it allowed for the HS2 platforms to be built as there are. In practice, that now prevents European HS trains such as the French TGV's to DB ICE, from operating on HS2...not that they could ever reach it in the first place ! .

That surprises me too. A quick Google (flights) shows that both EVA Air and Air China serve the direct Beijing - Taipei route. .

Some gratuitous photos of the Colne Valley viaduct..... .

4 points. 1. Stop thinking of HS2 being the same sort of railway as the classic network. HS lines are a different type of beast. It's also being built to the larger UIC GC gauge. 2. As originally conceived, i.e. the full route(s) to Manchester and Leeds, HS2 was to be a predominantly closed network, with its own captive train fleet. The additional capacity made available on the HS2 line, was meant to allow some services to run off and beyond the end of HS2, to Scotland, Liverpool and a limited number of other destinations. A second, "classic compatible' fleet was to ordered, to serve those "off-HS2" destinations, as well as being used as the initial operational HS2 fleet, until the whole route was completed. 3. All that has changed, with Phase 2A, Phase 2B and the eastern branch (which also came under Phase 2B, originally), being cancelled. The curtailed route is now only going to be provided with a "classic compatible" train fleet. These are the only trains that have been ordered and they are being designed ....and production is being planned, right now as we discuss this. They are electric only. 4. The HS2 Phase 1 route is still being built to UIC GC, that allows for wider and taller trains to be used, than can be operated on the classic network. The platform heights are designed to a hybrid standard, that can accommodate both UIC GC gauge trains and the "classic compatible" fleet, as well as meeting the latest standards for level boarding and accessibility. Additionally, platform edge doors will be used at the intermediate stations ......now limited to only OOC and Birmingham Interchange. That's before the signalling and route control issues are added to the equation. In essence, trains designed to run on the classic network, e.g. Class 390 Pendolinos, or Class 805's, will not be compatible with HS2. All this further emphasises the complete b*ggers muddle, the government, the DafT and the Treasury have created, by cancelling HS2 beyond Handsacre. . .

With the Treasury holding back on spending and all the promises of infrastructure projects in “the North” etc, I wouldn’t hold your breath. .

Steering yokes are most likely not suited to cars used on road network like those in European countries, such as the UK. Too many narrow and twisty roads, tight turns and roundabouts to contend with, compared with North America. For similar reasons, the dropping of indicator stalks in favour of steering wheel mounted indicator buttons, will not be popular. I'm surprised a safety approval issue hasn't been raised on this. .

Initially, when the facelift model S came out with the yoke steering wheel, Tesla offered a normal round steering wheel as an option, but it wasn't long before they reversed that and made the normal steering wheel a standard fit, with the yoke becoming an option. Silly idea all round (forgive the pun). .

WonderWorks website...... https://www.wonderworksmargate.co.uk/?xnpe_tifc=bIPs4dQuxkoDOIQuOkQNhypsafeWaeiWhFWZVdJsR_B8bfLvaZ8.aZ8JRjXj4dYJx.Vl4uU_4knZOfh.&utm_source=bloomreach&utm_campaign=Hornby - The WonderWorks - launch email week31 23%2F24&utm_medium=email .

Do you mean at 5:30 mins into the video, where the camera drone turns around at Berkswell Station (Balsall Common) and starts to go back? If so, it looks like the piers are being built, for a viaduct to carry HS2 over the railway. At Burton Green, the old railway bridge, spanned the disused railway cutting. The cutting has been widened and the cut and cover ('green tunnel") is being constructed below the base of what was once the old railway alignment. The old railway bridge is to be demolished to allow construction of the tunnel, hence the temporary diversion being built alongside. When complete, the cutting will be partially filled in to create a green park and woodland area, along which a new stretch of the Kenilworth Green Way will be laid. The road (Cromwell lane) will cross over the Green Way, on a new low level bridge. Artists impressions below (taken fro the HS2 web site).... .

A couple of views of progress at the north portal of the Chilterns tunnels, at South Heath. .

A better glimpse of work on the Burton Green "green tunnel". Video from yesterday, Sunday 29th Oct. (Note: there's no work activity on weekends along much of the route.) .

The Burton Green tunnel is starting to take shape. This is the only HS2 Phase 1 "Green Tunnel" that could be fully justified, as it cuts through a village, following the trace of a disused railway line. The interesting bit of this video, is to see progress on excavation and "top down" construction of the tunnel, just north of the old railway bridge. Unfortunately, we don't get a good look until 2:40 into the video. The temporary road "bridge" diversion, that'll allow the old brick railway bridge to be cleared out of the way, can be seen, nearing completion. Unfortunately the amateurish, arty farty editing of the video, is all over the place. Also the awful, loud and repetitive non-copyright muzak is overpowering, so I recommend turning the sound down or off. .

The two parts of Emily's cutting head shield being assembled in the Victoria Rd. access /ventilation shaft. The tunnel to the right of the photo, leads to the adjacent crossover box and (IIRC) has been mechanically excavated and spray concrete lined. The rest of the TBM train will be lowered into the crossover box and brought in through this tunnel, to be joined to Emily's shield. The tunnel behind (bottom centre of the photo) is a connecting tunnel that will provide access to the "Up" bore. Tunnelling of the "up" bore (TBM "Anne") will commence from inside the crossover box and will pass through the other end of this linking tunnel (from right to left). Here's an earlier view of the cutting head, at the front. .

I think the 68331 is the catalogue number for a 5x pack of 68330 modules. .

Our last 4 cars came with the EU Certificate of Conformity included with the documentation supplied by the dealer. They did say, treat them like gold dust and that was well before the ULEZ scheme was even on the horizon. .

Uhlenbrock still make RailCom senders and they’re available. They’ve had various model number versions, the latest ones combined with Lissy transmission (their own feedback system). It’s Lenz and ESU who have stopped making them. Both only ever produced one model no. variant each. .

According to ancient hieroglyphics, they had a lot of trouble at the time, convincing people to invest in these monolithic structures. Many considered it to be a dodgy pyramid scheme. .

Shhhhhhhh ! Be quiet……I don’t think they’ve noticed. .

I note that you've selectively quoted unrelated clips from my earlier post. I wasn't suggesting that OOC had more than enough capacity to terminate and reverse half a dozen trains. The 1st line is from the beginning and relates to OOC HS2 capacity. The 2nd line is about Elizabeth Line and GWML capacity to transport the expected number of HS2 passengers into and out of central London. You're not a journalist by any chance? 🤣 To your response.... Of course, with this constrained botch-up, 6 tph won't cover all the current Avanti services. Goodness knows how they'll decide which services will run via HS2 and which will remain on the WCML Birmingham is probably a dead cert. The DafT clowns are now talking about the possibility of squeezing 12 tph into a 6 platform Euston, if and when it goes ahead. .

Getting back on topic........ The next two TBM's due to start tunnelling on HS2, have been named. Emily and Anne, are currently being assembled at the Victoria Rd. site, just west of Old Oak Common, in west London. They are being used to bore the Northolt East tunnels from Victoria Rd. to Greenford, where they'll meet the Northolt West tunnels, currently being excavated by Sushila and Caroline from West Ruislip to Greenford. https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/lift-complete-hs2s-next-tunnelling-machine-names-revealed .

When there are no sensible choices to make, what difference is that going to make? Can we rely on the choice of inexperienced, unrealistic, idealistic and increasingly today, deluded younger voters? It's bad enough when the same attributes apply to many of us older voters. .