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MML Electrification: progress updates

edwin_m

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The crossovers at Sharnbrook are probably used during engineering work on the fast lines, to reduce the length of the section where trains are diverted onto the slows.
 
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70014IronDuke

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The crossovers at Sharnbrook are probably used during engineering work on the fast lines, to reduce the length of the section where trains are diverted onto the slows.

Yes, both that and (I presume still) to route heavy goods that would be unable to go over the top on the fasts due to traction limitations. That surely was the historical reason for having the crossovers at Sharnbrook.

But keeping non-standard crossovers there today carries a cost. Unless, as Bald Rick suggests they might be, they somehow are 'standard', although that seems unlikely to me.
I guess it's being done now because it's historically been that way, and moving the junction 2 miles or so south is just a few million investment too far.
 

edwin_m

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Yes, both that and (I presume still) to route heavy goods that would be unable to go over the top on the fasts due to traction limitations. That surely was the historical reason for having the crossovers at Sharnbrook.

But keeping non-standard crossovers there today carries a cost. Unless, as Bald Rick suggests they might be, they somehow are 'standard', although that seems unlikely to me.
I guess it's being done now because it's historically been that way, and moving the junction 2 miles or so south is just a few million investment too far.
As it's single north of Sharnbrook and double to the south, and the passenger service on the Fasts is frequent, I would expect the heavy goods to stay on the Slow(s) the whole way to/from Bedford - not least so the Down ones can wait for a route at Sharnbrook and the Up ones north of Bedford without blocking the Fasts.

Going north from Bedford, the Slow lines start climbing first and Sharnbrook is where the two are on a level, the Fasts having a shorter climb at a steeper gradient to reach a higher summit. The gentler gradient is another reason why freight probably uses the Slows south of Sharnbrook again throughout. It also means that southwards from Sharnbrook (as well as north) it's some distance before the two pairs of tracks are level with each other again. Although I don't have an exact position I think crossovers there would be too close to the ones just north of Bedford to be worthwhile in modern conditions.

Historically there may well have been extra crossovers here as there were at many places on the Midland (lots of old layouts on signalbox.org). I guess these would have been rationalised with the West Hammpstead and Leicester re-signallings, with Sharnbrook being about half way between Bedford and Wellingborough and therefore the best place to keep the crossovers if they decided only one set was needed.
 

John Webb

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St Albans
Gradient maps in "Line by Line - The Midland Route St Pancras to Glasgow Central" (M Buck and M Rawlinson, Freight Master Publishing, 2004) show the slow line starting to rise just south of MP 55 (about 4 miles north of the Bedford crossovers), while the fasts drop down a little before rising again. They are on a level at Sharnbrook (MP 56.75) as Edwin_m says above. The two sets of lines regain the same level close to MP 64, about a mile south of Wellingborough. It seems sensible to me to retain the junction at Sharnbrook to give operating flexibility.
 

WymoWanderer

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18 Dec 2017
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Between BDM and WEL
Quick update from Wymington, North Bedfordshire.
  • A portal has be installed on the slow lines to the South of Wymington
  • All masts and cantilevers appear to be installed to the south of Wymington on the slow lines. Many have drop poles and registration arms.
  • Trunking along the slow lines
  • A platform presumably for new signalling equipment has been installed opposite signal LR8 on the slow lines.
Signal equipment platform.
y4mzv3Ddb20L0vaTgr04rt8unO3FLKtZ2sDVvW7TCXNXY1t9GhHX_DJZR4MMsbT3P_p3On8focFOdd8EBzCvq__uwLYlUw4-t7uYzNfEDydMaDjmN65v5m298WIaNjVNZY3JDr_UUJplMiqp74-_-SY3YPfPpQUNgKQ16zPtRnm60IyRcpDNDvfnofxb9jJRlMBhRJzsJrEFBo3yAwfIbbd9g

Masts and cantilevers on the slow lines.
y4mUrES3WX_xu4kt8f1KtdKfq5uUHzA-YJzwg7vBlu7QjwMTaqNE9Wfbwu0dP7RmNFm1KqNGjoeOwyZa_8EhHCQVaCwuDRpGmMLRZjDm_ejAxNUfBOLDBkVNdtWL5k_Rgdr7F4_PmKn6zVqZV6CQuGoy5Qg4rzI85yNq99UlMgXMOtyXVuXwzzmGff2Asd2zhqPtO7BuF7iwFonuCez0PiENQ

y4m6P3dmBHUO4yAdsTgFmQljTYwsyY7Rhi7UdzigpyI-9Kzw_qsHSbJtnME4BJdjexQEwWkZA-VUggVntDO76dJw-3LfKV3sXU-x9NEFkNA3OEfjTZfCfJUT8gONay6FoOfKH06h0rD_giW6MvMHia2pRNSrg9g7AWGTsWufiQzod3-RrxRwdERke73w6CVlx3wig_0l6zmDgftIcWZ5phH6A

y4mcLHcgGg-2VViNw3kqvbMOYvF4lUAY1x8fsUjKjuq_hXtXNb9NFr_dSQNVjEjgmApQRgpWX9Vgj0f7ycKbDQA6p8w5rtV44nzJ60r7_M7CZ61CGVoCmPdSSAWMu3ZGJh2TL5Ckb8QKONC5a892vs4WY1SYfFzj74ZJxx2SNwRD7mA9WlKz46SVPSgazdKg6cju1H0SEYqagitlxYfC9ZixQ

y4mam2ZGMyUO9MNLSWxbyzOraeycxntoKjrK5umgKiR8qBn0VeZtsepzsmQlrCGc-RIGj8Gc4ASb8PnPnQcZ_RDNdlrimE54873SVyeDN91911mJPnvwRsMdwWc1x6FCBTNaHxdfAqjU5kPklTqTESQQJaCKJeUi_cy6Z_S2z7UAVMURcUiTRGMJrLr0y0ZFyX1qkRN_3D7Pcbi-kzeMFa38Q

y4mdqtUlFSCfkyRhlM5q6XZ9r83vlS6UqJDkNOvthqPkbX9BQaiWKImyvs4lmlXHFZBSVfa35amgmpXeYPuUc0bE4cexvTvRDZhohvDfxYSuBcai6AiTtOSB8LIOPTd5hRKt2s_p9D8cHcrQsewgQWYvZyangsNPrYYo3ajBR2czGZSOH8bRP7qPBJiNbl2n1G1NA3Ebb-5pHLIS-MbsYOWMQ
 

John Webb

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The 'signalling equipment platform' is for taking Location Cabinets to a safe place away from the trackside, so people can work on them without having to block the line. The cabinets themselves may contain signalling or telecoms equipment. I note similar platforms have been used in recent years around Cowley Bridge junction north of Exeter St Davids to minimise the potential damage by flooding that has occurred there in the past.
Thanks for the pics - always interesting to see how things are going!
 

WymoWanderer

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18 Dec 2017
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Between BDM and WEL
Yesterday when travelling from Bedford I noticed a new substation and four wiring assemblies adjacent to the fast lines to the south of Ford End Road bridge. The substation looked very similar to the one recently installed in Wymington.

48FA6F08-E4DF-41C5-A289-5665B2310C61.jpeg
 

InTheEastMids

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31 Jan 2016
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718
Travelled along the MML today and saw a couple of things
1. The throat of the sidings at Kettering has been laid, and a lot of ballast is being put down for the rest
2. There's some wiring been installed just South of the Wymington loop, but it's not as complete as the wiring runs around Oakley
3. There's some fairly large portals installed North of Wellingborough, and I think one of the sidings or a passing loop at Wellingborough yard will get wired

I'm a bit perplexed about how little 4-tracking seems to be happening. It really feels like little has been done for ages and there's still obstructions that haven't been moved and some areas where there's no trackbed.
 

59CosG95

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Between Peterborough & Bedlington
Travelled along the MML today and saw a couple of things
1. The throat of the sidings at Kettering has been laid, and a lot of ballast is being put down for the rest
2. There's some wiring been installed just South of the Wymington loop, but it's not as complete as the wiring runs around Oakley
3. There's some fairly large portals installed North of Wellingborough, and I think one of the sidings or a passing loop at Wellingborough yard will get wired

I'm a bit perplexed about how little 4-tracking seems to be happening. It really feels like little has been done for ages and there's still obstructions that haven't been moved and some areas where there's no trackbed.
The signals are the problem with the 4-tracking; so many obstructions are due to critical infrastructure such as the old signal gantry at Harrowden Junction. The Up side leg of said gantry is slap bang in the middle of the proposed Up Slow. There are a few signals in the way of the Up Slow's path between Sharnbrook Tunnel & Sharnbrook Jct as well.
 

InTheEastMids

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31 Jan 2016
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The signals are the problem with the 4-tracking; so many obstructions are due to critical infrastructure such as the old signal gantry at Harrowden Junction. The Up side leg of said gantry is slap bang in the middle of the proposed Up Slow. There are a few signals in the way of the Up Slow's path between Sharnbrook Tunnel & Sharnbrook Jct as well.

This is true but they've just moved/ replaced quite a few signals, and removed a signal gantry over the course of the Market Harborough project. Given they've had quite a few possessions, including whole weekends last summer, it's surprising to me that these critical enabling works still haven't been done.
 

Flying Phil

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This is true but they've just moved/ replaced quite a few signals, and removed a signal gantry over the course of the Market Harborough project. Given they've had quite a few possessions, including whole weekends last summer, it's surprising to me that these critical enabling works still haven't been done.
I too am surprised, but I suspect that "critical" is the key word here, as I'm sure the planners for these projects have done a project critical path analysis for all the elements. There is a live railway which needs signals all the time alongside these works and so I'm sure it will all come together on time.....and hopefully on budget....as has the Market Harborough straightening.
 

hwl

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5 Feb 2012
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This is true but they've just moved/ replaced quite a few signals, and removed a signal gantry over the course of the Market Harborough project. Given they've had quite a few possessions, including whole weekends last summer, it's surprising to me that these critical enabling works still haven't been done.
Given signalling resources are fairly constrained probably limited to 1 job / possession so a slow and steady progression. They have also probably started with the jobs that needed the fewest pre-requisites with some of the remaining signalising task needing new duct /cables / cable routing /signalling power supplies installed first.
 

gaillark

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27 Jan 2013
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212
Can anybody confirm whether the Souldrop foot crossing has been closed over the railway as the footpath diversionary route was still incomplete according to Bedford Brough Council's Countryside Officer.
 

sleeper fan

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5 Jun 2019
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Just north of Corby on the branch from Kettering to Manton Jct; just north of Market Harborough on the MML.
Thank you. So Electric traisn will run to Corby once complete and I guess any new long distance stock will have to be Bio-mods? If any new stock is planned.
 

DanDaDriver

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5 May 2018
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338
Can anybody confirm whether the Souldrop foot crossing has been closed over the railway as the footpath diversionary route was still incomplete according to Bedford Brough Council's Countryside Officer.

I believe it has as the whistle board had been taken out.
 

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