GWML Electification

[Siberian Snooper]

Most of us prefer a day in Polperro to one in Looe.

[big jim]

Great video but interesting that it seems to have taken a lot of folk a long time to wake up to how many in the railway industry, and its contractors, are hard at work over the Christmas period and have been for many years (and some of us used to have to do it for no extra pay at all and all you got was a day in lieu).  No, I'm not moan ing because to us it was simply part of the job - just like many other jobs where folk have to work at Christmas and other Bank Holidays (although Christmas is the worst one for those with families).

 

well i'm in work tomorrow and boxing day at old oak common, should with any luck be home sometime on the 27th, i wasnt going to work them but its a late shift tomorrow so i wont miss out on the kids opening their presents, dinner etc and by the evening im normally bored anyway so may as well go in and earn a few bob extra, im on standby down there tomorrow and manning a train to bring back to crewe on boxing day night

 

may well not even be used tomorrow but its far better for the company to have someone sitting round ready to roll than have an unmanned train if there was last minute sickness etc

 

quite looking forward to it to be honest, shame i cant get a show in on boxing day!! 

[HillsideDepot]

Tonight marks the start of 3 nights of piling between Thingley East and Chippenham, so I went out to see what is happening.

 

The Open Train Times signalling diagram showed the works train arrive at Chippenham 2 minutes early at 2308 and remain there, although the work site is apparently from Thingley East to the A4 bridge. Driving parallel to the line nothing was visible except at Thingley Sidings where there is some sort of works compound in operation. It's not the best road to stop on and have a look at proceedings, but there were several sets of road vehicle lights among the floodlights.

 

Back at Chippenham the piling train was still standing in the platform but the station is, not unreasonably, locked so it wasn't that easy to look at the train. However, it appears to be two piling units coupled, the rear one named "BRUNEL" and carrying 8 piles. The front unit seemed to have 7 piles aboard. I left at 2347 with the train still there, but it has now vanished from the signalling diagram. I assume it has moved into the possession and in doing so has ceased to be the train the system recognised. 

[Ron Ron Ron]

Crossrail doing their bit to remind people that many will be working on the project on Christmas day.....

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

Tonight marks the start of 3 nights of piling between Thingley East and Chippenham, so I went out to see what is happening.

 

The Open Train Times signalling diagram showed the works train arrive at Chippenham 2 minutes early at 2308 and remain there, although the work site is apparently from Thingley East to the A4 bridge. Driving parallel to the line nothing was visible except at Thingley Sidings where there is some sort of works compound in operation. It's not the best road to stop on and have a look at proceedings, but there were several sets of road vehicle lights among the floodlights.

 

Back at Chippenham the piling train was still standing in the platform but the station is, not unreasonably, locked so it wasn't that easy to look at the train. However, it appears to be two piling units coupled, the rear one named "BRUNEL" and carrying 8 piles. The front unit seemed to have 7 piles aboard. I left at 2347 with the train still there, but it has now vanished from the signalling diagram. I assume it has moved into the possession and in doing so has ceased to be the train the system recognised. 

 

I wonder how they're going to get on piling on that high embankment with steep sides?  Must be one of the most difficult sites of the entire GWML and some signal posts have moved out of plumb on that section in the past.

[jim.snowdon]

I wonder how they're going to get on piling on that high embankment with steep sides?  Must be one of the most difficult sites of the entire GWML and some signal posts have moved out of plumb on that section in the past.

Going by what they have done elsewhere, probably with some very deep piles, deep enough to anchor the embankment to the ground beneath.

[The Stationmaster]

Going by what they have done elsewhere, probably with some very deep piles, deep enough to anchor the embankment to the ground beneath.

 

Which will make some very long piles indeed as the embankment must be one of the highest on the GWML and its narrow.

[HillsideDepot]

The piles on the train weren't particularly long, indeed I've seen some elsewhere which they haven't been able to "plant" correctly sticking out nearly as much the whole length of the ones on the train last night. Unless they drive one in and add another on top.

 

It is a huge embankment, and before the forest grew on its sides you could even see the trains running along the top - lots of childhood memories of distant train watching!

[Edwin_m]

They may tie the supports to make two-track portals, as this would reduce the risk of them toppling outwards. 

[The Stationmaster]

They may tie the supports to make two-track portals, as this would reduce the risk of them toppling outwards. 

 

That strikes me as the logical way to tackle it.  The embankment is very high and also very steep so it will clearly be a challenge for the piling teams.  It will also be interesting to see how the replacement of various signals is tackled on that stretch for the same reason.

[big jim]

Thought I was going to have an easy night in standby, no such luck!!

 

Sat at Ruislip ready to head north with one train then back for another!

[HillsideDepot]

Just back from another lineside visit, and didn't really expect to see much. However, there was a considerable amount of equipment on site, stretching Up from the A4 bridge for about 600m along the tall embankment, and behind houses. As I drove around I noticed more lights at Lowden, and there was "Brunel" with a 3 vehicle unit about to plant a pile. As I didn't expect to see anything that well, I typically didn't take my camera!

 

By the time I'd parked and walked back they were making the final adjustments to the pile location. The embankment here is low, almost on the natural level of the land, and I'd estimate the pile to be about 4m long. It took 13 minutes to drive it in, with a number of stops to check alignment. Within a minute of finishing the pile the machine moved off to the next location (hidden behind a house). There have been complaints about the noise of the operation, I'd estimate I was less than 20m away from the pile, and I'd say it was no more noisy than, say, a class 37 would be passing on full power, although the pile driver is obviously stationary for a number of minutes.

 

 

Sorry I couldn't get a better photo, that's the best my phone can do!

Edited December 26, 2016 by HillsideDepot

[The Stationmaster]

Thought I was going to have an easy night in standby, no such luck!!

 

Sat at Ruislip ready to head north with one train then back for another!

 

Always nice to be kept busy Jim

[HillsideDepot]

Had a little drive around this morning and found a piling train "asleep" on the mainline at Thingley.

 

 

In the distance, pretty much opposite Thingley Junction is the sub-station/National Grid connection which will provide power for this part of the project.

 

 

A general view of Thingley Air Ministry Sidings. 

 

 

Some of the piles ready for tonight's shift. The one by itself is particularly long.

 

[big jim]

Always nice to be kept busy Jim

Only ended up doing one in the end, had to drive a driver back to site from Hinksey which by the time I got there after the change ends at Banbury, stabling the train etc put me up to my day, turned out it was covered anyway so back to the hotel to bed

 

Had to drive the van into Kensal rise this morning, does london ever sleep, 05:00 on Boxing Day and the A40 was already getting busy

[jim.snowdon]

Had a little drive around this morning and found a piling train "asleep" on the mainline at Thingley.

If I came across an asset like that doing nothing in the middle of what must have been a 52 hour possession, I would wonder what is going on (or not, as it would seem). It doesn't exacly help in getting the route electrified on tine and in budget.

 

Jim

[HillsideDepot]

If I came across an asset like that doing nothing in the middle of what must have been a 52 hour possession, I would wonder what is going on (or not, as it would seem). It doesn't exacly help in getting the route electrified on tine and in budget.

 

Jim

I wonder the same, Jim.

 

The NR website says: 

 

 

Chippenham

We will be working through the night on Christmas Eve , Christmas Day and Boxing Day in order to install the pile foundations we use to support the overhead cables that allow the operation of the new greener and faster electric trains.

 

This work would normally take months to complete if carried out over weekends when train services are running. However over the Christmas period when the railway is quieter than normal it allows us to complete the works in a much shorter space of time.

 

The piling work will take place on the following dates and locations:

• Christmas Eve from Bath Road to the B4528 Railway Bridges between 2200hrs - 0730 hrs
• Christmas Day from Bath Road to Ivy Lane Primary School between 2100hrs - 0700hrs
• Boxing Day from Ivy Lane Primary School to Chippenham station between 1900hrs - 0500hrs

Prior to these works commencing , we have been working closely with Wiltshire Council to ensure any disruption to the local community is kept to a minimum for those living near the railway.

Which is rather confusing as those times aren't hugely different to a normal overnight possession. OK, the hand back would have to be 0500 for the first train, so 2 hours less on the first two and they'd probably need a later start on the third one during normal traffic, so 6 hours less overall. Surely that's equal to just 1 more night, hardly the "months" they refer to in the second paragraph.

 

I assume that they don't have sufficient qualified/experienced labour to double shift the machines, and I assume there would be restriction under the working hours/daily rest period requirements which would effectively keep night shift workers on a night shift, but on the face of it it does seem odd to work in a residential area over night at Christmas.

 

I wonder how long we will wait before they put the masts up.   

Edited December 27, 2016 by HillsideDepot

[Zomboid]

If I came across an asset like that doing nothing in the middle of what must have been a 52 hour possession, I would wonder what is going on (or not, as it would seem). It doesn't exacly help in getting the route electrified on tine and in budget.

 

Jim

Or maybe there isn't 52 hours of work for that particular machine to do at that worksite.

[The Stationmaster]

Or maybe there isn't 52 hours of work for that particular machine to do at that worksite.

 

There's plenty of piling work to do in that section.  Alas all rather typical of the hit & miss possession 'management' and utilisation which seems to have bedevilled the GWML scheme to the extent that even an NAO report noticed it  - it says something when it takes a state organisation to notice that sort of thing.

[HillsideDepot]

It's even more haphazard that perhaps we'd realised! I went out again last night hunting the piling machine as the NR website said they would be working to Chippenham Station, so that had the potential of yielding a few photos. When I first went out at about 2230 there was a machine on the Up just short of the Western Arches (I think that's Chippenham Viaduct to the Railway). No photos there on the embankment behind trees, but at least the machine was located. The other unit seemed to be a bit further along, but not easy to locate behind the houses.

 

I was out and about in various ways until 0100 hoping to see one of the units on the Western Arches (is that what the single extra long pile is for?) and maybe the other approaching the station. But as I circled town the piling train was sometimes near the Western Arches, sometimes not, and finally I found it out at Lowden, working on the Down side roughly opposite where I'd watched it the previous night. 

 

All very odd. 

 

Needless to say, I didn't stay up all night, as I was prepared to do. Chasing the piling machine is like following 'will-o'-the-wisp'... 

[bensanchez43310]

Only ended up doing one in the end, had to drive a driver back to site from Hinksey which by the time I got there after the change ends at Banbury, stabling the train etc put me up to my day, turned out it was covered anyway so back to the hotel to bed

 

Had to drive the van into Kensal rise this morning, does london ever sleep, 05:00 on Boxing Day and the A40 was already getting busy

 

That being my neck of the woods, Kensal rise most definately, I can assure you that it never sleeps

[big jim]

That being my neck of the woods, Kensal rise most definately, I can assure you that it never sleeps

I Couldn't be doing with that!

 

Even the drive in during the early hours wound me up

Edited December 28, 2016 by big jim

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Was around Hayes and Airport Jn this morning.

 

Couldn't see very much as it was VERY foggy. However, the new flyover (the one we mentioned many months back with the apparently iffy track transition) is now in use, connecting to the up main. Was being used by both HEX and HEC today as the reliefs were closed.

[St. Simon]

Was around Hayes and Airport Jn this morning.

 

Couldn't see very much as it was VERY foggy. However, the new flyover (the one we mentioned many months back with the apparently iffy track transition) is now in use, connecting to the up main. Was being used by both HEX and HEC today as the reliefs were closed.

Hi,

 

That's good to know, now I've just to got to wait for the as builts to come back! And relax.....

 

Simon

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Anyone know if today was its first time in use? Can't find anything on the internet.

 

I'll post up some pictures, though they're not my best.

 

43002 (in blue/grey) was also out and about today.