• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Wembley Neutral Sections

Status
Not open for further replies.

ole man

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2011
Messages
739
Location
LEC5
The delays on the WCML this weekend were due to the Neutral Sections at Wembley failing again, this is the third time in 5 years that these neutral sections have failed or been ripped down.
Morgan est eti originally installed the neutral sections, which promptly fell to bits, network rail blamed poor workmanship.
Network Rail themselves have installed new neutral sections at Wembley twice now under the name Network Rail OCR, which are Network Rails heavy maintenance /project team.
It would be interesting to see who they blame this time!.
I've been to Wembley and worked around the neutral sections in questions, my theory is that it is a grading issue that is the cause, this will keep happening again and again unless they are moved.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Old Timer

Established Member
Joined
24 Aug 2009
Messages
3,703
Location
On a plane somewhere at 35,000
The delays on the WCML this weekend were due to the Neutral Sections at Wembley failing again, this is the third time in 5 years that these neutral sections have failed or been ripped down.
Morgan est eti originally installed the neutral sections, which promptly fell to bits, network rail blamed poor workmanship.
Network Rail themselves have installed new neutral sections at Wembley twice now under the name Network Rail OCR, which are Network Rails heavy maintenance /project team.
It would be interesting to see who they blame this time!.
I've been to Wembley and worked around the neutral sections in questions, my theory is that it is a grading issue that is the cause, this will keep happening again and again unless they are moved.
Maybe they should use someone who knows about these things and call in Balfour Beatty ?

Having seen what the OCR have done in the past (when they were not avoiding work) I was not impressed.

You will recall that it was they who wired up the OHL switching a Rugby during the Christmas Overrun so badly that the whole of Rugby became one large single section, and Balfour Beatty OHL had to come in and strip the whole of the arrangements down and rebuild them correctly.

Properly set up a Neutral Section is not a problem and grading whilst not being a desireable situation can be accommodated. I presume Wembley is the AF style ?
 

ole man

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2011
Messages
739
Location
LEC5
Balfour Beatty man are you? getting a lot of work at the moment.
The Fast lines are AF style, can't remember slow lines though pretty sure they are.
Network Rail has recently replaced every Neutral Section around the north west with AF style n/s.
The only one you hear of any problems is at Wembley
 

Old Timer

Established Member
Joined
24 Aug 2009
Messages
3,703
Location
On a plane somewhere at 35,000
Balfour Beatty man are you? getting a lot of work at the moment.
No.

I work for an International company having, along with many others, become tired of the continual sh*t that comes with Network Rail and its complete ineptness to even issue a Contract that reflects what it has tendered.

Nowadays I don't get treated like something unpleasant that has been trodden in by some condescending failure with a degree in aggressive Contracting and a complete lack of railway knowledge, who just happens to be managing the Project because no other organisation would employ him.
 

25Kv

New Member
Joined
7 Nov 2011
Messages
4
I would have to disagree with the comments Re the OCR. Having worked with them in the past they have always struck me as an outfit far more willing than most!! However I agree that it will be interesting to see how NWR spin the failure of the Neutrals this time. (They are the AF single rod type, with "lever arm" dampers.)
 

Old Timer

Established Member
Joined
24 Aug 2009
Messages
3,703
Location
On a plane somewhere at 35,000
I would have to disagree with the comments Re the OCR. Having worked with them in the past they have always struck me as an outfit far more willing than most!! However I agree that it will be interesting to see how NWR spin the failure of the Neutrals this time. (They are the AF single rod type, with "lever arm" dampers.)
Well I tried to work with them at Rugby on the Over-run but they decided to spend their time at Hilmorton where there were no problems and funnily enough could not be contacted, rather than at Rugby where we were all on extended hours. That said we made no rush to get them back as we knew the level of their "workmanship". Indeed I gave you a perfectly good example about the switching in my earlier post.

One of the first jobs I had to do when I got called in to Rugby was to allocate a Contractors OHL team to completely dismantle the equipment the day NR OCR team had spent all day installing. It was wrong, assembled wrongly, and registering the wrong lines. It took a Contractors team very much less time to disassemble and re-assemble it properly before any real work could be started.

There is I can assure you a huge difference between putting back up Equipment that has previously been installed, and installing Equipment for the first time, which is why we always had site design authority as managers and supervisors, together with design staff either on site or on the end of a telephone. Many is the time the design has not worked and we have had to come up with an alternative solution, based on a mixture of knowledge and construction experience.

Most competent OHL maitenance staff can re-wire using "As fitted", as well as they can grease up, dealing with an unexpected radial load in a complex junction area with the clock ticking to handback as I was faced with at Rugby needs the level of construction experience that was certainly missing from the OCR at that time, and possibly still is, knowing the level of salary.

The really best construction staff went overseas as soon as it was obvious NR were determined to put BB out of business in the UK. I rather think the boot is on the other foot, and the money in the next few years will be in OHL where those who know are now few and far between. Who for example would swop a nice warm Country to come and work under the pressures and attitudes of NR for a lot less ??

You have your view and I have mine. Given a Contractors OHL team or an OCR team I know which I (and many of the OHL Managers I know) would take.
 
Last edited:

Tin Rocket

Member
Joined
24 Nov 2008
Messages
248
Location
midlands
Oh dear, wires are now down at Althorpe :oops: :oops:

There is a neutral section there as well, isn't there? :roll:

Isnt it an insulated overlap there?or was? been a few year since i've been there,were'nt the neutrals at church brampton moved to patford bridge when the new feeder was opened?like i say been a while since i been round that neck of the woods
 

33056

Established Member
Joined
12 Nov 2007
Messages
2,414
Location
On a train somewhere in Europe
It's not an area I am very familiar with, however, I have now looked in the December 2009 Sectional Appendix and it shows a neutral section at 74m 60ch some 3/4 mile south of Long Buckby and nearly 2 3/4 miles north of Althorpe Park HABD.
 

Tin Rocket

Member
Joined
24 Nov 2008
Messages
248
Location
midlands
It's not an area I am very familiar with, however, I have now looked in the December 2009 Sectional Appendix and it shows a neutral section at 74m 60ch some 3/4 mile south of Long Buckby and nearly 2 3/4 miles north of Althorpe Park HABD.

sounds like patford bridge neutral,church brampton must be redundant now.
 

1978NWUK

Member
Joined
13 Dec 2011
Messages
37
Most competent OHL maitenance staff can re-wire using "As fitted", as well as they can grease up, dealing with an unexpected radial load in a complex junction area with the clock ticking to handback as I was faced with at Rugby needs the level of construction experience that was certainly missing from the OCR at that time, and possibly still is, knowing the level of salary.

Word on the street is, that although NwR OCR were present at this fiasco, this particular person you're referring to wasn't actually OCR, not that I'm sticking up for them!!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top