Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

[Karl]

Thanks snowball and LDECRexile , much appreciated.

 

[ALX400]

Must be some serious track work happening around Bolton towards Lostock Junction this coming weekend, i've just checked RTT and there's 7 individual Paths from Crewe Bas Hall booked overnight to terminate at Lostock Junction on the 11th then what normally is a Tamper from Blackburn on the 12th at 09.15 to Lostock Junction.

 

[LDECRexile]

6764r etc - they look like TGBUs ?

Dear Sir

Thank you for your enquiry about OHLE portal specifications which has been passed to my department for reply.

At first glance the portal in Photo 6764g (attached) and others which spans all tracks at the junction immediately west of Salford Central appears to be a TGBU, with its characteristic heavyweight "cine film" cross-member.

However, close examination shows the supporting uprights to be single, whereas a true TGBU has double uprights as shown in Photos 2886n, 2850k and 2830k in the attached album.

It would therefore be more accurate to classify the Salford portal as a GBU. This has thrown light on a gross inexactitude in Photo 2350m which was annotated by another department. That photo erroneously described a single-upright cine film portal as a TGBU. The person responsible has been docked a month's pay and put on final warning.

Yours faithfully

Mrs Trellis
North Wales

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157680016605326

 

[edwin_m]

Mrs Trellis
North Wales

Shouldn't that be her friend Mrs Lattice? Then it would be a lattice post...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Dear Sir

Thank you for your enquiry about OHLE portal specifications which has been passed to my department for reply.

Yours faithfully

Mrs Trellis
North Wales

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157680016605326

Brilliant Dave- absolutely brilliant. WELL PLAYED SIR

 

[LDECRexile]

Shouldn't that be her friend Mrs Lattice? Then it would be a lattice post...

It would be very unwise to use lattice as rabbits abound in the area.

 

[wrinkley]

It would be very unwise to use lattice as rabbits abound in the area.

And there's not much lattice about because the rain in Spain is falling all over the plain in large quantities.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Dear Sir
Mrs Trellis
North Wales

Salford Crescent!

 

[LDECRexile]

Salford Crescent!

Don't be absurd, you're in nip after crossing a diagonal whilst deploying Utter's Gambit. Everyone knows that.

 

[PDG1949]

Brilliant Dave- absolutely brilliant. WELL PLAYED SIR

Samantha is in complete agreement - and as we know, there's not a lot she doesn't know about foundations....

 

[CAF397]

The access point referred to a few pages earlier is called 'Hole in the Wall' by local Network Rail staff. More commonly Tulketh Brow. There is also one just where PN156 signal is called Steeple View.

Haven't actually been to blackpool for over a month in the day light. Saw probably over a dozen piles lying in the cross of both tracks between Preston and Lea. Great progress.

Not so much between Preston and Manchester. Only new works unnoticed was scrapings between Kearsley and Clifton, which is the first evidence I've seen of anything between Bolton and Agecroft North.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

And there's not much lattice about because the rain in Spain is falling all over the plain in large quantities.

I still wonder have they manage to bring the icebergs to the Iberian coast to grow that particular version of this leaf crop..:roll:

 

[Chrisyd]

There is now a mast over the existing tracks at Salford Central.

by Chris Davis, on Flickr

 

[LDECRexile]

Good news. The fab photo of Salford Central in #3763 is part of an album which Chrisyd has started of works in Manchester. Chris has kindly volunteered permission to link it to the Combined Volume.

As usual, Chrisyd's album can be accessed by clicking on the very first image in the Combined Volume, then looking down the "Comments" to find the link.

The Combined Volume is here:

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

Smashing stuff Chrisyd, thank you.

 

[furnessvale]

The access point referred to a few pages earlier is called 'Hole in the Wall' by local Network Rail staff. More commonly Tulketh Brow. There is also one just where PN156 signal is called Steeple View.

Of course the original "Hole in'th Wall was a Thwaites pub in the shadow of the WCML Fylde Rd bridge.

A preferred watering hole for footplatemen from Preston MPD who wanted a decent pint of beer.

 

[LeylandLen]

Further to #3752 also several Eng trains from Crewe Basford Hall S.S.M. to Kirkham & Wesham Salwick as well as Adlington and Euxton Junc overnight 10 & 11 Feb so no doubt a lot of work to be done this weekend ; Ive counted 15 trains so far !!!

 

[snowball]

More pictures of Salford Central have been taken by Freel07 and posted on this page on Skyscrapercity:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1345619&page=106

I've already posted the above link in the Ordsall Chord thread.

 

[ALX400]

just thinking regarding all these paths that are booked for this weekend, and there's quite a few, its either track and ballast replacement or more stanchions going up, hopefully someone in the know aka Joseph will be along to confirm

i will try and get a few photos if i see anything

 

[QueensCurve]

Mrs Trellis
North Wales

Thanks Humph.

 

[wrinkley]

just thinking regarding all these paths that are booked for this weekend, and there's quite a few, its either track and ballast replacement or more stanchions going up, hopefully someone in the know aka Joseph will be along to confirm

i will try and get a few photos if i see anything

Can't see anything between lostock and blackrod.

 

[ALX400]

Can't see anything between lostock and blackrod.

Ummm I've been out aswell not noticed anything , had a look at Lostock Station, drove past Bolton nowt :roll: baffled, al nip further along towards Chorley

 

[ALX400]

Ok so, found one of the freightliners carrying stone stopped on the line between Blackrod and Adlington with a move off time of around 18.00 according to an Orangeman at Adlington, two have been held off till Sunday, there's new rail at the side of the tracks near to Adlington, had a good look around and went to Gibbs Farm bridge just passed Blackrod and without doubt all the track has been renewed for many many miles in both directions, new piles have also gone in,i think there's a possibility that the high output track train was used, hopefully someone can confirm, photos to follow once I've emailed them

 

[wrinkley]

Ok so, found one of the freightliners carrying stone stopped on the line between Blackrod and Adlington with a move off time of around 18.00 according to an Orangeman at Adlington, two have been held off till Sunday, there's new rail at the side of the tracks near to Adlington, had a good look around and went to Gibbs Farm bridge just passed Blackrod and without doubt all the track has been renewed for many many miles in both directions, new piles have also gone in,i think there's a possibility that the high output track train was used, hopefully someone can confirm, photos to follow once I've emailed them

Spotted a ballast train waiting at Rawlinson Lane and another just north of Chorley Road skew bridge. The up line has been taken out on both side of Chorley Road bridge. Difficult to get decent photos, just got a couple to post.

 

[LDECRexile]

Wrinkley and ALX400 have been out and about today looking for the engineering trains spotted on realtimetrains (RTT).

They have both sent photos, I've added Wrinkley's to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157654034635234

and I've added ALX's to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157651121057352

I've added them all to the Combined Volume here:

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

Thank you both.

The presentation in Preston on Thursday evening was excellent. It mentioned that c700 out of 1700 bases have been installed. They wish to establish a large "bow wave" of bases so the mast teams can have clear runs without having to chop and change.

Dave

 

[CAF397]

There was quite a bit of engineering work on the westhoughton line, the Up line looks to have been replaced. An EWS 66 was waiting with a ballast train on the Down line and the Up line was lifted. This was between Lostock Jn and Westhoughton station, viewed from the A6 road bridge.

 

[absolutelymilk]

The presentation in Preston on Thursday evening was excellent. It mentioned that c700 out of 1700 bases have been installed. They wish to establish a large "bow wave" of bases so the mast teams can have clear runs without having to chop and change.

Any word on their expected completion date?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The presentation in Preston on Thursday evening was excellent. It mentioned that c700 out of 1700 bases have been installed.
They wish to establish a large "bow wave" of bases so the mast teams can have clear runs without having to chop and change.

That's a rather smaller proportion than I was expecting, even with Bolton-Agecroft so far untouched.
But there is still a lot to do at stations (eg Lostock, Horwich, Chorley).
It's also not obvious if they have finished replacing some of the original concrete bases with piles.
So far I should say about 20% have been replaced.
Somewhere I read that the masts would be going up from "February", so anytime now hopefully.

 

[snowball]

Does anyone remember this?

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=2440894&postcount=2453

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Does anyone remember this?
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=2440894&postcount=2453

They appear to be running about 6 months late on that schedule, but I doubt that is the current plan.
About 20 masts went up between Lostock and Horwich in a spurt before Christmas, but no more steel since then.
Nobody has really explained where a year has vanished in the original schedule.
None of the much-publicised GW issues are relevant here.

 

[Railrover700]

I have added some photos here https://www.flickr.com/photos/147506051@N02/sets/72157679909475566/ of the track renewal this weekend at Salwick. See also this from Network Rail: https://twitter.com/NetworkRailNP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor.