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Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

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PDG1949

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This is great, thank you.

I must confess to some miffage here, I was told in the week that the lift this weekend was cancelled and publicised that accordingly. It's a good job you didn't believe it!

Thank you

Dave

Yes, I can agree with that - I was with Dave at the time we were told, so it's flummoxed me a bit also - maybe the windspeed dropped sufficiently?; that was the original concern at the time we were informed, given the size of the crane.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
This is great, thank you.

I must confess to some miffage here, I was told in the week that the lift this weekend was cancelled and publicised that accordingly. It's a good job you didn't believe it!

Thank you

Dave

Yes, I agree wth Dave; I also was with him at the time we were originally told earlier in the week - perhaps the predicted windspeeds abated sufficiently to come within H & S guidelines ?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Yes, I can agree with that - I was with Dave at the time we were told, so it's flummoxed me a bit also - maybe the windspeed dropped sufficiently?; that was the original concern at the time we were informed, given the size of the crane.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Yes, I agree wth Dave; I also was with him at the time we were originally told earlier in the week - perhaps the predicted windspeeds abated sufficiently to come within H & S guidelines ?

Sorry about the duplication; this site appears to have Harvey Wallbangers at times...
 
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LDECRexile

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LNW-GW Joint

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I counted 13 more bases installed in the last week.
They are all between Chorley and Adlington and extend the run of bases westwards beyond the Yarrow viaduct on both lines.
Specifically 8 more on the Down and 5 on the Up, making 41/44 respectively between the two stations.
They are closing in on Chorley station, with signs of preparatory earthworks extending west to roughly where the cutting approaching the tunnel starts.
No change elsewhere (not seen south of Salford Crescent).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
These Northwest Electrification threads sure have expanded the English language. First there was TGBU on the Chat Moss route - now we have miffage. :)

It makes these threads positively Reithian - to inform, educate and entertain. ;)
 

LDECRexile

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Updated Progressometer and Bridgeoscope below.
 

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LDECRexile

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Judging by the condition of the parapets visible in Streetview, it certainly looks as though it needs rebuilding.

Perhaps it should be added to the Bridgeoscope?

Indeed.

It isn't in there because of inertia.

When I started pursuing this thread I knew neither nowt nor summat about the line. I've published photographs of the bridge and its preliminary works but had subsumed them under the mental heading 'Bolton - complicated and hard.'

I would be very, very pleased for someone who knows what's what to set out the work to be done at Bolton. I'd be very happy to help devise a Boltoscope if it would help.

Orlando St bridge could appear in the Boltoscope, Bridgeoscope or both, but I'd prefer just one, with a footnote from the other, if two are to exist.

Whilst we're at it, I've been reminded that our Combined Volume covers Phase 3 (Preston-Blackpool), Phase 4 (Salford-Euxton) and Phase 7 (Lostock Jct-Wigan) and omits the Windermere Branch.

I would welcome constructive suggestions whether to divvy it up or add Windermere or whatever.
 

LDECRexile

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I'm delighted that Richard Buckley has sent a photo of Farnworth Tunnel he took on Monday.

I've added it to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/sets/72157649960023396

and to the Combined Volume (CV) here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/sets/72157648767927083


I have followed through on Ian Fitter's kind offer to allow us to link his material to the CV.

If you look at the Comment below Photos 4122a, b & c or the Comment below all in the 3626 series you will see this in action.

I propose to do similar whenever a bridge, crossing or whatever is finished and Ian has an album of work on it.

Thank you Richard and Ian.


Righto, I'm off grandadding now....
 
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LeylandLen

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Would all bridge renewal/upgrade work continue whilst there is the rail strike next week? I know Network Rail employees have voted to strike, but a lot of the work as I understand it is being sub-contracted out.
 

Ploughman

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During previous strikes I know from personal experience that possessions have been taken at the booked time but prior to the strike, work undertaken and the possession handed back when the strike finished.
 

Trackman

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During previous strikes I know from personal experience that possessions have been taken at the booked time but prior to the strike, work undertaken and the possession handed back when the strike finished.

I thought during a possession the line must have someone in a signal box (or whatever) just to make sure everything is safe.
 

Elecman

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No the signaller needs to be there to give the possession and to take it back but doesn't need to be there if there are no train movements into or out of the possesion
 

ironstone11

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Some pictures Here from Network Rail of work at Farnworth Tunnel.

Should display as a group of four pictures each of which can be clicked to enlarge.
 

ALX400

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LDECRexile

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Yes, some great photos and videos. Thanks to everyone involved, very much appreciated.

Thank you very much.

ALX400, we'll meet up before long, I'm sure. Action shots of the first masts going up would be great, but the chances of stumbling upon it happening are slim. I very much hope people in the know will tip the wink.

Dave
 

thealexweb

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I was out walking with my father and took about 20 photos of the bridgework going on around Ladybridge. Weirdly no work was happening today but there was a lot of action yesterday. I will upload them in due course.

I have also 'found' some more photos that were took at the same time as my first two batches but had been deemed lost for reasons I won't go into. I will also upload those too when I can.
 
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thealexweb

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LDECRexile, these are all the photos I took on 11/05/2015. Sorry I did not send them all at the same time. I am unsure if and how you can merge them in to the combined album.
 

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LDECRexile

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LDECRexile, these are all the photos I took on 11/05/2015. Sorry I did not send them all at the same time. I am unsure if and how you can merge them in to the combined album.

Fabulissimo.

I can weave them in quite easily, but thanks for your concern.

You are far from alone in bafflement over the names of the bridges in those parts.

There are two seemingly similar, ancient bridges in the bottom of the valley both visible from the other.

The one nearer Bolton is at the bottom of Overdale Drive if you are coming from the north. It is at the bottom of the footpath which runs due north from the side of Deane Church if you are coming from the south. It is next to Heaton Fold garden centre and next to the cemetery.

This bridge is known as Dean Clough (NB: Dean, not Deane, despite the spelling of the nearby village) to railway engineers. That name was almost certainly bestowed on the bridge when it was being built back in the first half of the 19th Century. Names and numbers, once given, are best left alone, lest people demolish the wrong ones etc.

The site, however, as with the adjacent garden centre, is known as Heaton Fold. That name appears on the very precise noticeboard just to the Bolton side of the bridge next to the footpath between the river and the line. So we have one set of railwaymen calling the bridge Dean Clough and others calling it Heaton Fold.

The GSM-R Repeater just to the Lostock side of the bridge has its name and details spelled out in plain view and it is known as Heaton Fold to railway comms and electronics people.

Road signs relating to the closure, however, were erected by the Highways Dept (or Bolton Council or the Highways Agency, roads people, anyway, I know not which). Those signs all refer to the closure of Overdale Drive.

Locals I've talked to at the site call it "First Bridge".

The other bridge, nearer to Lostock Junction, is crossed by Ladybridge Lane. Railway engineers call the structure Ladybridge.

Locals call it "Second Bridge".

I understand that Ladybridge won't be closed until Dean Clough bridge has reopened.

Ee, it's fun.

Dave

PS: I've had a first look at the 11th May photos, the first and last are of Ladybridge, note the much larger arch over the river and the tiny 'tube' hole for the lineside footpath - very much like the gennel to our back door when I was a boy. Also, there's no evidence of rebuilding work. All the others are of Dean Clough.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I've added the photos kindly sent by thealexweb and seen above, to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/sets/72157652232138430

and woven them into the Combined Volume in series 4086 and 4082 here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/sets/72157648767927083

Thank you thealexweb. I look forward to your shots from today, the lack of activity may be because they met their weekend's objectives yesterday.
 
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spongsdad

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I've had a first look at the 11th May photos, the first and last are of Ladybridge, note the much larger arch over the river and the tiny 'tube' hole for the lineside footpath - very much like the gennel to our back door when I was a boy. Also, there's no evidence of rebuilding work. All the others are of Dean Clough.

Dave, I just want to add my thanks to those of many others for your efforts in cataloguing the current civil and electrical works in connection with the NW electrification programme. For those of us who find it more difficult to get out and about these days (for various reasons) your work is invaluable. Moreover it will be priceless to those who come after us.
Incidentally I was fascinated to see your spelling of the word gennel ; this betrays your origins as much as your moniker does. Round these parts- Lancashire- it's definitely a ginnel. You need to learn the lingo, lad ;):
 

thealexweb

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Thank you for information regarding Ladybridge and its surroundings. Here are all the first ten shots from 17/05/2015, as I can only upload ten at a time. These are the last retrospective photos I have.
 

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thealexweb

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And the second batch of ten from 17/05/2015.
 

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thealexweb

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And the final two from 17/05/2015.

I tried uploading the photo's from today but got a security token error message. I will try again tomorrow.
 

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LDECRexile

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And the final two from 17/05/2015.

I tried uploading the photo's from today but got a security token error message. I will try again tomorrow.

Great stuff, thank you. Not only do we spell gennel gennel in civilisation, we also pronounce it jennel.

At the risk of making something slightly serious out of a bit of fun, I regret the steady standardisation of English pronunciation and loss of regional speech I've experienced in my lifetime.

In the pit village I grew up in the respectful plural and familiar singular were in everyday use, eg "Ey up, weer a' tha guin?' to a mate, would automatically be spoken as 'Hello Miss, weer are you guin?' to a teacher.

I rarely hear 'theein and tharin' when I visit home now, though the universal use of 'Duck' (as in Ey up me Duck) always tells me I'm back.

On the other side of the coin, I like it when I go for a day out to Bolton - a mere 25 miles from Southport where I live - and hear an utterly different accent.

It will be tonight before I process these shots because I'm off to watch Derbyshire thrashing Lancashire at cricket today.

Have fun

Dave
 
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