Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[metalrail]

I thought that some signalling enhancements were carried out a few years ago to allow pax services to run the loop when works in conjunction with platform 3 at FIT undertaken. Previously when pax were run on the loop a Pilotman had to be used between Avonmouth and Chittenham.

Be interested to find out if anyone knows what enhancements were done?  Would certainly mean less work in the long run which 'sometimes' helps make for a better case for re-instatement!

[johnneyw]

Had another look at Filton Abbey Wood today. Noticeable progress but still some way to go it would seem. Bit grey and drizzly for a good photo today but hope this will give some impression of where things are at.

[SandTEngineer]

Looking good.  My 'insider contact' tells me the signalling work is proceeding to plan as well.  Only 11 days to start of commissioning

[chuffed]

I hope Tony is polishing up his new moniker for 12 days time. The suspense and excitement over this is almost as exciting as the event itself !!!

[TonyK]

I hope Tony is polishing up his new moniker for 12 days time. The suspense and excitement over this is almost as exciting as the event itself !!!

Good grief, I had forgotten that! I'm not back in the same continent for another 8 days - it's going to be tight!

[stuving]

I hope Tony is polishing up his new moniker for 12 days time. The suspense and excitement over this is almost as exciting as the event itself !!!

Good grief, I had forgotten that! I'm not back in the same continent for another 8 days - it's going to be tight!

Of course you could just change it from an exhortation into a kind of statement, and it would remain appropriate. Now, that alters the stress when spoken, but is there a way of indicating it in writing? I think not, apart from omitting the exclamation.

[TonyK]

Of course you could just change it from an exhortation into a kind of statement, and it would remain appropriate. Now, that alters the stress when spoken, but is there a way of indicating it in writing? I think not, apart from omitting the exclamation.

Steady now, stuving! That exclamation mark, and the comma, were added to the original handle to celebrate the then Transport Minister, Justine Greening, giving the go-ahead to the project, and sending then Railway Minister Theresa Villiers to tell everybody and pose for the Post. It wasn't random, and took months of high-level meetings. I'm going to run the next amendment through the GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) process, just in case.

[Red Squirrel]

Had another look at Filton Abbey Wood today. Noticeable progress but still some way to go it would seem. Bit grey and drizzly for a good photo today but hope this will give some impression of where things are at.

Hmm. Done well, the hoop-topped railings and faux-coursed-rubble walls could have been quite attractive, but somehow the sum of the parts is much less than the whole; it looks like it's all just happened, rather than being designed. I presume NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have architects, but presumably they prefer not to use them. How much more it would have cost?

[stuving]

Of course you could just change it from an exhortation into a kind of statement, and it would remain appropriate. Now, that alters the stress when spoken, but is there a way of indicating it in writing? I think not, apart from omitting the exclamation.

Steady now, stuving! That exclamation mark, and the comma, were added to the original handle to celebrate the then Transport Minister, Justine Greening, giving the go-ahead to the project, and sending then Railway Minister Theresa Villiers to tell everybody and pose for the Post. It wasn't random, and took months of high-level meetings. I'm going to run the next amendment through the GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) process, just in case.

You can keep the exclamation - it's not confined to exhortatory uses, which is why I added the comment like that. To clarify, you can say "it is four track now" as a plain statement, or "it is four track, now the waiting is over!" which is still a statement. It all comes down to how you see the excised phrase as a grammatical entity.

[SandTEngineer]

...but please remember the actual commissioning date is the 19 November 2018

[Bmblbzzz]

"Four Track Already!"

[chuffed]

Fanfare for four fortified finished tracks.....FFFFFT.....which is exactly what you would hear when I put any sort of brass instrument to my lips. I would play it on my organ but fear another outing of BNM's .....'ooooh Matron'! photograph. It might frighten the iron horses too and cause the ladies to reach for their lace hankies and smelling salts.

[SandTEngineer]

I thought that some signalling enhancements were carried out a few years ago to allow pax services to run the loop when works in conjunction with platform 3 at FIT undertaken. Previously when pax were run on the loop a Pilotman had to be used between Avonmouth and Chittenham.

Be interested to find out if anyone knows what enhancements were done?  Would certainly mean less work in the long run which 'sometimes' helps make for a better case for re-instatement!

I'll have a look through my records, but it might take a few days (probably at the coming weekend).

[metalrail]

Had another look at Filton Abbey Wood today. Noticeable progress but still some way to go it would seem. Bit grey and drizzly for a good photo today but hope this will give some impression of where things are at.

Certainly a big improvement since I took that vid last Tuesday...  am assuming that's a lot of the work that was done over this weekends possession, as less than a week ago there was no line running thru the new platform 4 and the platform itself was a lot less closer to completion than it's looking now

The pace is certainly picking up now we're at the final countdown!

[metalrail]

I thought that some signalling enhancements were carried out a few years ago to allow pax services to run the loop when works in conjunction with platform 3 at FIT undertaken. Previously when pax were run on the loop a Pilotman had to be used between Avonmouth and Chittenham.

Be interested to find out if anyone knows what enhancements were done?  Would certainly mean less work in the long run which 'sometimes' helps make for a better case for re-instatement!

I'll have a look through my records, but it might take a few days (probably at the coming weekend).

Thanks SandT...  be really interesting to find out.  Always better to hear the facts from someone who actually knows rather than the constantly inaccurate posts in various new reports!