Great Western Electrification Progress

[cjmillsnun]

Yes that's what I got. I am a member too. You must be right. Hopefully he will pick this thread up and make the photo available.

Incidentally,Mcafee tells me that Dropbox is a dodgy website (not for the first time I might add).

I personally wouldn't touch McAfee with a barge pole. Dropbox itself is for the most part, fine.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I personally wouldn't touch McAfee with a barge pole. Dropbox itself is for the most part, fine.

I have to agree - I am a Norton man myself even though it is "memory hungry".

 

[oxoneil]

I don't see anything. If you click on the Quote button for his post you can see tht he's tried to enclose something between [ IMG] and [ /IMG] markers.

Oops, not sure what's happening here. I've never really properly got to grips with loading images onto forums. When I posted originally it showed up. I'll have another go later, any tips on how to make it so everyone can see it? Presumably I need a photo hosting site which isn't Dropbox??? Ideally I'd like the image in the post as opposed to a link.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Oops, not sure what's happening here. I've never really properly got to grips with loading images onto forums. When I posted originally it showed up. I'll have another go later, any tips on how to make it so everyone can see it? Presumably I need a photo hosting site which isn't Dropbox??? Ideally I'd like the image in the post as opposed to a link.

Just upload it directly; if you scroll down below the quick reply box you'll see a button "manage attachments"; if you click on that you can select a picture directly from your computer to the forum.

If, on the other hand, you are trying to do it remotely on a phone - I haven't a clue as I never do it that way but someone else will be able to explain that process in a minute.

 

[oxoneil]

Does this work?

 

[Nippy]

Yep. That's there.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Had a quick run from Padd to Reading yesterday. East of Maidenhead there has been a lot of progress now. (No doubt because of how many sodding additional line blockages we have been giving BB to erect booms). Lots of the small steel is in place.

 

[Ironside]

My friends who live near twyford mentioned that there was more overnight work going on near them last week. Or "lots of ******* banging at 3am" as they put it.

 

[HowardGWR]

Does this work?

Well done and most grateful, do keep them coming if possible. I am wondering if we could not do a LCDRExile and create a Flickr site for this subject?

 

[oxoneil]

Well done and most grateful, do keep them coming if possible. I am wondering if we could not do a LCDRExile and create a Flickr site for this subject?

Yeah can do if there's the interest. I'm near Challow so have good access to Grove, Uffington and Shrivenham.

 

[leomartin125]

My friends who live near twyford mentioned that there was more overnight work going on near them last week. Or "lots of ******* banging at 3am" as they put it.

On the NR website, they have posts about when piling occurs, and it currently is a big focus between Maidenhead and Reading as the rest of the route is a lot further advanced now, like Tilehurst to Pangbourne.

 

[Ironside]

On the NR website, they have posts about when piling occurs, and it currently is a big focus between Maidenhead and Reading as the rest of the route is a lot further advanced now, like Tilehurst to Pangbourne.

I think I found the page ( I couldn't work out how to link to it) and I cut and pasted the relavent part below:

Piling work
We're undertaking piling work in the areas shown below from Tuesday 19 to Friday 29 January 2016 .Please note that this schedule could change at short notice for operational reasons.

Before starting the piling work we may need to clear overgrown vegetation running alongside the line. Find out more about why and how we manage vegetation

Reading to Pangbourne
Tuesday 19 - Friday 22 January 2016

11.00pm - 05.45am
Local Authority:Reading and West Berkshire

Tilehurst Station to Shooters Hill (A329), Pangbourne
Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 January 2016
8.00pm - 08.00am
Local Authority:Reading and West Berkshire


Maidenhead Office Park to A3290 Railway Overbridge
Monday 25 - Friday 29 January 2016
10.15pm - 05.45am
Local Authority:Wokingham

 

[HowardGWR]

I think I found the page ( I couldn't work out how to link to it) and I cut and pasted the relavent part below:

Piling work
We're undertaking piling work in the areas shown below from Tuesday 19 to Friday 29 January 2016 .Please note that this schedule could change at short notice for operational reasons.

Before starting the piling work we may need to clear overgrown vegetation running alongside the line. Find out more about why and how we manage vegetation

Reading to Pangbourne
Tuesday 19 - Friday 22 January 2016

11.00pm - 05.45am
Local Authority:Reading and West Berkshire

Tilehurst Station to Shooters Hill (A329), Pangbourne
Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 January 2016
8.00pm - 08.00am
Local Authority:Reading and West Berkshire


Maidenhead Office Park to A3290 Railway Overbridge
Monday 25 - Friday 29 January 2016
10.15pm - 05.45am
Local Authority:Wokingham

Here is the link (you just copy from the URL and paste here).
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/great-western-route-modernisation/west-berkshire/

There is a page for each section at this URL
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/great-western-route-modernisation/

Local work updates
Use the links below to find out about modernisation work on the Great Western line in your area.

Bath and North East Somerset Oxfordshire
City of Bristol Reading
Maidenhead and Windsor South Gloucestershire
Monmouthshire West Berkshire
Newport Wiltshire and Swindon
City of Oxford

oxoneil please do that and then we could all put any pics in it. I may be coming up to that area and also I go via Bristol occasionally. Thank you.

 

[friday74]

A few from Langley earlier today:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mup9qy89rfq8hfi/AADU5mDotiu5op89GuN320tpa?dl=0

 

[AM9]

A few from Langley earlier today:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mup9qy89rfq8hfi/AADU5mDotiu5op89GuN320tpa?dl=0

Despite being bright and new, and not obscured by wiring, the Series 1 kit does look quite unobtrusive considering its design objectives.

 

[QueensCurve]

Despite being bright and new, and not obscured by wiring, the Series 1 kit does look quite unobtrusive considering its design objectives.

Perhaps that is an illusion caused by the absence of portals over the platforms?

 

[mathmo]

A few from Langley earlier today:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mup9qy89rfq8hfi/AADU5mDotiu5op89GuN320tpa?dl=0

Good pictures. Thank you.

I still don't understand why there is no evidence at all of electrification work through the station itself - it seems like this will hold up the wiring when they get that far.

 

[swt_passenger]

Good pictures. Thank you.

I still don't understand why there is no evidence at all of electrification work through the station itself - it seems like this will hold up the wiring when they get that far.

Different digging equipment will usually be used within stations, and if working at the back of a platform it may not need a four track possession like those gantries do, especially if they use separate twin track cantilevers for mains and reliefs.

So they'll make maximum use of limited trackside access to install equipment that needs it, and come back to the stations afterwards.

This is consistent with what is going on between Reading and Didcot, the station areas are clearly being done on separate timescales.

 

[jimm]

Perhaps that is an illusion caused by the absence of portals over the platforms?

Not really. One thing that does strike you from train on the actual wired-up section east of Pangbourne is how little 'clutter' there actually is with this kit when it is all up there, when compared either with older portal electrification, or indeed the supposedly 'invisible' headspans - whenever travelling in and out of Paddington, I, for one, am always conscious of the sheer amount of 'clutter' there seems to be strung up over the tracks.

 

[AM9]

Not really. One thing that does strike you from train on the actual wired-up section east of Pangbourne is how little 'clutter' there actually is with this kit when it is all up there, when compared either with older portal electrification, or indeed the supposedly 'invisible' headspans - whenever travelling in and out of Paddington, I, for one, am always conscious of the sheer amount of 'clutter' there seems to be strung up over the tracks.

Maybe SN109 would have been more visible had OLE that was not engineered down to the lowest installation cost and vainly attempting to be unobtrusive been strung up at Ladbroke Grove.

 

[hassaanhc]

Different digging equipment will usually be used within stations, and if working at the back of a platform it may not need a four track possession like those gantries do, especially if they use separate twin track cantilevers for mains and reliefs.

So they'll make maximum use of limited trackside access to install equipment that needs it, and come back to the stations afterwards.

This is consistent with what is going on between Reading and Didcot, the station areas are clearly being done on separate timescales.

Could they be waiting for platform extension work to start? At many stations, usually where the centre island already tapers off at the end, this will require both relief lines to be moved sideways and the existing side platform to be cut back. I know over Christmas half of Southall's Up Relief platform was demolished and rebuilt as a temporary structure that can be moved easily once the track needs moving in order to extend the Down Relief + Up Main island.

 

[jimm]

Could they be waiting for platform extension work to start? At many stations, usually where the centre island already tapers off at the end, this will require both relief lines to be moved sideways and the existing side platform to be cut back. I know over Christmas half of Southall's Up Relief platform was demolished and rebuilt as a temporary structure that can be moved easily once the track needs moving in order to extend the Down Relief + Up Main island.

Don't think so. As noted back up the thread, the stations generally tend to be the places where there are fewer masts planted and as swt_passenger said, these locations often require bespoke solutions for mast installation, due to varying positions where the masts have to be sited. Between Reading and Didcot, the intermediate stations are pretty much the only places missing masts now and with footbridges needing replacement at some of them, catenary metalwork is probably the last thing you would want nearby until the bridges are finished.

 

[leomartin125]

I have been out exploring the extensiveness of the electrification between Tilehurst and Panbourne and to be fair, it looks like the West Coast Mainline out there now. I'll post pictures today for reference.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24632019801/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24098643413/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24699288986/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24342659529/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24725488385/in/dateposted-public*********

That's all of my photo's from yesterday, looks so different now. I visit Chedddington to get pictures of 90's and 86's etc... and this looks just like it now, if not more modern.

 

[cjmillsnun]

I have been out exploring the extensiveness of the electrification between Tilehurst and Panbourne and to be fair, it looks like the West Coast Mainline out there now. I'll post pictures today for reference.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24632019801/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24098643413/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24699288986/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24342659529/in/dateposted-public*********

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/24725488385/in/dateposted-public*********

That's all of my photo's from yesterday, looks so different now. I visit Chedddington to get pictures of 90's and 86's etc... and this looks just like it now, if not more modern.[/QUOTE]
You may want to check those links.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

You may want to check those links.

In the interim, cutting out /in/dateposted-public********* from the URLs will take you to the photos, or https://www.flickr.com/photos/138309095@N05/ will take you to leomartin125's photostream, which is solely GWep photos.

It's quite strange how quickly the IC125 sets start to look like an anachronism.

 

[nickswift99]

At Goring & Streatley the first portal has now been installed across the Main at the country end of the platform close to the temporary footbridge. Still no clear date for the new footbridge to get installed though...

My guess is that there will be lots of work in late Feb/March when there's Sunday blockades at Didcot.

 

[Taunton]

Maybe SN109 would have been more visible had OLE that was not engineered down to the lowest installation cost and vainly attempting to be unobtrusive been strung up at Ladbroke Grove.

Likewise the Up Main signals at Southall. The accident there occurred almost as soon as the wires had gone up, before electric services started.

 

[nlogax]

The more I look at it, the better that F&F kit looks. Properly 'industrial' and actually able to withstand more than a stiff breeze. I'd love to see it replace older OHLE sections over time.

 

[HowardGWR]

The more I look at it, the better that F&F kit looks. Properly 'industrial' and actually able to withstand more than a stiff breeze. I'd love to see it replace older OHLE sections over time.

I agree, though, visually, the bits that stick out at the top, of varying heights, seem to shout 'please cut me off and make it all level'. I think our colleague Philip Phlopp explained why it is so designed, but I've already forgotten why.

 

[coppercapped]

Likewise the Up Main signals at Southall. The accident there occurred almost as soon as the wires had gone up, before electric services started.

Coincidental, not causal.

 

[mewstone]

HowardGWR wrote "I agree, though, visually, the bits that stick out at the top, of varying heights, seem to shout 'please cut me off and make it all level'. I think our colleague Philip Phlopp explained why it is so designed, but I've already forgotten why."

Isn't it so that the autotransformer feed wire is electrically isolated from the (I hope this is the correct term) trains pantograph pick up wire, without the need to bolt on additional equipment. This keeps down the cost and makes the structures less cluttered and quicker to install. Also with ease of installation and overall costs in mind the components are made to a standard size and therefore the "bits that stick out at the top" will vary from location to location as a result of differing ground conditions, giving different top of rail to pick up wire heights?

( perhaps I should clarify what I am trying to say. I would guess that the top of rail to pick up wire distance will be pretty much constant, just that due to differing ground conditions the top of the piles will vary so to maintain this constant distance the equipment positions on the OHLE supports will vary slightly, hence the differences in the "bits left over at the top" I think I am getting out of my depth here!)