MML Electrification: progress updates

[59CosG95]

Little photo update from myself around Market Harborough's underbridges after meeting @PJM & @Flying Phil on Monday.

South of Scotland Rd (U/B 31), there is a pair of piles - 1 on the DM (not pictured), the other on the UM (pictured).



Northwards, there are 3 on the UM (the 3rd of which is a concrete base), and 5 on the DM (3rd through 5th are concrete).
UM (3 no.):


DM (5 no.):


Meanwhile, north of Kettering Rd (U/B 30):

First structure after the underbridge, confirmed by sight as SPC3/133.097/UM.


Then 3 piles, all on the UM side.


Finally, an unidentified TTC on the UM side before U/B 29 (A4304 Rockingham Rd).


Update on works for April:
Sat/Sun 26/27 March: 2 of 4 lines closed between St Pancras & Luton on Sat eve & all day Sun. 3 EMR tph on MML after 12pm Sunday; Corby reduced to shuttle. (KO1a work assumed)
Sat/Sun 2/3 April: 2 of 4 lines closed between St Pancras & Luton on Sat eve & all day Sun. 3 EMR tph on MML; Corby reduced to shuttle. (KO1a work assumed)
Midweek nights Mon 4 to Sat 9 April: 2 of 4 lines closed between St Pancras & Luton. (KO1a work assumed)
Sat/Sun 9/10 April: Various works that are hard to pin down, but might involve KO1a work
Midweek nights Mon 11 to Fri 15 April (Good Friday): MML closed between Kettering & Market Harborough. This might be some more masts/piles going in!

 

[Flying Phil]

At the Braybrooke Supply site, the fencing around the trackside 25kV equipment foundation slab is nearly finished.

 

[59CosG95]

Tony Bird on LinkedIn: Its been a busy few weeks fabricating different types of OLE rebar cages…

Its been a busy few weeks fabricating different types of OLE rebar cages for our clients in the Midlands and Wales.

www.linkedin.com

Rebar cages at Rushton compound in the pictures here. Might be for the gaps to be plugged in the area...

 

[snowball]

Press release

Station restoration: Heritage plaques revealed at Kettering and Wellingborough

Today (30 March), plaques have been unveiled at two stations in Northamptonshire as Network Rail finish upgrading the historic platform canopies.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Today (30 March), plaques have been unveiled at two stations in Northamptonshire as Network Rail finish upgrading the historic platform canopies.

As part of the Midland Main Line Upgrade, Network Rail has reduced the size of the Grade II listed canopies at Kettering and Wellingborough stations to make way for overhead electric wires. This allows cleaner, greener trains to serve the stations.

Working closely with the Railway Heritage Trust - who contributed funding to the £2.5m scheme - Network Rail teams have carefully restored many of the canopies’ original features, including the finials, columns and roofs.

The Grade II listed Goods Shed at Wellingborough station has also been renovated to provide a walkway for passengers on Platform 1.

 

[thelem]

What a strange press release - announcing the unveiling of a couple of plaques, with very little detail about the work the plaques are celebrating.

 

[Flying Phil]

What a strange press release - announcing the unveiling of a couple of plaques, with very little detail about the work the plaques are celebrating.

Surely it does explain that the platform canopies have been carefully reworked to keep the original features, as much as possible, whilst allowing the electrification to take place with suitable clearances........I did actually notice the canopies at Kettering when I was there three weeks ago and thought that a fair bit of money had been spent on them recently.

 

[59CosG95]

Views from Judges Bridge at Desborough at the turn of the month.
South: https://flic.kr/p/2nbJKEd
North: https://flic.kr/p/2nbC9bY

 

[Flying Phil]

I popped along the route from MH to Rushton today and there was still the big gap through Desborough itself. However the Rushton work compound is quite full of piles, masts and cantilevers and so I think Easter will see a lot of progress. There was no trackside equipment yet at the Braybrooke supply site, but there was work going on in the main transformer site by the pylon.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Surely it does explain that the platform canopies have been carefully reworked to keep the original features, as much as possible, whilst allowing the electrification to take place with suitable clearances........I did actually notice the canopies at Kettering when I was there three weeks ago and thought that a fair bit of money had been spent on them recently.

It's a shame that the work hasn't been completed. At the North end of the Down Fast platform the columns have had only one coat of gloss then been rubbed down (leaving spilt drips of the contrasting colour) and, very sadly, the intricate cast-iron (?) supports for the spans (at the top of the columns) have been shot-blasted, by the look of it, down to the bare metal then given only one coat of primer. Primer being porous, they are now rusting, staining through the primer.

 

[Flying Phil]

There are a few more cantilevers installed and here is the view to the South from Hbro station.


We also have the new toilet/amenity block getting to floor level.


Travelling to Leicester the new work compound (about a mile South of Wigston Jn, on the East side) is having more work done on its access road.

 

[John Webb]

Wednesday week ago (30th March) I noticed further signs of activity at the Napsbury access point including more portacabins - but was hit by Covid last weekend and couldn't get back to see the detail. Will try to as soon as I'm fit to travel!

 

[Trainben]

Quite a few masts have gone up in the last few days on the edge of Little Bowden, this is the view from Bellfields Lane. Quite a dramatic change to the scenery for residents living along here although I'm sure they'll welcome it once the quieter trains begin service next year.

 

[59CosG95]

Quite a few masts have gone up in the last few days on the edge of Little Bowden, this is the view from Bellfields Lane. Quite a dramatic change to the scenery for residents living along here although I'm sure they'll welcome it once the quieter trains begin service next year.

Looks like that's another overlap - probably the last one south of Mkt Hboro station itself. It also looks like the southern anchor is a pair of SSA (Simply Supported Anchor) Masts, while the northern one is an anchor portal; note that the Up Main foundations for said portal are still M.I.A.

 

[Bald Rick]

Wednesday week ago (30th March) I noticed further signs of activity at the Napsbury access point including more portacabins - but was hit by Covid last weekend and couldn't get back to see the detail. Will try to as soon as I'm fit to travel!

some earth moving going on, looks like prep for a foundation / base for switchgear etc.

 

[Brissle Girl]

Travelling to Leicester the new work compound (about a mile South of Wigston Jn, on the East side) is having more work done on its access road.

Is this definitely connected with electrification work. ie, a very good sign that, as often seems to be the case these days, formal approval is not holding up moving ahead with the further extension northwards.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

------ formal approval is not holding up moving ahead with the further extension northwards.

I thought IRP made it so but these days it has to have about 1 gazillion signatures I guess!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I thought IRP made it so but these days it has to have about 1 gazillion signatures I guess!

They follow they Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline process generally although largely they don't announce anything until it suits the government wanting a good news media story. Technically I believe we are supposed to be in purdah currently with local elections imminent.

Has Wellingborough to Wigston been approved for design yet?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Has Wellingborough to Wigston been approved for design yet?

Since the grid connection at Kegworth has been applied for (saw that upthread) I would have thought so but don't know so if you get my meaning.

 

[InTheEastMids]

Has Wellingborough to Wigston been approved for design yet

Since the grid connection at Kegworth has been applied for (saw that upthread) I would have thought so but don't know so if you get my meaning.

There was also (if memory serves) a link to some CAD/BIM screenshots on LinkedIn that showed steelwork locations North of Harborough, suggesting design work was (once again) well underway.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

They follow they Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline process generally although largely they don't announce anything until it suits the government wanting a good news media story. Technically I believe we are supposed to be in purdah currently with local elections imminent.

Probably sometime in May if of course they make an official announcement. I assume they are in need of some good news.

That said ------ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/greg...yassurance-activity-6905580588288290816-mObz/

With the MML Route Section 1 GRIP 4 P01 OLE design landing yesterday, the last 2 weeks have been busy preparing the KO1A #eviFile site with Ash Johnson SPL POWERLINES UK HOLDING LIMITED Survey Manager for the incoming design data.
Initial site surveys will include setting out and findings with quality assured records, followed by designer validation of marked positions for each P01 foundation location. Flexibility in the system will allow approval of the foundation locations with supporting evidence via quality check sheets and photos -----

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Dozens of redundant booster transformers stacked up next to the old Bedford Steam sheds when i passed yesterday.

 

[ABB125]

Dozens of redundant booster transformers stacked up next to the old Bedford Steam sheds when i passed yesterday.

Does this mean that the old electrification to Bedford is being upgraded from (presumably) booster transformer to (presumably) autotransformer? (Sorry, I haven't really been paying attention to this thread.)

 

[59CosG95]

Does this mean that the old electrification to Bedford is being upgraded from (presumably) booster transformer to (presumably) autotransformer? (Sorry, I haven't really been paying attention to this thread.)

It's being upgraded from RC-BT (Return Conductor - Booster Transformer) to Boosterless Classic.
New sectioning arrangements (new TSC (Track Sectioning Cabinet) at Napsbury, new MPTSC (Mid Point TSC) at East Hyde) are being installed to replace the existing TSCs north of Borehamwood, and will be autotransformer ready - but this isn't planned for the immediate future on the 'old' route.

It does look like it'll be ATF ready on the section north of Kettering to Market Harborough though - all the masts are extended in height such that there's enough electrical clearance from the ATF to the OLE (800mm IIRC).

 

[ABB125]

It's being upgraded from RC-BT (Return Conductor - Booster Transformer) to Boosterless Classic.
New sectioning arrangements (new TSC (Track Sectioning Cabinet) at Napsbury, new MPTSC (Mid Point TSC) at East Hyde) are being installed to replace the existing TSCs north of Borehamwood, and will be autotransformer ready - but this isn't planned for the immediate future on the 'old' route.

It does look like it'll be ATF ready on the section north of Kettering to Market Harborough though - all the masts are extended in height such that there's enough electrical clearance from the ATF to the OLE (800mm IIRC).

Ok.
Based on my somewhat limited knowledge of electrification, isn't that a downgrade? (Due to increased electrical induction currents in lineside cables following removal of the booster transformers.)

 

[59CosG95]

Ok.
Based on my somewhat limited knowledge of electrification, isn't that a downgrade? (Due to increased electrical induction currents in lineside cables following removal of the booster transformers.)

No - the RC is supplanted by a Return Screening Conductor (RSC) in the signalling trough route. The RSC has a larger cross-section than all other cables in the trough, so any and all induced current will be in that cable and that cable alone.
The RSC has to be installed first before the boosters get disconnected (let alone removed) and the aerial RC converted to earth wire.

 

[snowball]

Does this mean that the old electrification to Bedford is being upgraded from (presumably) booster transformer to (presumably) autotransformer? (Sorry, I haven't really been paying attention to this thread.)

Booster transformers seem to be very much out of fashion now and are being removed on some other lines too, and not installed on some newly electrified lines which would have received them if electrified 10 years ago.

Also the mechanical characteristics of the St Pancras - Bedford electrification are being changed where the track allows speeds in excess of 100mph, to enable electric trains (or bimode trains in electric mode) to take advantage.

 

[ABB125]

No - the RC is supplanted by a Return Screening Conductor (RSC) in the signalling trough route. The RSC has a larger cross-section than all other cables in the trough, so any and all induced current will be in that cable and that cable alone.
The RSC has to be installed first before the boosters get disconnected (let alone removed) and the aerial RC converted to earth wire.

I see, thanks

 

[AM9]

Also the mechanical characteristics of the St Pancras - Bedford electrification are being changed where the track allows speeds in excess of 100mph, to enable electric trains (or bimode trains in electric mode) to take advantage.

Does that include the raising of the catenary so that when the overall tension is increased, that whole catenary/dropper/conductor is a deeper and stiffer assembly with a higher resonant frequency?

 

[snowball]

Does that include the raising of the catenary so that when the overall tension is increased, that whole catenary/dropper/conductor is a deeper and stiffer assembly with a higher resonant frequency?

Don't know. I'm sure someone who does will be along soon.

 

[John Webb]

Managed to get up to the Napsbury access point this afternoon. A general view:

I'd only got my small pocket digital with me - this is a telephoto view towards the north end where there seem to be earthworks in progress:

I note that the track access seems to have been renewed as well since my last photos.