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Plessey viaduct being a 5 arch masonry structure across a gorge north of Cramlington, Northumberland. It carries the East Coast Main Line. On Sunday, with track in the process of being relaid across the structure, a substantial length of the parapet fell into the gorge below. The structure had previously caused concern in 2019.

Two photos from Twitter show the parapet shortly before it fell.

Mark

https://twitter.com/Daves1412/status/1711302725764325543

Thread now from Network Rail.

Mark

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1711330607106531536.html

... and now a press release with an aerial photo of the damage to the viaduct.

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/disruption-around-morpeth-as-network-rail-undertakes-urgent-repair-work-to-plessey-viaduct

Mark

I wonder if they can divert northbound services on the freight line network via Bedlington or it is more convenient to install a pair of points and implement single line working while effecting the needed repair.

The failure is on the up line, it would be better to divert southbound trains via Bedlington, but they’d then still have to skip Morpeth.  Posts elsewhere suggest route knowledge has not been maintained, and IETs are not yet cleared.

There is simplified bidirectional signalling though, the problem is the southbound facing crossover is between the platforms at Morpeth, and trains using it cannot then stop at Morpeth, except the local DMUs - and they’ve mostly been binned.  I think the next crossover to the north (former Butterwell opencast mine), would make the single line working section significantly longer, increasing the time taken.

Paul

My Google look would appear to be back to front, sorry. In days gone temporary single line working, sometimes with a temporary signalbox, was used to cover this problem.

Isn’t that route mostly shut/unavailable due to the upgrades to bring it back into passenger service?

There have been some relatively short closures for track relaying and doubling, but it’s not been under a full block, a coal train to/from Lynemouth runs now and again, eg yesterday, and the Alcan aluminium uses the route from Blyth to Morpeth North reversing at Newsham. Can’t find the last time that ran.

Paul

Intrigued by why I couldn’t find the Alcan freight services on realtime trains, so I had another look.

I discovered the alumina trains are not timed at Bedlington, but at Bedlington North LC (level crossing).  So they don’t appear if, (like I did first time round), you just look for passing traffic at Bedlington.  At the same time a Lynemouth power station train passing through the same location doesn’t get timed at the level crossing, but at the currently closed station.  The timing points are a few yards apart.

I’m sure there must be a reason for this, but I can’t think what it might be…   ???

Paul

The current TPR lists the mandatory timing points for LN694 BENTON NORTH JUNCTION TO MORPETH NORTH JUNCTION VIA BEDLINGTON as Newsham LC, Bedlington North LC, and Hepscott Junction - as for several years. But it adds the note: "Until Northumberland line Infrastructure improvements go live". So have the improvements "gone live", in some sense?

Otherwise, what's hard to explain is the use of the station codes NWH and BEJ, which looks premature, and dropping the existing mandatory points. I guess there could have been a change - there may be a newer TPR somewhere.

Of course even if the timing point at Newsham LC is no longer mandatory, it would be called for as the Alcan trains reverse there. But it's all rather confusing - so much so that Charlwood House (LiveRail) think BEJ at this point is Bristol East Junction! And perhaps confusing enough that train planners are getting mixed up.

Good point that it might be a transitional thing.  A freight service doing the through route as reported by RTT, (ie Benton North to Lynemouth), appears to pass through 3 newly named junctions that are not yet operational, according to the most recent sectional appendix amendment.  The names being Holywell Junction, Seghill Junction and Redhouse Farm Junction.  The first two are the ends of the new passing loop, the latter is the southward extension of the existing double track at Newsham.

I believe when the whole thing is finished the Alcan trains will be running round in the sidings at Bedlington, which are being reactivated for the purpose.

Paul

Plessey Viaduct, now a bridge of the month article from Bill Harvey Associates.

Mark

Edit: a very thought-provoking article...

https://www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/153-plessey-viaduct (https://www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/153-plessey-viaduct)

Finished! Well, enough to run trains on both lines, anyway. From RailUK (https://railuk.com/rail-news/normal-service-resumes-as-network-rail-completes-repair-work-to-plessey-viaduct/):

And Network Rail have made a little video (https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/zitjrvpf5i) (via Wistia - which does not appear to embed itself as promised).

Thanks for the link. That was a quick job. NR must have been pleased that the OHLE wasn't involved too.

Mark

And they must have been very relieved that bi-directional signalling was installed.

More by luck than design, I suspect? I still wonder how many other unstable parapets they’d find if they did a serious search.  Will the majority of this viaduct, (the other bits that didn’t fail) have been re-assessed?   

I read somewhere that minor failures, (eg at Nine Elms), became much longer than the initial problem because the guardrails acted in such a way as to pull adjacent sections down, in a sort of domino effect. 
Maybe guardrails shouldn’t be continuous over such long lengths?