Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

[GRALISTAIR]

Well done for the very positive progress report. Will we have electric units into Blackpool North in May in your opinion?

Agree with Dave. One way or another there will be something electric running. Now will it be full squadron service? I am not 100% on that one.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Am about to do a run to Horwich Parkway and return (BWFC are away so shouldn't be too busy!) on a GM ranger so will try to take a few snaps

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Am about to do a run to Horwich Parkway and return (BWFC are away so shouldn't be too busy!) on a GM ranger so will try to take a few snaps

Thanks - what station are you starting your return journey from good sir?

 

[Jamesrob637]

Thanks - what station are you starting your return journey from good sir?

Manchester Oxford Road it's just leaving soon

 

[Jamesrob637]

OMG it looks so incomplete between Manchester and Bolton. Masts bereft of anything else and many lying on the ground. Hope more progress north of Bolton...

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Well, it seems the Salford-Euxton line will still be devoid of wires at the end of 2017, bar the tie-in to the main lines at each end.
I did notice today that some work was evident on the cutting banks either side of Chorley tunnel, above the retaining walls.
Quite a few bases with missing masts there too.
No work at all going on at lineside today.

I was on a refurbished 156.
Its new PIS defiantly scrolled "Preston" all the way from Preston to Manchester.

 

[Halish Railway]

Bare in mind that it is the Christmas/New Year period so resources are being used else ware eg the WCML works (which involved wiring). Progress should pick up on the Bolton corridor in the New Year.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Bare in mind that it is the Christmas/New Year period so resources are being used else ware eg the WCML works (which involved wiring). Progress should pick up on the Bolton corridor in the New Year.

Indeed there are engineering closures every Sunday for at least 8 weeks at Bolton .

 

[DJH1971]

Indeed there are engineering closures every Sunday for at least 8 weeks at Bolton .

They'll need much more than that!

 

[Halish Railway]

They'll need much more than that!

I'm not a native to that area so I'm not really up to date with the Bolton works, so what's missing there?

 

[LDECRexile]

I'm not a native to that area so I'm not really up to date with the Bolton works, so what's missing there?

I posted this summary on Salford Crescent to Euxton Jct on or about 8th December. I've added the bits in italics since. I'm disappointed by LNW-GW Joint's post #5766 from his trip yesterday, in particular the lack of orange on show, though I take the point about holidays and resources switched to other time-critical projects.

I reckon the remaining gaps (ie no bases on both sides or only side), from the north, are:

1. Chorley Arches evidence of work reported 30 Dec
2. Chorley tunnel (unknown)
3. Chorley tunnel southern approach cutting evidence of work reported 30 Dec
4. Viaduct short distance south of Chorley
5. Tunnel approaching Bolton (unknown)
6. Bridges south of this tunnel evidence of work reported just before Xmas, with photos
7. Bolton, east side between Platform 2 buffers and Orlando Street bridge
8. Bolton, west side between north end of Platform 5 and Orlando St bridge
9. Unclear stretches between Squeeze Belly Entry footbridge and Farnworth station, there are some bases evidence of work reported just before Xmas, with photos
10. Farnworth tunnel (unknown)
11. Unclear between Farnworth tunnel and Kearsley, there are some bases evidence of work reported just before Xmas
12. Quarter mile or thereabouts immediately north of Agecroft Road bridge
13. Two, possible three masts-worth of bases missing between Cock Robin Bridge and site of Pendleton Old station evidence of work reported just before Xmas
14. Salford Crescent Platform 2

I will be delighted to be shown that I'm wrong, uninformed or out of date on any of these.

I might be able to get out and about by rail along this stretch tomorrow (1 Jan), fingers crossed.

If anyone can get lineside, preferably with camera, to any of these locations it would be especially helpful, but all material is very welcome.

In addition to the above, which are "pure" electrification issues, there remain four bridge issues unresolved, at least in the public domain, ie:

Three foot crossings, one between Horwich and the M61 and one either side of the M60 bridge. Al three are currently fenced off, but not permanently closed as far as anyone has reported here.
Lever Street footbridge in Bolton, about which it's gone very quiet. Is it to be retained (it looks knackered to this layman) replaced or closed and removed?

I've lost track of Anderton Hall Crossing's new footbridge, is it open to pedestrians yet?

 

[LDECRexile]

On our jaunt on Friday Gralistair and I expanded our horizons around Poulton, as the photos show.

If anyone hasn't come across the fabulous National Library of Scotland maps site, here's Poulton in Edwardian times:

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=53.8505&lon=-2.9920&layers=168&b=1

The controls allow you to zoom in and out, grab the image and navigate in all directions. The blue blob lower left is also rewarding.

 

[LDECRexile]

Correct, further progress has been made since then, mainly just the station areas to complete now with masts and danglies.

This was posted following an observation that 100% of bases and 70% of masts were in place Preston-Blackpool.

I reckon 70% is now conservative, there has been so much happening, as we saw on Friday.

I struggle with the "100% bases", however, as there appeared to be gaps where we couldn't see bases, notably along the third (Blackpool South) line immediately north of K&W station, K&W station itself and Blackpool station. We were mindful of the "100%" figure and hoped to be able to demonstrate it. We wondered if bases at Blackpool North were in place in the middle of platforms under construction, but invisible to us from off-site. Such bases were used at Roby on Liverpool-Manchester, for example.

 

[reg]

Did a quick tour of the lines around Bolton station this morning.New bases of all shapes and sizes are evident on the lines to the immediate north and south of the station, including platform 5 as viewed from Orlando St.bridge.Pics to follow.

 

[QueensCurve]

Network Rail posted a picture of a ‘triple wacker’ doing its thing at Blackpool North station. They are cute, but I didn't know they were called "triple wackers".

https://twitter.com/TheGNRP/status/947047996025434112

I hope NR don't delete this tweet.

 

[Ploughman]

It's because there are 3 Wackers bolted together.
Been in use for many years in Single, Double and Triple forms.
Never seen a Quad version though.

 

[QueensCurve]

It's because there are 3 Wackers bolted together.
Been in use for many years in Single, Double and Triple forms.
Never seen a Quad version though.

I wasn't even aware of the "wacker" epithet.

They do look cute in Network Rail's time-lapses.

 

[Joseph_Locke]

I wasn't even aware of the "wacker" epithet.

They do look cute in Network Rail's time-lapses.

Oi! Wacker = http://www.wackerneuson.co.uk/en/home/

 

[driver_m]

On our jaunt on Friday Gralistair and I expanded our horizons around Poulton, as the photos show.

If anyone hasn't come across the fabulous National Library of Scotland maps site, here's Poulton in Edwardian times:

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=53.8505&lon=-2.9920&layers=168&b=1

The controls allow you to zoom in and out, grab the image and navigate in all directions. The blue blob lower left is also rewarding.

Those maps are bloody fantastic. Thanks for posting that link. My home town looks amazing on there but sad at how much railway has been ripped up over the years. It was like Sodor on acid!!

And also thanks for the updates, you should be cloned for the MML and GW wiring!!

 

[snowball]

Another old maps site is www.old-maps.co.uk - inferior user interface compared with NLS but still (for the time being?) has a wider range of the largest scale maps.

 

[LDECRexile]

Yet another old maps site is Cassini, which has earlier OS maps than NLoS and old-maps.

Cloned, moi? Hello Dolly, baaa baaa... Thanks anyway.

As Reg said above, he's sent photos of bases between Lever Street and Bullfield tunnel. Classy shots of progress.

I've added them to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157671732263863

and to the Combined Volume here:

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

The sheer variety of bases in so short a stretch gives some idea of the challenges the teams face.

Thank you Reg

 

[LDECRexile]

On Friday my Preston-Blackpool tour with Graham was like watching a top-of-the-league rugby side score a convincing win with thrilling tries and strong defence. Exciting stuff.

Today I did a railtour Southport-Bolton-Salford Crescent and return.

This was like watching my close-to-relegation-zone cricket team (as a Derbyshire lad I know all about this.) I arrived at the ground at lunch on the final day. The overnight score had been 25 for 5 with 100 runs still needed to stave off an innings defeat. There were few supporters there and much grumbling on the supporters' website. I was delighted to find the score was now 138 for 5 with both batsmen set, can we do it? can we?.....

Reg's photos yesterday showed the new bases north of Bolton station and south of Orlando Street bridge. They are matched by progress alongside Platforms 2 and 5, neither is complete, but boy, they've got most of them in the ground.

Heading south I reckon there is no more than two, possibly only one base to install between Orlando and the Platform 4/5 junction.

Not only bases, there are now some masts between Squeeze Belly Entry footbridge and Farnworth station.

There are two masts between Farnworth tunnel and Kearsley station, and, even better, there appears to be a full set of bases.

The long stretch between Kearsley and Clifton has moved on a long way, most (conceivably all) bases in place, more masts, more danglies.

The mile or so south of Clifton station looked to have more steel on show and a full set of bases.

I could not make out the state of play with the difficult ground between Cockrobin Bridge and Broughton Road bridge, there has clearly been work done on three spots on the eastern side of the track. I could make out the tops of sheet piling but nothing else from speeding trains. Bear in mind this site's history was a canal.

There were just two gaps where I could see no progress - the third of a mile or so north of Agecroft Road bridge and Salford Crescent Platform 2.

I was greatly heartened by what I saw. We ain't there yet, but hats off to them as have knuckled down and grafted.

Photos later.

Matters arising:
The often-mentioned foot crossings either side of the M60 bridge have been fenced off, but the footways are still in place.
There is one overflying power line south of Kearsley which looks closeish, has it been sorted?
Some time ago an Orangeman mentioned work to do on a building of some sort near the tip west of the tracks south of Clifton. Does anyone know about of this?

 

[LDECRexile]

I've added today's photos to the Combined Volume here:

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

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Great set of photos as usual Dave.

 

[CdBrux]

I had to change trains at Bolton a few days ago, coming from Piccadilly and changing to a Clitheroe train. It was raining and it was very obvious that the canapies were leaking in many places. Not at all impressive.

 

[reg]

I had to change trains at Bolton a few days ago, coming from Piccadilly and changing to a Clitheroe train. It was raining and it was very obvious that the canapies were leaking in many places. Not at all impressive.

The canopies are actually missing large sections and guttering as they are being replaced/upgraded.

 

[reg]

I've added today's photos to the Combined Volume here:

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

Excellent update Dave.

 

[Mollman]

Apologies if reported earlier but have read last two pages which talk about lack of progress south of Preston. Looks like they are planning to do a Chat Moss and close every weekend until it is near completion.
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/n...ster-bolton-preston-route-improvement-works-2

 

[DJH1971]

Apologies if reported earlier but have read last two pages which talk about lack of progress south of Preston. Looks like they are planning to do a Chat Moss and close every weekend until it is near completion.
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/n...ster-bolton-preston-route-improvement-works-2

Not exactly surprised by this.

Whilst in comparison, the works between Preston to Blackpool have been going on at literally breakneck speed thanks to a complete closure.

 

[jyte]

Whilst in comparison, the works between Preston to Blackpool have been going on at literally breakneck speed thanks to a complete closure.

It's sort of what happens. I remember being amazed how quickly they put Dawlish back together. When you can work around the clock 24/7 it's much, much quicker.