East-West Rail (EWR): Oxford-Bletchley construction progress

[MalaiseForever]

Thanks both, interesting to learn

 

[richieb1971]

Where is the rail being built and delivered from please?

 

[Oxfordblues]

The rails are I believe from Scunthorpe, welded possibly at Eastleigh, the sleepers from Doncaster and the ballast from virtual quarries at Hinksey and Basford Hall.

 

[richieb1971]

The rails are I believe from Scunthorpe, welded possibly at Eastleigh, the sleepers from Doncaster and the ballast from virtual quarries at Hinksey and Basford Hall.

Thanks for that. British efficiency at its finest then!!! Ok, where does the end product get made? I'd assume that end product gets loaded onto a train somewhere and makes its way to EWR/HS2.

 

[swt_passenger]

Thanks for that. British efficiency at its finest then!!! Ok, where does the end product get made? I'd assume that end product gets loaded onto a train somewhere and makes its way to EWR/HS2.

What do you consider as ‘end product’? The main long lengths of rail, sleepers and ballast arrive independently. Only the S&C panels are made up elsewhere, (Nottingham I think), but they are then partially dismantled for delivery, and reassembled on site before top ballasting.

 

[edwin_m]

What do you consider as ‘end product’? The main long lengths of rail, sleepers and ballast arrive independently. Only the S&C panels are made up elsewhere, (Nottingham I think), but they are then partially dismantled for delivery, and reassembled on site before top ballasting.

Progress Rail produce S&C in Sandiacre, near Toton depot, which is assembled and loaded onto Network Rail wagons at the one-time Freightliner depot at Beeston. Other suppliers are probably available.

 

[richieb1971]

End product would be rail as we see it laid but prepared for transport to it's destination. Seems from others responses a lot of the parts are delivered from separate sources and fabricated to the end product onsite.

 

[Bald Rick]

Ok, where does the end product get made?

The end product is track, and that is ‘made’ on site, as it is by far the most efficient way of transporting it.

 

[richieb1971]

The end product is track, and that is ‘made’ on site, as it is by far the most efficient way of transporting it.

I've never seen a train with the ingredients on it. Only trains with 100s of feet of track. Must be something Im missing in the wild.

 

[zwk500]

I've never seen a train with the ingredients on it. Only trains with 100s of feet of track. Must be something Im missing in the wild.

It is quite rare to have the luxury of time to assemble track on site. But yes, plenty of renewals do work by delivering the materials one by one. It's most efficient that 1 or more trains has only ballast on it, then the next train only sleepers, then the next train only rails, etc.
Pre-assembled panels are quick to install so good for possessions, but for such a large job as EWR the economics of delivering entire trainloads of sleepers at once are rather persuasive.

 

[Whistler40145]

Where is signalling being controlled from?

 

[Bald Rick]

I've never seen a train with the ingredients on it. Only trains with 100s of feet of track. Must be something Im missing in the wild.

You probably have, but may not have realised it.

A decent proportion of freight trains on the network are carrying ballast (new or used), either from the quarries to the Distribution Centres (network trips), or from those centres to jobs. Ballast is carried in box wagons or Hooper wagons, and you wouldn’t be able to tell what’s in the wagons unless you ‘know’.

Similarly sleepers are transported from the factory to the DCs in bulk, then again on to site when needed.

The trips to site are normally on Friday / Saturday late evening or night, the network trips are every weekday.

 

[The Planner]

Where is signalling being controlled from?

Rugby ROC

 

[Whistler40145]

Rugby ROC

Thank you for your reply

 

[fgwrich]

It is quite rare to have the luxury of time to assemble track on site. But yes, plenty of renewals do work by delivering the materials one by one. It's most efficient that 1 or more trains has only ballast on it, then the next train only sleepers, then the next train only rails, etc.
Pre-assembled panels are quick to install so good for possessions, but for such a large job as EWR the economics of delivering entire trainloads of sleepers at once are rather persuasive.

I think the biggest luxury has to be the impressive HARSCO / Balfour Beatty NTC machine. Both for renewals like project speed on Okehampton or new lines like this / A2B etc.

 

[richieb1971]

You probably have, but may not have realised it.

A decent proportion of freight trains on the network are carrying ballast (new or used), either from the quarries to the Distribution Centres (network trips), or from those centres to jobs. Ballast is carried in box wagons or Hooper wagons, and you wouldn’t be able to tell what’s in the wagons unless you ‘know’.

Similarly sleepers are transported from the factory to the DCs in bulk, then again on to site when needed.

The trips to site are normally on Friday / Saturday late evening or night, the network trips are every weekday.

Ballast trains are usually in trains labelled network rail. Seen them many times. They have the discharge shoots at the bottom. Sleepers never seen. Rail head is really long and pre moulded it would be pretty obvious it was rail head. Would rail head exceed the length of the wagon it wad carried on?

 

[snowball]

I've never seen a train with the ingredients on it. Only trains with 100s of feet of track. Must be something Im missing in the wild.

Have you never seen a train with just rail, without sleepers, in long welded-up lengths bending round curves? Remarkable sight.

 

[Bald Rick]

I think the biggest luxury has to be the impressive HARSCO / Balfour Beatty NTC machine. Both for renewals like project speed on Okehampton or new lines like this / A2B etc.

Approaching its 20th Birthday! (Just turned 19). It failed immediately after laying its first sleeper (on a job, not in testing) back in 2004 near Manningtree…

Ballast trains are usually in trains labelled network rail. Seen them many times. They have the discharge shoots at the bottom.

That is just new top ballast going from distribution centre to site, and even then only some of it. Twice as much again goes for bottom ballast in box wagons or side tippers. - the latter have NR markings on but the former don’t always. Then the bulk ballast network tips from the quarries can be in all sorts of box wagons.

Rail head is really long and pre moulded it would be pretty obvious it was rail head. Would rail head exceed the length of the wagon it wad carried on?

There is a special long welded rail train which takes the rail from Scunthorpe to site. The rail is almost always delivered well ahead of the work being done, and almost always at night. Some came through Bedford fairly recently, as it happens.

 

[snowball]

Lots of pictures of trains carrying just sleepers on the Levenmouth Building a Railway Facebook page. This is just one from near the top.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[richieb1971]

Pretty cool. Never seen the sleeper train before. Apart from the caladonian.

 

[12LDA28C]

Rugby ROC

At the Bletchley end... where will the crossover point be from Marylebone North Panel? Bicester Village or further east?

 

[swt_passenger]

At the Bletchley end... where will the crossover point be from TVSC? Bicester Village?

There’s still another boundary at Wolvercote - the stretch from there to Bicester is controlled from Marylebone. This was confirmed a while ago in this thread.

 

[12LDA28C]

There’s still another boundary at Wolverton - the stretch from there to Bicester is controlled from Marylebone. This was confirmed a while ago in this thread.

Huh? How does a boundary at Wolverton affect trains running between Oxford and Milton Keynes?

 

[swt_passenger]

Huh? How does a boundary at Wolverton affect trains running between Oxford and Milton Keynes?

Mistype sorry. Wolvercote

 

[12LDA28C]

Mistype sorry . Wolvercote

Ah yes indeed, the boundary from Marylebone to TVSC (Oxford workstation) is between Wolvercote Tunnel and Oxford Canal Jn.

 

[The Planner]

At the Bletchley end... where will the crossover point be from Marylebone North Panel? Bicester Village or further east?

Other side of Gavray I think. Will check the diagram when I get chance.

 

[a good off]

Other side of Gavray I think. Will check the diagram when I get chance.

Yep.

 

[Dr A.Johnston]

An interesting video appeared today re the Claydon/Calvert HS2/EWR crossing site.

Made a point that when HS2 finishes the bridges it will be handed over to EWR teams to finish the embankments and tracklaying.

 

[al green]

An interesting video appeared today re the Claydon/Calvert HS2/EWR crossing site.

Made a point that when HS2 finishes the bridges it will be handed over to EWR teams to finish the embankments and tracklaying.

My understanding is that it is HS2 who have to finish off the missing embankments for EWR either side of the HS2 bridge. Then EWR Ltd can lay tracks on them.

 

[swt_passenger]

My understanding is that it is HS2 who have to finish off the missing embankments for EWR either side of the HS2 bridge. Then EWR Ltd can lay tracks on them.

Yes, I think that’s what’s been understood for a while, IIRC one of the EWR newsletters earlier this year said just that.