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Severe overhead wire damage near York 02/12
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gimmea50anyday
Established Member
Took these photos of the damaged pan on 1Y32 when it finally rolled in to York. The following Plymouth service I observed the second coach the roof mounted brake resistors one of which was damaged and had part of it bent upwards. The train crew were unaware of this but it led to the train being cancelled 
td97
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There is a significant difference between 1980s headspan OLE installed on the cheap by BR (most ECML, some WCML) and the modern kit installed on GW, North West Triangle etc.
Have the wires even come down on the GW yet (apart from the rogue 802 which was not the fault of infrastructure)?
Indeed - quite a contrast between the spindly (100mph max) MML wiring to Bedford, and the far more substantial new kit being installed further north.
Sadly the new wiring is rather uglier than the old!
The OLE has other advantages, but check the Lewisham strandings on SE in 2018 that were a direct consequence of ice on 3rd rail.
Your opinion. Allowing and keeping OLE that is vulnerable to total failure with the slightest problem is both expensive and operationally stupid, however pretty some might think it looks. It's taken over 30 years for that fact to penetrate those that make these decisions.
In OHLE how often does everything stop because an idiot may have been spotted on the track etc etc?
Is there any rolling work to replace the old ‘done on the cheap’ stuff or are all the OLE teams busy on new electrification? Would seem like a good way to retain the staff that go from loads to do to not enough to do according to the current political tide (/ side of the bed Chris Grayling got out of)?
DarloRich
Veteran Member
A bad day yesterday for a lot of people from passengers to station staff to train staff to OHLE people.
There's plenty of Headspan and other less robust wiring that isn't under much stress, e.g. in terminal stations and low speed areas like sidings. It would be pointless spendin money on materials and labour just to keep the teams occupied. I think that the failure records of some lines determine the likely priority of replacement with fit for purpose, but remember the original GEML outlasted a conversion to ac, a quadrupling of the ac voltage* and in some areas, partial upgrades where track layouts were changed over a period of 70 years and despite many years of problems, especially in hot weather, ISTR Bald Rick saying that there are still a few bits of the original fixed tension compound catenary wiring in place around Stratford, - the busiest junction on the main line. There are also many of the original 'A frame' gantries in service along the line holding up new F&F registration equipment.
* when the troublesome 6.25kV was upped to 25kV, most of the disc-type insulators were replaced with lightweight multi-ribbed type but that was within the same wiring envelope.
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Failed Unit
Established Member
Very frequently. In my top 3 reasons of delay.
1. Trespassing
2. No train crew
3. Failed trains.
(but maybe not in that order)
Failed Unit
Established Member
According to the LNER website yes. I guess it may have being electric from Doncaster. (Ie not a hybrid)
Ok. Why the bus had to go via Selby therefore making the journey twice as long I have no idea. Selby normally gets its own service in these circumstances.
Edit: and looking at the timetable it would have been quicker to get 07:25 NTs service. Getting there around at 08:19 rather than the 09:05 or so we did.
Edit: and looking at the timetable it would have been quicker to get 07:25 NTs service. Getting there around at 08:19 rather than the 09:05 or so we did.
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trainophile
Established Member
Are services back to normal now? Will I be okay for Haymarket to Inverkeithing early this afternoon?
td97
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https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/transpennine-route-upgrade-and-electrification-cp6.88054/ incorporates part of the ECML south of York station until Colton Jn
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/connington-ecml-ohle-headspan-conversions.160044/ Is one ongoing too
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/ecml-power-supply-upgrade.190071/ Another project
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/liverpool-lime-st-remodelling.146520/ Approaches to Liverpool were done in this and subsequent works
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/great-eastern-electrification-renewal.195813/ Was basically a new electrification project; if anything harder than no-wires because the existing all had to come down first.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ucture-discussion-aka-kings-uncrossed.158859/ This one is upcoming for OLE renewal into Kings Cross
I have never suggested that vulnerable OLE should be retained/expanded - of course that would be ridiculous.
It’s just a pity that the new equipment is so much more visually obtrusive than the old. Especially on formally unelectrified lines such as the MML.
nlogax
Established Member
This is the tweet with the photos; https://twitter.com/LNER/status/1201539176354725888
Walter Whigham
Member
It never reached Stirling. It was terminated in Edinburgh.
I am sure ScotRail services will be running normally on the route.
trainophile
Established Member
Sorry I should have said - I’m booked on the LNER Aberdeen service. It looks okay at the moment, just a few minutes late.
So the answer is yes! Thanks. Looks when there is another reason to upgrade the OHLE is improved at the same time if necessary.
Vulnerable OLE encompasses much of what was installed before the turn of the century. It is an engineering reality that stringing up a cats cradle of wires to support catenaries and contact wires whose precise location is important is an engineering risk that was taken in the '70s and '80s for cost and sometimes for pseudo-aesthetic reasons. Given the partial doldrums that the railway was in at the time, maybe those schemes wouldn't have been done at all with proper OLE supports. But we (as in public funds and passengers) are now counting the cost of the decisions to use OLE that is not fit for purpose. Despite the noise from the Goring Gap set, the need for a dependable electric railway has won over calls for OLE structures that suited their visual preferences so the true purpose of the structures hasn't been compromised.
Hopefully, all fast line OLE will be similarly robust.
JohnMcL7
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I agree it's how to do the announcement since it clearly explains what the problem is, what the likely ETA is and assures that everything is being done that is possible.
This may be a daft question but I don't have much experience with non-diesel trains, how is the carriage still powered in that video given the power is down? I assume the system has batteries, how long can they last? Is the rescue 67 able to power the carriages?
Battery life varies and can be very short (matter of minutes) to a fair bit longer. There won't be aircon after the power is off but lights and PA will keep going.
67s can supply ETS to the carriages so when one is attached everything will kick back in. Including aircon.
kingqueen
Member
Yes, that's exactly what happened.
There was a gradual degradation in hotel services: some carriages went on dim emergency lights, carriages got very hot, they gradually settled on the bogies as reservoirs failed, doors stopped working etc. Then the 67 arrived and supplied power and air and everything went back to normal.
scotrail158713
Established Member
No criticism intended here - is there a reason why you’ve booked in advance for a 15-20 minute journey with approximately 7tph?
trainophile
Established Member
It’s a through ticket from Southport (1st Class, booked before I decided that 1st is a waste of money!). I had a reservation for Haymarket to Kirkcaldy, but due to a change of plan (my hotel in Kirkcaldy closed down) I nipped out at Inverkeithing as I had found a place to stay there instead.
My first experience in 1st on an Azuma. Not impressed with the seats - originally I sat in Standard as coach K where my reservation was seems to have both Standard and 1st, and for the brief minute I was there I thought the seat was more comfortable than in 1st.
Did you try reclining it?
EMUs will go into "load-shredding". Cutting out the 'nice-to-have' (wi-fi, aircon), followed by the 'important' (toilets, non-emergency lighting) and finally the 'critical' will fail (GSMR, emergency lighting)
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