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Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

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Clip

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Not sure if it fits in here but they've got a new CIS up at Chorley and its the brightest white i ever did see
 

59CosG95

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Manchester Victoria - Preston; State of Play, week beginning 29th October 2018.

All wire runs up! LIVE (from Euxton Jct to Buckshaw Parkway; and from Windsor Bridge South Jct to Ordsall Lane Jct/Deal St Jct) as of 1st October.
As wiring is not completed between Windsor Bridge South Jct & Buckshaw Parkway, testing has been postponed.
All mileages from Manchester Victoria. Bridge mileages are approximated where noted.

1. Man Vic Station (Platforms 3-6) - Man Vic West Jct - Deal Street Jct; 0m 0ch to 0m 32ch
Fully wired and energised 2013-15.
(N.B. Platforms 1 & 2 at Man Vic have now been bedanglied; more masts may still need to be installed at the east side of Man Vic before wires can go up over all lines; however this is not considered as part of this programme.

2. Deal Street Jct - Windsor Bridge South Jct; 0m 32ch to 1m 46ch
Fully wired and LIVE as of 1/10/18. Wires overlap into the CEMEX sidings (Hope Street). At Salford Central, the westbound (Down) platform has had RSC ducting installed at shin height.
Protruding roof beams were also cut back to facilitate the addition of wires. With Salford Central now wired, all wires are up from Manchester Victoria & Manchester Piccadilly to Euxton Jct.

3. Windsor Bridge South Jct - Windsor Bridge North Jct (inc. Salford Crescent); 1m 46ch to 1m 70ch
Salford Crescent station is fully wired; all wires east and south of Windsor Bridge South Jct are LIVE (as of 1/10/18). P1 (and the avoider) now have Section Insulators.
Repairs to the wooden fence on the eastern side have/are taken/taking place.
The crossovers at Agecroft South Jct, and Windsor Bridge North Jct are also fully wired. Wires are also up on the overruns along the Atherton Line.

4. Windsor Bridge North Jct - Bolton (South End); 1m 70ch to 10m 50ch
The missing track sectioning cabinet north of Windsor Bridge North Jct (along with that between Moses Gate & the Squeeze Belly Entry footbridge) may be the last piece in the puzzle before current can flow northwards.
Aside from temporary fixings (2 to 3 masts' worth) at Clifton, all registration works are complete from Salford Crescent to Bolton.
At Agecroft, there are a couple of masts (sans wires) in the bush alongside the sidings, leading to a terminal gantry with very odd attachments.
At Clifton, Drainage manhole modules are awaiting installation; temporary covers are over their future homes.
Bridge MVE1 27B (immediately NW of the M60 overbridge) is fully erected, but unopened; work on the walkway now looks a lot more done.
The Platform 5 Line is fully wired (C&C) from the points at Weston St to Orlando St Bridge; C&C wires have now gone up through P5, under Newport St bridge to a Tensorex drum nr Morrisons.
South of Lever Street footbridge, the Up Line now has ATF wires installed; ATF wires appear to all be up from Salford Crescent to Euxton on the Down side.

5. Bolton Station; 10m 50ch
All masts in the station area are now in place. Earth wires now in. Canopies look complete, and platforms now fully open. The number of temporary fixings on the OLE is now minimal.
Platform 1: Wires now up through the platform. It is assumed they continue onto the Blackburn overrun, parallel to their comrades on P3.
Platform 2: Line is fully wired (C&C) from the points at Weston St to the SSA (Self-Supporting Anchor - aka "the wicketkeeper"). Insulators have yet to be installed on the wicketkeeper. Buffers look finished.
Platform 3 (Up Bolton): Wired from Orlando St Bridge, through the station, and onwards to Lostock & the WCML. The majority of fixings used are permanent (some are still temporary).
Platform 4 (Down Bolton): Wired from Weston Street through P4 and onwards to Lostock & the WCML.
Platform 5: UTXs wait to be installed in the works compound west of the track. Engineers also installing a gas pipe in the ducts, to (allegedly) heat the P4/5 waiting room. C&C wires through P5 now look fully complete.

6. Bolton (North End) - Lostock (South End); 10m 50ch to 13m 52ch
All lines heading north out of Bolton are now wired: P1 & P3 to the end of the Blackburn overrun, and P3-5 towards the Bullfield Tunnels and thence to Lostock & the WCML.
About a dozen temporary fixings still remain in the Bolton West/Bullfield Tunnels area.
Cable ducting troughs laid in the Down Side Cess between Bolton Station, past Newport Street, under Soho Street, Black Horse St & New St, and through Bullfield Tunnel.
Work on the ATF cable troughs in the Bolton West/Bullfield Tunnels area is now all but finished - orangemen hard at work on them over the week of 22-28 October '18. They had all their covers removed, possibly in readiness for pulling the cable through at the end of the week.

Autotransformer wires now all up between Moor Lane & Mayor St. Bridges, and between Lostock & Ladybridge (on both lines); they have now gone under Dean Clough Bridge & the Ladybridge on both sides.
A UTX has been installed in the "vee" in Lostock Jct; this now takes the ATF wires for both routes at Lostock Jct.
Most (if not all) wires are now up over Lostock Jct itself.
All masts now up on the Wigan overlap; earth wires now up too, in varying lengths on both sides. C&C wires also up on the overlap on both lines until the Limit of Wiring. Some dangly arms and half the termination insulators have not yet been installed; those on the Wigan-bound line are now installed.

7. Lostock Station; 13m 52ch
Switchgear box delivered 6th April '18. Over the August Bank Holiday Weekend, the two Autotransformers (AT1 & AT2) were delivered.
Both Preston Lines wired through the station to connect with the existing wires north of "Golf Course" footbridge.
One Tensorex drum is still missing a connection to its wires, which are on a temporary webbing strap.
Platform extension/resurfacing work complete on the Down platform and the Up platform. Part of a registration arm mid-platform is missing - a pulley is being used in the interim.
The 2 reg arms connected to the bridge are not yet registered.
One dropper is still adrift.

ATF wires are in through the ducting by the station car park; they are now being guided through the UTX to the switchgear.
The arrangements at Lostock were designed to support the electrification to Wigan, so the UTX should be sized to take four feeder cables to the proposed neutral section located towards Westhoughton. Two feeders for each track, one each side of the NS. Wigan-Lostock has no AF, classic boosterless only.

8. Lostock (North End) - Euxton Jct; 13m 52ch to 25m 31ch
Two more UTXs have been installed in the "vee" between the Preston & Wigan lines, to the north of Lostock station; one takes the feeder wires for the Wigan Line, the other does the same for the Preston Line.
Immediately north of Lostock, the closest TTCs to the platforms have now sprouted part of their switchgear kit.
ATF wires appear to be finished (at least on the Down side), from Salford Crescent up to Euxton Jct.
Orangemen at work on the footpath at the foot of the northern steps of Heath Charnock FB.

Do let me know if I've missed anything!
 

reg

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Bolton-ATF cable now in the troughing in the immediate vicinity of Bolton station,altough this is not a continuous run back to Lostock.The work on increasing the height of the tiled wall opposite platform 1 has been completed.Secure fencing is being installed alongside platform 1.Couple of photos later.

p.s forgot to mention that all temporary fixings have now gone, wiring in the station area now seems complete.
 
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Muenchener

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Probably not directly related to the delivery of this project; anyone know why there doesn't appear to be a Northern timetable in RTT for the Bolton corridor for the 10th Nov? RMT strike action?
 

LDECRexile

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I've received a copy of a document from Network Rail to stakeholders which includes the following:

"The final weekend closures of the Manchester-Preston line will take place this weekend and next [written last week, so that means 3/4 Nov is "next"]. There are some additional mid-week night works after 4 November before completion in December 2018, but no further disruption to passenger journeys. We are incredibly grateful to passengers for bearing with us while we deliver this much-needed upgrade."
 

driver_m

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Looks like route clearance or driver training.

Service info shows a mix of 319/differing DMU timings. But 319s to my knowledge have never been on Edge Hill with Northern .So I'd take an educated guess at a 331. Sprinter timings for some of those runs too.
 

Bertie the bus

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I doubt it is driver training and I thought route clearance was largely a desk based exercise these days. The days of putting bits of polystyrene on trains and seeing if they get knocked off are long gone.

My guess would be a 331 testing the wires. It does 3 platforms at Bolton and the crossover at Buckshaw Parkway.

We'll see next Friday - assuming it runs.
 

Bertie the bus

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Thanks for posting that. Sticking polystyrene on the side of trains to check they’re not going to hit anything is no doubt a pretty good, efficient method but the fact it still happens in the state which contains Silicon Valley made me smile.
 

wrinkley

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Apart from one connection under the station bridge, all missing OHLE fittings are in place at Lostock. The up line catenary and contact wires have been brought together as they go under the bridge and a length of plastic insulation(my guess) has been clipped to the wires to form a shield between them and the underside of the bridge. Beaumont Road bridge has been bonded to the earth wires but the insulated cable to take the AT wires under the bridge is not yet fitted. Photos sent to Dave for uploading this weekend.
 

superkev

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Delayed again, can't see it working this year myself.
Isn't it sad that this whole forum is littered with words like postponed, delayed, rescheduled, put back, paused, cancelled and many more.
K
 

59CosG95

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Was supposed to be juiced up this weekend but been postponed, possibly until 18th??
Have you got a source for that?

Delayed again, can't see it working this year myself.
Isn't it sad that this whole forum is littered with words like postponed, delayed, rescheduled, put back, paused, cancelled and many more.
K
I find the details of the progress quite a bit more positive than the whole DOO debate.
If the switch-on does indeed go as planned this weekend, the works won't be fully complete (as there's still snagging and final adjustment work to be done in the weeknights), but the blame for any weekend cancellations can thence be shifted to another party.
 

steverailer

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Have you got a source for that?


I find the details of the progress quite a bit more positive than the whole DOO debate.
If the switch-on does indeed go as planned this weekend, the works won't be fully complete (as there's still snagging and final adjustment work to be done in the weeknights), but the blame for any weekend cancellations can thence be shifted to another party.

Go to any compound on the job and you'll see the signs with 'considered live from' with a postponed sticker on them. Was speaking to a worker on the job who said the construction 'c' form has been extended to the 18th
 

td97

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Worryingly for this line, it may well end up at the back of the queue for ORR sign-off. They will indeed be busy, with Swindon - Bristol Parkway, Reading - Newbury, Walsall - Rugeley and Stirling/Dunblane/Alloa all competing for sign off before the new year. And unfortunately for Manchester - Preston, all of the aforementioned schemes are already considered live.
 

LDECRexile

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Apart from one connection under the station bridge, all missing OHLE fittings are in place at Lostock. The up line catenary and contact wires have been brought together as they go under the bridge and a length of plastic insulation(my guess) has been clipped to the wires to form a shield between them and the underside of the bridge. Beaumont Road bridge has been bonded to the earth wires but the insulated cable to take the AT wires under the bridge is not yet fitted. Photos sent to Dave for uploading this weekend.

I'm back from Snowdonia. I've added Wrinkley's shots to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157654034635234

and to the Combined Volume here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

Thank you Wrinkley.
 

superkev

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Worryingly for this line, it may well end up at the back of the queue for ORR sign-off. They will indeed be busy, with Swindon - Bristol Parkway, Reading - Newbury, Walsall - Rugeley and Stirling/Dunblane/Alloa all competing for sign off before the new year. And unfortunately for Manchester - Preston, all of the aforementioned schemes are already considered live.
I wonder what the ORR actually do that hasn't already been done. Surely quality assurance and compliance should be a continuous process and not wait till the end.
K
 

Muenchener

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Notwithstanding Network Rail are acknowledging that weekend work finished on this project on the 4th Nov with a continuation of midweek works overnight; does anyone know when the full run from Salford to Preston will be powered up?

Any sign of a test train any time soon?
 

driver9000

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Notwithstanding Network Rail are acknowledging that weekend work finished on this project on the 4th Nov with a continuation of midweek works overnight; does anyone know when the full run from Salford to Preston will be powered up?

Any sign of a test train any time soon?

Energisation notices in our depot and the WON say the wires went live from 04:00 on 27 October 2018 and are to be treated as live at all times from then. I believe a test train should run some time in the next couple of weeks.
 
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