Great Western Electrification Progress

[ScotGG]

85 portals will go in between Airport Junction & Maidenhead over Xmas.

 

[Henbury Loop]

Any idea of the electrification (or indeed any other) works around the Bristol area this festive period? Anything interesting going on that I can have a nosey?

 

[MarlowDonkey]

According to some of their paperwork changes include slewing some of the tracks at Maidenhead. (Not sure for what reason)

At the moment, platforms 4 and 5 are an island, with platform 5 used for the Marlow branch train. It's also possible for trains heading in the Reading direction to cross to platform 4. When it was the original idea for Cross Rail to terminate at Maidenhead, it had been intended to construct a new platform 6 for the branch line trains. If elements of that plan are still in place, there would be a need to find room for it. If there's an intent to use platform 5 for trains arriving from the Reading direction, that's going to need a new loop. There used to be a train shed over platform 5, that was demolished over a year ago. Additionally the platform canopies, which looked as if they were of an original Great Western design, have been replaced.

Whilst plans to electrify to Bourne End and Marlow are now in abeyance, it's still planned to remodel Bourne End so as to facilitate two through trains an hour between Maidenhead and Marlow. That's going to see more use of platform 5 or a new platform 6.

This is what Crossrail has to say about Maidenhead

What we are doing at Maidenhead station

Reconfiguring the main ticket office building to the north
Installing a lift to platform 1
Extending platforms 2/3 and 4/5 to accommodate the 205 metre long Crossrail trains
Replacing platform canopies to accommodate overhead line equipment
Removing the train shed on Platform 4/5 (this was removed in October 2014)
Installing new station information and security systems and CCTV for the safety of users.
The sidings off Silco Drive will be remodelled to accommodate the Crossrail trains and to provide some staff facilities.

So no platform 6

If they are extending platform lengths, for 4/5 it has to be in the London direction, unless they cut the access between platform 4 and the branch. That could well mean some track slewing

 

[Mag_seven]

Wires up between Burnham and Taplow.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Wires up between Burnham and Taplow.

Three cheers.
There should be a decent chance that Stockley-Maidenhead could be finished by this time next year.
Not that that means much in GWR operational terms.

 

[jimm]

Three cheers.
There should be a decent chance that Stockley-Maidenhead could be finished by this time next year.
Not that that means much in GWR operational terms.

It does actually, because Mark Hopwood told Rail that wires reaching Maidenhead would be one of the milestones that will allow GWR to step up the use of emus beyond the initial Paddington-Hayes & Harlington operation due to start next year, so they clearly have some sort of plan in place for an intermediate electric service out to Maidenhead until the Reading area is wired.

“We get our first EMUs in the early months of 2016. We already have wires to Hayes in west London, and we intend to start using them within a few weeks of receiving those trains.

“The dates Network Rail has published are back-stop dates. It is saying to us that it will try to outperform those dates. So we expect to see electrification to Maidenhead in early 2017, and that gives us our next opportunity to use EMUs.”

http://www.railmagazine.com/news/ne...ood-upbeat-as-gwr-revises-rolling-stock-plans

 

[Mintona]

I'm hearing Bristol Parkway in 2018 and Bristol Temple Meads in 2020. No idea about Swansea. Have these dates been published anywhere?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

I'm hearing Bristol Parkway in 2018 and Bristol Temple Meads in 2020. No idea about Swansea. Have these dates been published anywhere?

Not yet - the revised Enhancements Delivery Plan should have been out early to mid December, but it's running behind schedule itself.

 

[jimm]

Stratton Green bridge in Swindon was replaced on schedule over Christmas. Link below to Swindon Advertiser story with plenty of pictures

WHILE families across Swindon were tucking into their Christmas dinner, an army of workers was completing a huge engineering project on the Great Western Line.

In just over 48 hours, the old Stratton Green Bridge was removed and replaced with a brand new one.

The work is being done as part of the electrification project and was originally meant to be carried out last Christmas.

But delays meant it had to be put back a year and not even the high winds and rain were going to stop the orange-jacketed brigade this time.

In fact, so efficient were the team that the initial demolition was completed five hours ahead of schedule.

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/...tratton_Green_Bridge_replaced_over_Christmas/

 

[HowardGWR]

Stratton Green bridge in Swindon was replaced on schedule over Christmas. Link below to Swindon Advertiser story with plenty of pictures




http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/...tratton_Green_Bridge_replaced_over_Christmas/

Will it take 4 tracks through there - do hope so.

 

[Henbury Loop]

Will it take 4 tracks through there - do hope so.

Certainly looks very cosy with 2 tracks in the pictures.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Will it take 4 tracks through there - do hope so.

Four tracking isn't part of the project, and four tracking in that area isn't a simple project, fitting in a four track bridge would require an enormous amount of work on the road and the cutting the line runs through.

 

[fgwrich]

Looks like a fair amount visible work took place over the Christmas Weekend with the OHLE - contact wire included - now almost in place for around a mile through Pangbourne on the down fast. Noticed a fair few more masts have gone up in the Reading area as well over the past few weeks.

 

[Andrewlong]

Looks like a fair amount visible work took place over the Christmas Weekend with the OHLE - contact wire included - now almost in place for around a mile through Pangbourne on the down fast. Noticed a fair few more masts have gone up in the Reading area as well over the past few weeks.

Any sign of any progress East of Reading especially in the Sonning gap section?

 

[fgwrich]

I don't know I'm afraid, I couldn't see much from the interior of the busy Voyager I was on. I've not yet had the chance to head eastwards from Reading since before Christmas, although some progress had been made east of Maidenhead with the 'droppers'* up in various stretches.

*forgotten the technical term again!

 

[Andrewlong]

I don't know I'm afraid, I couldn't see much from the interior of the busy Voyager I was on. I've not yet had the chance to head eastwards from Reading since before Christmas, although some progress had been made east of Maidenhead with the 'droppers'* up in various stretches.

*forgotten the technical term again!

Thanks - I will be venturing East to Paddington this week. I find it bizarre that NR are electrifying West of Reading when there are still great chunks of mileage closer tto London and to the east of Reading still untouched.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

I don't know I'm afraid, I couldn't see much from the interior of the busy Voyager I was on. I've not yet had the chance to head eastwards from Reading since before Christmas, although some progress had been made east of Maidenhead with the 'droppers'* up in various stretches.

*forgotten the technical term again!

Cantilevers and their registration arms. Droppers connect the catenary wire (the top wire) with the contact wire (the bottom wire).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Thanks - I will be venturing East to Paddington this week. I find it bizarre that NR are electrifying West of Reading when there are still great chunks of mileage closer tto London and to the east of Reading still untouched.

Different projects and teams. The bulk of the work east of Reading so far has been reliability modifications and improvements to the existing Mark 3 catenary, replacing headspans with portals, wiring up changes to layouts and other CrossRail enhancements.

 

[fgwrich]

Thanks Philip! I'll try and remember them now.

Quite a lot of the masts between Didcot and Reading now have their cantilevers and registration arms in place now to receive their wires, although I did still notice the odd mast missing.

 

[jimm]

Thanks Philip! I'll try and remember them now.

Quite a lot of the masts between Didcot and Reading now have their cantilevers and registration arms in place now to receive their wires, although I did still notice the odd mast missing.

Biggest gaps in masts remaining seem to be through the intermediate stations, Pangborune, Goring and Cholsey, whereas at Didcot when I changed there on Tuesday there were plenty of masts in place through the station - including several through holes cut into the canopies - and a couple of portals already complete at the east end of the platforms.

 

[Tw99]

Looks like a fair amount visible work took place over the Christmas Weekend with the OHLE - contact wire included - now almost in place for around a mile through Pangbourne on the down fast. Noticed a fair few more masts have gone up in the Reading area as well over the past few weeks.

The section west of Pangbourne near Basildon Park, which was randomly smattered with bits and pieces before Xmas now seems to have almost all the parts installed on the portals and there are some earth wires up.

As Jimm mentioned, there are no masts up yet at Pangbourne station, but they have done the groundwork for at least one that I could see.

 

[coxy]

Wires up between Burnham and Taplow.

I went out for a look on New Years Eve. Appears that the wires are up from approximately milepost 21.5 (so west of Burnham) to milepost 22.25 (so east of Taplow).

Therefore less than a mile of wires are up over each of the 4 tracks in the area. West of Taplow there are very few overhead structures in place, so no chance of heading further west until these have been constructed.

Guess they need to crack on with the works if they want to take advantage of the Easter Holidays and shut down certain lines for wiring.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

I went out for a look on New Years Eve. Appears that the wires are up from approximately milepost 21.5 (so west of Burnham) to milepost 22.25 (so east of Taplow).

Therefore less than a mile of wires are up over each of the 4 tracks in the area. West of Taplow there are very few overhead structures in place, so no chance of heading further west until these have been constructed.

Guess they need to crack on with the works if they want to take advantage of the Easter Holidays and shut down certain lines for wiring.

Piling and portal erection are the main objectives for longer possessions, the wiring runs with cantilever installation is mainly overnight possession work, with the exception of stations and complex pointwork.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Headspan to portal conversion work video that's doing the rounds this morning.

https://vimeo.com/150907486

You'll notice how it's possible to do the conversion work without having to drop the headspan entirely or remove mast mounted cabling.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Headspan to portal conversion work video that's doing the rounds this morning.

Are they doing the conversions for reliability reasons, with East Coast Main Line problems in mind? Is it also to make the wiring suitable for use at 125 mph?

 

[Domh245]

Piling and portal erection are the main objectives for longer possessions, the wiring runs with cantilever installation is mainly overnight possession work, with the exception of stations and complex pointwork.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Headspan to portal conversion work video that's doing the rounds this morning.

https://vimeo.com/150907486

You'll notice how it's possible to do the conversion work without having to drop the headspan entirely or remove mast mounted cabling.

Very nicely done! I am assuming then that the foundations there are suitable for the job and not going to cause grief later?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Are they doing the conversions for reliability reasons, with East Coast Main Line problems in mind? Is it also to make the wiring suitable for use at 125 mph?

It's a reliability modification, we don't want headspans failing anywhere, but on the approaches to Paddington and Old Oak Common, it would be disastrous for both the CrossRail and GWML services.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Very nicely done! I am assuming then that the foundations there are suitable for the job and not going to cause grief later?

The foundations are fine, yeah. There's been the trial portal up at Potters Bar for a year or so, and it has been fine.

 

[swt_passenger]

Very nicely done! I am assuming then that the foundations there are suitable for the job and not going to cause grief later?

The original foundations must be fairly deep to allow for the headspan tension pulling the masts together towards one another, so that force will be lost in the conversion. Windage forces are increased though, and that probably has a different directional effect.

Hopefully 'six and two threes' as they say...

 

[Philip Phlopp]

The original foundations must be fairly deep to allow for the headspan tension pulling the masts together towards one another, so that force will be lost in the conversion. Windage forces are increased though, and that probably has a different directional effect.

Hopefully 'six and two threes' as they say...

Exactly spot on. Worst case scenario, existing masts can be braced to prevent deflection in high winds, using the same sort of bracing we're using on the tensioning portals.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Exactly spot on. Worst case scenario, existing masts can be braced to prevent deflection in high winds, using the same sort of bracing we're using on the tensioning portals.

Is it just at critical places or a certain proportion/interval of headspans to strengthen the route?
I presume all headspans do not have to be replaced or it will take a lot of effort/time to get to Stockley!.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Is it just at critical places or a certain proportion/interval of headspans to strengthen the route?
I presume all headspans do not have to be replaced or it will take a lot of effort/time to get to Stockley!.

Most but not all of the headspans will eventually be swapped over. It's possible to do at least one headspan during an overnight possession as there's no piling, boring, concreting or mast erection to worry about.

 

[Mintona]

With the other thread focusing on the Goring fiasco, I wanted to update this one. I've noticed the first piles are being placed at either end of Patchway station, and they look massively bigger (around double the diameter) than the other ones around Pilning. Does anyone know why Patchway needs bigger piles?