Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

[Joseph_Locke]

What is the new footbridge for? Is it to link what remains of the car park to the platform, as surely passengers are going to use the same stairs as Platform 4. Also, are there any thoughts to replicate platform 2 (i.e a 4 carriage bay platform) and create platforms 5 and 6?

Bridge is a fire escape, there is no use for another bay at Bolton (Pop-quiz: how many trains are currently timed into 2?)

 

[Norb]

Bridge is a fire escape, there is no use for another bay at Bolton (Pop-quiz: how many trains are currently timed into 2?)

ECS or Passenger

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Paul and I had our first joint jaunt of the year on Monday.

It's good to be back.

It's good to have you back. Ground conditions look absolutely sodden in one or two of those photos. That will not make it easy to pour a traditional concrete base although piling maybe easier.

 

[Joseph_Locke]

ECS or Passenger

C'mon, those two values are only different by one ...

 

[LDECRexile]

Thank you Snowball, JL and Graham.

I've added the non-Ordsall Chord shots from Monday.

The others will have to wait, we're off for Ann to meet two cousins in Shrewsbury tomorrow to Sat, all three have not met for at least 40 years; should be fun.

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

 

[PDG1949]

Orlando Street.

Oh come' on guys - he Disney really need reminding ................

 

[Chrisyd]

Orlando Street bridge will be completed by Network Rail this month, but at that point Bolton Council will be completing strengthening work on the final section of bridge which is their responsibility (closest to Manchester Road) so the road remains closed until May!

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news..._bridge_set_to_reopen_after_10_month_closure/

 

[CAF397]

when is the bridge being installed linking the new Bus Station with the Railway Station?

 

[Trackman]

Long ago in this thread there was talk of the bridges near Farnworth Station, like squeeze belly and the boarded Balustrade bridge.
Anyway I’ve found the video with reference to it, according to a driver he was told they are canal bridges.
It seems it was cut out, but before it was filled the railway company bought the land from the canal company.
I cannot find any reference on the ‘net about this, but it does sound plausible.

 

[Darren R]

Long ago in this thread there was talk of the bridges near Farnworth Station, like squeeze belly and the boarded Balustrade bridge.
Anyway I’ve found the video with reference to it, according to a driver he was told they are canal bridges.
It seems it was cut out, but before it was filled the railway company bought the land from the canal company.
I cannot find any reference on the ‘net about this, but it does sound plausible.

That's not quite accurate. The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, opened in 1796/7, gained Parliamentary approval in 1831 to build a railway line "upon or near the line of the canal." However, due to objections from local mine owners, the original canal-to-railway conversion plan was dropped in favour of keeping the canal and building the railway nearby. North of Clifton Aqueduct, the canal was on the other side of the valley from the railway, on the eastern side of the River Irwell.

The original remaining Manchester & Bolton Railway bridges are certainly built in the style of canal bridges, and one could be forgiven for thinking the section between Farnworth and Moses Gate stations was once a canal, but given the engineer was Jesse Hartley (of Liverpool Docks fame), that's hardly surprising.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

About the only new thing to report on the electrification front is more marker pegs where trial borings for future masts have been made, around Buckshaw Parkway.
That and a very wet Chorley Tunnel and a 20mph TSR - must be a drainage problem somewhere.

Outside Victoria, new masts have appeared on the north side.
Difficult to tell what these are for, maybe for a reversing loop?

Large cranes are in position for the upcoming Ordsall Chord blockade.

 

[Joseph_Locke]

Outside Victoria, new masts have appeared on the north side.
Difficult to tell what these are for, maybe for a reversing loop?

Originally Posted by Joseph_Locke
That's prep work for the Ordsall Chord, which removes the northernmost scissors crossover, re-routes platform 6 line (you can see the new OLE structures) and provides a new crossover ladder. The closure of Salford Central and Vic from 25/3 to 4/4 should see all that work done, just leaves remodelling of Central, the Chord itself and the new junction at Water Street to do ... subject to the failure of Mark Whitby's appeal against the judicial review into the Inspector's conclusions on the TWAO!

 

[DJH1971]

Outside Victoria, new masts have appeared on the north side.
Difficult to tell what these are for, maybe for a reversing loop?

Noticed this myself a couple of days ago.

Then again, Manchester to Wigan North Western is set to be electrified

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Noticed this myself a couple of days ago.

Then again, Manchester to Wigan North Western is set to be electrified

The fill-in Lostock -Wigan is as well as the rest so not sure what you mean - what the connection is.

 

[PDG1949]

In case some of you may not be aware, Whitby's latest Ordsall Chord appeal has been rejected. See Ordsall Chord thread.

 

[LeylandLen]

I know its not directly connected to the electrification project , but the much improved ( new footbridge, lifts,etc) Leyland station is due to be fully opened this weekend . And we get the other car park back now that the contractors have finished using it Now all we want is better trains !

 

[LDECRexile]

I went to Man Vic and Salford today to see what's what.

Lots of action west of Salford Central, posted on the Combined Volume here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

I reckon anyone going to New Bailey Car park and the Middlewood Locks site over the next few days should have lots to see and photograph. I definitely can't go tomorrow (Saturday) and unlikely to on Sunday or Monday due to family commitments.

 

[snowball]

Many thanks for those pictures. There's work going on now on a really serious scale! Sadly I probably won't be able to get there during the curent closure.

 

[Geeves]

Great shots LDEC. I was at Victoria last night and its very strange looking east and west with the signals blacked out. Like the apocalypse has arrived!

There was a very large crane lifting items from the Salford side spanning the full 4 lines at the west end too.

Oh this link might be interesting in regards to your comments sans Bury and Bolton cannal

http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/mbb/mbbc5.htm

http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/mbb/mbbc46.htm

 

[LDECRexile]

Thanks Geeves, the links are very interesting. We've got company coming later this morniing, so it will be tonight before I can give them the attention they deserve. Several photos show just where the work I posted yesterday is taking place. Fab stuff.

Joe Callaghan has kindly sent some photos of the completed (fingers crossed) Farnworth station in the sun, looking a credit to all who worked on the job.

I've added Joe's shots to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157651953947345

and to the 2016 onwards NW2 album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

Thank you Joe.

New readers may not know that photo coverage of pre-electrification works on this route before 1 Jan 2016 is in this album:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157648767927083

Please also note that I don't intend to contribute photos to the Ordsall Chord thread as such, life is complicated enough as it is. If any reader wishes to copy links from this thread to that, concerning these albums I will be delighted. I fully recognise that many shots in the Salford area could be posted to the Liv-Man, Blackpool-Man or Ordsall Chord threads.

 

[snowball]

Joe Callaghan has kindly sent some photos of the completed (fingers crossed) Farnworth station in the sun, looking a credit to all who worked on the job.

I've added Joe's shots to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157651953947345

and to the 2016 onwards NW2 album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

Thank you Joe.

You can see from 5680e, but not I think any of the others, that there's still a bit of track, disconnected at both ends, heading towards the Farnworth portal of the "mousehole" bore.

 

[roversfan2001]

I know its not directly connected to the electrification project , but the much improved ( new footbridge, lifts,etc) Leyland station is due to be fully opened this weekend . And we get the other car park back now that the contractors have finished using it Now all we want is better trains !

That was quick if it is this weekend, thought it was June the lifts opened?

On the subject of Leyland, not happy about the old bridge being demolished before the Moss Lane car park was re-opened - now only one entrance into the station.

 

[LDECRexile]

I managed to get to Salford this morning. New photos in the Combined Volume here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

I hope someone else can get along Mon or Tues, I can't.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I managed to get to Salford this morning. New photos in the Combined Volume here:

Excellent pictures, Dave. Some grand railway archeology there.
I wish I could visualise the finished article!

 

[LDECRexile]

Excellent pictures, Dave. Some grand railway archeology there.
I wish I could visualise the finished article!

Thank you very much.

Here's a first stab.

Please look at Photo 5724d

I believe the chord will run from approximately the large white crane at extreme right of shot to approximately the red and yellow bridge towards left of shot (ie at the right hand end of the tapered white building at left of shot.)

Some time last Summer someone (snowball, I think) produced links to detailed maps of the route. We've got family coming so I can't dig today, but maybe someone could do so and pin down the key points of the route as they would appear on 5724d?

Have fun

Dave

 

[Lurpi]

Excellent pictures, Dave. Some grand railway archeology there.
I wish I could visualise the finished article!

Please look at Photo 5724d

I believe the chord will run from approximately the large white crane at extreme right of shot to approximately the red and yellow bridge towards left of shot (ie at the right hand end of the tapered white building at left of shot.)

This visualisation may also help.

If you look at the black and white bridge in the centre of the photo above, and imagine the whole scene rotated through about 130 degrees anticlockwise, that is the scene in the visualisation.

The new Ordsall Chord bridge is directly on top of where the black and white bridge used to be.

The warehouse type buildings, which you see at the right of the visualisation, are immediately behind the tapered white building in the photo, the tip of which is in the visualisation at right.

 

[LDECRexile]

This visualisation may also help.

If you look at the black and white bridge in the centre of the photo above, and imagine the whole scene rotated through about 130 degrees anticlockwise, that is the scene in the visualisation.

The new Ordsall Chord bridge is directly on top of where the black and white bridge used to be.

The warehouse type buildings, which you see at the right of the visualisation, are immediately behind the tapered white building in the photo, the tip of which is in the visualisation at right.

Great! Thank you.

Comparing with 5724d:

1. as someone commented the other day (sorry, can't remember who) the current bridge work on Middlewood Viaduct appears to be where the chord will branch off. It is just off 5724d to the right.

2. the junction at the other (southern) end of the chord will also be just out of sight behind the tapering white building to the left of 5724d. The red and yellow bridge corresponds to the "kinked" bridge at extreme bottom left of the visualisation.

3. The black and white bridge will be removed. It appears on the visualisation to be replaced with a footbridge on a similar alignment. The chord will cross the Irwell by a new bowstring bridge at roughly 90 degree to the alignment of the to-be-demolished black and white bridge and to-be-constructed foot bridge. The canal from Middlewood Locks will emerge under the new bowstring bridge.

4. The chord will cross the MOSI approach lines (trackbeds) roughly where the yellow digger is on 5724d.

 

[Geeves]

This should help you confirm your bearings a little more LDEC at least looking in the Piccadilly direction of travel.

 

[snowball]

1. as someone commented the other day (sorry, can't remember who) the current bridge work on Middlewood Viaduct appears to be where the chord will branch off. It is just off 5724d to the right.

Someone on Skyscrapercity asked why the bridge section is being replaced, and Joseph replied

It's where the new viaduct gets so close that the only solution is to renew existing deck as well

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

All this about how the new chord will look is very fine, but what I really meant was the visualization of the other side of the viaduct, through the disused platforms at Salford Central!