APOLLO

Being a nice sunny day I had a run out to my old Springs Branch trainspotting haunts today.

Views from Taylors Lane bridge, just to the south of Springs Branch. A lot of tree / vegetation removal has recently been carried out, but not enough in some places !! Compare these with my (and others) photos from years ago. Lots of Springs Branch steam scenes on my Flikr site below.

Shed outlet / headshunt looking north. This was once the 4 track main line to Tyldesley & Manchester

Views from Taylors Lane bridge looking north.

The old Brewery Sidings have been cleared and old tracks removed. this is just to the north of the shed and was the start of the New Springs branch to Ince, Kirkless & New Springs. View from the road bridge. I presume the new sidings / depot will be located here - has anyone seen the plans ?

The wall (as we called it) - another of my favourite spots. Not anymore though - those dammed trees !!

A  few trains whizzed past, Pendolinos, Voyagers, 319's All the same to me these  days.

I'll visit again in a few months to see what's going on & post some more pix.

Brit15

Well folks it could have been much worse - a CLOSING DOWN CLEARANCE sale !!

A colliery Peckett and a Railroad 0-4-2 for me - 2 locos I rather like. I missed out on the earlier Peckets and ain't paying daft prices on Ebay.

Well done & thanks Hornby.

Brit15

Somebody (Trump !!!!) aught to tell the currently erupting volcano in Hawaii to "decarbonise" and stop spewing CO2 etc etc into the atmosphere !! (also stop livestock around the world farting and belching !!). Mother nature has a lot to say in this.

Personally I'm getting a little tired of this demonisation of carbon and fossil fuels, banning of diesel etc. Not to say the billions (trillions ?) of tons of CO2 etc emitted since the beginning of the industrial revolution is not having an effect - it is - but we can't reverse it, and with population still expanding rapidly there's next to nothing we can do about that either. Everybody now demands the "western" lifestyle.

I'm not a climate change / global warming denier (though I question it) - just that we are now past the tipping point. We need better answers to our forthcoming problems, from political, engineering and scientific sources than hyperloops, banning diesel etc.

I have a sneaky feeling the problem simply now is far too big to handle on a worldwide basis - we are just playing with it at the edges, certainly here in the UK (small emitter). Will the main emitters USA, China India etc fully decarbonise (by 2040 etc). NO.

Brit15

Nice photos of the Branch Bob. That 323 says special on the front destination board. 

I don't know either whats happening on the A573, interesting though. I'll take a look next week.

Brit15

What happens when the driver swerves to avoid an Elk ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test

Brit15

Just another couple of points

Hyperloop promises far higher speeds than can be achievable with conventional high speed rail and should be energy efficient. I see it as a very real threat to air on some routes and a viable alternative to high speed rail. I think the technical challenges are manageable.

I will not argue with the above. It's just a suspended / ground level / underground large diameter steel pipe. I've planned & supervised the laying of miles of the stuff (gas pipes). The hyperloop vacuum bit is easy also (approx 14PSI in old units) - some gas mains run at several hundred PSI. The propulsion / suspension system, linear motors / magnetic levitation etc was invented donkey's years ago - so I'm sure it will work.

My doubts are about its acceptance / affordability / location of boarding points of this form of travel by the general public, cost (astronomical for what it is), etc. I also question again why do we (in the UK) need to travel so fast ? 250 mph rail will be acceptable to most for future high speed rail, city to city (probably not stopping at Wigan !!).

If, as jib states, the thing is built and threatens air & fast rail, (which I very much doubt) these industries will take a gigantic hit, especially on future investment etc.

I repeat it is a vanity project for the elite, by the elite.

Brit15

Currently our roads are full of pot holes with no money to fix them, our railways are creaking at the seams (especially in the SE), we have no money now to electrify key routes, and the ones we are doing are not being done very well (GW main line etc). HS2 has cost  an arm and a leg and not a yard has been built yet (but we DO need that, and the northern bits also). Our new trains seem to be an expensive joke (reading the 800 thread). I could go on -------

650mph in a tube ? Who will travel on this - the rich & famous - NOT you and me that's for sure. Cost per ticket ?

York to London in 30 mins - WHY ? - with our communication technology evolving there is less need for business travel and folks sure won't commute via the hyperloop tube.

Our current UK inter-city network (in my eyes) is excellent. Wigan (my home town) has a hourly service to London, fastest train in just over 2 hours. Most Glasgow - London trains call at Preston, Wigan & Warrington. Will this hyperloop thing stop, drop off & pick up passengers at such towns en route ?

It's a mega vanity project in my eyes, certainly not a leap in technology, (think Brunel's atmospheric railway !!) and for the average guy, you, me and the poor commuter a thorough waste of time effort and money.

Back to the drawing board Elon - invent an automatic pot hole filling machine !!!!!

Brit15

Found this on the web, may be of use. Side on view of the M&GN bridge.

https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/MIDLAND-GREAT-NORTHERN-JOINT-RAILWAY/MGNJR-MISCELLANY/i-DPnPg3v

Brit15

The Indians are planning one from Delhi to Calcutta.

Brit15

That sounds an interesting combination,

Dyson and Branson, the mind boggles at

what they might come up with together.

James sucks at one end,, Richard blows at the other - result pod moves !!!!!!!

Brit15

 

 

 I am sick to the back teeth of business rates being used as a stick to beat local authorities with.

Let's try potholes then !!!!

brir15

The Santa Fe railroad "Warbonnet" red & silver paint scheme is a hard one to beat. 

It also looks good on modern locomotives. A truly "classic" paint scheme.

Brit15

They do stick together so more care is needed. Difficult to fold / keep folded.

Other than that they seem OK. Never had a smelly one though !!

I don't carry cash like I used to. £100 cash will last me over a month these days. I pay for most things now by card, especially minor purchases at supermarkets etc - I've got used to using contactless, and usually only have £20 or so in my wallet.

Brit15

New Freightliner driver's shirt

Brit15

Sad News,

Yesterday, the man who invented predictive text has pi ssed away.

His funfair will be next monkey.

Brit15

A Guardian article from 2016, titled "Why German Trains don't run on time anymore".

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/11/why-german-trains-dont-run-on-time-any-more

 

 

German report on the French Rail strikes....

 

http://www.dw.com/en/french-rail-workers-begin-months-of-rolling-strikes/a-43230359

 

 

A news report from only a few days ago, on how awful German railway punctuality has become....

 

http://www.dw.com/en/quarter-of-german-long-distance-trains-late-in-month-of-march/a-43581427

 

 

The German's think their railways have become a shambles.

 

.

The R.A.F. didn't help much !!

http://www.dw.com/en/wwii-bomb-removal-to-force-evacuation-around-berlins-main-station/a-43432597

Long, long time since I went around West Germany in search of steam. The trains were superb clean and punctual back then. Lots of photos on my Flikr site below.

Honestly, I'm a little shocked with what I've read above.

Brit15

Came home from Liverpool the other week - 4 car 319 at around 4pm. The train was fairly full but quite a few standing. looking around the number of passengers with coats / handbags etc on the seat alongside was quite noticeable, some disgruntlement when asked to vacate their possessions so my family could sit down.

It's not always the train company's  fault !!

Brit15

There's a blue plaque commemorating Georges birth on the wall on the main road opposite Tesco's entrance (I'm not a fan of him though !!).

I'm building a small OO layout of the GC line from Darlington St goods to Lower Ince station ,also a bit of the LNWR New Springs Branch from Manchester Rd up to Belle Green Lane level crossing. These lines crossed & connected at Lower Ince. A very interesting area in the 50's / 60's before it all went.

Brit15

Why is it that every time I see another map of this area (either side of Wallgate ) the track layout particularly the pointwork is different ? Seems they must have got bored easily or something although i dont think i will be changing it any more than i have done twice already

 

Kevan

Difficult to put a date on this version of the map Kevan. Says on top 1841 - 1952, and on the map series 1892 - 1914, so I agree not  a lot of help to you. How is your Wallgate layout coming along ?

Edited to add, look in the botton RH corner it states (faintly) Revised 1907, Published 1908

Brit15

Interesting those Bob.

Wigan Central (closed Nov 1964) was an interesting building also. Far too large and imposing for the 2 hourly service it latterly had, most of it was rented / sold to another local builders / plumbers merchant, George Makinson. Entrance to the station was a dingy side entrance. The MS&L / GC had plans to extend to Blackpool / Fleetwood but this was shelved when the main line down to Marylebone was built. Wigan Rugby bought some of the land, hence the name Central Park (now Tesco).

As built

Brit15

True story (so I am told).

Years ago Birkenhead / Walasey corporation ordered some new buses. The manufacturer phoned the council enquiring as to what colour to paint them.

"See Green" was the reply i.e. speak to Mr Green.

And that's why the Birkenhead / Walasey corporation buses were painted a sea green colour !!

Brit15

The future for nuclear is sealed packaged "plug in" reactors I think. Eliminate most of the security and re-fuelling cycle concerns, build in ease of recycling, keep the difficult bits in a reactor production facility so that plant design and build effectively becomes a small thermal plant with a plug in reactor unit.

Have you any links to further explain plug in reactors jib ?  I've never heard of them - seems interesting.

Brit15

After the monumental cock up of installing trams in Edinburgh, I doubt you'll see any appetite for anything resembling them any where north of the border unless they are under ground.

They seem to do quite well in and around Manchester - a superb system.

Brit15

As for passengers being in the wrong half, that is hardly a novelty, given the decades since the Southern Railway, in particular, made a speciality out of dividing and combining non-gangwayed trains en route.

 

Jim

You should see the Kerfuffle at Wigan North Western when a 2 x 5 car Voyager sails in !!!!

Brit15

I've said this before, and I'll say it again - with our (UK) railways - electrify the lot.

Branch lines etc can be done at low voltages (like Manchester trams). Isn't the Sheffield - Rotheram "tram train" pioneering this technology ?. Such a shame the lying conniving politicians, along with incompetence within Network Rail, contractors etc have seemingly put the kybosh on current rail electrification.

I'm sure such as the Windemere branch could be electrified this way quite cheaply, and some existing (or even new) trains adapted to dual voltage.

The Americans (as usual) were miles ahead with their electrified interurban networks back in the early 20th century - unfortunately they just got a decent system in place and the automobile killed them off. 

A simple wire on a series of poles. Low tech, low cost, and IT WORKS !! (well it did 100 years ago !!).

By the way, how about bringing back trolleybuses ?. With the application of modern technology using batteries in town / city centres, overhead  wires out of town providing both traction & recharging simultaneously. We had a good trolleybus system here in South Lancashire - the diesel bus killed it for some reason in the early 60's.

Electricity IS the way forward (for cars also) though there are many hurdles to overcome - Generation, Storage, Emissions (generation) Capability of both the grid and LV networks to supply increased loads etc. The biggest hurdle I see is political will.

Brit15