View allAll Photos Tagged electrifying
Today I went to Amsterdam to visit the science museum Nemo with Poekie and her husband. I've known Poekie since the good old fotolog times and we get along very well together. It was a fun day.
At one point I was electrified. :op
A proper train!
Two FTPE Class 350s - 350 407 leading 350 404 - form an eight car lunchtime Manchester Airport to Scotland service.
Since electrification at Christmas 2014 these units have run via Patricroft and Lowton Junction to gain the WCML. Some may revert to the Bolton route when it isw electrified - hopefully by late 2016.
Taken from the eastbound platform looking east.
Network Rail closed the line between Earlestown and Edge Hill and between Huyton and Springs Branch Junction, Wigan on consecutive Sundays in February 2015, so they could crack on with electrification works which were behind schedule.
During one of these possessions a road-railer sets of westards loaded with all the necessary to erect pallisade fenciing..
Taken from Bridge Road bridge looking southwest.
.Paul Gaskell kindly sent this photo for publication.
Whilst the last phase of Huyton Junction re-quadrupling was taking place services from Wigan to Lime Street were terminating at St Helens Central, with rail replacement buses on to Lime St and stations between. The trains reversed at St Helens, forming northbound services. This entailed using the station's trailing crossover, which had not long been electrified for this eventuality. That crossover is otherwise little used and never normally used by passenger services.
This sequence of shots runs through the track and signalling work needed to perform these manoeuvres.
The Dolly is set to "clear" and the train heads back northwards (right to left.)
Copyright Paul D Gaskell 2017.
Northern 156 464 sets out for Manchester Victoria under the pair of wires now stretched through Rainhill station.
This means that at least two wires run continuously from two masts east of the 'Vee' of Huyton Junction to just shy of Sankey Viaduct.
Although the fixings are plainly temporary, the nature of the headspan arrangement, unique to Rainhill in the Edge Hill-Wigan and Eartlestown phase of the electrification project can be seen. This was a compromise between engineering, finance and aesthetics.
Taken from the westbound platform looking east.
Nothing seems to have been done since Paul visited ten days or so ago.
The temporary plywood guards have been removed, but their permanent replacements are not yet on site.
The parapets of the railway bridge which used to cross here can be seen, the one to the right (south) is pretty obvious, the one to the left can just be glimpsed through the pillars which support the near end of the footbridge.
That bridge is generally accepted as the world's first rail over rail bridge, it was demolished in relatively recent times.
Paul Gaskell kindly sent this photo for publication.
The crossover in St Helens Central station has been electrified.
Copyright Paul D Gaskell 2017.
Gralistair kindly sent this photograph for publication.
Graham added: "Wired."
Copyright Gralistair 2018.
Phil Wieland has kindly made this photo available for publication. He has previously made it accessible in his superb 'nw-sparks' website.
The previously Liverpool South Parkway (LPY) to Blackpool North semi-fasts were replaced by a LPY to Preston electric service on unchanged timings on and from 5th October 2015.
Phil took this shot of one awaiting departure from LPY.
Copyright Phil Wieland 2015
The public footpath under the viaduct has been immensely improved.
The serious problems with the 'Mucky Mountain' eastern side of the valley south of the viaduct have not yet been resolved. The barrier seen in our past visit some weeks ago now looks ominously long-term. A drainage ditch has been dug east of the path.
Anyone wishing to visit the viaduct should take wellies, the footpath diversion is mainly grass, mud and puddles.
Taken looking south.
Paul Gaskell kindly sent this photo for publication.
It shows parapet extension work on Corporation Street bridge in central St Helens which has followed electrification.
Paul writes:
" Another coper close-up."
Copyright Paul D Gaskell 2016
The bridge at the station's west end has always been a fine vantage point, but recent electrification works have exposed its potential for harm.
The parapet is being substantially raised.
I can confirm, that New Zealand electric fences use a higher voltage than europeans.
I was standing left of the fence and made a picture and it was somehow missing a foreground. So I leaned over the fence for the picture.
"Smart" as I am I lifted my pullover and t-shirt to avoid ripping it at the barb wire.
So the barb wire pushed a little in my belly. Even if no sheep were inside I found out that the fence was electrified.
Basically the electric strike pushed the trigger, when I winced in pain ;)
Could feel it for some minutes…
At least I am somehow satisfied with the picture :D
Gralistair kindly sent this photo for publication.
Please compare with Photo 6224m etc taken on 29 December 2016.
Taken looking towards Salwick and Blackpool. No electrification work in evidence, but lots happening at Salwick, just visible in the distance.
Copyright Gralistair 2017
Newly installed wires hang over the Wigan Branch as it curves past Gerard's Bridge Junction.
Taken from the public footpath to the west of the tracks, looking north.
Gralistair kindly sent this photo for publication.
Site clearance has taken place, but no electrification works in evidence yet.
Copyright Gralistair 2017
The tracks through the to-be-reinstated Platforms 3 and 4 have been installed and the wires energised.
The tracks beyond, nearer to the New Bailey car park, have been taken out of use.
A Northern Class 319 passes from Lime Street with a service for Manchester Victoria.
Note the very low platform (or very high track.)
Phil Wieland has kindly submitted this photograph for publication.
Metalwork appears
Phil took this shot from the westbound platform looking east.
Copyright Phil Wieland 2014
Paul Gaskell kindly sent this photo for publication.
It shows parapet extension work on Corporation Street bridge in central St Helens which has followed electrification.
Paul writes:
" Taken looking towards Pocket Nook; taken from station side."
Copyright Paul D Gaskell 2016
Spotted these four birds on top of an electricity pylon. One appeared to be trying to dry off its wings. Not being one for 'birds' I have no idea what birds they are (shamefully :-/)
While the Bournemouth line was being electrified, many local services were operated by borrowed diesel mechanical units. Some of them came from Wales, and our drivers soon found strange Welsh places to wind up on the destination blinds!
Wires have gone up through the station.
So far they include return wires and full wires over the Platform 2 track.
Platform 3 tack has not yet been wired.
The Platform 1 line appears to be being electrified only as an overrun from its junction with the main line. That wiring ends at Platform 1's southern end and appears complete.
The transformers and the shed that holds mercury-arc rectifiers. The rectified supply is used fir rail, tram and trolleybus overhead.
Paul Gaskell kindly sent this photo for publication.
It shows parapet extension work which has followed electrification.
Paul writes:
" Compare these shots with the earlier pics of brackets on the road bridge shown in the 5692 series."
Copyright Paul D Gaskell 2016
FTPE 185 102 slows from its race across Chat Moss with a Newcastle-Lime St flyer.
Note the generally lighter colour of the metal forest over the train compared with the tracks to its right as we look at it. This is the result of adding to or replacing 1961 metalwork with 2014 metalwork as the Chat Moss route is electrified.
Taken from Wavertree Road overbridge looking east.
Hunts Cross is, strictly, outside the scope of Liverpool to Manchester electrification.
I include it as a 'boundary station' and as somewhere frequently mentioned in scenes at Liverpool South Parkway and Allerton Depot.
A sudden shaft of sunlight brings out the contrasting colours of a Northern Class 156 heading for Lime Street with an all stations train from Manchester Oxford Road and a Merseyrail Class 507 or 508 arriving with an all stations shuttle from Southport via Liverpool Central.
Taken from the station footbridge looking east.
66095 passes South Moreton with 1335 Bicester C.O.D. to Didcot T.C. on 1st July 2014.
With electrification work progressing a section of very tall posts have been installed between South Moreton and Cholsey, and it's clear to see how this location, and many others, is soon to change!
Paul Gaskell kindly gave this photo for publication.
Northern 142 007 heads north along the 'Windsor Link' towards Salford Crescent. The Chat Moss route to Liverpool bears off to the left.
The route under the camera is due to be electrified by late 2016.
Paul took this shot from the bridge which carries Oldfield Road over the junction.
Copyright Paul D Gaskell 2015
The changes afoot at Allerton Depot are not trivial.
The fleet of Northern Electrics constantly grows and now it appears from what I am told and can see that the depot building is being extended. Furthermore, the trackwork and wiring at the western end of the site is material.
All this with trains whizzing past and using the depot.
Open heart surgery with the patient awake and going about his daily business.
This shot was taken from a Lime Street to Manchester Oxford Road all stations, looking northeast.
The track furthest from camera is a depot track with 1961 overhead wiring in place. Work is in hand to upgrade that wiring to modern standards - eg the new mast in centre shot awaiting fixings - and convert it to a 'headshunt'.
The middle track the 'Up and Down Electric' bi-directional, 3rd-rail electrified single track running parallel to the track my train is on.. It is not only third rail electrified but as can be seen it, has 1961 vintage OHLE above.
The bridge visible to the right is long disused. It carries a mature wood above and is completely isolated by pallisade fencing at both ends.At one time it would have enabled pedestrians walking along Brunt Lane Liverpool 19 to cross the railway; now it is a nature reserve.
Soon to be history? This service was intended to be electrified in December 2014, but there will be slippage.
A Northern Class 156 eases off for its Newton-le-Willows stop as it passes the Huskisson Memorilal to its left. At this point the train is between the two southern points of the triangular layout. In view near the camera is Parkside Junction, ahead of the train is Newton-le-Willows Junction and to the right is Lowton Junction.
The N-W line has carried two passenger trains per day, Monday to Friday, for some years. Unfortunately for passengers, they both run in the same direction, so for anyone in Earlestown or Newton hoping to commute to Wigan the service is useless. It is said to be run to keep staff route knowledge, but it does carry passengers.
Taken from the public foot crossing's northern steps, looking southwest.
The 'Low' in Lowton is spoken like 'cow' or 'how', not 'low' or 'so'.
Wrinkley kindly sent this photograph for publication.
Short, fat mast bases are being installed. The earth inside the cylindrical pile is augered out, then it is filled with concrete and the bolts to which the mast will be attached.
Copyright Wrinkley 2018.
FTPE 185 120 travels east on a not-so-flying 1E69 Newcastle flyer, having had 60092's coal train (see previous image, 1934) sent out before it.
In 2014 60092 will pull that train at one heck of a lick, but the flyer should be even faster. In any event, the coal train will have to slow to 30mph at Sankey Junction, which will almost certainly bring the following flyer to a stand.
All that said, these shots are about electrification, with a fine set of metalwork on show.
Taken from Roby Platform 4 looking east.